Dave was an amazing pastor. He could do just about anything. He had a blazing intellect, and could exposit a passage like you wouldn’t believe. His skills in counseling were outstanding. He did amazing things with the youth group and children’s program. Attendance grew under his leadership. He launched new programs and carried out the vision of the church in a way that no pastor had done before him. When it finally happened, no one saw it coming.
Albert Einstein said, “Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.” Coming from a guy who was 95 times smarter than any of us, that sounds like a pretty arrogant thing to say. R. C. Sproul put it another way, “We live in what may be the most anti-intellectual period in the history of Western civilization.” Whether stupid or just anti-intellectual, one thing is true: thinking is really, really important. This is a plea for Christians to think more, to think better, or maybe just to think.
“Leadership” conjures up ideas of authority, commands, oversight, and supervision. In modern practice, that’s precisely what it is. Christians, however, should take their leadership cues from the Bible — from Jesus who modeled servant leadership, not authoritarianism. When we peel back the stuff of leadership — all the commands, directives, and administration — we discover some of the unlikely secrets of effective leadership.
For most people in this world’s workforce, moving up and moving on is the big dream. It’s all about the next promotion, the big break, the upward advancement, the management position. There is nothing necessarily wrong with trying to advance one’s career or seek improvement in one’s situation. The problem, however, is when this same type of thinking infiltrates the calling of the Christian leader.
Dr. Samuel Rodriguez, president of The National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, is a bold voice in the Christian community. Recognized by CNN as “the leader of the Hispanic Evangelical movement,” and identified by the Wall Street Journal as one of America’s seven most influential Hispanic leaders, Rev. Rodriguez is not one to back down from his calling and task. In his many roles and responsibilities, Rev. Rodriguez is considered spokesperson for the 16 million Hispanic American born again Christians. We corresponded with Rev. Rodriguez to gain inspiration and learn from his vision for leadership.
I know you’re probably too busy to read this article, but what if taking the time to read it could change all that busyness in your life?
Busyness is endemic to leadership. Since most leaders are goal-oriented, type A, driven personalities, they have a propensity to pile too much on their plate, and then get sick trying to stuff it all down. Pastors are not exempt from the busy leader syndrome. Pastors have more than enough to keep them busy — preparing the Sunday sermon, making hospital visits, running staff meetings, planning the new building project, answering an irate email, fixing the church coffee maker, creating the PowerPoint display, and…oh yeah…he has a family, too. In general, most Christian leaders are overworked. They’re trying to save the universe from perdition, but that’s an awfully big job. Continue Reading…
Have you ever experienced a church or organization where you’re led by a bully? Your leader is like the overgrown kid at the playground who derives glee from shoving around smaller kids. He’s the leader, and he’s in control. He’s mean. He’s tough. I wish I were just painting a caricature, or indulging in a bit of overstatement, but I’m not. There are such leaders — even Christian leaders and pastors. This is the pastor who controls his church with an iron fist, and declares, “Well, if you don’t like my church, you can just leave!” They are tyrants.
No Other Name is a Dove Award-nominated vocal group. Comprised of brother and sister Sam and Laura Allen, and Chad Smith, the trio is recognized for their powerful message, their commitment to the Great Commission, and their focus on exalting Jesus. They minister at churches in the United States, and regularly go on overseas missions trips. We recently got together with Sam Allen and asked him a few questions about his ministry and leadership.
We are in an age of hero worship. We think that bigger is better. Real leaders are larger than life. The “successful pastor” is one whose congregation has crested 3,000, whose book has edged into the top seller list on Amazon, and whose blog is cruising along with 425,919 subscribers. This leader has thousands of Twitter followers, and is about to make a Facebook fan page for himself. He is getting invited to speak at conferences, and he even wears designer jeans with graphic Ts. This leader has truly arrived. What does he lack?
Possibly, he lacks accessibility.
What does it take to become an effective Christian leader? What are those essential skills and traits for improving your effectiveness in your church or organization? You’ve probably heard it before: develop confidence, live with integrity, ra-ra, bla bla. Those qualities are important of course, but what does it actually mean? What do you do? There are no easy three-step solutions. However, there are a simple changes that you can take in your daily life that will dramatically improve your power as a leader.
