Effective Leadership

Top 10 Areas Every Christian Leader Should Consider When Moving Towards Effective Leadership

Jonathan Lotson

• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781645691631
• Topic: Teología y religión
• Subtopic: Liderazgo en la religión

There is without question a plethora of leaders in the world today. However, not every leader is effective, according to God's design.This book highlights the importance of effective leadership, with a concentration on ten key areas that every Christian leader should move towards. This book is both thorough and profound while holding a sincere commitment to Scripture. The studies found in this book examines far-ranging issues of effective leadership, from internal character matters to external problems of systems. The goal of this book is to address the diverse aspects of leadership, with a deep sensitivity to the realities of the twenty-first century and yet a deep commitment to the kingdom of God, as revealed in Scripture.This book offers excellent development concepts for the beginning leader, as well as for the seasoned leader. Effective Leadership: Top 10 Areas Every Christian Leader Should Consider brings cohesion to diverse issues in such a way as to form a holistic approach to leadership. This approach is both profoundly theological and yet practical in ways that can be applied in churches and organizations alike.The practical applications are simple enough to implement yet developed enough to provide ongoing guidance for leaders and their organizations. This is an insightful and needed book for leadership in the church and faith-based organizations at large. Christian leaders should provide effective leadership to their organizations, churches, denominations, and the world; and the ten topics highlighted in this book will assist leaders in their pursuit of effective leadership.

Chapter 1

Self-Care

Caught Up

Leading a church, organization, or ministry is far from an easy task. The amount of stress and constant pulling on a leader can grow overwhelming, if leaders are not careful. The vital responsibilities of a Christian leader grow even more difficult when leaders fail to practice personal self-care on a consistent basis.

Self-care is vitally important, not only because all leaders need to take care of themselves for the sake of longevity and overall health but also because leaders set the tone and pace of the organizational culture in which they lead. If a leader of an organization is not healthy—spiritually or physically—this lack of health will reflect on the organization as a whole and on the people within the organization.

For this reason, self-care is not only important for senior leaders, but it is also important for those they lead. Self-care is an area where leaders should be showing the way, leading by example that a healthy, balanced life is possible and necessary. Christian leaders who constantly serve others and meet the needs of others while neglecting their personal needs will soon find themselves depleted and therefore ineffective.

Providing compassionate spiritual care to another in a church or ministry does not begin with an assessment of another’s need; it begins with an awareness of who we are as Christian leaders and what we bring to a particular encounter.1 In other words, caring for others must begin with effectively caring for oneself. This is a difficult thing for Christian leaders, in particular, to grasp because we know that we are called to a life of self-sacrifice, a life of “taking up the cross” and following Jesus. Yes, Christians are called to take up their cross, and they often will be called by others to sacrifice and let go of things along the way that might distract them from their God-given purpose. But sacrificing health and self-care just for the sake of making a statement or trying to seem spiritual is not the idea.

Self-care is not only imperative for leaders to provide godly leadership to others, but it is also essential to maintaining a healthy relationship with God. The key to serving in the kingdom of God is positioning yourself physically, spiritually, and emotionally to handle various encounters that may come your way.

Self-care is the process whereby Christian leaders consistently develop their physical, spiritual, and emotional health to effectively serve in the kingdom of God. Practicing self-care ensures that you will not get caught up in simply doing the work of God yet forgetting the importance of maintaining a relationship with God. Why is this important? Consider the following statistics.

Eight out of ten pastors feel they must be on-call, twenty-four hours a day. Of the correspondents, 51 percent strongly agree, 54 percent of pastors agree the role of a pastor is frequently overwhelming, and 48 percent of pastors often feel the demands of ministry are greater than they can handle.2 These sobering numbers make it clear that church work has consumed many leaders who have gotten completely caught up in the ministry and have made little to no room for self-care.

Let me be clear—working in the church is honorable. If you feel called to a leadership position in a church ministry and God has guided you in this, do not hesitate simply because it appears to be a daunting task. Obedience is vital to one fulfilling their God-ordained purpose. However, the way in which a leader should approach their work for the Lord is the primary concern. Allowing oneself to be consumed by church work and negating necessary time with God is dangerous. As such, a leader’s work should be carefully monitored in order to allow for the proper levels of self-care.

Pursuing an active relationship with God through moments of self-care positions a leader to be truly effective and puts the notion of work in its proper perspective. Work is something that we cannot avoid; however, leaders should not ignore how they work and how much time they expend preparing to work effectively. All kingdom work takes proper preparation, which is a form of self-care. Practically, this might mean setting time aside in one’s schedule for sermon preparation and not allowing that time to be pushed aside by the tyranny of the urgent. Or it might even include creating specific times for personal Bible study and reflection and considering those times every bit as important as an appointment with a member of the congregation or board member.

