I have blogged on several occasions regarding my thoughts of leadership. But, I noticed that I have never really spelled out what I think a true leader should be and do.
First let me reaffirm that leaders are what make the world go around. And God-breathed leaders are what make God's kingdom go around. Leaders are important, but to me, God-breathed leaders are a must.
In order to be a God-breathed leader you must ask yourself-
1. Is this leadership position one that God is placing me in or one that I am placing myself in?
2. Are my goals as a leader my own or Christs?
3. Do I truly have the time to commit to this leadership position, enough so, that will bring honor to God?
If your answers to the above questions are not those of Christ's centerness, then in my humble opinion, as of right now, you have no place in Christian leadership.
A Christian leader encourages, promotes, loves, watches out for, and cares for the people in which she or he is serving.
To lead is to serve. It is as simple as that.
Sometimes Christian leaders are not encouraging. No promoting. Not loving. Don't watch out for the betterment of the team or ministry. Don't care.
And it breaks my heart.
There is nothing more in the forefront of a church than its Christian leaders.
And if those leaders, some of those leaders, or even one of those leaders is not God-breathed, that is bad news for Christ's church.
At my church, Christian leaders are usually the ones who are chair people of different committees or ministries. They are in the forefront. They represent their committee, or the ministry.
We already talked about what a Christian leader should be. But also to that, as a Christian leader it is up to you to:
1. Share the Good News with others. This is Christ's commandment to all, but especially to leaders. That is our number one priority. So ask yourself, am I approachable? Do others feel comfortable enough to walk up to me and ask me about faith? Do I feel comfortable going to others and asking the same? Sometimes leaders can get so caught up in running their ministries that they seem "too busy" to be approached. Watch for that. And remember, it is noted in the Bible that "Jesus walked slowly through the crowds." He wasn't running around like a chicken with is his head cut off.
2. Share the ministry. This doesn't just mean delegate different tasks for people to help you with your ministry, but also so that you are helping those people be a part of the ministry. If you find that you are doing 80% of the work on your committee, then you my friend are not a leader. No one is following you, especially if you are doing the majority of the work. When I think of NOT sharing the ministry I think of a time when a leader was asking for adult volunteers. Only one stepped forward, and the leader turned the person away because the volunteer wasn't needed at that particular time. Needless to say, I was furious when I found out about this! Not only was this leader wrong for turning away the ONLY volunteer but the leader wasn't sharing the ministry. Sure, they may not have been a noticeable job for the volunteer at the time, but as the leader, it is up to you to find a job, a useful job for that volunteer. My blood still boils when I think of that story. What a way to NEVER get volunteers ever again.
3. Support ministry growth, not stunt it. As a chairperson people might come to you with ideas for new ministries, new opportunities. Don't shut them down! We are to build up God's kingdom, not make it smaller. New ministries = a healthy church. Support the people who wish to make this happen. Offer helpful advice in a friendly manner and tone, even when you have some serious concerns or can think of some major pit-falls. The last thing you want to be seen as is a "bully" or an authoritative figure. Work with these people. And refer back to what being a Christian leader actually is!
Now. As far as Christian leaders being chair people for ministry goes I would like to take this time before closing to discuss how I feel these people should be running their Christian meetings as:
1. Open with a check-in of all the members. This is to "break the ice" of all the people present, to help make the committee members feel more comfortable with their fellow members, and to promote friendship. Check-ins can be as easy as telling your favorite food, your favorite holiday. Or it could be more faith-based, like telling your favorite church memory, or explaining why you are in ministry.
2. Hold worship time. Usually committee meetings have little if nothing to do with worshipping Christ. That's unfortunate because every time Christian people come together, there should be some type of worship included! That is the bases of our faith for goodness sake. Worship could be as quick as an opening prayer asking God to guide the ideas of the meeting. It could be reading a scripture or story that involves something related to the meeting's topics. I held a food safety training course recently at church with fellow church members and my worship time was looking at the importance of food throughout the Bible and especially in Jesus' ministry.
3. Have an agenda of topics to discuss and stick to it..
4. Meetings should NEVER go over one hour. This is for several reasons. One, to ensure that you respect people's schedules. Knowing that meetings are just an hour will also help your meeting's attendance and participation. Two, there is such a thing as "death of a topic" where it can be discussed too long. Keeping meetings under an hour ensure that no death's occur. Having an approved agenda (from #3) also helps keep the meeting running to only 60 minutes. If you have four points on your agenda and its 45 minutes in and you're at point two, you must get a move on, or table some agenda items. If and when you hit that 60 minute point, and the agenda is not complete, you must ask your committee if they wish to continue on for a set number of time (go 15 minutes more, 30 minutes more), if not, table the other agenda items for the next meeting.
5. Be sure that you have minutes taken during the meetings. Either by you or by a committee member. As the chairperson, you may be so caught up in running the meeting that you forget small discussion topics, who voted for what, and so on.
Being a Christian leader isn't easy. And it is always a work in progress.
My best advice for leaders is to keep Christ first. And remember that we work for Him and Him alone.
