Alex D. Montoya
Leadership in a local church is indispensable if the church is to have direction and purpose. The ultimate leader, normally the pastor, leads others to the accomplishment of a common goal. The Bible contains numerous examples of how God has been pleased to use leaders to accomplish His purposes. The Christian leader must be careful to observe biblical guidelines in leading the church, principally in assuming the role of a servant-leader. Seven traits of a good leader are self-management, good decision making, effective communication, appropriate leadership style, compatibility with people, ability to inspire, and a willingness to pay a high price. The act of leading requires vision, enlistment, delegation, and motivation.
Leadership is essential to the life and mission of the church. Without it the church flounders and staggers on a haphazard course in its pilgrimage to the better place. Without leadership the church is unable to fulfill its purposes of ministering effectively to those within and reaching those on the outside, nor can it render the glory to God that He deserves.
According to Means, the church is undergoing a leadership crisis that is evident from five symptoms:1
Lack of leadership seems to be the plague of modern society. Bennis, a foremost authority on secular leadership, sized up today’s world in this way: “Where have all the leaders gone? The leaders who remain are the struggling corporate chieftains, the university presidents, the city managers, the state governors. Leaders today sometimes appear to be an endangered species, caught in the whisk of events and circumstances beyond rational control.”2 Effective leadership is the need of the hour, and for the church under mandate to evangelize the world, it is an indispensable requirement, indeed an urgent agenda.
The pastor is the one called to provide ultimate leadership for the church regardless of church polity. The success of the church depends heavily on his ability to lead. This chapter purposes to help the pastor in his leading of God’s flock by outlining the biblical perspectives on pastoral leadership and the essential concerns that comprise this leadership: namely vision, enlistment, delegation, and motivation.
DEFINITION OF LEADERSHIP
Before considering the biblical perspectives, we shall attempt to define leadership. The variety among proposed definitions of leadership makes the task of defining it somewhat difficult. “Leadership,” one says, “is the process of motivating people.”3 Another states, “Leadership is that which moves persons and organizations toward the fulfillment of their goals.”4 George places emphasis on the effect of leaders on others: “By increasingly focusing on leading others into ministry a pastor increases church growth potential, because the entire church becomes capable of working in ministry.”5
The secular arena defines leadership in terms that may help pastors comprehend their leadership roles. “The chief object of leadership is the creation of a human community held together by the work bond for a common purpose,” according to Bennis.6 Burns stated:
I define leadership as leaders inducing followers to act for certain goals that represent the value and the motivations—the wants and needs, the aspirations and applications—both of leaders and followers. And the genius of leadership lies in the manner in which leaders see and act on their own and their followers’ values and motivations.7
For the Christian leader, however, we offer two definitions as being closest to the mark. The first is from Means:
Spiritual leadership is the development of relationships with the people of a Christian institution or body in such a way that individuals and the group are enabled to formulate and achieve biblically compatible goals that meet real needs. By their ethical influence, spiritual leaders serve to motivate and enable others to achieve what otherwise would never be achieved.8
Gangel’s equally concise and excellent definition describes leadership as “the exercise of one’s spiritual gifts under the call of God to serve a certain group of people in achieving the goals God has given them toward the end of glorifying Christ.”9 Hence, “the pastor or administrator or executive, therefore, works with and through people to get things done. He takes the proper leadership in following up each objective to the end that God might be glorified.”10
All these definitions of leading have one thing in common: the leader is one who leads others to the accomplishment of a common goal. If no one follows him, he is obviously not a leader, regardless of what titles and degrees may precede or follow his name. Or it has been said, “A church can call you to be a pastor because pastor is a title. The call does not make you a leader. Leader is not a title but a role. You only become a leader by functioning as one.”11
THE BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE ON LEADING
Leadership is biblical. The idea of someone leading others is rooted in the Scriptures. For someone to assume the role of leader in God’s church and to expect others to follow his example is not egotistical, authoritarian, condescending, or sinful. We are assured of this because the Scriptures lay down a basis and guidelines for Christian leadership.
The Biblical Basis
In this area of leading, some may question whether one should even assume that he has the right to tell others what to do. Yet the Scriptures are everywhere quite clear about this calling to leadership.
