Certain Hope for Uncertain Times
01/27/2002 - What Makes a Leader?
Bill Hybels, the senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church, travels the world over conducting conferences and seminars, talking to pastors and church leaders. And in a recent interview he had this to say about church leadership, "The deepest wounds churches deal with. The greatest frustrations, the worst horror stories I hear are sort of church governance related where an elder powered up, or where the wrong person got into the wrong position and blew the entire core of the church apart or somebody went to a conference and then came back with a kind of doctrine and tried to foist it upon everybody else. I listen to horror story after horror story and I realize that in twenty-five years I don't think we have collectively spent a day worrying about our elders. I mean like staff members running around going, 'Oh no, the sky is falling because the elders are screwed up.' We have so much to be thankful for. We've been in a kind of fantasy land."
Good leadership. It's critical to the health of a local church. Because a local church, like any organization, will only ever be as strong as it's leadership. Bill Hybels also likes to say, "The local church is the hope of the world and its future rests in the hands of its leaders." Some of us who've grown up in the church could probably tell our own horror stories about things we observed. We know the damage that can be caused by poor, unqualified leadership. I have pastor friends who have been so deeply hurt by church boards and other leadership teams that they're no longer in pastoral ministry. Some aren't even walking with God anymore that's how deep the wounds can be.
Ted Engstrom, who over the years has written a lot on leadership says, "Our nation and world today are faced with problems that appear insurmountable. Security and defense are staggering .... Morals are at an all-time low. Moral standards are almost nonexistent. Bankrupt nations, financially troubled cities, and economic instability create more alarm with each passing day. Amid these grave circumstances, our generation is facing an equally serious problem: a leadership crisis."
Researcher George Barna, who's made a career out of studying American life-styles, values, attitudes and beliefs, has this to say about the church in America, "The central conclusion is that the American church is dying due to a lack of strong leadership. In this time of unprecedented opportunity and plentiful resources, the church is actually losing influence. The primary reason is the lack of leadership. Nothing is more important than leadership."
Howard Hendricks, one of my professors in seminary, often said, "The greatest crisis in the church today is the crisis of leadership. And the greatest crisis in leadership is a crisis of character."
This morning we want to talk about leadership. What makes a leader in God's church and what our response should be to our leaders? We're going to close our time today by introducing you to the leaders of Valley View Community Church , our new Elder Team and our Development Team.
If you have your Bible turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15. Look at verses 12-13, Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.
In this passage, Paul begins a section in his letter that in my Bible is subtitled "Final Instructions." He's wrapping things up and has just finished an extended treatment on the coming of the Lord. In that portion he wanted to comfort and encourage these believers with the certain hope of Christ's return. In the meantime, he wants them and us to be alert and self-controlled and to build each other up. And now he's going to tell us some ways that we can build each other up. And the first way is by honoring those who lead the church.
Now before we get into how we build up our leaders, let's talk for a minute about what it takes to be a leader in God's church. Essentially it takes three things to make a leader.
First, leaders are servants. Jesus made that crystal clear. At one point in his ministry two his disciples, James and John who were brothers, came to him and wanted to know what it takes to be great in the kingdom of God. "What does it take to be a leader?" It was a good question and Jesus didn't blow it off. But when the other disciples heard about it they got ticked and thought, "Who do they think they are to ask Jesus about leadership in the kingdom!" So there was conflict in the small group.
And Jesus stepped right into the middle of the fray with these words recorded for us in Mark 10:42-45, Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as 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 slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Those who want to be great in God's kingdom, those who want to lead God's people and have authority over them must first of all be servants. Why? Because that's what Jesus was. The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Great leaders have first learned what it means to be great followers. That's why teaching our children obedience and respect and submission to authority is so important if they're ever to become leaders. Good leaders follow THE leader Jesus Christ. Because in Christ's body leadership isn't a power thing, it's a servant thing. It's not about bossing people around, it's about serving people. Jesus illustrated it by washing the dirty feet of his disciples. It's interesting to me that the word "servant" occurs 162 times in the New Testament. But the word "leader" only occurs 14 times. That's should tell us something about what God values.
