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WHY PASTORS AND MISSIONARIES FAIL TO TRAIN LEADERS

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WHY PASTORS AND MISSIONARIES FAIL TO TRAIN LEADERS

Baptist

“And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.  And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.  Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king’s pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.  Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned.  And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.  Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.  Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.” Nehemiah 2:12-18.

  1. MANY DON’T KNOW HOW TO TRAIN LEADERS
  2. MANY ASSUME NO ONE WANTS TO SERVE
  3. MANY ASSUME NO ONE IS SPIRITUAL ENOUGH TO SERVE
  4. MANY WANT TO DO IT ALL, THAT WAY THEY GET THE GLORY
  5. MANY ARE TOO INSECURE TO TRAIN OTHERS. THIS MAY BE THE #1 REASON
  6. MANY FEAR THAT OTHERS WILL EXCEL THEMSELVES IN LEADERSHIP
  7. MANY LOVE DOING IT ALL. THAT IS THEIR SELF-FULFILLMENT
  8. MANY WANT TO KEEP THE CHURCH SMALL FOR SELFISH AND PERSONAL REASONS
  9. MANY HAVE WIVES WHO DON’T WANT LEADERS WHO MIGHT COMPETE WITH THEIR HUSBANDS
  10. MANY DON’T REALIZE THAT JESUS SPENT MOST OF HIS MINISTRY TRAINING LEADERS

MINISTERIAL WARS

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MINISTERIAL WARS

Advice on Ministerial Wars

Ministry wars are inevitable. Therefore, the pastor must know the difference between a breeze and a tornado. The pastor who is insecure and suspicious of everyone will constantly be plagued by fears and doubt.

If you believe a matter requires confrontation or a war, contact older pastors in whom you have confidence and seek their counsel and advice. If you have mature and trusted men in your church, it may be helpful to seek their guidance. Regardless of the decision, you must stand up to the challenge and accept the outcome.

Most problems are power struggle or frustrated ambition on the part of some member. Your problems will most likely come from someone who is close to you. That is, a staff member, a deacon, a treasure, a music director or their wives. These people usually get offended because of a policy decision you have made or over budget allocations.

In order to minimize ministerial wars, communicate clearly and lovingly with your congregation. Be transparent in money matters. Give people more information than they need. Remember, people in the dark tend to be more suspicious and will believe the gossip mongers. Silence them, if you can, with light.

You should show humility, but never show weakness. A church that will not change, will not grow. Be slow to make changes and expect to lose some people when you do. The pastor should not seek war or start them. But, he must be alert to the fact that the devil uses wicked men and women to hinder or destroy his ministry. Therefore, get all the advice and help available to you; spend much time in prayer and when the war is over, move forward in victory to build a greater ministry for Christ!

I recommend to every pastor and church worker a book by Marshall, Shelley titled, Well Intentioned Dragons. You can purchase it at Amazon.com

COULD IT BE YOUR PREACHING

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Change Your Preaching

child preachingA young pastor lamented to me that his church was not growing no matter what he did. I ask him, “What kind of sermons do you preach?” He said, “I rip their face off.” I said, “Can’t you just see this man at work on Monday, and someone asks, ‘what happened to your face?’” He said, “This is what I got at church Sunday, want to go with me next Sunday?”

Church members do not want to bring visitors to church where the pastor attacks the Bible they might have, attacks other religions they might belong to, or tells everyone they are out of the will of God if they don’t attend the midweek or Sunday evening service. Not only do member refuse to bring visitors, they too are reluctant to come back.

I told the young man that he needed to change his preaching. Make people feel welcome and that YOU care about them. Make the service time enjoyable and informative. You cannot reach people you turn off. The gospel is the good news. Preach it as the best news in the world. It is. God loves sinners, and sinners know if your church is a loving church. Dip the Sword in honey. It will still cut.

[pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]People should leave the preaching service with a sense of God’s presence and love.[/pullquote]

Church is not a place where pulpits are coward’s castles. Everything should be exciting and alive fifteen minutes before you preach, and people must project the image of love and friendliness. Most people make up their mind in the first ten minutes if they are going to return. Everything about your church should be planned with the visitors in mind. That includes everything from the driveway to the bathrooms.

People should leave with a sense of God’s presence and the love of the people. If that happens, they are more likely to return. Ripping their face off will guarantee they never return.

So, my advice to young preachers is, evaluate the content of your message, and the spirit with which it is delivered. If people are not returning something is wrong. Find out what it is and fix it. Start with your preaching and the spirit in which you preach.

CONTROLLING

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# 4

 

controlThe fourth pillar in the management process is that of control. Unless the organization has proper controls in place, all plans are destined to fail.  Seagoing vessels have built in controls to keep them on course. Without them, the ship will veer off course and end up on the rocks, so it is with the church.

The tools that need to be built in to control an organization are: Weekly staff meetings, the Team Report, the budget, the calendar and the planning arrow. These will keep the leadership abreast of where each ministry is in relation to the scheduled plans. If the organization is off course and in the fog, these tools will identify the problem and help the pastor regain control and get the ship back on track.

Note: When we teach the leadership conference, these tools and their use become part of the packet.

WHAT IS LEADERSHIP

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WHAT IS LEADERSHIP

# 3

leadership

By Ken Blue

John Maxwell says, “Everything rises and falls on leadership.” If that statement is true, the pastor’s call to the ministry is really a call to leadership. Perhaps the following definitions Webster will help. “To show the way to by going in advance. To guide or direct in a course. To guide the behavior or opinion of; induce. To direct the performance or activities of.  To inspire the conduct of. To go or be at the head of. To be ahead of. To go first as a guide. To act as commander, director, or guide.  An example; a precedent.”

One is not a leader simply because he has the title or a position. Look behind you, if no one is following, you’re not leading; you’re only taking a walk.

There are many factors that may affect a leadership situation. The following example will suffice. Several New York business men invited a tribal chief of the rain forest to their city to work out an agreement on cutting timber in his area. He was picked up at the airport and shuttled about the city for the next few days. He was overwhelmed by the number of people, the skyscrapers and the traffic. The suits were in complete control as they led him about from one meeting to another.

After a deal was agreed upon, the business men returned to South America with the chief to map out the specific area to cut. The jet landed in a major city, and from there they were to be shuttled in a small bush plane to the village. However, the small plane experienced engine trouble and made a forced landing in the jungle. No one was hurt, but the business men were completely helpless, disoriented, fearful and lost. The chief reassured them by taking the lead. He knew the direction to the village and which plants and animals to avoid. In a couple of days, they reached their intended destination.

[pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The pastor’s call to the ministry is really a call to leadership.[/pullquote]

The above story illustrates the many factors that impact leadership. You must know what you want; where you want to go, how to get there and convince others in your ability to get them there safely. In the city, the suits were leading. In the jungle, the chief was the leader.

Although leadership can be learned, there are certain qualities that cannot be ignored if one is to succeed.  Those who follow you must have rapport with your personality; they must have confidence in our competence and they must have respect for your character. Weakness in any of these will impact your leadership. You can lead, but you must be clear on where you want to go. This is discovered through the planning process. Then, you must be able to share the vision with others until they too embrace it.

The above puzzle is a more important illustration than you might think, weakness in any of these hampers your leadership. Meditate on each piece and discover the areas you need to improve. Failure in any one of these hampers your ministry. If you think soul winning and preaching is all you need, that’s all you will attempt. Everything depends of prayer and leadership.