1. The entire history of God’s dealings with His people is actually God’s involvement with a particular person whom He used to accomplish His will. God always worked through one person who led the people in the execution of God’s will. Whether it was Abraham in Ur and then Canaan, Joseph in Egypt, Jacob, Moses in the wilderness, Joshua in the conquests, the judges in the interim, the kings, or even the prophets and apostles, God led through human leadership. When God purposes to accomplish an objective, He looks for a person who in turn becomes His leader of His people. It is not surprising that He continues the practice in the Christian church.
2. The New Testament spells out in clear terms that God had a designated leadership for His church. The apostles were the first designated leaders appointed by Christ and ordained with the authority to lead and make judgments among the people (Matt. 10:1–42; 18:18–20) as well as to serve as the very foundation of His blessed church (Eph. 2:20).
In the establishment of the church, the office of elder and deacon surfaced as spiritual leadership to lead the congregations. The eldership by its very nature is leadership. Elder implies age and experience, essential ingredients for those assigned to lead the congregations (Acts 14:23; 20:17; Titus 1:5). The elder was also an “overseer,” one assigned the task of watching over the congregation (Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:1; Titus 1:5–6).
Acts 20 is pivotal in understanding the leadership qualities of New Testament leaders. Acts 20 called the recipients of Paul’s words “elders of the church” (v. 17). Then it identified them as “overseers” and told them to “be on guard for [themselves] and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers” (Acts 20:28). Then their assignment was “to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (v. 28). The Ephesian elders thus illustrated the functions of a pastor, one who guards, leads, and feeds the sheep.
The Bible also uses specific terms to identify the existence of leaders in the church. Leading is listed among the gifts given to the church: “He who leads, with diligence” (Rom. 12:8);12 “administrations” (1 Cor. 12:28).13 Leading is listed among the requirements for church elders: “But if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God” (1 Tim. 3:5).14 In other words, if you cannot lead your own family, what makes you think you can lead the entire church?
3. Certain charges addressed to individuals in the New Testament indicate that these men were to exercise leadership in the church. Consider Paul’s advice to Timothy and Titus about the treatment of elders (1 Tim. 5:17–25; Titus 1:5–9). Peter also gave an extended and clear exhortation to elders (1 Pet. 5:1–5). Here the references to leading are conclusive.
4. The church has received special exhortations regarding treatment of church leaders. The church was to “be in subjection to such men” (1 Cor. 16:16) and to acknowledge them (v. 18). Paul told the Thessalonians to “appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work” (1 Thess. 5:12–13). The writer of Hebrews told believers, “Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account” (Heb. 13:17). He also instructed, “Greet all of your leaders” (v. 24). Indeed the readers were to remember “those who led you, who spoke the Word of God to you” (v. 7).15 “Clearly, leaders were over the church and the church was under authority. No one had the right to disregard or disrespect the spiritual leaders.”16
Both pastors and people must realize that God prescribes leadership for His church, and both must be careful to perform their respective tasks dutifully. The pastor must lead and do so effectively and scripturally; the people must respect, obey, and uphold in prayer those who have received the oversight of their souls. There is, then, a biblical basis for such a relationship, as Lee so aptly summarized:
Leadership in the church is rooted in what we believe about God and the church, the body of the Son, Jesus Christ. The church may have much in common with organizations of various kinds, and it may operate in similar ways, but its beliefs about leadership are rooted deeply in the faith. In the church, we believe leadership is one of God’s gifts given for the sake and welfare of the church’s life and mission. We believe also that leadership is a calling from God and a ministry through which we serve God.17
Biblical Guidelines for Leadership
A brief word is in order to reiterate the importance of leaders understanding the biblical guidelines given them by God. The Christian ministry has suffered greatly from the violation of these guidelines. Indeed, ministerial reputation is at an all-time low at the onset of the twenty-first century, all because some pastors have rejected God’s standards and have tarnished and stained the good name of those who also wear the title of pastor.
Not all the ill will expressed toward Christian leaders is self-caused. Contempt for leaders comes also from a contemporary attitude of rejecting authority, people’s increased educational level, media publicity, secularization of the church, a lack of shepherding, and humanistic attacks upon religion.18 Yet Christian leaders have earned their fair share of the criticism. So their actions must be in line with biblical principles if the problem is to find resolution.
