John Sweetman

In this series of articles, John explores the fundamentals of Christian leadership. He presents seven callings that Christian leaders need to pursue because this is what God asks. Expanded versions of these articles with extra readings are available at http://www.malyonleadership.com/moodle/course/view.php?id=2 .

Calling 5: Christian leaders grow IMPACT

The issue of success is a difficult one for Christian leaders. We are called to be faithful to God’s call not necessarily successful in terms of the results of our leadership. But while we can’t always judge the effectiveness of our leadership by measurable results, to say that impact doesn’t matter is incorrect. We are stewards of the resources that God gives us, and God expects a return on his investment. We must make a difference.

This is made clear in Jesus’ parable of the “talents.” In Matthew’s version (25:14-30), the master gives different resources to each of his servants and expects them to put these resources to work. He doesn’t mind that one servant achieves less than another servant, but he does care deeply that one servant does nothing at all with the talent he is given.

While our hope of God’s eternal acceptance is completely and only dependent on God’s grace through Jesus, God does expect that our faith will result in action (Jam. 2:14-17). The gifts God has given us are for the community (1 Cor. 12:7) and he is expecting that they will be used to make a difference. This means that if God gifts you and resources you for leadership, he is expecting that this investment in you will bring some form of result.

Being an effective steward

So how do you ensure that you are a good steward of the gifts and resources that God has given you? The good steward in the parable “went at once and put his money to work” (Matt. 25:16). The simplest answer seems to be that he committed himself to work intentionally and effectively.

This concept is a specific application of the biblical idea of “self-control” (Gal. 5:23). In other words, being a good steward means taking control of your priorities to make sure that you are using your gifts and resources (like time, opportunities, relationships, money) to make the difference that God wants.

1. Take responsibility for your choices and behaviour.
Intentionality starts with taking responsibility. If you see your life as being controlled by external circumstances like people or situations or work or experiences or even your personality, then you’ll always have good reasons for not being intentional. The guy who buried his talent (Matt. 25:24-25) actually blamed his circumstances. Ultimately, our behaviour is a product of our decisions not our conditions

2. Use your time well.
You do need to work out how to manage your time. Everyone develops their own methods and priorities in managing time. But to serve God effectively, you have to have control over your time.

3. Grow your relationship with God
Spiritual growth is fundamental to Christian leadership. If you are not building your relationship with Christ, eventually you’ll find yourself with nothing left to offer. Your leadership will become more and more about you, not God. Spiritual growth is usually accelerated during difficult times when you desperately need God. But in the normal times and good times, it’s your spiritual disciplines that maintain spiritual momentum.

4. Invest in others
Leadership is primarily about people. Goals, planning, programs and structures are all important, but leadership is about influencing people and you do that mainly through relationship. Some of our influence comes as we rub shoulders with those we are leading, but we also need to intentionally invest in their lives.

5. Set and achieve goals.
Here’s some advice on achieving goals:
a. Focus on what you can do best. We often try to do too much and find ourselves so stretched or distracted that we don’t do anything well. Pray about this, get a direction, then prune off the good things.
b. Spell out what you’re planning to do – what you’re planning to achieve (with God’s help), how you’re going to achieve it, and when it will happen. Make your plan simple, focusing on the important issues.
c. Make yourself accountable. Decide who will keep you accountable to follow your plan. It may be a governing board, a leadership team, or a friend. But if no-one checks, your plan will soon be forgotten.

Personal Reflections on Growing Impact

Please rate each statement on the following scale:
5 – Strongly Agree; 4 – Agree; 3 – Neither Agree nor Disagree; 2 – Disagree; 1 – Strongly Disagree

TOTAL the scores for each quality and this gives a score out of 25.
A score below 20 indicates significant room for growth.

1. I am committed to making an impact for God and willingly make the necessary sacrifices.
2. I have control over my life and use my time effectively.
3. I have spiritual disciplines in place that ensure my spiritual growth.
4. In the last 12 months I have achieved goals that I have set.
5. Others can see that God is having an impact through my life.