When we talk about leadership at Valley View you need to understand that the pyramid that's often used as the image for leadership in an organization with the boss sitting on top is flipped upside in the church. It's inverted because in the church the leaders are on the bottom. They lead by empowering others. Sometimes that leadership means casting vision and charting the course, sometimes it means teaching and training others to serve, sometimes it means praying and counseling and encouraging others. Sometimes it means intervening and confronting people with hard truth that they don't want to hear. At Valley View it can mean setting up and taking down chairs, cleaning toilets, and picking up trash in the parking lot. But it's all to be done with a humble servant spirit. Horror stories happen in churches when leadership is viewed as some power wielding, political position rather than that of a servant who puts others first.
I love what A. W. Tozer said about church leadership, "A true and safe leader is likely to be one who has no desire to lead, but is forced into a position of leadership by the inward pressure of the Holy Spirit and the press of external situations ... I believe it might be accepted as a fairly reliable rule of thumb that the person who is ambitious to lead is disqualified as a leader."
Second, leaders have strong character. Which is why the Bible has so much to say about a leader's character. In fact, the qualifications given for elders in 1 Timothy and Titus 1 are all about character.
Character is who we are in the dark, who we are when no one but God is looking. Leaders in God's church must be men and women of strong character. They've got to be authentic, genuine, and real. They can't be one thing on Sunday and something else during the week.
Mike Krzyzewski, the coach of Duke University's national championship basketball team, is a well-respected leader who wrote a book called Leading with the Heart . And in his book he says, "People are not going to follow you as a leader unless you show them that you're real. They're not going to believe you unless they trust you. And they're not going to trust you unless you always tell them the truth and admit when you were wrong."
Studies show again and again that honesty is the most significant characteristic people want in a leader. If people can't believe you, they won't trust you. And if they don't trust you, they won't follow you. Character is what makes trust possible. It's that simple. When you don't have strength from within, you can't have respect from without. And respect is essential for leadership. A leader's competence is only as effective as that's leader's character is credible. And the more competent and influential a leader becomes, the deeper that person's character must grow. But tragically too many leaders stop growing.
Dr. Robert Clinton who has spent his life studying leaders says that, "More than 70% of leaders don't finish well. They lose their learning posture, stop listening and growing, decline in character, stop living by their convictions, fail to leave behind ultimate contributions, stop walking in an awareness of their influence and destiny, and lose their vibrant relationships with God." Leaders need to always keep growing in their walk with God.
As Hendricks says, "The greatest crisis in leadership is a crisis of character." Horror stories happen in churches when leaders aren't chosen on the basis of character, but on the basis of personality or longevity or connection or how much they donate to the church or how successful they are in business.
Leaders are servants. Leaders have character. And leaders are competent. Some leaders are especially gifted. In Romans 12:6-8 the apostle Paul writes, We all have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If your gift is prophesying, then use it in proportion to your faith. If it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is encouraging, then encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, then give generously; if it is leadership, then govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, then do it cheerfully.
God has given gifted men and women to the body of Christ. In fact, if you're a believer in Christ this morning, you're gifted. Each one of us has at least one spiritual gift. Some have the gift of serving, some the gift of teaching, some the gift of encouraging, some the gift of giving, some the gift of mercy, and some the gift of leadership. Leaders are part of God's gift to the church. And like all spiritual gifts the gift of leadership is given to both men and to women.
For years I didn't believe that. I thought that leadership in the local church was something only men could do. I don't believe that anymore, because I believe that leadership in the local church is based on servant hood, character, and gifts that are available to both men and women. None of the gifts are gender specific.
Which is why we believe at Valley View that women can exercise they're gift of leadership in the church. And so on our leadership teams we have qualified women as well as men. They're women of character and they're proven servants. If you'd like to know more about our view of women in the church pick up the series we did a few years ago called Women: A Biblical Perspective.
Now, right here I have to say this. Not everyone who leads in the local church has the gift of leadership, but they do need to be competent. Just like not everyone who serves has the gift of serving. Or everyone who gives has the gift of giving. Some leaders are gifted, but not all. And the reason I say that is because when Paul gives his qualifications for leaders in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 he never once mentions the gift of leadership. Instead, he talks about character and competence, which is demonstrated in the home first. The gift is optional, but the character is essential.
Horror stories happen in churches when people are placed in positions of leadership who aren't competent and sometimes that's because they've been put in those positions way too early or because they're unqualified.
