INTRODUCTION

The call of God upon the life of a man or woman is a great honor and opportunity.  All believers are called to ministry and must be trained and equipped for kingdom service.  The work of God can never be completed by clergy alone.  It is God’s plan for each local church to be an army of called and anointed laity who have equipped themselves for leadership and for soul winning.

1) LEADERSHIP FOR THESE CHANGING TIMES

Leadership for these changing times must be one that inspires trust and confidence—a leadership that will get people involved in ministry instead of being spectators.  Many church members today are spiritually dysfunctional.  This causes the local church to be weak and void of passion and purpose.

The New Testament church was one of a plurality of leaders, both clergy and laity.  God calls pastors and laity to join hands and hearts and seek to fulfill God’s vision for the Church  in the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

Developing leaders among laity is a part of the vision of the Church of God Ministerial Development.  Our challenge is also to equip pastors to be transformational motivators and mentors in order to develop visionary lay leaders.

The kind of leader God wants us to be is one that not only works within the situation but brings needed change to the situation.  Be a leader who not only talks about a hurting world, but one that does something to change this hurting world.  We can be a leader whowill motivate people to do more than they expected to do.  We can elevate the aspirations and goals of Christians so that they will believe God for great things.

If we are really called of God to be a leader of people, we will not only be concerned with doing things right, but with doing the right things!

A) Spiritual Leaders Must Prepare Themselves

So many people are looking for shortcuts and easy steps to victory.  It is not hard to find people who want high positions, who want to speak to great crowds, or who want to write “best seller” books.

A principle we must understand, accept, and activate is this: “The will to win or succeed is important, but the will to prepare is vital.”  Many people lead congregations poorly and ineffectually.  They keep on leading this way because leading below our potential becomes a habit!

One reward of preparation is the achievement of excellence, but excellence comes gradually as a result of consistent effort.  We have developed patterns that are destructive and need to be broken.  These can be patterns designed to set us back and defeat us spiritually.

B) Ministry Must Follow a Divine Pattern

Contemporary leaders are caught in frightening spiritual and social tornadoes now raging through our church and world.  Society cannot flourish without godly church leaders, laity, and clergy.  Something must be done about the hazards choking the hope out of people’s lives and ministries.  Ministers today often feel disenchanted, discouraged, and even outraged.  Fatigue shows in their eyes and worry slows their stride.

The devil has designed a fall for every one of us.  The devil has placed distractions, discouragements, and deceptions all around us.  Just as it was in the days of Malachi, the priests are living loose and the people are shallow in their relationship with God.  A leader can only live this way for so long before he/she loses his/her effectiveness and anointing.

We must have a persistent and pervasive pursuit of God or we lose our anointing.  The devil has our number and he knows our weak points.  When the glory and power of God is not heavy on us, we become vulnerable and we soak in our hurts and pains.

If the devil can’t pull us down, he will push us up.  The devil knows how people like power and how we tend to live in self-sufficient pride.  Let us humble ourselves before God and follow patterns of spirituality, faith, and purity.

2) THE CURRENT CRISIS IN MINISTRY

The Church is the first line of defense for the family.  The Church must not be permitted to flounder.  Pastors and lay leaders must be partners in local church ministry.

Ministers feel overloaded today.  Few of us live with any real margin or reserve in our lives.  Our family lives are out of balance.  The burden of the unfinished work is like being over a bottomless pit.  Many lay leaders, as well as pastors, are tempted to give up.  They feel overwhelmed and victimized because God’s work is such a great challenge for laity and clergy.  In many parts of the world, fewer results are seen in response to our effects in ministry.

Most churches today (about 90%) are in a survival mode, just hanging on for dear life and trying to exist.

Outside the church, we face a new dark age where the masses have no Christian memory, where success is god and faith is irrelevant.  Evangelism and church ministry are harder now than ever before. The unprecedented shift in morals and values are jolting congregations.  About 80% of pastors believe that the ministry negatively affects them or their families.  Forty-seven percent of adults say that the Christian faith is relevant to life, but only 28% of those believe that the churches in their area are relevant.  That is not at all encouraging, but it sure shows us the challenge ahead.

Let’s look at some of the dangers facing all church leaders today (laity and clergy).

A) Danger 1 – Walk-On-Water Syndrome

Sometimes people won’t let leaders be real people.  It seems that they often expect the impossible.  They want leaders who can walk-on-water and still want to stay at their church.

B) Danger 2 – Disastrous Personal Problems

About 94% of all pastors feel pressured to have an ideal family.  Because of the pressures and low salaries, many pastors have a variety of problems.  Lay ministers and leaders are often under the same pressures as pastoral staff members.  Lay ministers, like tent making pastors, devote high levels of time to local church ministry and maintain a full time secular job.  These pressures on pastors and lay leaders create problems such as:

  • insufficient time
  • financial needs
  • marital problems
  • poor communication
  • fatigue
  • stress related illness
  • few friends
  • dislocated from family
C) Danger 3 – Church Member Migration

Many members are moving.  They are not just moving to a new town but simply moving from one local church to another.  They feel very little loyalty to any denomination or congregation.