Effective self-care also requires discernment regarding what work to take on and what to delegate or even leave undone. Leaders often add to their to-do list but seldom consider what needs to be removed from their to-do list, which can be a barrier to a leader’s ability to practice sufficient self-care. When God calls leaders to take on new responsibilities, the goal is never to replace necessary time with God with that new task or duty, hence the need for discernment to consider what may need to be removed from a leader’s to-do list.

Christian leaders working for the kingdom of God must have a theological vision of work, a vision of what is worth doing and what is not, a desire to please the Master who gave us these tasks, and a teleological perspective of striving for excellence—for anything worth doing at all is worth doing as well as is humanly possible.3 A leader’s perspective of work is strongly connected to a leader’s approach to work. In other words, the way a leader views their work will practically translate into how they do work on a day-to-day basis.

One’s involvement in work should never supersede the necessity for self-care, which prepares a leader for that very work they have been given by God to do. Additionally, a leader’s specific calling should be strongly connected to their work. In other words, their calling must serve as a guide in how they prepare for the work they have been called to do. As athletes prepare for games and soldiers prepare for battle, Christian leaders must prepare to lead others for the glory of God. Their ability to do so is strongly connected to how they develop their physical, spiritual, and emotional health to effectively serve.

Has your profession been capturing most of your time? Has your profession stolen time that you had previously set apart to invest in your relationships with those whom you love? If so, that may signify that you are caught up. Being caught up with work life has often contributed to leaders falsely believing that they do not have enough time for self-care because getting work done for God is more important. Unfortunately, though it may sound honorable, it is far from true.

In his bestselling book God’s Smuggler, Brother Andrew shared his riveting stories about traveling to closed countries to bring Bibles and encourage believers. Many of the trips he took involved close calls and miraculous supply, all of which taught him about God’s power and providential hand upon those who work for the kingdom. He also described moments he learned about the importance of self-care, which also includes practical matters. Once, Brother Andrew received a donation from a stranger with the stipulation that he would use it for his own personal needs instead of spending it on the work, adding a reminder “of the scriptural injunction that the ox grinding the corn must not be kept from enjoying the grain.” He then wondered, “Wasn’t I claiming to depend upon God, but living as if my needs would be met by my own scrimping?”4

Self-care applies to spiritual matters as well as to practical matters. The most vital form of self-care is spending time with God in study, prayer, and personal reflection. In fact, there is no substitute for spending time with God—not even doing work for God. Most flights arrive at their correct destination at the intended time, despite turbulence and other conditions keeping airplanes off course for 90 percent of flight time,5 which highlights an analogous truth regarding Christian leaders. Christian leaders who take time with God and exercise self-care will arrive at their correct destination at the intended time. However, leaders who fail to practice self-care as a result of being caught up with work will find themselves burned out and depleted, taking much longer to arrive at their destination.

Self-care is essential to hearing the voice of God concerning the direction leaders should go in their work. According to scripture, “The human mind plans the way, but the Lord directs the steps” (Prov. 16:9 NRSV). Leaders who fail to spend time with God will soon realize that they have become disconnected from the work that they are attempting to do. More importantly, they will become disconnected from God who should be directing their steps. Christian leaders must never forget that they are servants and ministers of God first, and then leaders.

Given the importance of competent leaders in the church and in business and government, many may expect that the Bible would use the term leader more often. But the Bible uses this word only six times. Much more frequently, the role is called “servant.”6 Leaders must never forget that a major part of leading is serving. As mentioned in the introduction, Christian leaders are called to be servants first. As such, they must remain connected to God who provides instructions on what they are called to do and how and who they are called to serve. Leaders who work without allocating time to spend with God on a consistent basis place themselves and those they lead in a dangerous place, which will hinder their long-term success because their steps are not ordered by the Lord.

In a powerful narrative found in First Kings, Elijah took time to hear from God. Elijah had just made his well-known stand on Mount Carmel, found in First Kings chapter 18. He was in the wake of that busy day, which had included a life-threatening experience, prolonged physical activity, and being caught in the middle of political drama with a bounty on his head from angry King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. In short, if there was ever someone needing to hear from God—like many leaders today on their craziest, scariest, most anxious days—it was Elijah. Running for his life, literally, and facing extreme challenges, Elijah was ready to give up. But he also showed wisdom by praying to the Lord instead of taking matters into his own hands.

Int...