A pastor is a spiritual leader, a man of God charged with a mandate and required to embody in his person the ideals of the faith he proclaims. He is to practice what he preaches. In an age of pragmatism in the secular world, where the end justifies the means, the temptation is for leadership to prostitute Christian character for the sake of success. Moreover, in a culture that increasingly extols success at any cost and puts down virtues as a worthy goal, leaders may unwittingly pursue the glitter of success and lose the joy of serving Christ. Means recalled that “God measures achievement in terms of integrity, faithfulness, devotion, and righteousness, qualities that do not always produce statistical impressiveness.”19 Paul himself, a failure by today’s standards, told the true test of successful ministry: “It is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy” (1 Cor. 4:2).
The New Testament tells the Christian leader what kind of man he ought to be (1 Tim. 3:1–7; Titus 1:5–9). To be a leader, one needs to be aware that he must first measure up to these traits as a qualification to enter into the office of pastor, and then he must maintain these qualities in his life if he is to stay in the pastoral ministry. (See chapter 5, “The Character of a Pastor,” for further explanation and application of these traits.) The same applies to the office of deacon (Acts 6:1–7; 1 Tim. 3:8–13).
The Scriptures also tell the leader how he is to perform his pastoral duties (Acts 20:17–35; 2 Tim. 4:1–5; 1 Pet. 5:1–4). The pastoral leadership is to guard and shepherd the flock of God, which includes all that it takes to bring the church to maturity. Peter portrayed the manner of oversight beautifully in his first epistle, telling how to implement the charge he himself received from the Chief Shepherd (1 Pet. 5:1–4; see John 21:15–22). Pastors have their work clearly defined for them so that they ought not to have confusion as to what they are to do or how they are to perform their work.
The pastor, then, is by his calling a spiritual leader. His calling comes from God. His allotment is the spiritual oversight of a Spirit-led body of believers (1 Pet. 5:3; see 2:5–10). His qualifications for holding office are spiritual (1 Tim. 3:1–7). His methods for ministering are spiritual (Acts 6:4; 2 Cor. 10:4; 2 Tim. 4:1–4). His accountability (Heb. 13:17) and rewards are spiritual (2 Tim. 4:8; 1 Pet. 5:4). Though we may learn much from the study of the leadership practices of the world, we must always keep in mind that “leadership in the church is different from leadership in the world.”20
The warning offered by the mentor of spiritual leaders, J. Oswald Sanders, is important: “Choosing men for office in the church or any of its auxiliaries without reference to spiritual qualifications must of necessity result in an unspiritual administration. . . . Appointment of men with a secular or materialistic outlook prevents the Holy Spirit from carrying out His program for the church in the world.”21 God uses spiritual leaders to accomplish spiritual purposes. He does not violate this axiom.
As a spiritual leader, the pastor then becomes a servant leader. Here is the great paradox of Christian leadership: He leads in serving and by serving. His greatness lies in his status as the servant of all. The Lord Jesus introduced and modeled this concept of leadership when He said,
You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many (Matt. 20:25–28).
Our Lord also said, “The greatest among you shall be your servant” (Matt. 23:11).
The Lord Jesus was a model servant leader. Every aspect of His life and ministry illustrated the type of spiritual leader He expected His disciples to be. At the Last Supper he dramatically portrayed what he meant by servant leadership. There He humbled Himself and washed the feet of the disciples, and then drove home the lesson with these words: “Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you” (John 13:12–15).
Leadership as portrayed by the world or even as practiced in some Christian churches and organizations runs contrary to the leadership principle commanded by the Lord. Gangel asserted that servant leadership, an attitude that should govern managerial functions, “runs in direct opposition to the thinking of the world.”22
When people think of leadership, they see it as synonymous with lordship. Quite the opposite is true of biblical leadership. Ponder this poignant statement:
Never are church leaders to think of their status as lordship, but as servanthood. Leaders are not selected so that they might have dominion over the body of believers, but that there might be guidance in spiritual matters by qualified, godly individuals under the lordship of Christ. Therefore, however we interpret the words rule, direct, obey and submit, they cannot be interpreted in a way that gives leaders the kind of authority that the rulers of the Gentiles had, or that officials exercise in the secular world.23
Two clarifications are necessary here. The first is that servant leadership is not enslavement to every whim of the church. We must keep in mind that “the Christian leader is primarily a servant of God, not a servant of the sheep.”24 His ultimate accountability is to God. Hence, he does what God commands him to do for the sheep and obviously only what is for the ultimate good of the sheep. A servant-leader is not the church’s errand boy.
