The Myths of Leadershhip (Pt. 2)

Myth #6: Leaders possess a certain temperament and certain gifts.

When we consider the job description of leaders, we often focus on certain temperaments and gifts. We expect the person to be forceful and driven, a hard worker who will see a project through to completion. He is someone who is charismatic and appealing. We assume the person will be an excellent communicator who is comfortable being in front of people, teaching others the truths of scripture. However, as we examine scripture we discover that there is a difference between spiritual gifts and their function within the church and the position of leadership. A person who is to be the “pastor” is to be one who is gifted as a pastor-teacher (Ephesians 4:11). This position within the church is related to their spiritual gift. However, nowhere in scriptures do we find the position of an elder (i.e. board member) restricted to a specific spiritual gift. Rather the qualifications relate to character rather than giftedness. While the person should be able to teach (that is communicate the truth of God’s word to others) that does not mean that the person must demonstrate the gift of teaching. Just because a person is not able to get in front of people and teach a Sunday School class, does not mean that the person is unable to teach.

Myth #7: “That is what we hired to the pastor to do.”

Often in the small church when we are confronted with the responsibility of overseeing the spiritual health of the congregation and ministering to the needs of people, our response is “That is what we hired the pastor to do!” When someone is in the hospital and in need of spiritual comfort, we call the pastor, expecting him to do the visitation. When someone is going through a time of testing and difficulty, needing the encouragement and support of prayer, we rely upon the pastor to fulfill the role. If someone comes to church with questions about their relationship with God we refer them to the pastor.
Nevertheless, when we examine the pages of scripture we find that there was no such distinction in the New Testament. The pastor is not the only one who is responsible for the spiritual well-being of the congregation; rather it also was the responsibility of all those in leadership. The board is accountable to insure the doctrinal integrity of the congregation. The board is to provide prayer, encouragement and counsel for those going through times of testing and difficulty (James 5:14). The board, not just the pastor, oversees the spiritual health and well-being of the people within the church (Hebrews 13:17). All those in leadership are responsible to live in such a way that their lives become a testimony to others (1 Peter 5:3). The pastor is one who is given the task of teaching and preaching, but it is the board that is responsible for the spiritual vitality of the congregation.

Myth #8: The Board’s primary role is to maintain the peace.

Because the small church is relationally driven, the board often develops the perspective that its primary role is to maintain unity and peace within the church. As Aubrey Malphurs points out, “Though most aren’t aware of it, many boards believe that their purpose is to keep everybody happy for the sake of peace and church unity. While this is true in both small and large churches, it’s characteristic of many small churches that pride themselves in being one happy family. The board’s goal is to keep it that way.” Consequently decisions are based not upon scripture or upon the goal of transformation, but the goal of maintaining relationships. When this becomes the driving force, we become reluctant to make hard decisions; decisions that are necessary and mandated by scripture but unpopular with people in the pew. For example, we become reluctant to exercise church discipline because it might damage the relationships that exist within the church. It is important that we always remember that the board is ultimately not accountable to the congregation, but accountable to God (Hebrews 12:17). Like the people in Jesus’ day, we can become pressured to gain the approval of men, but in the process violate our responsibility before God. In John 13:42-43 we find this sad indictment of the religious leaders, “Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.” Unity is a critical indicator of the health of the church, but it should never come at the cost of biblical truth.

Myth #9: “I don’t have enough time.”

We live in an increasingly fast paced society. The nostalgia of the small town has painted a picture of a slow paced society where people have time to sit at the local diner visiting with friends and neighbors. Our view of rural America often corresponds to Mayberry RFD, where the men spend the day at the local barbershop playing checkers, talking about sports and arguing about politics. The women gather together to tie quilts for the next local church bazaar and discuss the latest scandalous town gossip.
However, reality is often far different from the myths that color our perspective. Farms have increased in size while the amount of manpower available (and needed) has decreased. As a result the farmer must do more work with less people. More and more people are still living in the small town, but driving an hour to the next town to work. The old adage that one works from sunup to sundown is not only true for the local farmer, it is true for the businessman as well. The women likewise spend their day at work as more and more families need two wage earners to keep up with the rising cost of living. The result is a significant decrease in the amount of time people have to give to the ministry of the church. When the pastor brings up the topic of the board becoming more involved in ministry there is a collective and audible groan as exhausted board members baulk at one more thing on their plate. Many of us object to doing more than just meeting once a month because “we don’t have the time.”
First, in utilizing our time we must recognize again that perception is often different than reality. While the perception may be that we do not have the time, the reality is that we do. The issue is not about time but priorities. We find the time to do what is important to us. This is true from the busiest farmer to the overworked businessman. We always find time to attend local sporting events or a local farm auction. We find time to go golfing with a business associate. We find time to pursue a hobby. We do so because these things are important to us. Second, it is critical that we realize that God never calls us to a task without first giving us everything we need to accomplish the task. The very nature of God demands that he supply all our needs to accomplish all his demands. This includes not only the resources needed for the task, but adequate time as well. The issue is not an issue of time but an issue of God’s calling and our priorities. If God has called us to be spiritual leaders within the church, then we must make it our highest priorities. Third, we need to recognize that the amount of time required is not nearly as extensive as the perception we have. Calling someone on the phone to see how they are doing takes little time but is critical to providing spiritual and emotional support to someone who is facing struggles in their life. Stopping by at the hospital when we are in town only will cost of 20-30 minutes of our time, but brings spiritual encouragement to people. In most cases we do not need to spend more time visiting with people, we just need to be more focused in the time we spend with them. Instead of talking about the weather, sports and local politics we need to talk about how things are going with them spiritually and how we can be praying with them.