Discussion Questions on Growing Impact

1. What issues have the readings and reflection raised for you?

2. Share any ideas you have on managing your time/life effectively. Vote on the best idea.

3. How can you tell when you’ve got the balance right between working hard at your leadership ministry and spending time with friends and in recreation/relaxation?

4. Planning and organising grows in importance as your sphere of influence grows. What ministry planning methods have you used? What works for you?

5. Is it always possible to achieve things for God or are there some leadership situations where you will never be successful, no matter how hard you try?

6. Describe a leader who has impressed you with the impact they’ve had. How has this been achieved? What have you learned from them?

Case Study

Katie has been through goal-setting retreats with her team every January for the last three years, but they never seem to make any difference. The year starts with good intentions, but then everyone gets swamped with commitments and it’s really just a matter of survival. Katie is wondering whether setting goals is a waste of time or whether there’s something wrong with her approach. What would you advise?

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John Sweetman

In this series of articles, John explores the fundamentals of Christian leadership. He presents seven callings that Christian leaders need to pursue because this is what God asks. Expanded versions of these articles with extra readings are available at http://www.malyonleadership.com/moodle/course/view.php?id=2 .

Calling 3: Christian leaders grow TRUST

God is completely worthy of our trust (Ps. 37:5-6). God is always reliable and his promises will always be fulfilled. He never abuses or has hidden agendas. His heart is completely for us. Ultimately we don’t trust in ourselves or other people, we trust in God. But in Ex. 19:9, God says to Moses who faces the long-term leadership of Israel: “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you.” God wanted Israel to see that Moses, as his servant, could be trusted. They needed to be able to trust their leader.

God want leaders who can be trusted to shepherd. He wants his sheep to be able to find security without being ripped off. His promise through Jeremiah was: “Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding.” (Jer. 3:15) These are leaders who will be safely trusted.

1. Leaders with God’s heart (character)

The biblical idea of heart is a little different from our modern usage. We tend to think of heart as the centre of our emotions, feelings, passions. Whereas our mind is the centre of our thinking and ideas. But the Hebrews tended to lump them all together. Your heart is the centre of your physical and spiritual life; the origin of your thoughts and passions and of your plans and feelings. Biblically, your heart is your central core. So to have God’s heart means that at the centre of your life is a deep desire to obey and serve God. When it comes to the crunch, you only want God and his ways.

This is what God cares about in more than anything else. Your gifts, abilities and achievements mean squat if there’s no godly heart driving them. As God himself said to Samuel (1 Sam. 16:7): “Everyone else looks at the exterior stuff, but I am purely interested in his heart.”

Of course, it’s not always easy seeing what a person’s heart is like. But character reflects heart. As Jesus said, “By their fruit you will recognise them… Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.” (Matt. 7:16-17) The Bible has much to say about godly character in every Christian, but it is particularly fussy about the character of leaders. Basically godly character has to do with consistently displaying the character of God in every situation, whether we are being observed or not, whether we are under pressure or not.

Of course, character growth doesn’t come easily. It requires God’s Spirit working in the life of the leader over time (Gal 5:22-23). It is often accelerated by difficult situations and failure. Bobby Clinton (from Fuller Seminary) suggests that character development occurs most prominently in two phases of Christian growth – in early Christian growth and testing, and in the challenges that come after experiencing success. Confession, repentance and the acceptance of God’s grace are vital components of character growth.

2. Leaders with knowledge and understanding (wisdom)

The second part of God’s promise through Jeremiah about the future, promised generation of godly leaders, was that they would be shepherds with “knowledge and understanding.” (Jer. 3:15) In other words, they would have godly wisdom.

