The primary purpose of a leader in the ministry of Jesus Christ is that of encouraging those they are leading to place their faith firmly in the Lord Jesus Christ. This purpose is in direct contrast to having the person place their faith firmly in the leader.
If we are to develop people strong in faith towards God Himself, we will need authentic leadership. I Corinthians 12:28-31 and II Corinthians 1:3-5,8,9 show us Paul's own authenticity in leadership. Rather than preventing his followers from seeing his weaknesses he boasted in them. Rather than that causing his followers to stop respecting him, it caused them to see his competencies in problem handling and God's own ability to handle the situations that came into Paul's life.
This does not mean on the other hand that Paul told everyone everything that went on inside of himself. God Himself has secrets. Rather, it means that whenever Paul showed us inside of himself he was showing that which was truthful and honest rather than hypocritical or dishonest.
Without this authenticity there is not identification on the part of the follower with the leader. They begin to feel that they could never be as "wonderful" as that leader. Without authenticity the people will never see inside the leadership. Consequently, the leader will not be able to serve as successful models in handling life with its very real difficulties.
Additional Considerations
1. Think through this whole issue in the context of being raised by authentic or non-authentic parents and the resulting problems.
2. In the life of Christ, how do you see selectivity being used in deciding with whom He would share what information about Himself?
3. Look at I Corinthians 12:28-31 and II Corinthians l:3-5,8,9 to really appreciate the honesty of the Apostle Paul.
In Matthew 20:25-28 and I Peter 5:1-5, God sets down a revolutionary concept of leadership. The leader must be a servant. The leader must not serve by "lording over those in his care," but rather as being their servant. In the spiritual realm, the mark of a leader is not in how many people are under him but rather how many people he serves.
This approach to leadership requires some reworking of our thinking. We too often have the tendency to carry over the world's leadership practices into the ministry. However, we desire at this ministry that the leadership be the servants of the people. This does not mean that they will always do what the people ask them to do. Neither does it mean that they will always not do what the people ask them to do.
Rather, every decision will be made in the best interest of the people whom they serve. That is, at its heart, servitude as modelled by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Additional Considerations
1. Read Matthew 20:25-28 and I Peter 5:1-5 listing the contrasts between the way the world leads and leadership in the church.
2. Although Christ came to serve, he didn't always obey everyone who told Him to do something. Can you think of some examples? How does this understanding affect your definition of servitude?
This ministry has not been organized on the basis of a democracy. Yet, within church history there are numerous organizational models for the handling of business within the local ministry.
Throughout the New Testament, there are examples of the church appointing leaders to go and think through issues -- making decisions for the body (Acts 15).
At other times, the leadership asked the body to make certain decisions (Acts 6:1-6). Yet in both situations the leadership had to be trusted to think through issues and to make decisions (even the decision to ask the body to make a decision)!
The above highlights just why the selection of leadership at this ministry remains a very important choice. Within that leadership lies authority to make decisions and carry out those decisions affecting the body without unanimity of agreement from the body.
Oftentimes the people of this ministry are called upon to respond to Hebrews 13:17 which says "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your soul as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief for this would be unprofitable for you."
In order to balance the previous section, we need to also note that throughout the early church, we find the ministry leadership having frequent contact with members of the body. We believe that it is essential that people feel they have a direct line of communication to those in leadership (Acts 6:8). We have structured our organization at this ministry to facilitate that communication.
Communication primarily occurs at this ministry through the home groups. Each family has the opportunity to relate to a leader with direct access to the leadership structure of the ministry. With board meetings occurring regularly, it does not take long for suggestions to find their way to the decision making body at this ministry. However, without involvement in a home group, the opportunity to have opinions heard and considered becomes more difficult.
The handling of criticism must also be considered briefly before leaving the area of communication. The person criticizing needs to be listened to politely and their criticism(s) written down for accuracy. This then needs to NOT BE RESPONDED TO IMMEDIATELY for often the emotion of being criticized prevents a clear response at the moment. However, the criticism needs to be shared with the Board of Elders where a decision is made. The Board decision must then be taken back to the person airing the grievance. This should be done personally so that the person has the assurance that he has been heard. At that point the person criticizing needs to makea a decision.
If the criticism is not of such magnitude that it will impair the individual's happiness at this ministry, s/he is welcome to continue as part of the body. If, however, the opinion difference is of a foundational nature, s/he needs to be encouraged to look for a ministry more in keeping with his/her personal preference so that his/her growth might go on unhindered.
In the selection of our leadership, I Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:7-9 form the heart of the guidelines for mature leadership. We believe that the inner qualities of leadership are far more important than external skills. Training can continue to supply the external skills. However, without the internal qualities, the foundation for trusted leadership ceases to be present.
Therefore, we desire to hold those inner qualities of leadership high in the selection of each of the ministry leaders.
We believe that I Corinthians 12 clearly shows us that no one person has sufficient insight, wisdom or gifts to lead a ministry with a balanced perspective. Therefore, we believe in multiple leadership. The Pastoral Leadership Team is comprised of a teacher, a minister of pastoral care and an administrator. The Board of Elders as a unit leads with the Pastoral Leadership Team through a variety of gifts, perspectives and insights -- maintaining a balanced program and approach.
Again we find this in the early church as Paul called the Elders (plural) at Ephesus together in Acts 20:17-38 and then called upon Titus to appoint Elders (plural) to lead the church on the Island of Crete (Titus 1:5).
Additional Considerations
1. Have you ever been in a situation where one man "ran" the ministry? What were the dangers?
2. What does I Corinthians 12 teach about how much we can even expect from a Pastor in a church?