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Part Two of The myths of following a Christian Leader.


Leading through motivation and trust.

Last time I talked about two of the four things that I look for when following a Christian Leader. Today I want to look at the final two; motivation and trust. These things are not to cast doubt and portray the negative but to help look at ways of doing Christian Leadership better.

When serving another leader do I feel motivated to do so? Is the Christian Leader that I follow excited about what they do so much so that they get me excited about it too? The great news is that 7 out of ten Church leaders consider themselves to be great motivators. The bad news- and here is the disconnect that I mentioned last time, is that only 3 out of ten who follower, believe that to be true.

Motivation works in theory but is much harder to achieve in practice. In churches most of those we need to motivate are volunteers. Christian leaders rely on teams of volunteers to make things happen in church. In order to keep the high level of  motivation needed, a number of other things need to be linked to the excitement and motivation coming from the Leader.


Volunteers must feel excited in themselves, believing that what they do is relevant and they want what they do to have great results. Not every volunteer will feel the same. The team work and the structures within those teams need to be fulfilling to the volunteers in those teams. The person fits the gift and the gift fits the person,  in other words,the right person in the right place. Are our volunteers rewarded for what they do? Often just mentioning them by name helps to motivate and make them feel good about what they do. Having a genuine culture of motivation not just lip service helps inspire those who are considering following.

The forth and last area of following a leader is that of Trust. Do I trust the person that I follow? For the most part the lack of trust comes from the difference between what a person says and what they do. In this age most people leave a church not because of doctrinal issues but in areas of philosophy, - the way church is done, and trust.

The disconnect comes when there is an attitude of saying one thing and doing another. Trust needs to be, strong, honest, and vulnerable. Christian leaders must learn to portray that they too are human and make mistakes. Trust creates good communication, understanding and shared values but when there is an aloofness between leader and volunteer, a gap of disquiet opens.

Christian Leaders are called to a higher calling and standard and when these are not met then this leads to disappointment and mistrust.

Jesus said "Let your yes be yes and your no be no" it's simple really.


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