We have seen how people in churches can quibble, quarrel, and divide.  This discord can become so destructive that a congregation may have a great schism and divide.

There will always be unhappy, dysfunctional people in churches whose behavior promotes discord.  This causes all leaders to spend a great disproportionate amount of time in conflict management.  One of the primary tasks of leaders is to promote a spirit of cohesiveness and fellowship throughout the church.  Internal discord or dissensions often make churches the target of sneers and shaming from outsiders.

Churches are torn by pettiness, immaturity, and carnality.  They are crippled by interpersonal tensions and power struggles.  All church leaders, clergy and laity, must stand strong and follow a strategy and lifestyle that promotes unity and cohesiveness.

The average length of a pastoral tenure in the United States is less than three years.  The brief tenure of the average pastor is a problem for everyone involved and can reflect deficiencies on the part of pastors and/or laity.

Sometimes a brief pastorate is God’s plan for the church and the minister. However, some pastors behave inappropriately, use poor judgment, lose touch with God and/or the people and bring trouble upon themselves.  They may be offensive in the pulpit, err in church business meetings, become too aggressive, use unwise tactics, or fail in one-on-one relationships.

Whatever the reasons are, pastoral resignations and firings are on the increase.  In some denominations in the United States, as many as 10% of their pastors are fired or forced to leave each year.

Pastors are often bruised, battered, and disillusioned with ministry in the local church.  Even though their personal faith in Christ and in their ministry calling remains strong, they seriously doubt the worthiness of pastoral ministry.

A fact of pastoral ministry and lay ministry is burnout.  Denominational leaders who deny the reality of burnout probably have not pastored in a long time.  Most burned-out pastors stay in the ministry and move from church to church in an apparent hope of finding a church where they can feel fulfilled and believe that they are making a difference.  The time has come that we must do something to alleviate leadership ineffectiveness, burnout, and drop out which is decimating the church.

Every minister (laity and clergy) must make personal development and ministry enrichment a high priority.  If we do not, we will be neither versatile nor flexible enough to make the changes that the times demand.  There are many signs of the entropy or impotence we see today bringing deterioration to the church. 

Some of those signs are as follows:

• Men and women who have lost a sense of divine call to leadership ministry.
• A tendency toward superficiality.
• A lack of training of lay leaders designed to enable and release them for ministry.
• A “dark tension” among key people.
• Problem-makers outnumbering problem-solvers.
• Leaders who are pessimistic about the prospect of change and growth.
• An obsession with numerical and statistical success.
• A lack of purpose and vision.
• Leaders who will only play it safe, protecting their power base
• A focus on an administrative leadership to the neglecting of a spiritual leadership.
• A trend away from women involved in ministry.
• A rise in racial tension and abuse.
• A constant decline in the membership of Christian denominations.
• A rejection of the church by young people.
• A lack of clearly emerging leaders who have the respect of vast numbers of Christians.
• A rejection of Christian values by the media and society in general.

We are facing times of great transformational shifts.  These are shifts that could shatter some of the old ideas and structures.  We need transformational leaders who will be rocks of stability and spiritual vision.  We need leaders full of youthful zest and passion but without youthful disorder.  We need leaders who possess wisdom and maturity without becoming rigid and stuck in tradition.

One of our major concerns is the dismal reality of the trend toward spectator religion.  One of the most disconcerting realities in the church today is that we have so many Christians who are spiritually dysfunctional and uninvolved.

Some people become vagabonds, drifting from church to church.  Often they drop out of local church attendance completely and become enamored with the TV (media) church.  Others gravitate to the pews of large churches where they are entertained by religious performers.  Thus, many of these professing Christians become mere attendants in a contemporary brand of pseudo-Christianity.

Leaders must find ways to rekindle the spiritual vitality of this enormous resource of people.  One of the keys is the development of lay leaders who will be activated for ministry and who will model ministry before the onlookers.

Holy Spirit empowered ministry is functionally crippled or non-existent in many churches.  Ineffective, dying churches can be found everywhere.  These churches are spiritually stagnant in spite of nice buildings and lawns.  Even some churches with large crowds and an array of feverish activity have little sign of spiritual life and ministry.

There is a lack of discipleship ministry in most churches.  Evangelistic outreach to the community on the part of an anointed laity is almost a thing of the past.  Real ministry in a local church ought to consist of feeding the hungry, caring for the sick and elderly, strengthening the weak, equipping the saints, visiting the prisoners, reaching the children and the like!

Churches are not ministering more because laity are not being trained, developed, or motivated.  Worship is not really meaningful in many churches because a passion and hunger for a touch from God has been lost.  When a church is weak and has lost a sense of purpose and divine touch, the leadership (clergy and laity) must accept responsibility.

Leadership influences people and shapes movements!  The results of local church ministry depend upon the quality of the leaders and upon the appropriateness of their conduct.  Our lack of vibrant ministering churches reveals our need for better leadership in local churches.