The other clarification is that servant leadership is successful. The idea that such a view of pastoral leadership will weaken the leader’s authority and credibility is wrong. Rush concurred: “Many leaders have the mistaken idea that if they serve their followers, they will be viewed as weak and unfit for leadership. . . . Servant leaders are more effective leaders than traditional leaders.”25 Even secular leaders are discovering the importance and effectiveness of this approach.26
The indispensable quality of any Christian leader is that he be Spirit-led or Spirit-filled. Since the Holy Spirit is the author of and power in the church, it is only logical and natural that to be an effective leader of His church, a man must be filled and led by the same Spirit. Sanders wrote,
To be filled with the Spirit, then, is to be controlled by the Spirit. Intellect and emotions and volition as well as physical powers all become available to Him for achieving the purposes of God. Under His control, natural gifts of leadership are sanctified and lifted to their highest power. The not-grieved and unhindered Spirit is able to produce the fruit of the Spirit in the life of the leader, with added winsomeness and attractiveness in his service and with the power in his witness to Christ. All real service is but the effluence of the Holy Spirit through yielded and filled lives (John 7:37–39).27
Christian leaders must ponder this statement before attempting to find some secret or new ingredient for more effective ministry. If no celestial breeze is blowing, no matter how large the sails, the vessel goes nowhere!
PRACTICAL REQUIREMENTS FOR LEADING
Almost every notable work on leadership has its list of leadership traits essential for effective service. In studies and surveys of effective leaders, certain ones stand out as being more essential than others, however. The following seven traits appear to be the ones that characterize good leaders.
1. A good leader manages himself. Self-mastery is what every aspiring leader needs to achieve. The Lord Jesus required it of all His disciples; they could not help others until they had conquered issues in their own lives. He also accused the Jewish leaders of being unfit for leadership, calling them “blind guides” (Matt. 15:14; 23:16, 24). If a person sets about to do what he must do in life and disciplines himself so as to accomplish those goals and desires, he will soon see that he has outdistanced the pack and even has a following trying to get what he has obtained. Bennis put it this way: “No leader sets out to be a leader. People set out to live their lives, expressing themselves fully. When that expression is of value, they become leaders.”28 This is obviously an expression of self-management and discipline in pursuing the priorities of life. Consider these lines:
If you want to
manage somebody,
manage yourself.
Do that well
and you’ll
be ready to
stop managing.
And start leading.29
A leader, then, must be one who has his life under control, which includes his personal habits and activities. A leader is self-managed; he is his own boss. He is one who knows how to manage his time, his money, his energies, and even his desires.
2. A good leader knows how to make good decisions. “Leaders are decision makers.”30 The buck stops with them, meaning that they are usually the ones who need to make the decision that affects the outcome of their organizations. Decision making is a difficult and lonely business. The ability to make quick and knowledgeable decisions separates the leaders from the followers. “When all the facts are in,” stated Sanders, “swift and clear decision is the mark of a true leader.”31 A leader spends most of his time in dealing with or solving problems.32 Hence, all leaders have one thing in common: “They are continually required to make decisions affecting others as well as themselves.”33
Decision making is the lot of leaders, and indecision or poor decisions can become their undoing. The inability to make decisions is one of the major reasons administrators fail, and this “inability-to-make-decision syndrome is a much more common reason for administrative failure than lack of specific knowledge or technical know-how.”34 Leaders need to heed these words:
Procrastination and vacillation are fatal to leadership. A sincere though faulty decision is better than no decision. Indeed the latter is really a decision, and often a wrong one. It is a decision that the status quo is acceptable. In most decisions the root problem is not so much in knowing what to do as in being prepared to live with the consequences.35
So how do leaders learn to make decisions? By making decisions, even bad ones. Rush offered a five-step process for making effective decisions:36
| Step one: | Correctly diagnose the issue or the problem. |
| Step two: | Gather and analyze the facts. |
| Step three: | Develop alternatives. |
| Step four: | Evaluate alternatives pro and con. |
| Step five: | Select from among the positive alternatives. |
3. A good leader communicates effectively. Skill in communicating ideas, concepts, and directives to the organization is essential for leadership. The Lord Jesus demonstrated His ability to communicate by the literature He inspired, the church He created, and by the death He suffered. His enemies also understood well the message of His Lordship.
