Leaders need to recognize that their own family is their most important responsibility and relationship.  Frequently, ministers (clergy and laity) are caught in a conflict between the pressures and responsibilities of the church and those of their family.  The dilemma is greatly lessened when ministers come to realize that to give priority to their family is not to neglect the church.  Their family is a part of the church.  Therefore, their first calling in the church is to their own family (1 Timothy 5:8).

The leader should seek to emulate the Biblical example of family relationships and responsibilities (Ephesians 5 and 6).  Special attention must be given to the husband-wife relationship.  This relationship impacts the leader’s children and every aspect of interpersonal relationships. It has been suggested that the husband-wife relationship is a barometer of the leader’s relationship with the local church.

Implicit in the practice of family ministry is the male leader’s responsibility to be the spiritual leader in the home.  He is the priest in his home and is accountable for the training and nurture of his own wife and children.  Family worship and devotions should be well-planned and practiced on a regular basis.  The leader should recognize that the home was designed to be the center for discipleship training (1 Timothy 3:4, 5).  In ministering to his own family, the male leader is modeling for the church and the world a life-style and commitment that is extremely important.

While the family is facing its greatest crisis, every leader should do his/her best to motivate people to value and cherish their families.  An important part of the leader’s family responsibility is that of creating a positive image of the larger “family of God.”  Helping your children and other family members to identify with the local church, the denomination, and the body of Christ worldwide in a healthy, positive way is essential (Ephesians 4:19-22).

A leader’s attitude and behavior should be of the quality that a loving, concerned, and supportive relationship is nurtured in the church.  The leader and the church have specific responsibilities concerning this special relationship.  A lack of understanding of this reciprocal relationship has been the cause of much confusion and frustration for both the leader and the church.

In the local church, the leaders (clergy and laity) have many responsibilities such as the responsibility to preach, to teach, to counsel, to discipline, and to administer.  A vital part of the leader’s role in the church is that of teaching (1 Timothy 3:2; 4:11).  If Christians are to grow and to mature in Christ, they must be grounded in the Word of God.  Believers need not only a basic knowledge of the Word, but they also need an in-depth knowledge of the doctrines of the church.

Pastoral ministry is a complex task, calling for leaders to wear many hats.  One responsibility that requires an increasing amount of time and energy is that of administration.  While many principles and practices of administration utilized in the business and secular world can be used in the practice of ministry, only those which are in keeping with the New Testament guidelines are acceptable.

In a centralized form of church government, the pastor is accountable to the general church.  The pastor is to support and to implement, to the best of his/her ability, those programs and plans provided by the organization.  This interdependence has never been more needed than in the present age of individualism (1 Thessalonians 5:12; Hebrews 13:7).

Loyalty to the general church is a must if the strength of unity is to be fully realized.  The pastor’s and lay leader’s sense of support for the denomination will be reflected in the attitudes and feelings of the congregation.  Therefore, it is essential that they be exemplary in this area.

Along with this accountability and loyalty, all leaders have the responsibility of providing constructive criticism to the general church.  Honest feedback, both positive and negative, is necessary to keep the lines of communication open and to insure accessibility to those in positions of authority.

In 2 Corinthians 5:20, Paul says that Christians are “ambassadors for Christ.”  It should be the purpose of every believer — and most especially every leader — to reach out with the ministry of reconciliation.  Christians are to make disciples of all men everywhere (Matthew 28:19, 20).  The ministry of reconciliation means literally “to serve in love.”  Such service demands personal relationships with people everywhere, regardless of their connection to the local church.

The practice of ministry to the world is global in scope.  It extends beyond one’s own community, language, and culture (Acts 1:8).  The model leader/pastor recognizes that the world is our mission.

If the leader is to be effective in the practice of ministry, attention must be given to self.  In light of the great responsibilities and the influence the leader exerts, Paul exhorted Timothy to “take heed unto thyself” (1 Timothy 4:16).

The leader must maintain a strong devotional life in order to be a vessel fit for the Master’s use.  The consequence of failing to do so is seen in the Song of Solomon:  “They made me the keeper of the vineyards: but mine own vineyard have I not kept” (1:6).  A daily time of Bible reading and prayer is a must.  It is of more than just passing interest that the great men of faith — and even Jesus Himself — kept a daily quiet time (1 Timothy 2:1-5).  In addition to personal devotions and prayer, the effective leader will take advantage of opportunities to participate in corporate worship, prayer conferences, spiritual retreats, educational opportunities, and self-evaluation.

The complexities and pressures of the ministry are resulting in a great deal of stress for many leaders.  One area often overlooked in coping with this stress is recreation.  A balanced schedule of regular exercise is not only enjoyable, it is vital to the leader’s health and well-being.

