Big Results Leadership

Mark Croston

• Publisher: B&H Books
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781087738345
• eBook ISBN: 9781087738369
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Church

The success of any leadership is all too often pointed to the characteristics of good leadership. The reality is that many of us are fully aware of the qualities of a good leader. Book after book in the pastoral community may light the path to good leadership but rarely gives us the markers that allow us to discern if we are still moving in the right direction.

Big Results: Leadership tackles that obstacle by guiding our future leaders in their early steps but also points to the “results” of that kind of leadership. The main take away from this read is that God-centered leadership always yields big results.
 

PART 1

Study

Everybody has a story. When we don’t take the time to know someone’s story or worse, create our own version of it, we lose the chance to understand what they need, which is the first step to empathy.

—Jon Acuff, Do Over1

Stories create community, enable us to see through the eyes of other people, and open us to the claims of others.

—Peter Forbes

Listen, my son. Accept my words,and you will live many years.I am teaching you the way of wisdom;I am guiding you on straight paths.When you walk, your steps will not be hindered;

when you run, you will not stumble.Hold on to instruction; don’t let go.Guard it, for it is your life.

—Proverbs 4:10–13

Be diligent to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth.

—2 Timothy 2:15

CHAPTER 1

What Did I Just Get Into?

“See what the land is like, and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. Is the land they live in good or bad? Are the cities they live in encampments or fortifications? Is the land fertile or unproductive? Are there trees in it or not? Be courageous. Bring back some fruit from the land.” It was the season for the first ripe grapes.

—Numbers 13:18–20

Numbers 13 tells us a fascinating story. The nation of Israel had been in bondage in Egypt for four hundred years.1 They cried out to God for a leader who would deliver them. God sent Moses. With signs and wonders, by God’s power, Moses led the nation of Israel to freedom, but the Israelites now needed a new home. God gave Moses instructions to lead the nation to the promised land, Canaan.

From Egypt, Canaan was approximately five hundred miles. No one is sure of the exact route Moses took. It could be around 452 miles, or it could be closer to six hundred. So, for a round number, let’s just say five hundred. The average man can walk up to twenty miles each day. As a large group they would likely have done less. Let’s say 12.5 miles a day. This means they could have gotten to their destination in about forty days. See the simple Google map below from a point in Egypt near the origin of their journey to a point in Israel near their destination. Also, see the note on the left that says, “This route includes a ferry.” Of course, Moses and the Israelites did not need the ferry because Moses parted the Red Sea!2

Moses and the nation of Israel get to the edge of Canaan, the Promised Land, but he does not lead them straight in. Instead, as we approach Numbers 13, Moses sends in spies, one from each of the twelve tribes, to bring back a report. He asks for a Mosaic study3 of the people, places, patterns, productivity, and profitability.

When they returned, the study team reported that the land was good, really good, flowing with milk and honey. They even brought a sample of the fruit to validate their assessment and made realistic observations about the challenges ahead. We should note that all these observations, so far, were the unanimous consensus of the study team.

Then they did something they were not asked to do. In verses 30 to 33, they went a step beyond their original Mosaic assignment and added a feasibility addendum and their divided opinion about whether they should move forward. Two, Joshua and Caleb, said to move forward and take the land. The other ten, however, assessed that they were too weak and too small, saying, “To ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers.”4

Years ago, when I was just out of college, I remember hearing Dr. C. Milton Grannum, who had at that time recently started the New Covenant Church of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, preach on this text about what he called “Valley Versus Mountain People.” He said one thing I have carried all my career: “Never decide what God wants you to do and how to do it in the same meeting.” His message was that there are many valley people who cannot see the “how” so they will vote against the “what.” It is enough for one meeting just to agree on the “what” and then trust that since God told you what to do, He will, at the appropriate time, reveal the how as well.

Every group you lead is different. They might have the same name or function as another group, but leaders get into trouble when they fail to first take the time to study those they are seeking to lead. Like Moses’ instructions in Numbers 13, study the people, places, patterns, productivity, and profitability. We should add to this list their proclivities. Here are some things to consider.

People

You have probably heard it said that when God made you, he broke the mold. Even though we are alike in many ways, we are not the same. Just as we have been told that every snowflake is different, so are we different from one another. None of us look, think, walk, talk, reason, remember, desire, or do everything exactly alike. There are some people we are more compatible with and others with whom we are polar opposites. From our eyes to our emotions, we are all different.

