Develop Healthy Leadership

Read Mark 1:14-19; 3:13-19, 6:7-12, Matthew 28:16-20

In my earlier days as a pastor I adopted a method of ministry that looked a great deal like a high school football program.  As the pastor I coached the team, called the plays, led the cheers, and went out for an occasional pass.  In addition I ran the concession stand, cared for the injured, and provided the Gatorade.

In 1996 I received a flyer in the mail announcing a two-day leadership workshop by some guy by the name of John Maxwell.  I had heard of him through some of my MCC colleagues but didn’t know much about him.  I sent in my registration totally unaware of how my life was about to change.  He said many things that affected my life, but there were three in particular that I would like to share with you.

* “Hi, my name is John and I want to be your friend.”

* “How many of you pastors are tired, discouraged, and frustrated, not sure of what your next step should be?  You’re working yourself to the bone, and yet no one understands what you do and no one appreciates you.  You’re the leader, the CEO, the one in charge of making all the major decisions and yet no one seems to respect you.  How many of you will put up your hand to admit that this is where you are today? (pause to see hands go up)  Good, now you know who you are and have honestly admitted how you feel. Now I want you to do yourselves and your church a huge, life-changing favor.  I want you to go home and write your resignation letter, give your notice and be done. It’s the best gift you can give your church, yourself and your family.”

* “Leadership is influence, nothing more and nothing less.  If you think you are leading, and no one is following, you are simply taking a walk.”

The first thing I realized is how alone I’d been in ministry.  MCC churches can be isolated and finding colleagues from the greater community was not as easy in my early days of pastoring as it is today.  When I heard this man stand up and claim that he wanted to be my friend I could have cried.  I needed a friend in ministry, someone to help me with resources and ideas.  For the next year there was a woman assigned to our church from John Maxwell’s organization, INJOY.  She called me once a month to ask how things were going and to suggest some resources that might be of help.  What a blessing! I read everything on leadership I could lay my hands on and signed up for workshops on the subject anywhere within a one-hundred mile radius of my home.  

The second thing I realized is that I was exhausted. I’d been trying to be THE leader of my church all by myself.  I was determining the mission and vision of the church and trying to set the wheels into motion. I was a leader in the church, but I also needed to be seeking out, training and utilizing other leaders.  Unconsciously I was setting up a pastor-centered ministry.  This was/is not healthy for the church and it certainly wasn’t/isn’t healthy for the pastor.   
	
The third thing I realized is that leadership is not about position or office.  True leadership is about influence.  Of course that influence can be positive or negative.  Thinking back over the course of history I can think of both kinds of influencers:  Mother Teresa and Adolf Hitler are two such examples.  If I would develop other healthy and positive influencers in the church we would begin to share in the journey and effective ministry could be achieved.  

 If you go to a bookstore and look under the heading of leadership you will be amazed at the number of books written on this subject.  My own personal library is filled with such books.  I find that I enjoy ideas and concepts from different leadership authors; I have not found one book to meet all of my needs in regard to ministry.  While I enjoy John Maxwell’s structural approach to leadership (The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership), I also am drawn to the more circular model of servant leadership I find in Robert K. Greenleaf’s writing (Servant Leadership: A Journey Into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness).  One book that surprised me with some of very good principles is Leadership Secrets of Attila The Hun by Wes Roberts, Ph.D.  Laurie Beth Jones uses Jesus as a model for visionary leadership in Jesus CEO; Using Ancient Wisdom for Visionary Leadership.  Of course these few books only scratch the surface of relevant material on the bookshelves today.  Through these and others I have developed a leadership style of my own using bits and pieces I have gleaned through the writings and my own personal experience.  This style is primarily based on the way Jesus trains leadership in the gospel according to Mark.  Let’s take a closer look.

First, He called people to come into leadership (Mark 1:14-20). 

Second, He became a role model for them when He: 
* drove out an evil spirit (1:21-27)
* healed  (1:29-34)
* prayed  (1:35-37)
* called others to leadership (2:13-17)
* answered tough questions (2:18-22)
* dealt with confronting religious leaders (2:23-27) 

Third, He got selective and appointed twelve people, evidently out of those He originally called, whom He sent out to preach and have authority over demons. In Mark 4-5 He modeled how to teach, how to deal with the demon-possessed, and how to trust God for miracles. 

Finally, He sent those twelve out in pairs (Mark 6:7-13) to do ministry with explicit instructions.  He told them what to take and what not to take.  He told them what to do when they enter a house and what to do if they weren’t welcomed.  They went out and taught, anointed and healed the sick, and dealt with those who struggled with demons, just as Jesus had taught and modeled for them to do.

We know that they while went out, they likely weren’t all that far from Him at any given time.  With others doing the same kind of work He was doing (under His leadership):

* More could be accomplished.  
* He could build and prepare them for the time when He would no longer be there.  
* People could see that this was God working through people and not believe that Jesus was the only one who could preach, teach, heal and deliver.

*I moved from Mark to Matthew because the most reliable early manuscripts don’t have anything past Mark 16:8.

These are the people who will be there at Pentecost and receive the power of the Holy Spirit.  These are the people who will be at the beginning and forefront of the Christian church. These are the people who were trained by Jesus and who will eventually train others, who will eventually train yet others.