Time management is a subject receiving increasing attention in the ministry today.  In Colossians 4:5, the Apostle Paul admonishes us to make the best possible use of our time.  He further admonishes us in Ephesians 5:15, 16 (Phillips) that we should, “Live life, then, with a due sense of responsibility, not as men who do not know the meaning and purpose of life but as those who do.  Make the best use of your time, despite all the difficulties of these days.”

Time management is really priority management.  Our goal in this area should be to learn how to manage our priorities in such a way that our potential is reached not lost.

In order to be an effective pastor/leader, you must practice the wisdom that produces excellence.  Excellent leaders are expected to do many things well.  They are expected to have their feet on the ground and still be dreamers and visionary.  They are expected to be in control and on top of those things that are really important.

Prioritizing our list of things “to do” is vital.  This helps us to plan our work and to work the plan.  It helps us to learn to live with the end in mind.  We must avoid doing the non-urgent and non-important.  Remember that you will never be able to do all you want to do or all some people want you to do.  Do what you know is of the highest priority first and then do the best you can while keeping a healthy balance in your life.  Constantly ask yourself, “Is this really important?”.  Research shows that we tend to spend 80% of our time on the low priorities and only 20% on the high priorities.  We need a system that will help us get organized and really use it.  This will help us to focus correctly and to break bad habits.

A great deal has been said in Christian circles about the stewardship of money and possessions, as well as the stewardship of talents.  These matters ought to be addressed by the leader, and along with these he/she should also add the stewardship of time.  Total stewardship is the responsibility of the leader who is serious about a life-style of discipleship which can be modeled for those who are looking to him/her for leadership.

This personal charge, from an anonymous source, succinctly summarizes the leader’s responsibility to himself:  “I charge you to keep your hearts alive in the things of God.  Be men of prayer and faith, and do not be satisfied with anything short of a continuous sense of the divine presence in your hearts and lives.  If you find your spiritual tide running low, call yourselves to prayer and fasting and to humbling yourselves privately before God until He shall pour out His Spirit upon you anew.  This will enable you to minister with unction and power and will give you an element in your work that cannot be described in terms of human force and power.  Insist on praying through to God every day and allow nothing to take the place of this divine assurance.  Be clean and holy in your lives.  Abstain from all appearance of evil.  God help you as ministers of the Gospel to remember this charge.”

The leader faces two grave dangers in answering the call to ministry to the body of Christ.  The first danger is that we may not develop a workable understanding of our call to ministry and realize exactly what God wants for us.  The second danger is that we might get so overwhelmed with the multiple demands people and the ministry make on us that we lose sight of God’s will for us and lose the joy and sense of divine purpose so desperately needed to fulfill God’s call.

A leader confronting these dangers may have a low level of motivation and remain rather bewildered and confused about what is important and designed by God.  Some leaders oversimplify issues and avoid conflict at any cost.  They may be inadequately prepared to deal with the complex and deep problems of the people. They tend to avoid face-to-face interaction in question-and-answer teaching or small-group discussion encounters.  They may even be more and more personal in the public while becoming increasingly unavailable and aloof.

Elton Trueblood makes this observation:  “The central problem which faces the minister is that of his/her own identity.  In the midst of competing and even contradictory pressures it is sometimes hard to know who we really are.  This problem must be solved before lesser problems can be addressed.  Am I a prophet, teacher, promoter, performer, preacher, counselor, visitor, business manager, or what?  This question is not easy to answer because it is intrinsically complex.”

Such a dilemma need not occur if a Biblical understanding of the ministry of the whole body, putting the servant role of the leader/pastor and the church in proper perspective, is developed.  It will then become apparent why the Apostle Paul majors in character traits and knowledge of the Word as the primary qualifications for ministerial leadership (1 Timothy 3).  If the leader understands himself/herself to be a servant, then he can develop a specific plan that will give expression to a Biblical identity and will result in personal fulfillment rather than psychological and spiritual burn-out.  Self-fulfillment in service to the Body occurs when we see our ministry as more than that of a mechanical, entertaining motivator of passive listeners.  When a relationship of mutual trust and interdependence in Christ is the primary goal, the leader and the pastor will make disciples and build ministries which will stand the test of time and eternity.

The servant of Christ believes that each of us will face God and give an account for our every word and deed.  We also know that the coming of the Lord will happen suddenly and unexpectedly.  This sense of accountability and urgency, when seen in the light of the love of God, becomes a purifying hope which sanctifies the ordinary and extraordinary deeds of ministry.  All of life becomes worship to the glory of God, and all who serve Him in the Spirit know that their labor is not in vain.  Such a belief becomes a strong motivation for us to summon all of our resources and to put forth every effort to fulfill God’s specific will for our lives.