If we cannot communicate, we cannot lead. Even evil men have risen to lead great movements because of their superb abilities to articulate their beliefs and communicate them passionately to their followers. Hitler and Marx are prime examples.
An effective pastor is more than a theologian. He must also be an effective preacher, a communicator of the divine message. There is never a leader with a sizable following who does not communicate effectively. Each one of the megachurches today has a great communicator as its leader. In fact, in our age of communication, articulation and communication are necessary for survival in any organization.
Just the fact that one speaks or writes does not mean he communicates. Communication is “the process we go through to convey understanding from one person or group to another.”37 The key to being a good communicator is, first of all, to understand people. Next one needs to know his subject thoroughly. Then he must perceive or create the right climate, and finally, he must listen for feedback to see if he is getting through.
A pastor or preacher should always be looking for ways to improve his ability to communicate. The message never changes but the audience does, and so does the messenger. It is expedient for the messenger to keep his skill honed, and for most pastors, the preaching skills are not fully mature until long after graduating from seminary. It is unfortunate that some preachers cease to improve their preaching abilities. It is a trade and skill we must master at all cost.38
4. A good leader is one who manages his leadership style. Leaders are unique. They have differing personalities and different ways of leading people. This is why it is often said that leaders are born, not made. Leadership classes and seminars do not produce leaders. Life and its experiences mingled with a distinct personality and the unction of God produces a Christian leader.
It is impossible to discuss the various styles of leadership here, but certain other works do describe them.39 In relation to style, we need to keep these observations in mind:
Listen to what this leader said: “Since there are different ways to lead, it’s important to make a very clear selection. . . . Followers have an amazing ability to accommodate themselves to leadership styles. . . . If you will select your style, implement it, and stay consistent, you can use almost any style you want.”41
Leaders of growing churches and organizations agree that the growth of these organizations had much to do with their ability to change their style of leadership. Miller testified to this:
What great deterrent keeps churches from growing? I believe lack of growth can be attributed to a failure on the part of individual pastors or leaders to adjust their management styles. . . . I began as pastor in the parish I serve some twenty years ago. The management of the church from a very small one to a very large one means that I have had to change my management style continually.42
Good leaders, then, know styles of management and are able to adjust their styles to the need of the organization.
5. A good leader gets along with people. Someone has said in jest, “The ministry would be a wonderful occupation if it weren’t for people.” That puts the finger on the problem with some want-to-be-leaders: They cannot get along with people. Effective leaders have learned the fine art of getting along with the people they lead and expect to lead. People are led, not driven. If a leader cannot win them over to himself, they simply walk away. It is amazing how many Christian leaders destroy their churches because they are not tactful, loving, compassionate, patient, and shrewd in their care of the flock. The proverbial back door is sometimes held open by the pastor himself. He then has some other excuse for the loss of members. Church members rarely leave churches over issues; it is usually over personalities and conflicts over personal issues.
Means made this observation: “In pastoral ministry the most basic cause of ineffectiveness and failure is an inability to build and sustain meaningful collegial relationships with the church’s lay leaders.”43 Scripture states that “a brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city” (Prov. 18:19). A wise leader seeks to avoid giving offense, keeps from creating needless discord, and chooses well the hills upon which he is willing to die. Unfortunately, too many pastoral carcasses are found upon molehills.
A man may be a scholar and an expert in the Scriptures. He may be articulate in his delivery and knowledgeable in the basic skills of management, yet if he does not truly love people and cannot be at peace with them, he can never lead them. He may have the title of pastor, but he will never be viewed as the pastor. We need to take to heart Paul’s advice, “Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men” (Rom. 12:17–18).
6. A good leader is one who inspires. An indispensable trait of effective leaders is their ability to inspire others in an almost unconscious manner. Good leaders inspire discouraged and demoralized people; they add new life to a dying organization. Sanders said, “The power of inspiring others to service and sacrifice will mark God’s leader. His incandescence sets those around him alight.”44 It is not enough to be at the front of the pack; the leader must also inspire the pack to pick up the pace and do it with a willing and an enthusiastic attitude.