There is an on-going debate in leadership circles about whether leaders are born or made. Some people have genetic (God-given) assistance, but the Bible makes it clear that Christian leaders are made. No-one is born with “knowledge and understanding.” Leadership has to grow and develop. Our knowledge and understanding of God’s ways (spiritual wisdom) develop in three main ways – through studying God’s word, through listening to the Holy Spirit, and through learning from others.

Character + wisdom = spiritual authority

The combination of godly character and spiritual wisdom produces spiritual authority. When a leader’s words come reinforced by a consistent, godly character and an obvious understanding of God and his ways, they resound with authority and followers can trust them. Those who are spiritual can recognise God’s voice and will freely submit. Not many young leaders will have strong spiritual authority. Usually, character and wisdom take time to develop. But this is the direction Christian leaders are heading – building character and wisdom that reflects God’s heart.

Personal Reflections on Growing Trust

Please rate each statement on the following scale:
5 – Strongly Agree; 4 – Agree; 3 – Neither Agree nor Disagree; 2 – Disagree; 1 – Strongly Disagree

TOTAL the scores for each quality. This gives a score out of 25.
A score below 20 indicates significant room for growth.

1. I have seen significant positive changes in my character in the last few years.
2. Generally I am faithful, patient, humble, honest, gentle, and teachable.
3. Sometimes I just know that I’m speaking on behalf of God.
4. I have a trusted mentor who regularly guides me and holds me accountable.
5. I am respected and trusted by almost all the people in my team.

Discussion Questions on Growing Trust

1. What issues have the readings and reflections raised for you?

2. Describe a leader who you have highly trusted and explain what they did that made you feel secure?

3. What areas of character are the most important in Christian leadership? What should we look for first in potential leaders?

4. What are the main barriers limiting character growth?

5. How do you build character?

6. How do you build wisdom?

7. Do you feel confident in referring to Scripture when you speak with team members? Why or why not?

8. Share and celebrate character strengths you see in each other.

Case Study

Zac leads a small group and does a great job. It’s one of the most popular small groups in the church. Zac’s combination of warmth and biblical knowledge make him an ideal small group leader. It’s easy to see that the people in his group are growing spiritually and becoming more passionate about mission. But Zac has a problem. About once a week he finds himself trawling the internet for pornographic sites. He doesn’t think this is okay, but while the habit is not getting worse, he can’t break free. No-one knows about this. He doesn’t feel that it affects his group leadership and generally his spiritual life is healthy. But he eventually decides to check with you (his friend) as to what he should do about his leadership of the group. What would you suggest?

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John Sweetman

In this series of articles, John explores the fundamentals of Christian leadership. He presents seven callings that Christian leaders need to pursue because this is what God asks. Expanded versions of these articles with extra readings are available at http://www.malyonleadership.com/moodle/course/view.php?id=2 .

Calling 2: Christian leaders grow LOVE

The Apostle John (1 John 4:16-21) makes it clear that love is at the heart of God and our relationship with him, and is consequently at the heart of all our relationships. He says:

We know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him… We love because God first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must love his brother.

Well that’s pretty straight. Love is foundational. So love must pervade our relationships with our followers. Yet I must admit that I’ve not seen love mentioned much in the leadership literature. Paul makes it clear that love is crucial in ministry (1 Cor. 13:1-3). You can have fantastic gifts and incredible knowledge. You can make huge sacrifices. But without love it means nothing.

Let me say it clearly: Christian leaders love those whom they influence. Growing love for and between team members is essential for leaders. It’s our second calling.

Servant leadership

Perhaps I’ve been too hard on the leadership literature. While they seldom mention love, some authors do consistently refer to servant leadership. It seems to me that serving is the practical outworking of love. We show our love for someone by serving them.

