People need leaders, or else they tend
to stay in the same place.
Moses said to the Lord , “May the Lord, the God of the spirits of all mankind, appoint a man over this community to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the Lord’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.” (Num. 27:15-17)
Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Matt. 9:35-38)
Without leaders, people are like “sheep without a shepherd” – they wander aimlessly around accomplishing very little.
A leader helps someone move from where he is now to somewhere else.
Hopefully, the “somewhere else” is somewhere better than where he is now.
This is one difference between a good leader and a bad one.
Good leaders help people move to better places;
Bad leaders take people to worse places –
they are effective leaders, but they are bad!
The lack of leadership is why so many people are not progressing in their lives.
Many churches have great pastors, but many pastors aren’t leaders.
They are maintaining; they are taking care of the people in their
church; but they are not leading. They are not helping their people to move anywhere. The people are only surviving; they are not fulfilling God’s purposes.
Certainly, the people do need to be taken care of but that is not enough.
They also need to go somewhere.
They need to mature and to fulfill God’s purposes.
Moses said to the Lord , “May the Lord, the God of the spirits of all mankind, appoint a man over this community to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the Lord’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.” (Num. 27:15-17)
Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Matt. 9:35-38)
Without leaders, people are like “sheep without a shepherd” – they wander aimlessly around accomplishing very little.
A leader helps someone move from where he is now to somewhere else.
Hopefully, the “somewhere else” is somewhere better than where he is now.
This is one difference between a good leader and a bad one.
Good leaders help people move to better places;
Bad leaders take people to worse places –
they are effective leaders, but they are bad!
The lack of leadership is why so many people are not progressing in their lives.
Many churches have great pastors, but many pastors aren’t leaders.
They are maintaining; they are taking care of the people in their
church; but they are not leading. They are not helping their people to move anywhere. The people are only surviving; they are not fulfilling God’s purposes.
Certainly, the people do need to be taken care of but that is not enough.
They also need to go somewhere.
They need to mature and to fulfill God’s purposes.
Some current brief definitions of leadership are:
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Leadership is relationship.
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Leadership is influence.
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Leadership is vision.
- Leadership is transformation.
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Leadership is empowerment.
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Leadership is personal responsibility.
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Leadership is decision-making.
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Leadership is team-building.
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Leadership is change or managing change.
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Leadership is culture.
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Leadership is motivation.
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Leadership is persuasion.
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Leadership is creativity.
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Leadership is self-management.
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Leadership is communication.
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Leadership is character or integrity.
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Leadership is credibility.
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Leadership is trust.
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Leadership is modeling.
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Leadership is servanthood.
These are all good definitions of certain aspects of leadership but none of them is a sufficient definition of leadership overall. They are all too brief, too limited and inadequate.
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"A leader helps someone move from where he is now to
somewhere else."
Why is there a lack of leadership in so many churches today?
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Many people in leadership positions simply don’t have a
leadership orientation or calling.
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Many people who are called as leaders are not sufficiently
equipped in leadership.
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Many people who are leaders have no time for the future because they’re too absorbed in the present.Moreover, the lack of leadership is why many businesses stagnate. They may be good at what they do, but they are not keeping up with a business environment that is fast changing. Many businesses are being left behind – because of a lack of leadership.The lack of leadership is also why many families do not fulfill the purposes of God for their lives.
The lack of leadership is why nations, who are otherwise rich in resources, stagnate.As a leader, you help someone move somewhere else. And essentially you help them move somewhere where they probably would not have gone by themselves. That is leadership.Thus, leaders build bridges:
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From here to a better place.
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From the present to the future.
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From potential to fulfillment.
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From vision to experience.
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From anticipation to realization.
Leaders build bridges over the waters of impossibility.
(Adapted from Leadership Notes 2001)
A leader helps someone move from where he is now to
somewhere else.
Let’s break this definition down:
A leader:
Let’s break this definition down:
A leader:
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This may be in any context – church, family, business,
government, or education. Moreover, it may be at any
level throughout an organization.
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The leader may be good or bad. There is both good and
bad leadership. A good leader leads you somewhere
good; a bad leader leads you somewhere bad. A leader
leads you; he moves you; he takes you somewhere
different from where you are now – that place may be
either good or bad. Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini were all
extraordinary leaders. They were very effective leaders.
They moved many people great distances. However, they
were bad leaders. Where they moved the people to was
bad.
Helps:
• The good leader “helps” people move. He does not make
them move. This is how he does it:
• The good leader “helps” people move. He does not make
them move. This is how he does it:
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The leader is at the front – calling to the people,
“Look! Here’s the vision!” “Here’s where we can
go!” “Here’s what we can accomplish!” “Wow!”
“Let’s go!”
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The leader is behind – picking the people up when
they fall, encouraging them, “You can do it!”
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The leader is beside – showing the way to the people,
“Watch! Here’s how to do it! Here’s the path to walk
in to get where we’re going.”
Someone:
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The leader must have followers. A person may be a great
speaker, writer, scientist, inventor, musician or artist, but
if no one is following him, he is not a “leader.”
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These followers must be people. Leadership involves
people. It is distinct from administrative paperwork,
committee meetings, planning activities, or writing
sermons.
Move:
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Leadership involves movement; leadership involves
change. Leaders must be willing to follow God when the “cloud” moves and to repeatedly let go of old ideas and old ways of doing things and adopt new and better ones. Moreover, they must be able to help their followers generate the high levels of enthusiasm needed to accomplish change. For the change to succeed, many people across the entire organization must move, but the leader is the one who often starts the movement or gives it direction and momentum.
In speaking of “change,” we do not mean leaders will change orthodox doctrine or the eternal truths of the Word of God. Some spiritual leaders resist the idea of change because of their commitment to the unchanging Word of God. However, you can take a bottle of pure water and pour it into a variety of very different containers without the water itself being changed at all. In the same way, the eternal truths of God can be expressed in many ways and in many different forms. Sometimes, however, these forms become chains or straitjackets. They stifle us and make us ineffective in our ministries to others. It is these external forms – structures, processes, habits, ministry strategies, etc. – that God often wants to change.
From where he is now:
• The leader first understands where the people are now.
Realistically, he examines the current state. He defines
the need for change; he is not interested merely in change
for its own sake. The leader must understand his people –
their needs, conditions, circumstances, aspirations and
capacities:
Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds; (Prov. 27:23)
The proposed change must serve the people, not merely the leader’s own personal ambitions. Moreover, a good leader is deeply concerned with maintaining social harmony between the people throughout the change.
To somewhere else:
• After defining where the people are now, the leader then defines where they could and/or should go – the potential, the opportunity, the vision for the future or the solution to a major current problem. Then he defines how they will get there – the path, the broad plan. Then he says, “Let’s go!” and leads them there. Along the way he encourages them to continue through the inevitable setbacks and disappointments until finally they reach their goal.
Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds; (Prov. 27:23)
The proposed change must serve the people, not merely the leader’s own personal ambitions. Moreover, a good leader is deeply concerned with maintaining social harmony between the people throughout the change.
To somewhere else:
• After defining where the people are now, the leader then defines where they could and/or should go – the potential, the opportunity, the vision for the future or the solution to a major current problem. Then he defines how they will get there – the path, the broad plan. Then he says, “Let’s go!” and leads them there. Along the way he encourages them to continue through the inevitable setbacks and disappointments until finally they reach their goal.
(Adapted from Leadership Notes 2001)
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