People are not generally enthusiastic but are subject to the ebb and flow of life, affected by circumstances and even by poor leadership who discourage activity. The twelve spies sent into Canaan brought back good news and bad news: The land was indeed fertile, but there were also giants there. The punishment of the nation Israel is traceable to ten leaders who did not inspire the people but instead gave “a bad report of the land which they had spied out” (Num. 13:32). Poor leadership doomed the people to waste their years wandering in circles in a wasteland. The same can be true of churches and organizations led by people who cannot inspire others to look beyond the obstacles to the opportunities God provides. Spiritual leaders “inspire people to recognize their own spiritual needs, values, and objectives, and then facilitate growth in their vital areas. Good effective spiritual leaders infuse others with an animating, quickening, and exalting spirit of enthusiasm for the person of Christ, growth in Christ, and the mission of the church.”45
Inspiration begins and ends with attitude. Inspiration is a spiritual artificial respiration where the one who is inspired gives inspiration to those who have none. Good leaders are consistently optimistic and full of faith. They do not have an attitude problem. They have long since realized the importance of a good attitude. Rush reminded us that “the Christian leader’s attitude plays a major role in determining what he or she does and achieves. If a person thinks something is impossible, he usually doesn’t bother to try doing it. Thus the thoughts frequently become a self-fulfilling prophecy.”46 Inspirational leaders also attract inspirational people, and this snowballing effect has a major impact upon the rest of the followers.
How does a leader develop inspiration, and how does he maintain it? What separates leaders from nonleaders is that a leader knows how to inspire himself. He has learned the secret of keeping his own furnace hot and ablaze. Here are some suggestions for developing inspiration:
7. A good leader is one who is willing to pay the price. Leaders pay a hefty price to be in leadership. Spiritual leadership entails discipline, self-sacrifice, great patience, and a host of hardships. Leadership is a lonely place and calls for critical and difficult decisions; leadership runs the danger of alienating even one’s closest friends. “A cross stands in the way of spiritual leadership,” confessed Dr. Sanders, “a cross upon which the leader must consent to be impaled.”47 No one can enjoy the fruit of leadership without paying the price.
The pastorate is not an easy task; it is not for the fainthearted, for the weak, for those who want to avoid hardship. It is an extremely “hot kitchen,” and if one cannot stand the heat or does not want to endure it, then he needs to get out. Criticism, low pay, loneliness, frustration, long hours, rejection, and even burnout are all the hazards of ministry. As in war, there will be casualties. But as in war, the battle must be won, and the troops will be led by leaders who understand the risks and are willing to pay the price.
Developing these traits of effective leadership takes time and experience, along with some serious personal study and research. Spiritual leadership evolves out of the daily ministry and struggles of God’s people. Difficult times call for good leadership that sometimes is nowhere to be found, but we must remember the best of leaders always arise in times of great distress. We await the new generation of leaders that God will raise up from this intense spiritual struggle the church is enduring.
THE ACT OF LEADING
Leaders lead! The tasks of leaders is to have a vision of what needs to be, enlist others in owning this vision, delegate the task to others, and then keep the whole group motivated to bring the completion or fulfillment of the vision. Spiritual leaders derive their vision or purpose from God. Then they enlist the church to help in the achievement of the purpose, which logically demands that leaders must keep the church motivated until the goal is reached. The act of leading, then, comprises four things: vision, enlistment, delegation, and motivation. If a pastor or spiritual leader can succeed in accomplishing these four activities, he will succeed in his leadership.