If you want a clear description of what a loving, serving leader looks like, then Paul’s beautiful picture of the outworking of love is a great place to start. I will substitute the phrase “servant leader” for “love” in this passage.
[Servant leaders] are patient and kind. They do not envy, do not boast, and are not proud. [A servant leader] is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not easily angered, and keeps no record of wrongs. [A servant leader] does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. [A servant leader] always protects, always trust, always hopes, and always perseveres. (1 Cor. 13:4-7)

I realise that this is a high ideal. But Jesus calls us to not just show this type of love to our friends and followers, but also to our enemies (Lk. 6:27). So loving our team is a good place to start.

How do you serve and lead?

True servant leadership is first serving and second leading. This is the crunch issue. It’s what Jesus was getting at when he talked about serving being fundamental to greatness. If leading is more important to you than serving, then inevitably your followers will be following your agenda. Now this agenda may be very worthwhile, but it will be your needs/dreams/desires first and their needs second. We don’t practise serving to make our leadership more effective. We practise leadership to make our serving more effective.

What does a servant leader do?

Being a servant leader means offering those who are following you:

• interest in and understanding of their personal lives;

• concern for their total well-being – their physical, emotional, relational and spiritual health;

• sacrificial service that comes at a cost to you;

• attention to their opinions, ideas, and concerns;

• recognition of and encouragement for the contribution they are making;

• passion for and commitment to their growth and development;

• wisdom and direction in order for them to become all God intended them to be; and

• belief in their potential even when they cannot see it themselves.

When followers find that their leader is truly motivated by love for them and a desire to serve them, they understand that they are personally significant. They feel that they are not merely part of the furniture – a cog in some great God-given dream or a pawn in a leader’s personal plan. But instead they feel valued and valuable, not simply for what they can contribute, but foremost for who they are. They feel loved and respected and significant.

Personal Reflections on Growing Love

Please rate each statement on the following scale:
5 – Strongly Agree; 4 – Agree; 3 – Neither Agree nor Disagree; 2 – Disagree; 1 – Strongly Disagree

TOTAL the scores for each quality. This gives a score out of 25.

A score below 20 indicates significant room for growth.

1. I can honestly say that I love the people in my team.

2. Serving is more important to me than leading.

3. Those in my team know that I have time for them.

4. I pray regularly and persistently for the people who report to me.

5. People do see me as a servant. This is one of my prominent attributes.

Discussion Questions on Growing Love

1. What issues have the readings and reflection raised for you?

2. Describe a leader who you feel has loved you. How did they show this?

3. What are some practical ways leaders can show a servant attitude towards those they lead?

4. What stops Christian leaders growing love among those they lead (maybe even when they are seemingly serving others)?

5. How can you tell when a leader is being a doormat rather than a servant leader?

6. In a busy world with many demands, how can you tell when you’ve served your followers enough?

7. Is it okay to invest more servant time into some followers than others? On what basis?

Case Study

Jenny is 25 and a new Christian who has no church background. She has a leadership role in her work in the banking sector and is moving quickly up the corporate ladder. She has obvious leadership skills and she comes to see you about taking on a leadership role in the church. How might her leadership at work and her leadership in the church be different? What would you say to her about Christian leadership? Would you encourage her to take on church leadership?

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John Sweetman

In this series of articles, John explores the fundamentals of Christian leadership. He presents seven callings that Christian leaders need to pursue because this is what God asks. Expanded versions of these articles with extra readings are available at http://www.malyonleadership.com/moodle/course/view.php?id=2 .

Calling 1: Christian leaders grow GRACE

At the heart of Christianity lies incredibly good news – that Jesus lived, died and rose again to save sinners like you and me (1 Tim. 1:15). We will never deserve his forgiveness and we can never earn it. Our new life comes as a completely free gift that only needs to be received. Christian life always starts at this point. There is no other way into the kingdom of God. We enter as children – offering nothing but our repentance, love and need.

So grace is the foundation for everything Christian, including leadership. If we are not living and sharing grace we have nothing to offer as a Christian leader. This may seem an exaggeration, but it’s actually fundamental. What marks you as a Christian leader is living and sharing God’s grace.

