Your personal development forms the foundation of your leadership.But, it you stop there, you won’t develop your organization. In other words, your personal piety won’t grow a church. It cannot do it alone.
Imagine a ship’s captain who studies the charts, practices personal disciplines and scores well on his tests to become a ship’s captain.
What happens?
The ship never leaves the dock.
Until that captain actually leads people to loose the mooring, ready the ship, set the course and move to sea, the ship remains in port. Without leadership, the ship never sails. Personal integrity without organizational skills amounts to, well, personal integrity. And, personal integrity is a good thing, an important thing. But, it isn’t the thing that gets the ship moving.
The same is true of your church.
The present-day contains a lot of people of personal integrity. You meet them. I see them. We hear how they read through the Bible forty-one times in forty-one years. And they fast, pray, witness, preach, hold meetings, visit the sick, do pre-marital counseling, attend meetings, elect committees, make sure the bill are paid, love their spouses and children and treat their neighbors well. These necessary things develop a person, but fail to develop a church or an organization. Many of these people serve in positions of leadership. Some were even told, “You just preach the Bible faithfully, and God will take care of the church.” The truth is that is not true. Leading requires more than preaching/teaching and fulfilling your personal obligations. My heart breaks at so many leaders who invest fully in doing these things, yet their churches remain stagnant.
How can that be?
Because leading an organization, including the church, requires additional skills. Personal skills produce personal excellence. If you want organizational excellence, you must improve organizational skills.
And, what’s more, Jesus used organizational skills.
Specifically, when He inaugurated the church, He implemented the four key pillars every organization needs. Here, we share the first two.
Whether a church, for-profit company or non-profit corporation, clearly using these four pillars are key to your success.
For example
- What great church do you know that doesn’t have strong leaders who know what they need to do?
- Or, what non-profit organization that makes a great impact in the social sector lacks a strategy?
- How many strong companies don’t possess a strong culture?
- Name three great churches who don’t have a clear picture of their preferred future?
- What God-honoring church doesn’t have a mission that the members know?
The answer to each of these questions is “none.” And, you could use any of those questions with any of the other organizations in the questions.
So, here in Matthew 16:13-28, Jesus inaugurated the church (the first time the word was used) and shows us the four pillars necessary to begin an organization. These are the four. Other parts of great churches/organizations stem from these four. But without these, your church has a gaping hole that limits your effectiveness.
Pillar #1. Define the purpose of the organization:
Matthew 16:18. “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. “
From the get-go, Jesus made it clear they would overcome the gates of Hades. Although often underplayed, Jesus said He would “build” and “penetrate”. You cannot overcome the gates of Hades without penetration. You can’t get there by thumb-twiddling here. This enterprise exists to act against the forces of death and the evil one.
Clear mission. Clearly up front. For more on purpose/mission, check out Gives Direction, Grants Consolation, and Expands Your Impact. (And, what applies to your mission personally also applies organizationally to your church or organization.)
Pillar #2. Identify & empower the leaders
Jesus identified the leaders when He called them. Notice, He didn’t recruit followers, He onboarded leaders. “Follow me,” he told them, “and I will make you fish for people,” Matthew 4:19, Christian Standard Bible (CSB). They knew their job at the first interview. Although not a detailed explanation, the signees understood they would be required to produce. Do the people you recruit know they will be expected to “do” something? Spectators need not apply.
Do you recruit followers? Or, do you do what Jesus did and recruit leaders?
Don’t Just Recruit
Jesus also empowered the chosen leaders to fulfill the purpose. This is a big deal. Many well-intended, passionate and potentially world-changing ideas fall by the wayside because we give people responsibility without authority. Have you been there? It’s hard to think of something more frustrating than wanting to do a great job, but you can’t because you don’t have the “say” in the matter to do what needs to be done.
Give Authority with Responsibility.
That’s a lot of power. Authority empowers your leaders to accomplish your mission. If you don’t give authority, you undermine the very mission you dedicate your life to fulfill.
Establish Expectations
Not only did Jesus recruit and empower leaders, He told them what He expected:
Matthew 16:24-26: Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it. For what will it benefit someone if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will anyone give in exchange for his life?
What do you expect from your leaders?
One Example
Do you think they should tithe? Have you told them? Do you systemically reinforce that throughout your organization?
Non-profit leader, do your board members know you expect them to write a check to the organization? Did you know most foundations require every board member to personally give money to your organization? Even if the board member represents a company who gives corporately, she/he must give personally. Outside organizations expect your leaders to give. Those outside leaders are asking, “If the people who know most about what you do are not contributing financially, why would I give you money?”
Financial investment shows only one expectation. If you do expect it, let them know. Make it part and parcel of your organization. Your church/organization and your leaders will be stronger because of it.
Promise Rewards
Matthew 16:27-28: For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will reward each according to what he has done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
Tell your leaders what they get for leading well.
In my context, leaders get a few benefits.
Leaders here at Stowe Mission:
- Make a difference in the world by practically helping needy people
- Participate in the most important purpose on the planet
- Become better themselves personally and become a better leader
Of course, don’t promise more than you can deliver. Try that once and you’ll be spending a lot of time with a mop and a bucket cleaning up the fallout from dashed expectations. Rather, a great principle to follow is “Under-commit and over-deliver.” But, even when you under-commit, you still need to commit. And, once you commit, do your dead level best to deliver. Psalm 15 describes someone who honors God. That kind of a person “swears to his own hurt and does not change.” (Ps 15:4). In other words, once you say it (which is committing to it, by the way), you fulfill your promise, even when it hurts you.
What do people get by signing on with you?
Even if you lead an established organization, these two pillars apply. Clarify and reinforce these to lead to greater impact in the days to come. Next time, we look at the other two pillars for starting an organization that Jesus used when He first mentioned the “church”.
Who We Are
LeaderINCREASE helps leaders get clear on where to go and understand how to get there, with less hassle. We understand that choosing to make a difference as a leader isn’t always the easiest.
We focus on providing leaders with resources they need to make a difference and become actionable leaders for their organization. We look forward to helping you achieve your goals as we have done for many others.