It’s like a wheel that rolls on and on repeating the cycle as someone is trained, they train someone else, and they train yet others.  Jesus’ primary training was to:

* Call people into leadership
* Teach and train them through modeling
* Select certain people from among those who have been trained
* Send those out in pairs, still under His watchful eye
* Have them become leaders who train others (after He has ascended)

In keeping with that image of a rolling wheel let’s use an acronym to lay out what I believe is most needed by leaders in today’s churches:

C    ommitment
A    ccountability
R    esponsibility
T    eachable Spirits
 
 It has been said that 20% of the membership of any given group do 80% of the work.  If this is true, no wonder people are afraid to commit to boards, committees and other programs in a church!  Once you are seen as a part of that 20% you might find yourself overloaded with more responsibility than you ever wanted.  Therefore:
 
* We need that 20% to become influencers who will train others who will eventually train others, and thus multiply the workers.

* We need these influencers to set healthy boundaries and limits for themselves.  It is better for them to say “no” than take on another task that could well become their breaking point.  

A common question among church leadership is this: If I don’t do it, who will?  

Answer:  If you are setting healthy boundaries and limits for yourself, and no one
               else steps up to the plate to take on a ministry, then maybe it isn’t the
	    right time for your church to take on this ministry.  

Jesus asked for commitment when He said, “Come, follow me”.  That call to commitment was not just for the twelve, however, it was for all of them.  In the same way Jesus is calling us to commitment in our churches today; not just 20% of us, but all of us.  It is important to set healthy boundaries because people who over-commit are the ones who bless the church and then burn out to a place where they never want to come back.   
 
Accountability requires evaluation, feedback and critical analysis.  This may not be negative in the least, but many of us are afraid of any type of criticism.  We are willing to go along and do our thing, but if someone wants to comment on it, we get defensive and sometimes even quit.  Accountability can be a wonderful tool for growth.  Those Jesus called and trained were accountable to Him.  Those who would go out in His name to teach, heal the sick and deal with all sorts of troubled people would ultimately be accountable to Him for their actions.  This accountability teaches by reinforcing what they are doing well and going back over those areas that need work.  If we can look at accountability as a tool for growth in our ministry, we will find blessings there.  Someone who is not willing to be held accountable may not be a healthy influencer in your church.
 
Along with commitment and accountability, responsibility also comes with the leadership territory.  If we agree to accept a position then we must also be responsible for that which is required for that position.  A responsible person takes it upon him/herself to know the expectations for their area of ministry and to follow through with them.  A person who is in a leadership position but cannot be counted on is only holding an office, not serving as a leader.
 
Perhaps most importantly of all, good leaders/influencers have teachable spirits.  If we go into a ministry assuming that we know it all, we will fall short of our responsibility.  We must be open to new and different ways of doing things as well as to change in general. Do you want to know where the CART is most apt to get stuck? It’s with those who believe they already know it all and who refuse to let go of what they know in order to grow. These individuals consciously or unconsciously affect the growth and development of a ministry more than we might realize.   
 
With commitment, accountability, responsibility and teachable spirits in our leadership the church can move on to where God is calling it to go.  The pastor cannot and should not do all of a church’s work.  If he or she chooses to do so, the church may well find itself immersed in an unhealthy pastor-centered congregation.  A healthy pastor will model, teach, train and empower healthy leaders.  Healthy leaders:
 
* Have teachable spirits; willing to learn new ways to do things
* Are committed with their time, gifts and talents
* Are accountable; able to honestly admit problems and faults as well as joys and successes
* Are responsible, on time and reliable.  You can count on them to get the job done and done well
* Exemplify the character of Jesus—These people walk their talk
* Can agree to disagree during conflict; don’t have to have everything their own way
* Deal directly and lovingly with others in the church
* Have healthy life priorities in place
* Are both encouraging and empowering to others in the church
* Are not threatened by spiritual concepts different from his/her own
* Encourages others to find their own relationship path to God
* Can admit to not having all the answers

If these qualities are taught and modeled, and others can learn them and incorporate them into their own lives and ministry, thus modeling and teaching them to yet others, the church will be able to move in the direction God is calling it.  This positive cycle will continue to roll, the leadership will grow, the pastor and other leaders will no longer burn out, and the church will be blessed.





QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

Knowing that Mother Teresa held no high office or rank in life, what made her so popular and loved?




Recognizing that Adolf Hitler held no high office or high ranking in the military, what led to his rise in power over the German army?




Name someone who was an influencer in your life when you were growing up? How did she/he influence you?




Who is an influencer in your life today?  How does she/he influence you?
Can you name one or two influencers in your church today?  What, in your opinion, makes them an influencer?




On a leadership/influencer scale of one to ten, with ten being an absolute HALLELUJAH YES and one being an ABSOLUTELY NOT, what number would you give yourself?  Would you ever want to become a leader/influencer in your church?  Would you be willing to train to become one?




If you are a pastor, can you think of others in the church that have more influence than you have?  Is their influence positive or negative?  Are you tapped into them and utilizing them in a healthy way in the ministry of your congregation?




How might this study on developing healthy leadership influence your church?
Copyright © 2005 by Nancy J. Horvath-Zurn, MDiv.
Published by UFMCC