Unfortunately many Christian leaders start on a grace footing but begin to think that somehow they have earned their influence and achievements or deserve their failure and lack of success. They stop living in grace and this inevitably damages their lives and eventually undermines their spiritual leadership. We start with grace. It’s at the core of Christian leadership.

Repercussions of grace for the leader

Your call and capacity to lead come from God’s grace. He has chosen you to influence others. Therefore he has gifted you with the talents you need, provided you with the right personality for what he wants you to do, and given you a group of people to lead. Then he has promised that he will provide strength for you and give you help and direction. All these come as part of God’s gift to you. They can never be earned.

Christian leaders are primarily followers of God and are deeply dependent on God. This means that as leaders we understand that our leadership capacities come from God’s hand, our achievements are because of God’s power, and our influence is through God’s grace. Nothing we accomplish can ultimately be traced solely to our ability or effort, but all is a result of the grace of God through our lives.

Ultimately we lead, not because we have superior skills or greater wisdom or better character, but because we have been called to lead through God’s grace and we want to honour and serve Jesus. Christ is the centre of our attention and we want followers to grasp that he is the strength and power behind our leadership.

Living grace

In one way, this makes Christian leadership more challenging than secular leadership. We can’t just charge ahead with our own ideas and dreams, but need to humbly seek God and obey God. We view success as being a gift of God’s grace not a sign of our ability. We don’t strut. We want people to recognise God’s grace through our attitudes and approaches in leadership.

We lay down our lives for those we lead, whether they appreciate it or not. We recognise that the means we employ are just as important as the ends, and so we seek to be God-pleasing in all we do, even when it comes at a cost. We also celebrate God’s grace through the successes of other leaders. Our leadership is about Jesus, not us. Yes, this is a real challenge. Living by grace always is.

In another way, God’s grace makes Christian leadership more liberating than secular leadership. We appreciate his grace and know that failure is not the end. We can be honest about our brokenness. We recognise that faithfulness to God, not performance, is the real measuring stick of leadership success. We know that we have Christ’s grace and power to do the things to which he calls us, and that he can do immeasurably more than what we could imagine (Eph. 3:20). We know that he hears our cries for help. We rest in the fact that ultimately leadership is God’s responsibility and that he will achieve all that he plans.

God’s grace means we’re significant, no matter what happens to our leadership. Yes, Christ’s grace provides great security and strength and sets us free as leaders.

As the grace of Jesus drives our leadership, we naturally offer it to others. The Apostle Peter says “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Pet. 4:10). Our primary goal in leadership is that the grace of God might transform the lives of those we lead. We do this by first following and depending on Jesus, and letting his grace through us touch the lives of those we lead.

Personal Reflections on Growing Grace

Please rate each statement on the following scale:
5 – Strongly Agree; 4 – Agree; 3 – Neither Agree nor Disagree; 2 – Disagree; 1 – Strongly Disagree

TOTAL the scores for each quality and put the total in the box. This gives a score out of 25.
A score below 20 indicates significant room for growth.

Discussion Questions on Growing Grace

Case Study

Kate is the sort of girl that everyone likes. She is capable and charismatic and is a natural youth leader. After 18 months as the main youth leader in her church, she has grown the Friday night youth group from 15 to about 50. There is plenty of pressure but she works hard and the kids love her. One Friday night after a discouraging youth program when only 20 turned up, Kate suddenly decides that she doesn’t want to lead the youth ministry any more. She feels that she has nothing more to give. That it’s all too hard. But she doesn’t want to let people down, so she comes to you (her friend) to talk it over. In the light of this study, what issues would you raise with her?

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The church is a place where you can ask questions, seek answers, and grow in your relationship with Christ. It is not a place for perfect people. As a pastor or congregation, how are you to treat those who are struggling with public sins or questions about God? What does a church who lovingly accepts those who are lost look like?

Pastor John Burke, along with his congregation, understands that no matter what your past (or present) looks like, you are welcome in the church.

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