The heart of a Christian leader: sacrificial service

I have recently been mulling on the words that Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 6:3-10 and their implications for Christian leaders everywhere. The Corinthians were not an easy bunch to minister to. They were full of themselves it seems and rather ungrateful for Paul's ministry to them. He had opened his heart to them but they not to him (2 Cor. 6:11-13). All of us can relate to that at times in leadership.


Read carefully what he said about how he ministered to them.


"We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be descredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of god with weapons of righteousness in the right and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as imposters; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed: sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything."


These themes stand out:


- A life and ministry that are above reproach
- Kindness and patience toward those he ministered to
- A life lived in the presence and power of God
- A willingness to suffer hardship for the sake of the Gospel
- A spirit of joy in spite of those hardships


There was no sense of entitlement on Paul's part. Rather, there was a willingness to endure hardship, misunderstanding and physical deprivation for the Gospel. He did not envy those who had more (the Corinthian church was wealthy) because he understood what he did have in spite of all his difficulties. He took a humble posture even toward those who had a posture of pride.

This is evident from the last sentence which is profound: "having nothing and yet possessing everything."  He fully understood that whatever his personal circumstances he actually possessed everything in Jesus. 


It is very easy in ministry leadership to feel sorry for ourselves, to think about what we do not have that others have and to feel a sense of entitlement and pride. But the heart of a true Christian leader is one of sacrificial service that gets its true satisfaction from the One we serve.


I want the heart of Paul because it is the heart of Jesus.

Seven keys to developing meaningful ministry relationships

I am a firm believer in developing kingdom relationships for kingdom purposes. My life is deeply enriched by all the wonderful friendships that have developed over the years, both inside and outside of my movement. God can use these relationships for His purposes in ways that are wonderfully creative and synergistic. 

Here are seven keys to developing these kingdom relationships.

One: Be intentional. I pray regularly that God would bring me into contact with those who I should meet. When they come across my path I take the time to spend time and get to know them. This includes those who are younger and have smaller ministries than we might have. It is not about meeting people who have a "name."

Two: Be genuinely interested in them and their ministry. This is not about what they can do for you - it is about relationship and if there are ways you can help one another, that will become clear. If not, you have a new friend.

Three: Invest in the relationship. Stay in touch. Let them know you genuinely care about them. Small acts of kindness go a long way.

Four: Go out of your way to contribute something to them. We have a philosophy in ReachGlobal that whatever we have we will give away. We want to bless others and bless God's work. It is what He would do and about His Kingdom.

Five: Find out what makes them tick. People are wonderfully unique. The more you understand what drives and motivates them and their unique wiring the better you know them and can relate to them.

Six: Never use them. People know when they are being used. And, there are groupies in the Christian world just like the Rock world. When we use people we have violated the last four keys. Never do it. That is not true relationship. 

Seven: Pray for them. If we really care about someone else and their ministry we will take the time to pray for them. And, if you pray for them, it will no longer be about what they can do for you but you join them in their ministry.

The single greatest ministry accelerator: It is not what you think!

The single greatest ministry accelerator is overlooked by many leaders. It is not a great strategy. It is not working harder or doing more. It is not having the right people (although that is important). It is not a charismatic leader (and does not require one). It does not require money. 

It is clarity! 

Many leaders miss this and expend a lot of energy in the wrong places. Getting to clarity is the single greatest accelerator of ministry there is. But it requires time, careful thought and constant reinforcement. It is actually the most important thing a leader does - or fails to do.

Lack of clarity leaves personnel to their own devices to figure out what is important, and different individuals will come up with different answers leaving the organization without a focused, aligned ministry. General focus yields general results with general accountability and general effectiveness.

Without maximum clarity, an organization will never have integration or alignment (around what?), will not attract the best people who want to know what they are giving their lives to, will not know when they have achieved success (what results are we seeking?) and leaders will not know how to intentionally lead their teams (toward what?) or have a clear means of making key directional decisions.

It is not necessarily an easy task to achieve clarity but getting there is the single most powerful accelerator to ministry results and organizational alignment. While a leader must take responsibility for helping the organization get to clarity, it is essential that the key stakeholders (boards and key leaders depending on the structure of the organization) take part in the process and are in complete agreement.

Without clarity one cannot lead well. With clarity, your leadership becomes much easier because there is focus and common direction for you, your team and the organization. Maximum clarity changes the leadership and organizational equation in a huge way.

The four areas were maximum clarity are crucial are these:

Clarity on mission: what we ultimately are committed to accomplishing.

Clarity on guiding principles: how we are committed to working.

Clarity on the central ministry focus: what we need to do every day - and do it well to accomplish our mission.

Clarity on the culture of the organization: An intentionally created culture that makes it possible to accomplish your mission.

If you have not gotten to clarity you may want to look at chapters 2,3, and 4 of Leading From the Sandbox. There is a path laid out there that can help you.

If Jesus wrote an eighth letter to the churches in Revelation and it was yours, what would He say?

It is clear from Revelation two and three that Jesus evaluates churches as well as individuals. In the seven letters to seven churches He speaks positively of some traits and negatively of others and calls them to a higher commitment to their original calling.

This latter point is important. The vision and commitment that churches have at the start often strays over time. Passion for Jesus can fade and be replaced by other things - even programs and numbers. Or, just busyness and a focus on ourselves rather than on Gospel expansion and transformation.