D) Danger 4 – People Are Distracted

Modern life is very hectic.  Lay people are busier than most pastors realize.  The Church has become only another small part of an overloaded schedule.

E) Danger 5 – Suffocating Expectation

Expectations in the church are going up while commitments are going down.  Even the most emotionally robust leaders find it a strain to simultaneously cope with whining traditionalists, demanding baby boomers, and lethargic fellow Christians.  As a result, a perpetual juggling act is required to deal with the mushrooming expectations that originate from spouse, children, employer, congregation, denomination, community, or even self.  Consequently, a dehumanizing fatigue of faithfulness becomes a way of life for too many lay leaders and pastors.

F) Danger 6 – Decimated Absolutes

This permissive society has trashed absolutes.  The for sures have been traded for maybes.  Little is being done to repair the ethical foundations that are crumbling everywhere.

Whatever the reasons, Biblical absolutes have deteriorated into mere opinions.  The salt is obviously losing its saltiness.

G) Danger 7 – Dwindling Public Confidence

Scandals continue to plummet public trust in ministers.  We should not be surprised that society no longer reveres ministers as shapers of conscience or communicators of values.  Like it or not, millions view ministers as trifling, demagogic, self-seeking, lazy, or even immoral.

As a result, few people seriously listen to what pastors or lay ministers say about anything, especially the meaning of life, faith, morals, or redemption.

A Christian leader’s Christ-quality life is God’s most convincing answer to secular suspicions of spiritual shepherds.

The list of dangers or hazards for the ministry could go on and address issues such as dysfunctional people, defections, infidelity, loneliness, and money.

One thing remains for sure, we must make certain about our calling and about our ministry.  We must keep our eyes on God and our hearts pure.  We must not let the world set our agenda and we must keep a proper perspective on the issues of success and pleasing God.  In order to be a person of trust and integrity, we should do the following:

  • Live on a high plane of holiness and keep our life saturated in the Word.
  • Do some things extremely well and do not try to do everything.
  • Accept the reality of unfinished work. Do what is high priority and keep perfecting our list of priorities.
  • Seek always to know what God wants us to be doing.
  • Do not allow a minority to determine our perspective or to control our agenda.
  • Keep our marriage strong.
  • Remember that we are not indestructible.
  • Understand that are not immune to failure.  How we handle problems when things go wrong is what matters.
  • Maintain a repentant lifestyle.
  • Practice self-control and spiritual disciplines.
  • Never avoid accountability.
  • Do not be afraid of a challenge.  We should attack tough obstacles with faith in God.
  • Live a principle centered life.
  • Keep God first.
  • Get control of our financial debts.
  • Keep free from possession fixations.
  • De-professionalize our faith and ministry.
  • Make our spouse glad to be married to us.
  • Guard against perils.
  • Understand our personality type and weaknesses.
  • Sharpen our people skills.
  • Learn how to work with people as teams.
  • Recognize our need for power to control.
  • Resist the “too busy” syndrome.
  • Drop all pretense.
  • Review our patterns of ministry and devotions. Then make the right changes.
  • Seek to disciple and develop other lay leaders.
  • Take time for restoration and relaxation. We need margins (control, boundaries, spiritual reserves, balance) in our life.
  • Never let our relationship with God suffer.

3) TWELVE STEPS TO TAKE CHARGE OF OUR LIFE AND LEADERSHIP MINISTRY

Spiritual dryness and discouragement afflict leaders more now than ever.  We are in a world of people with half-hearted commitments to Christ, with moral bankruptcies, devastating habits, and dysfunctional families.

Strong action is needed among leaders to address the dangers facing the church.

Step 1) Resist Personal Spiritual Power Leakage

A leader’s intimacy with Christ is the irreducible minimum for useful service.  Without a personal faith and joy, we are an empty echo of what God intends for us to be.

We cannot be productive without a life of holiness.  We can do nothing without Christ and the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

Being in the middle of God’s work does not make us vibrant or powerful.  Leaders can lose out with God and become shallow, superficial, and empty.  Effectiveness in ministry requires that the leader integrate personal piety and spirituality with painstaking competence.  We must stay close to God and plug up the leaks that destroy our zeal and our anointing.

Step 2) Commit to Contentment and Change

Gratitude for what we have keeps us from chafing about what we don’t have.  Contentment encourages us to make the most of what we have and to try even harder.

Some people, even leaders, are perpetually, habitually discontent.  Contentment boosts credibility.  Remember people are slow to follow a complainer.