Our challenge as leaders is to see, understand, and appreciate the differences but build on our commonalities and complementarities. Are they the G.I. Generation, Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials (Generation Y), or Gen Z?

Are their economics upper-upper, upper, lower-upper, middle, lower-middle, upper-lower, lower, or lower-lower? Are they givers or tight fisted? Needy or greedy? Do they wear a blue collar, white collar, or no collar at all? Are they laborers or professionals? Are they paid by the hour, or do they earn a salary? Are they corporate, entrepreneurs, small business owners, or union workers? Do they have careers or jobs? Are they wise or foolish? Investors or debt ridden? Do they have high school diplomas, graduate degrees, trade school, or no school? Are they tech savvy, technically challenged, or tech resistant? And that’s only about their work!

Are they single without children, single with children, married without children, married with children, divorced, widowed, separated, adopted, or adopting? Homeowners, multiple-home owners, or renters; single family homes or multifamily units? Do they want to try new things, or do they work hard to keep things as they are? Are they Republicans, Democrats, or Independents; progressive, liberal, moderate, conservative, or ultraconservative? Is their origin European, African, Asian, Latin, or Native American? Is their music preference country, classical, R&B, jazz, rock, or pop? Are clothing styles trendy or traditional, formal or informal, business or casual?

Places

What one does in one place may not work in another place. Some places are demographically different; others have an alternate worship style. Is your place rural, urban, or suburban? Uptown, downtown, or midtown? Small town or big city? The place impacts traffic, travel time, travel costs, and parking.

Passing through the Washington, DC, area on a number of occasions I got caught in traffic for hours, and sometimes it was not even during rush hour. So, do you think this could impact attendance for weeknight events at church, at school, and in the community?

During the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, many churches transitioned their weeknight Bible studies and life groups to online formats. Many pastors suddenly had more people in their weeknight online groups. Why? Because people did not have to fight the traffic getting home, pick up kids, and get something to eat before they headed to the church. So, while it may be fairly easy in some places to do weeknight events, it is difficult in others.

Patterns

When I first arrived to serve East End Baptist Church, my wife noted right away that they did not have an evening service. She grew up with Discipleship Training (BTU, BYPU, CT) at 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Sunday evening service from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. every Sunday. Note that I called this Sunday evening “service” not worship. When we married and I had to leave, I was not always feeling the joy of the Lord on those evenings. Anyway, she declared that all churches had a Sunday evening service, and we needed to start one there right away!

What are the annual, monthly, weekly, and daily patterns? Sometimes we will see something that works in one place, but the patterns of your people will not allow that same thing to work in your location.

It turned out that at this place, one-third of the economy was military or military related. There were bases for every branch of military service in the area, as well as a number of shipyards. This meant that many of the members had to get up early to make it to work before 6:00 a.m. Well, out of necessity, they also went to bed early. So, because of our context, we never did start that Sunday evening worship.

Some years later, sitting exhausted on the sofa with my wife on a Sunday night, I turned and asked, “Aren’t you glad we didn’t start that Sunday evening worship?” No response.

Productivity

What is the group’s productivity? Here is something that taught me a lesson. In the church where I grew up, if there was going to be one of those big famous church dinners, the women were going to handle it, and handle it, they did! There is nothing like one of those old-time church dinners! Fried chicken, collard greens, potato salad, fresh baked yeast rolls, sweet potato pie, and church punch. I have come to learn that every church has their own recipe for their signature church punch. In Virginia our church had sweet tea. Sometimes it was so sweet I would have to get half sweet tea and half water. In my Pennsylvania church, it was always a mixture of grape juice and pineapple juice. The grape just might have been Kool-Aid, but it was good anyway.

I bring this up because when I went to Virginia and wanted to have a big church meal, I asked the women of the church to help cook in the kitchen. If looks could kill, I would have died a thousand deaths that day for sure. It was as if I insulted them just by asking. What I found out over time was that every church’s productivity was in a different place.

Unlike my childhood church in Pennsylvania where the women loved the church kitchen, at East End, my Virginia church, the men did almost all the cooking at the church. There was one woman who didn’t mind cooking in the church kitchen, Yvonne, but other than her, it had to be the men.

It took me a while, but in time I learned that the women in my Virgini...

Table of contents

• Preface
• Introduction
• Part 1: Study
• Part 2: Vision
• Part 3: Execute
• Part 4: Team
• Epilogue
• Notes