Christian Leadership is contextual.

Christian Leadership is contextual.

A short while ago I received an email from an old friend in New Zealand. In the email he was bemoaning the fact that we had been talking about leadership in churches for over a decade, yet leadership had made very little difference. He felt that perhaps we needed another model or better still get back to good old pastoring, where the pastor looks after one church for a lifetime.

I have written before on how I love looking at the Christian job websites and look at those jobs that are advertising for pastoral positions. When the recruitment committees of churches are looking for a new pastor, the last thing they are looking for is a leader. They are looking for someone who can solve a problem or be an expert in a particular area of ministry.

The one thing that all Christian Leaders have in common is that they breathe, all the rest is just contextual, one size does not fit all.

Following on from my last blog, leadership is cultural. In the west we tend to measure leadership among churches as to how successful you have become and how fast your church has grown. Leadership is not measured on faithfulness or the length of time a person has been pastoring. Whereas in the east leadership is measured to some extent on the exact opposite to the standards of the west.

I don't think my friend's solution is the right one, nor do I think that going backwards is the way to go. When it comes to recruitment for pastoral/leadership positions I think many committees have also got it wrong, because it's not all about filling a position to solve a particular problem of that church or parish.

Leadership is about risk. For the Apostle Paul it was planting, for Apollos it was watering and for another it was reaping the reward. For the modern day Christian leader it's about doing the same thing, but also knowing when to move on in order to develop and increase their portfolio of skills. It is also about building a team around you that will extenuate your strengths and take up the slack on your weaknesses. The wrong leader can result in the collapse of a church, the wrong skills could end in the demise of the leader.

Lastly beside breathing, Christian leadership is about future proofing, looking ahead and developing the skills that may be required to carry your church into its future success.

Comments

The myth of Ministry Leadership.

The myth that all leaders are leaders. Not everyone who leads in church is a leader. I think it is wrong, for Church leaders to believe that those they train up to take various ministry leadership positions, are in fact leaders in their own right. They are not. At best I would categorise these people- that many churches call 'ministry leaders' as ministry managers. "At one level there is nothing wrong with title inflation; it is a cheap way of recognising people who work hard and make serious contributions" Jo Owen. I am of the opinion that this title inflation undervalues both the leader and the ' ministry manager' and can often bring about confusion and mismatched expectations. Many churches have ministry training evenings for their volunteers. Many use the reason for this training is "to make a person a better leader," when in fact the only thing actually happening is that th...

The 1970's Christian Coffee Shop

I remember as a new Christian being invited into a Christian Coffee shop in the town where I grew up. It was clean and tidy, the table tops were all brightly painted in different colours, but mainly yellow and scattered on top were a random selection of Christian tracts. Fish symbols and Christian posters proclaiming that there was but 'One Way' to heaven were everywhere. The music playing out of the stereo was The Bill Gather Trio or Dolly Parton singing Gospel. The crockery, was a mixed assortment of coffee mugs, donated by keen supporters of this outreach to the unsaved sinners and ungodly people living in the city. The coffee was a local brand heavily mixed with chicory. In all the years the Coffee Shop operated, I never saw a non-Christian go in and I never heard of a person coming to faith through having coffee there. I never really understood its purpose. Fast forward to today, when I was asked recently, to advise on helping a local community church open a c...

Christmas Holiday or real Commitment to the real Saviour.

Bells and Baubles are so prominent at the moment on our Christmas trees and in our shop windows. The glitter and the tinsel sparkle in the festive lights, seductively drawing us closer, enticing us to buy more to stash more presents under the tree. After all it's the season for giving, or is it. Bells may ring and baubles dangle but Bethlehem is where my thoughts are at the moment. Not on giving but on sacrifice. Remember the sacrifice that Joseph made when he took Mary, already pregnant, to be his wife. Or the sacrifice, Mary made to reveal to her family that she was carrying a child, despite the ridicule and shame that would result from this revelation. The sacrifice that the Shepherds made to leave their flocks in the hills, at the mercy of predators, just to get a glimpse of God. Let us not forget God who made the ultimate sacrifice to give up His son to a sinful and forgetful world. Let us also remember the hundreds, if not thousands of people, who give up their day to serve u...

Tim King Leadership

Search This Blog