The Myths of Leadershhip (Pt. 1)

Dispelling the Myths of Leadership

Often we approach our role with fear and apprehension because of the prevalent myths that plague our view of our role. These misconceptions, if allowed to remain and influence our thinking, will cloud our perspective, ultimately undermining our effectiveness as leaders within the church.

Myth #1: “I’m Just a ______________.”

Often we allow our society and culture to determine our opinion of ourselves and others. Because of this, we can approach leadership with a negative view. At times in rural areas we can easily fall prey to the thinking that “I’m just a farmer and I don’t have the abilities to do anything significant within the church.” In more suburban area, when we are in occupations that society determines to be a non-leading role, we assume that we have nothing to contribute and we cannot be effective as a leader within the church. For example, we may assume that because we are blue-collar workers we may not possess leadership qualities.
This is further compounded because we often lack training in both general leadership and church leadership which results in apprehension about serving as a board member. The problem, however, is not a lack of training, nor is it in our perception of ourselves, rather it is in our perception of God. What we fail to realize is that spiritual leadership is not based upon abilities, talents or training; rather it is based upon character and empowerment by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:1-5; 2 Corinthians 1:12). We can serve effectively, not because of who we are, but because of what God can do through us (Jeremiah 9:23-24). When we are faced with difficult decisions in the church we can have confidence in knowing that God has equipped and empowered us to be fully prepared to meet any challenge we face (Matthew 10:19-20; Philippians 4:13). Often the most effective board members are not the ones who are leaders in the secular world, but the ranch hand, the blue-collar worker, the carpenter, the average individual, who manifest a deep love for Christ, a commitment and knowledge of God’s Word and reliance upon the Holy Spirit for guidance and direction.

Myth #2 “We’re just a small church.”

It was a long day, the people were tired and hungry. For hours they had sat upon the hillside listening to the itinerate preacher proclaim the Word of God with authority. However, as the sun began to set in the western sky, many were faced with a long walk home. There were no fast food restaurants. There were no supermarkets to stop at along the way. The only food available was a small lunch prepared by a loving mother for her young son. To the disciples such a small lunch seemed ridiculously insignificant in the face of a crowd that perhaps numbered as high as fifteen to twenty thousand. However, in the hands of the living God, the lunch was more than sufficient to accomplish his purpose (see Matthew 14:13-21).
Like the disciples, we often look at the size of our church and wonder how can we do anything significant with the limited number of people, the inadequate facilities and the insufficient recourses. Because the church only has a handful of people we assume that we cannot accomplish much. When confronted with the opportunities and challenges of ministry we fall back on the response that “We are just a small church, what can we do?” We look at what we lack rather than the strengths we possess.
The problem is not the smallness of our congregation, but the smallness of our vision of what God can accomplish. What we see as limitations to effectiveness God sees as opportunities for his glory to be revealed. When we look within the pages of scripture we discover a number of times when God takes the insignificant and inconsequential and accomplishes the eternal and supernatural. Moses reminds Israel that “the Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other people, for you were the fewest of all peoples” (Deuteronomy 7:7). God used 12 average, untrained men to turn the Roman world upside down (Acts 4:13). He used a church of 120 to radically transform Jerusalem (Acts 1:15). It is never a question of size, but availability and empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
Myth #3: “We must fill all the board positions.”
In many small churches we are confronted with a minimal number of people to serve on the board. This is further compounded by the fact that many constitutions have a specified number of positions that are to be filled on the board. The result is that people are placed on the board who are not spiritually qualified. Because the church is under pressure to fill each position, the requirement of spiritual maturity is abandoned in the quest to find people willing to serve. When positions are empty, a church may even use the position as a way to attempt get a person more involved in the church. In this case a person is placed on the board in hopes that, “they will start coming more regularly if we put them on the board.”
However, scripture makes it clear that the focus of leadership is not upon organizational needs, but upon character. As we will see in chapter 3, being selected to serve on the board is not to be based upon organizational requirements or even family connections, but upon the level of spiritual maturity the person manifests. It would be better to leave a position open than place someone in the position who is not spiritually qualified. Rather than fill the position, the church should develop a strategy to train and disciple individuals to become qualified.