Once life-goals have been identified, analyzed, and prioritized, then there must be a determined effort to appropriate the gifts that God has made available.  These may be supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit, and they also may be natural gifts, talents, and abilities which God provides through others as well as oneself.

Scripture makes it clear that God does bestow gifts and graces sufficient to accomplish His will:  “I can never stop thanking God for all the wonderful gifts he has given you now that you are Christ’s.  He has enriched your whole life …. Now you have every grace and blessing; every spiritual gift and power for doing his will” (1 Corinthians 1:4-7 TLB).

The discovery, affirmation, and appropriation of these special gifts and abilities are absolutely essential to the accomplishment of the will of God.  The following steps of positive action may be helpful in this regard.

• Free yourself from the prison of self-incrimination.  You are a person of great worth endowed with God’s special gifts (Ephesians 4:7).
• Make yourself available to God.  A person of prayer, study, and faith will create an atmosphere in which his/her gifts will be discovered and appreciated (Isaiah 6:5-8).
• Center on others rather than on self.  Our own gifts are discovered and revealed as we are in the process of ministering to others.
• Don’t be afraid to acknowledge your gifts.  Recognition of one’s own abilities need not be prideful; indeed, it is necessary to the continued strengthening of those gifts.

Boundless resources, which are so necessary to the effective carrying out of ministry, are available to every leader.  Sometimes these resources are overlooked because they are so readily available — public and institutional libraries, Bible colleges with special courses for area ministers/leaders, state colleges with courses such as counseling and writing, special emphasis seminars offered by other denominations and church agencies.

In addition to its variety of on-campus training programs, the Church of God offers the most extensive programs of in-service training for ministers of any denomination — Lay Leadership Development, Ministerial Internship Program, Ministerial Development Institutes, specialized training seminars, extension centers, and various other seminars, conferences and retreats.

Today in our world of high-velocity change, with the breakdown of morals and with a loss of faith, we need leaders who will follow the example of Jesus Christ in attitude, perspective, behavior, values, and desires.

God has called men and women into the ministry of the Word in order to proclaim Christ to a lost and confused world.  Spiritual leaders in church ministry, at all levels, must work to shape the ministry by correct belief, behavior, and character.  Leaders are role models and everything a leader does serves as one more building block in the habit patterns and spirituality of the church.

Because of the call of God upon the lives of ministers (clergy and laity), people in the church see ministers as having power and influence.  By this we mean that they are seen as having special ability to achieve that which is important and to motivate others to follow Christ and believe.

More than ever, we must demonstrate daily a profound trust in God’s plan and model a life that is on the pathway to joy, peace, and life everlasting.  We must never forget that we are servants of God to the church and the world.  As Christ did, we must take on the very nature of a servant leader (Philippians 2:7).

Our world has quickly changed.  Some would say that the world’s role model has switched from Mother Teresa to Madonna.  The message of the world is clear:  indulge, satiate, and pursue pleasures without restraint.  Selfish interest is not only tolerated today, but actively promoted and encouraged.  This must not in any way be true of the ministry.

We are only gradually awakening to the full extent of the disaster taking place in our world and even in Christianity.  The devil is attempting to destroy those things which make life important — especially our values and our faith in God.  Almost surprisingly, we find ourselves in trouble.  All too often, we find our lives to be prayerless, depressive, and self-destructive.

The church needs a leadership (laity as well as clergy) spiritually fit for the challenge.  Spiritually we need quicker reflexes, more speed, agility, and power with God.  All too often we find a ministry out of touch with God and blind to the diversions of satan.

We need a plan, a strategy for personal and spiritual development.  We should be strongly encouraged to participate in continuing educational experiences and take advantage of personal development resources available to us.

In the final analysis, it is the strength that flows from all the Body that makes possible the fulfillment of the individual member’s unique ministry.  “Under His direction the whole body is fitted together perfectly, and each part in its own special way helps the other parts, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love” (Ephesians 4:14 TLB).

The practice of ministry is the logical, Scriptural outcome of what a believer is and knows.  The minister/leader, as one who has professed a specific calling to serve the body of Christ, sets the example for other believers of how knowledge translates into action.

The struggle to be all that one should be is an intense, ongoing process.  The process is much more manageable and less painful when we understand more precisely our responsibilities.  In a world of many messages, it is imperative that we hear the voice of God and that we be convinced of the uniqueness of our individual mission.

The motivation to fulfill our ministerial responsibilities becomes stronger as we perceive our work as a completion of the ministry of Christ on earth (John 14:12; 20:21).  Our task becomes more joyous as we understand how we fit into the purpose of God.  We ultimately embrace the testimony of the Apostle Paul:  “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13, 14).