Here is a great question for church staff and leadership boards: If Jesus were writing a letter to your church today as he wrote to the churches in Revelation, what do we believe He would say to you? Write it down and consider sharing it with the congregation. What would He commend you for? What would He call you to? What would He candidly talk to you about?

Congregations are the local expression of the Bride of Christ. We have areas of strength and obedience where we do well. We have areas of weakness and even disobedience where we do poorly. An honest look at both could change the trajectory of your ministry - in the eyes of God.

It would make for a great discussion, some celebration and perhaps some adjustments.

Seven Habits that kill a great staff even in a good church

This is a great article for those of you who have staff. Short, to the point and right on. Even good churches can disempower their staff. Written by Artie Davis at artieDavis.com
http://artiedavis.com/2012/07/17/7-habits-that-kill-a-great-staff/

Is your primary focus on your church or community - and what it says about your Kingdom perspective

How large is your vision for what God could do and wants to do in your city and community? 


When you think about it, that is a very different question than "What do we want God to do in our church?" The first is outward focused and a Great Commission question while the second is an inward self focused question. 


In many places, one can grow a church with little impact on the community of which that church is a part. Most often that is through transfer growth from other churches. And it makes us feel successful. But is that truly success? What impact does Jesus want our congregations to have on the community at large of which we are a part?


Last evening I met with a small group of believers who are praying for Berlin, Germany. Their prayer is for a result like what happened in the planting of the church in Ephesus where the text says that "the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor" and "in this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power (Acts 19:18-20)." Bear in mind that this was a totally pagan context, like Berlin today.


Can this happen in a place like Berlin? Can it happen in a place like yours? I believe the answer is yes - but with certain qualifications.


It will not happen if we all focus on our own church. It will not happen if we don't work together for the sake of the Gospel in our communities and cities. It will not happen if we are unwilling to work together across denominational lines. Most fundamentally, it will not happen if we are building our own kingdom (our church) rather than Christ's Kingdom (impacting our whole community). It will not happen until we lose our pride about doing our own thing and humble ourselves to work with others to do God's thing. And it will not happen without the very real power of  God behind this God sized effort.


Fortunately in Berlin and in a number of places globally including the US, there are churches who are starting to think differently. They are placing the Bride of Christ over their particular Brand. They are thinking in Kingdom terms rather than provincially about their church only. They are focused outwardly rather than inwardly with a coalition of the willing to bring the Gospel to their community and city and make the name of Jesus well known and His reputation great.


Where does this start? With pastors and church leaders who will see their communities through the eyes of Jesus and who realize that a God sized vision is not a vision for their church but for their community and their city. I don't find very many of those kinds of leaders but when I do I celebrate them. What about you and your leaders? Are you thinking about Gospel penetration of your community or simply yourselves. If the former what are you doing in practical terms to make it a reality?


Are you church centric or Gospel centric?

There is always more: don't settle

Is this all there is? Have you ever asked yourself that question? Realizing that life is different than you expected and maybe you are on the other side of fifty? Perhaps life as we dreamt it would be and life as we know it to be brings a certain dissapointment and restlessness of the soul. Is this all there is?


Jesus says NO! There is always more: don't settle. He says, "I have come that they may have life and have it to the full (John 10:10)." He wants us to have a life that is fully lived, fully realized, fully filled up and full of Him. He is the giver, the source and the goal of the "more" that we long for.


As long as we have life, there are six areas of life where we can always experience more. 


Dreams to pursue. Who is the giver of our deepest longings if not God? I knew as a young child that I would write but it took over fifty years to get the first book out and now there are four and several on the way. He is the giver of dreams so don't settle. Our world is made better every day by those who pursue God given dreams.


Relationships to develop. God gave us the capacity for close, meaningful relationships but they take time and nurturing to grow and flourish. Relationships with fellow pilgrims are what bring some of the greatest richness to life. Each one changes us in some way. That is why the loss of a friend through death is so traumatic. We are enriched when we invest in those relationships.


People to love. Being Jesus to others through our love, help, assistance, encouragement, and kindness brings joy to the heart and richness of life. We find life as we give it away in a Jesus sense. Life is not found in what we get as much as in what we give. There is no shortage of people to love and to be Jesus to. In fact there are now 7 billion to choose from so enrich your life daily by being Jesus to someone.


Growth in Jesus to experience. He is the source and goal of the "more" we long for. Learning to live in His presence, focusing on allowing Him to transform us, letting His Word marinate in our minds and walking in His Spirit is an ongoing, never ending process of growth. It costs nothing and is the most rewarding life giving and soul satisfying thing we could do.


Things to learn. Who created us with the capacity to learn and to grow if not our Creator? Those billions of neurons in our brain were designed by a creative God for His creative people. As part of the Image He endowed us with, He created us to create and to learn and to stretch our minds because the more we do, the more we appreciate the One who gave the gift. It is never too late to learn and grow.


Creation to enjoy. Why are we drawn to the shore, or to mountains, or to the streams to fly fish? Why are we awed by the sky on a clear dark night? Why does the sea fascinate us? Why is my 16 month old grandchild smitten by the funny looking creatures he sees at the zoo looking back at him? He made all this for us and as we consider it and play in it we experience the Creator in a new way. And, His majesty is greater than the sum of it. 


There is always more so don't settle. And in the end, the MORE with Him in His presence will be so much more that it will take a new and heavenly body to experience it - replacing this present one that starts of fail us. Don't settle!