Myth #4: “We don’t have enough board members to be effective.”

When a small church does place only spiritually qualified leaders on the board, the result is that there can be a minimal number of individuals on the board. It is not uncommon for small churches to have only 1 or 2 people on the board besides the Pastor. The result is that we can easily conclude that we cannot be effective with such a limited number. If we are on a small board we can feel overwhelmed by the biblical responsibilities that are given us.
What we must keep in mind is that the number of board members needed to be effective is never stipulated in scripture. While the scripture does imply that there is to be a plurality of leaders, it does not mandate any specific number. It is not the size of the board that determines effectiveness but the holiness that governs their actions and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Certainly our desire should be to have a larger number on the board. But we should not think that the ministry of the church is hindered if we do not have enough individuals available. God can use any number of people to accomplish his purpose.

Myth #5. All Leaders are Visionaries.

Perhaps the most prevalent myth today, even in writings on church leadership, is that a true leader is someone who is a visionary. That is, the leader is someone who has the ability to see into the future and project what the church organizationally is to be and become and then move the church in that direction. It is important to realize that this “vision” is not one derived from scripture, but from the ability to assess the present and future setting of the church. Certainly it is true that the church needs a sense of vision and direction. It is important for the church to have an awareness of what God desires it to accomplish in the present and future. Often God equips individuals within the church with the ability to keenly discern what he desires it to accomplish. However, more often than not, the vision for the church grows out of the whole congregation rather than one individual. Our concept of vision is derived from a secular model where the focus is upon organizational growth and leadership. A biblical leader is one who has an understanding of God’s word and insight into how it should be applied within the present context. Nehemiah was a great leader, not because he had a grand vision to rebuild Jerusalem, but because he understood the scriptures that promised that God would rebuild Jerusalem if the people turn back to him (Nehemiah 1:8-9). The greatest need within the church today is for leaders who understand scripture and can apply it to the issues confronting people within the congregation, the community and the world in which we live.

Characteristics of a good board meeting.

Characteristics of a Good Board Meeting
Part 1

When we come to a board meeting, what do we expect to accomplish? How do we know that we have had an effective meeting? For many, a good board meeting is when there are no problems in the church, no disagreements on the board and enough time is left to talk about the latest commodity trends and hunting or fishing trips. However, an effective board meeting involves much more.
An effective meeting is centered upon prayer. Prayer is central to the ministry of the board. In Act 6:4 we find that prayer was one of the highest priorities of the church. In 1 Samuel 12:23 we read where Samuel considered prayer as part of his responsibility as a leader. For him, the failure to pray would be a dereliction of his duty. First we are to pray for spiritual direction and wisdom. The danger is that we can make decisions for the church without spending time seeking God for wisdom and guidance in those decisions. The result is that the church becomes marred by division (see Jeremiah 10:21). When we are making decisions we should spend time praying specifically for the issue and asking God for wisdom and guidance in the decision so that it would honor and glorify him. We should pray that the decisions that are made would bring unity rather than division within the church. Second we are to pray for the spiritual growth of people. When we examine the prayers of Paul in Ephesians 1:15-23,Philippians 1:3-11,Colossians 1:3-14 and 2 Thessalonians 1:3-12 we find that he spent a great deal of time praying for the spiritual needs of people and for their spiritual growth. We are to pray for those who are ensnared in sin, we are to pray for those in conflict, we are to pray for our young people to know God’s will. The advantage of the small church is that we often know when people are struggling spiritually. Consequently we can pray specifically for people and the issues they are facing. However, a word of caution: When we pray for individuals it is important that we maintain strict confidence both individually and as a board. The issues that we pray for should never be repeated outside the board meeting, even to our spouse. Third, we are to pray for the physical and emotional needs of people. When people are going through difficult periods of their lives and under physical or emotional distress, we are to pray for them (James 5:12-14). Fourth, we are to pray for the ministries of the church. We should pray for their effectiveness and for those who are involved in the leadership of those ministries. This also means that we should pray specifically for the needs of the Pastor and his family. As a board we should always support the ministry of the pastor in prayer and seek God’s blessing upon his life and work.
Tragically prayer is often a sideline of the board meeting. One or two people pray at the beginning and at the close of the meeting. Even these are general prayers that are offered for God’s blessing. While it is certainly appropriate to ask for God’s blessing, we should also spend much more time praying for the specific needs of the church.