Vision
Pastors must be men of vision. They must possess a deep sense of what they are to do, where they ought to go, and how they are to do it. Vision supplies these directions. Vision is critical to the life of the church as it is for any organization. “A vision gives life,” wrote Lee, “and if there is no vision, the seeds of death are being sown and it is just a matter of time until death will prevail.”48
Here is where the main difference exists between leadership and management. Leadership provides the vision, and management executes the vision. Stephen Covey captured the distinction in this pithy statement: “Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning on the right wall.”49 In other words, “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.”50
Regarding leadership and vision, Bennis observed that “all leaders have the capacity to create compelling vision, one that takes people to a new place, and then to translate the vision into reality.”51 Sanders attested that “those who have most powerfully and permanently influenced their generation have been the ‘seers’—men who have seen more and farther than others—men of faith, for faith is vision.”52
What then is vision? We found this definition in Mean’s fine work: “A vision is an attempt to articulate, as clearly and vividly as possible, the desired future state of the organization. The vision is the goal that provides direction, aligns key players, and energizes people to achieve a common purpose.”53 Peters and Austin were helpful when they added, “You have to know where you’re going, to be able to state it clearly and concisely—and you have to care about it passionately. That all adds up to vision, the concise statement/picture of where the company and its people are heading, and why they should be proud of it.”54
Lee observed, “When the organization has a clear sense of its purpose, direction and desired future state and when that image is widely shared, individuals are able to find their roles both in the organization and in the larger society of which they are a part.”55 Hence, vision is first knowing what the church should do and then sharing the vision with the people in such a way that they too “see” the “unseen.” We feel that vision for the pastor is primarily to see what God wants the church to be and to do, and more specifically, what God wants that particular church to be. The matter is not necessarily mystical or revelatory. It is, rather, having an acute sense of what is possible and drawing others into the similar vision.56
A leader develops vision from a number of sources. First and foremost, it comes from God through the Holy Scriptures, which are the blueprint for God’s people. We can say in some sense that all pastors share the same vision about the church: to glorify God, to make disciples, and to build up His body, the church. Yet the application of the overall vision will be personalized in each leader and congregation.
Vision also proceeds from past experience; the more experience the greater the vision. The greater the contemplation of the past, the clearer the focus on the future: “It appears that when we first gaze into our past, we elongate our future. We also enrich the future and give it detail as we recall the richness of our past experiences.”57 Involvement also adds to creating vision. The act of doing, of applying the knowledge of the past to the present, enhances vision. We need to be seizing the present doors of opportunity, which in turn give birth to vision.
We also need to keep vision alive, because like dreams, it has a tendency to fade away. Calvin Miller offered two suggestions in keeping vision alive:
Number one is an adequate quiet time. When you are quiet at the altar of your own trust, your vision will hold its place in your life. Visions rebuild themselves in quietness, not in the hurry and noise of life. A second ingredient of vision-keeping is rehearsal. Constantly, you must rehearse your dreams. It is not enough to have rehearsed them in the past. They must be a part of every day, or soon they will not keep faith with any day.58
Pastors cannot tread water. They cannot simply maintain the work, “holding the fort” until Christ returns. They must be in the act of leading, of instilling vision in their people. The church must realize it is there to do something, and the pastor must tell it what that something is and lead in accomplishing it.
Enlistment
Imparting the vision is the first act of leading; the second is enlisting others to buy into the vision. We may also call this recruitment. Effective leaders know how to recruit people to bring about the vision for the organization. Leaders must follow the example of Christ, whose call was “Follow Me” (Matt. 4:19). Our Lord recruited or enlisted people and made them His disciples, people who shared His vision and set about to bring it to pass.
Churches today suffer from the lack of workers. Rush observed,
The lack of volunteers is one of the greatest tragedies in the church today. In fact, there are so few true volunteers in the modern church that we probably need to remind ourselves of what a volunteer is: a person who by his own initiative and free will steps forward to perform a task. Such persons are so rare in Christendom today that most Christian leaders go into temporary shock when approached by one.59
Our world is becoming a spectator society produced by addiction to entertainment and by the increasing role of professionals in our churches. The pew-warmer demands excellence that only a professional can deliver. The end result is that we have fewer and fewer volunteers, and eventually less and less being done for the kingdom of God. The cycle must be broken if we are to survive into the next century.
Leaders must enlist followers in the cause of Christ, not only in believing the message of the cross, but also in the exercise of their gifts for the perfecting of the body of Christ. In thinking of enlisting others for ministry, let leaders keep these principles in mind:
Leaders must recruit and recruit effectively to bring about the goals to which they aspire. We must learn the art of recruitment. After all, it is part of the job description of the leader.62 Enlistment of volunteers is an act of leading.