For the church to be healthy it must have true biblical leadership. And all the leaders who operate in a local church like Valley View must be servants, must be men and women of character, and must be competent so that they can lead diligently. That's our responsibility as leaders. And now what's our responsibility to those leaders?
In this passage, it's threefold. First, Paul says respect them. Respect those who work hard among you. Apart from Pat, Tim, and myself all of the leaders who serve on our Development Team and our Elder Team and as small group leaders at Valley View do it as volunteers. They have jobs and they have families and they have other responsibilities. Yet, they've chosen to devote a significant amount of their personal time to serve you and me. When they could be watching TV, working on their golf game, fixing up the house, or shopping at the Mall, they're having people into their homes, they're making meals for those who in need, they're meeting with people to study the Bible and encourage them in their faith, they're listening to people's problems and praying with them on the phone, and on and on and on. And they're doing it all gladly, because they love God with all their hearts and they want to serve him with their whole lives. Paul says respect them for that. The word "respect" also has the idea of "appreciate." Show them you appreciate them.
We've talked before about the families at Valley View who have sold their homes, changed jobs, and relocated to be part of this church. I've never seen anything like it before in my life. That's how vested they are in the work of God here. Paul says respect them for that. I have the deepest respect for every one of the leaders we'll be introducing and many more people at Valley View who are doing the work of God.
Second, Paul says esteem them. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. To esteem means to give value to what they do. Everyone needs to know that what they're doing has value and worth. I know how encouraged I am when someone sends me an e-mail or drops me a note to let me know that something I did really helped them or something I said in the teaching was just what they needed to hear. Often, I'll tell Jennifer, "I can go another month on a note like this."
If you're in a small group, let your small group leader know how much they mean to you and how much you appreciate the time and the energy they invest into leading that group. If you're children are in our Valley Kids ministry let their teacher know how much you appreciate the impact they're making on your child's life and how important that is. If you're teenager is in Youth Life or part of our teens ministry let the volunteer leaders know how much you appreciate the sacrifice they're making to serve your kids and point them to Christ. Hold all of our leaders in highest regard in love because of their work.
And third, get along with each other. Paul says live in peace with each other. Let me be honest with you, there's nothing more discouraging to a church leader than to see two believers not getting along, arguing with each other and fighting each with other, and refusing to be reconciled to one another. Nothing is more discouraging than that. The toughest times for me in the ministry of Valley View have been those few times when there's been unresolved conflict in our community. That's the stuff that robs sleep from church leaders. You want to encourage the leaders in this church, get along with each other. And when you have a conflict, and you probably will, work it out quickly.
That's how to encourage and build up our leaders. Paul's not saying that spiritual leaders are to do all the work. The Bible clearly teaches that every member is a ministry. Spiritual leaders are not to monopolize the ministry of the church. They're to multiply the ministry. They're to teach and train and equip and encourage people so that they can make a difference in the world.
Paul finishes this section by explaining how to encourage and build up other kinds of people too. Look at verses 14-15, And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.
There's a lot in here, but let me just say that it takes a lot of wisdom to be a really good encourager. A good encourager doesn't just slap everybody on the back and say, "you're doing great," because not everybody is doing great. Encouraging some people means confronting them. Like Paul says, warn the idle. Sometimes we comfort people who need to be challenged. And we say things like, "That's okay, God will forgive you." When what they need to hear is, "Stop doing that because it's killing you and your family." Yes, God will forgive, but he always let's us reap the consequences of our actions. A good encourager has discernment and knows what to say, how to say it, when to say it, and to whom to say it.
Paul says, warn the idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Often we get it backwards. We warn the timid, we help the idle, we encourage the weak, and we get impatient with everyone. If we're going to be great encouragers, we need great discernment.
A few years ago I read about a race at the Special Olympics. And the children were lined up shoulder for this 100-yard dash and the gun went off and they began run down the track. About halfway down one of the children stumbled and feel. The rest of them keep running for about ten more steps then some amazing happened. They all stopped together and without saying a word, they turned around, ran back, picked the child up, dusted him off, joined hands and finished the race together. That's encouragement. And that's what Paul's talking about in this passage. Running the race together until Jesus comes back.