Christianity is craving genuine, compelling leadership.  Warren Bennis told at a leadership conference in North Carolina in 1987, “Instead of leaders, we have celebrities, stars, heroes.”  When are we going to realize the kind of leadership we need in the church?  We have seen some heroes fall, some churches die, and our moral fiber ruined.

Sometimes clergy take too much blame for church problems and failures and too much credit for church successes.  True spiritual success requires leaders who are in touch with God and who are committed to develop lay leadership.

May it never again be said that “the Church of God is a preacher’s church.”  The clergy is not the ruling class and laity the inferior class.  We are all ministers and in need of developing our gifts and learning to fulfill our callings.

Leaders must never use power in a way that abuses their privilege.  Each Christian must live under the discipline of Scriptural authority.  Leaders must be careful to act within the guidelines of Scripture and respect the priesthood of all believers.  Leaders are respected when they do not abuse their power or position.

Never are church leaders to think of their status as lordship, but as servanthood.  Note the following about true spiritual leaders:

• Spiritual leaders do not dominate, they serve.
• Spiritual leaders do not command, they guide.
• Spiritual leaders do not manipulate, they teach.
• Spiritual leaders are not lords, they are models and ministers.

Whenever these truths are ignored, church leaders become dictators, overbearing and ugly. The love of preeminence, greatness, and authority is the antithesis of Biblical leadership.  Leaders must remind themselves that they are servants of the church; their power is the power of example, teacher, and servant.

The real power of leaders is the Word of God spoken through them and exemplified in them!

The only kind of power that is moral in a spiritual setting is the power of personal spiritual authenticity.  Spiritual authenticity is the validity of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit demonstrated in the lives of leaders.  The leader influences others not by the power of personality or by persuasive tricks, but by a life irradiated and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Church leaders should not be selected and entrusted with authority merely because of their expertise or skills as evaluated by secular standards; however, this is often done.

Service and spiritual authenticity must be the basic criteria for leadership.  Therefore, we must have and always use programs of supervision and mentoring as required prerequisites for leadership.

A spiritual leader must not be judged by the materialistic standards or criteria of the world.  We must never forget the basic task of spiritual leadership is the development of relationships with people that will enable them to achieve the purposes and goals of God (Ephesians 4:14-16).

Spiritual leaders help followers identify the mission of the church and to believe that they have a vital part and must perform their role.  Effective leaders instill a sense of identity and direction in their followers.  Effective spiritual leadership must have a passion for evangelism and discipleship.

Let’s look at some additional examples of effective leaders.

1. They never rest till others share their passion for souls.
2. They are impatient with bureaucracy and go straight to matters of real ministry.
3. They initiate programs that will produce gifted, mature, ministering saints.
4. They change or eliminate non-productive programs.
5. They train people rather than doing the work themselves.
6. Their management style is that of a gentle, affectionate father.
7. They do not set goals for the church but they help the church set its own goals so that the church will grow in the process, own its goals, see them as worthwhile, and be motivated to achieve them.
8. They do not make plans for the church, but they involve many people in planning.
9. Pastors must do the necessary administrative tasks, and they must do it so well that they will have time for their primary tasks of prayer, preaching-teaching, discipling, and shepherding.
10. They must be extremely sensitive to the Holy Spirit and demonstrate loving service to the body.

Holy Spirit empowered ministry is functionally crippled or non-existent in many churches.  Ineffective, dying churches can be found everywhere.  These churches are spiritually stagnant in spite of nice buildings and lawns.  Even some churches with large crowds and an array of feverish activity have little sign of spiritual life and ministry.

There is a lack of discipleship ministry in most churches.  Evangelistic outreach to the community on the part of an anointed laity is almost a thing of the past.  Real ministry in a local church ought to consist of feeding the hungry, caring for the sick and elderly, strengthening the weak, equipping the saints, visiting the prisoners, reaching the children and the like!

Churches are not ministering more because laity are not being trained, developed, or motivated.  Worship is not really meaningful in many churches because a passion and hunger for a touch from God has been lost.  When a church is weak and has lost a sense of purpose and divine touch, the leadership (clergy and laity) must accept responsibility.

Leadership influences people and shapes movements!  The results of local church ministry depend upon the quality of the leaders and upon the appropriateness of their conduct.  Our lack of vibrant ministering churches reveals our need for better leadership in local churches.

Christianity is craving genuine, compelling leadership.  Warren Bennis told at a leadership conference in North Carolina in 1987, “Instead of leaders, we have celebrities, stars, heroes.”  When are we going to realize the kind of leadership we need in the church?  We have seen some heroes fall, some churches die, and our moral fiber ruined.

Sometimes clergy take too much blame for church problems and failures and too much credit for church successes.  True spiritual success requires leaders who are in touch with God and who are committed to develop lay leadership.

May it never again be said that “the Church of God is a preacher’s church.”  The clergy is not the ruling class and laity the inferior class.  We are all ministers and in need of developing our gifts and learning to fulfill our callings.