Delegation
Following the act of enlistment is the act of delegation, for the whole purpose of enlistment is to delegate to everyone a task and thus get everyone busy in achieving the vision of the body. Delegation is one of the essential tasks of leadership, spiritual or secular. “He who is successful in getting things done through others,” stated Sanders, “is exercising the highest type of leadership.”63 According to some, “delegation may be the most important single skill of an executive.”64
What does delegation mean? Delegation is the art of assigning part of your job to someone else, entrusting responsibility and authority as well as a task to other people who are in the ministry with you, or simply put “getting rid of everything you can and doing only what remains.”65 Rush gave this comprehensive definition:
Delegation consists of transferring authority, responsibility, and accountability from one person or group to another. In most cases, it involves moving authority to a higher level in an organization to a lower one. Delegation is the process by which decentralization of organizational power occurs. Decentralization involves the dispersion of authority and responsibility from the top downward through the organization, allowing more people to become involved in the decision making process.66
Delegation is not the abandonment of leadership, but rather the exercising of the most profound act of leadership. Great leaders are effective delegators. They realize that personally they are not able to do or attend to all they want accomplished. As an organization grows, it will reach a point where if it is to continue growing and if its leader is to survive the workload, he must delegate. Exodus 18 is a classic biblical example of the need for organization. A close scrutiny of the chapter will reward leaders caught in the same predicament as Moses.
The personal and corporate benefits of delegation are incalculable. Delegation serves the following purposes:67
With so many benefits to delegation, we may wonder why more leaders do not practice effective delegation. The answer probably lies in the fact that some occupy the office of leader who do not possess the traits of leadership. They simply do not want to delegate and never intend to do so. The main reason is fear of losing power or control. These leaders also never intend to share the glory with their followers. Miller pointed out this fallacy: “You can never arrive at a real plateau of leadership by insisting that others do your work while you take the glory.”68
Improper delegation will also frustrate the people led. There are proper ways to delegate, and the ingredients of proper delegation must all be there. They are responsibility, authority, and accountability. Responsibility is knowing full well what needs to be done; authority is having the decision-making power to perform the task; and accountability is knowing the limitations under which the task is being carried out. If one of these is missing, the delegation process will not succeed.
Perhaps this acrostic69 will help recall the proper steps to take in delegation:
| D | Determine the ministry |
| E | Examine the duties |
| L | Lay out the leadership selection |
| E | Educate the leader |
| G | Guide the leader |
| A | Authorize the leader |
| T | Trust the leader |
| E | Evaluate the leader |
We cannot overestimate the importance of this act of leadership, and we concur with this statement: “The degree to which a leader is able to delegate work is a measure of his success.”70
Motivation
A leader may instill vision, enlist workers, and delegate responsibilities, but what is to make sure that the people stay at the assigned tasks with the enthusiasm required to bring it to pass or to sustain the effort over a prolonged period of time? The answer is motivation. Leaders must perform the act of motivation, of inspiring followers to stay to the task. Rush affirmed that “a leader will never be successful unless his followers are motivated to succeed.”71
By motivation we mean the unleashing of the inner drive in people that launches them into action.72 Someone has said, “Motivation is the act of creating circumstances that get things done through other people.”73
Of all the duties that leaders perform, the act of getting people to move on something has been open to much abuse. Spiritual leaders have been guilty of the worst kinds of manipulations and outright deceptions in their efforts to get their churches to perform. They have used flattery, threats, favoritism, begging, cajolery, proof-texting, bribery, and even claims to direct revelation to manipulate their followers.74
How does a leader motivate? The leader himself is the key to motivation; his integrity, his skill, his knowledge of what is to be done, and his example are all basic to motivation. All motivational tactics are ineffective if the leader lacks these personal qualities.
Leaders who possess these qualities can improve their motivational skill by understanding people and what makes people do their best. Lee provided the following list to help in motivating people to do their best:75
Of course, nothing ultimately motivates like a motivated leader. If leaders can somehow keep themselves motivated, their enthusiasm for a task will become contagious. The secret, then, to motivation is keeping oneself motivated.
The pastoral ministry is a wonderful privilege. It is leadership in God’s church, a stewardship entrusted by God, a service to be performed for the Great Shepherd and to His sheep. We count ourselves deeply blessed of God to be called pastors. It is easy to lose sight of our most fundamental responsibility: to lead! Therefore, let us be about our God-given task of leading!