Tag Archives: leaders

We need leaders, not just followers

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sheepThere’s been a bit of pushback in recent years to the concept of Christian leadership. Some have even gone so far as to deny that the church needs any leaders at all. That doesn’t fit with what I see in the Bible.

We do well to note that Jesus spent a lot more time talking about the characteristics of followers than he did of the characteristics of leaders. And what is said of leaders doesn’t sound much like what the world tends to think of in a leader.

But God has called certain Christians to tasks of leadership, specifically to the job of equipping the church for ministry. These people are to be respected and emulated. They are to be listened to. When they need correction, such correction should be done gently.

Christians need to learn to be good followers. And we need good leaders.

A few verses on leaders and leadership:

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

(Matthew 20:25–28)

“Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, two men who were leaders among the brothers.”

(Acts 15:22)

“If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.”

(Romans 12:7–8)

“You know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints. I urge you, brothers, to submit to such as these and to everyone who joins in the work, and labors at it.”

(1 Corinthians 16:15–16)

“Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.”

(1 Thessalonians 5:12–13)

“Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.”

(Hebrews 13:7)

“Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

(Hebrews 13:17)

Love Not The World

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As I mentioned yesterday, I’m speaking this weekend at the National Preachers & Leaders Conference in Daytona Beach, Florida. It’s a gathering of leaders of Hispanic churches and others involved with outreach in Spanish. I’m really honored to get to speak. Besides the three classes I mentioned yesterday, I was also asked to give a keynote address.

The overall theme of the conference is love. My assigned topic for that talk is “Love Not The World.” I was encouraged to make the talk especially applicable to church leaders.

I was sorely tempted to do some of my presentations on citizenship and what it means to be strangers and aliens. But that doesn’t seem to fit the context of 1 John 2, which is the passage that was given to me along with the title. 1 John 2 is talking about the desires of the world: flesh, eyes, pride of life. I decided to be true to the text and discuss that topic.

I first want to use John 17 to demonstrate that “love not the world” isn’t talking about trashing the planet or even hating the people around us. “The world,” in much of John’s writings, refers to those who don’t follow God. It’s the idea of being “in the world but not of the world.”

From there, I’ll look at the three types of temptations John mentions. I’ll relate them to the temptation of Eve (saw fruit was good for food, was beautiful to look at, was to be desired to make one wise) and the temptation of Jesus (tempted with bread, “shown” the nations of the world, tempted to throw himself from the top of the temple).

From there I’ll steal something that Trey Morgan tweeted once, about the three G’s that plague preachers: girls, gold, glory. I’ll offer some practical advice that others have shared with me.

One thing that I want to impress on these guys is that reasonable safeguards are not enough. We’ve got to be willing to be unreasonably careful in these areas. I’ll use the example of civic planning. When considering the necessary zoning rules for floods, engineers can’t just think about a typical year’s rainfall. They have to be ready for the 100-year flood, that once-a-century storm that can wash everything away. In the same way, we can’t rely on measures that work 95% of the time. We need to be extreme in our care. (And no, I don’t expect everyone to agree, especially the younger guys who haven’t seen as many people fall)

Those are my thoughts for sharing on Saturday. But there’s still time to sway me! What modifications or additions would you suggest regarding this topic?