Change must not come from frustration or impulsive discontent.  Change needs to be thought out, prayed through, and must flow from a contented personal spirit that is ready for change, growth, and new challenges.

Step 3) Restore Vision to Our Mission

We must understand what God has called us to do and why.  Our practices and priorities must be consistent with our vision.

The involvement of laity in ministry is probably the result of unclear purposes and confusing goals.  Many laity become decreasingly interested in what goes on in churches.  The problem is a lack of vision and united commitment to purposes that are bigger than we are.

We must never let our struggle for success, achievement, or power blind us to the things in life that should really matter most.  Feelings of futility can come from giving too much of oneself for too long to what does not really matter.  Some leaders’ stress problems come from being too active (busy) to be effective.

We need a purpose statement for our life that can bring everything into focus and help us gain control.

Step 4) Choose Abundance Mentality

God is our resource and our sufficiency.  We need to live our lives out of faith, power, and victory.  There is no limit to what God can and will do for us.

Scarcity thinking describes many leaders.  They seem to suppose that only so much good can happen or that so much success can be achieved.  We need to know and believe that God wants to bless us and that there is no limit to what He can do.

Step 5) Cultivate a Break-Out Spirit

Imagination and innovation are in short supply everywhere, especially in the church.  Sometimes we need to break out of old ways of thinking and doing.  We need to seek God for demanding cures and apply them to ourselves first.  All break-out leaders, like Luther, Wesley, and others, merged personal faith, the needs of the hour, and the power of the Gospel.

We need to be proactive leaders who take initiative to find solutions, to make things happen, and to glorify God.

The Serenity Prayer asks that, “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Step 6) Question the Quality vs. Quantity Myth

Ministry usually gets bigger when it gets better.  As leaders, we need to always seek to improve the quality of our ministry.  Improvements in one area create improvements in other areas.  When quantity does not result from quality ministry leadership, we should evaluate the quality.  We do not have to choose between quality and quantity.  We focus first on quality and then expect the quantity to follow as more people become aware of and interested in what our church has to offer.

Step 7) Transform Ambiguities into Authenticities

Leaders need to communicate in a language that people can understand and identify with. Sometimes our way of communication keeps people away from God and confuses them.      Plain speech, eternal truth, and logic on fire from the Holy Spirit release the Gospel’s authentic life-changing power.  People do not want double-talk, they want life-changing words from the Lord.

Step 8) Cherish People

God intends ministry for people.  We must love people even though they often surprise and disappoint us.  They are the reason Christ came.  Leaders’ success is directly related to how much they cherish people.  Leaders must not allow bitterness to develop.  We must evaluate everything we do on the basis of how well it will minister to the average person.

Step 9) Fuel Perseverance with Passion

Some leaders give up too soon.  Success often comes from a long process of doing the right thing for the right reason long enough.  We talk about perseverance but we do not always practice it with any degree of passion.  Passionate perseverance rekindles motivation, so ministry is a joy instead of just work, a delight instead of a drag, and an ecstacy instead of an obligation.

Step 10) Treasure the Pleasure of God

In order to do this step, we must keep God in focus and fix our eyes on Jesus.  Remember it is God, not just people, who leaders should seek to please.  God is always satisfied with our best effort.

No leader will ever have the freedom, support, or time needed to achieve all he/she desires.  Knowing that God is pleased with us and knowing that we have made a difference in people’s lives should give us great joy.

Step 11) Dare to Lead

Leadership must be earned not bestowed upon.  And remember, no one follows those who do not lead.

The most impressive and magnetic characteristic of the effective leader is a single-minded devotion to lead people into the deeper depths of Christ likeness.

Strong, capable people stand in the wings of churches waiting to follow the example of competent lay leaders who dare to partner with God and with the pastor to see the vision become a reality.

Step 12) Boldly Train People in the Life-Changing Principles of God's Word

Teach, preach, and communicate in every way possible those powerful truths of God’s Word which have changed you and can change your world.  Leaders need to learn to be masters at communication, modeling, and motivating people.

Ministry can seem like madness unless you love it and know that God has called us to spiritual leadership.  God trusts you and He has set you apart as a lay leader and servant.  God is your source and strength, never give up.

CONCLUSION

In this lecture, we have been asked to look at the importance of affirming the call of God that upon your life.  This study talked about the need for leadership in these changing times.  No church will ever achieve excellence without mature and capable lay leaders, as well as godly pastors.

In too many churches today tensions run high, leaders burnout and drop out.  Laity are suffering from disillusionment, members are leaving, priorities are confused, and the needs of people go unmet.  The primary cause is inadequate leadership on the part of pastors and laity.

We must understand and address our own crises and then refocus toward the astounding opportunities around us for ministry.

Never in human history has the church been more needed than now!  We desperately need lay leaders with a deep personal faith in God and commitment to Christian service andleadership.