Good leaders motivate, mobilize, direct and resource people to fulfill a vision. Our Lord knew well how to do all of these with His own disciples.
For too many years we have viewed the Pastor of the church as the sole supplier of edification in the church and as a result, he has little time to develop other leaders around him.
Whether you are the president of a corporation, the quarterback of a football team, a general in an army or a pastor of a church, it is important to realize the value of having a team around you who support and who work to carry out your vision. Without this, your desire to carry your church into a new dimension of revival may never take place. It will never become a reality as you alone do not have the resources or human ability to do it by yourself. God’s will for your ministry is bigger than you alone. You are going to need a team around you to help you get the job done.
Take the quarterback for instance. His goal is to get the ball from one end of the field to the other. He can run the ball. He can throw the ball. He can probably even kick the ball a bit, but he has a problem. There are several obstacles on the other side of the line of scrimmage who are just waiting for that ball to move so they can come and take it a way from him.
His problem is not that he does not know what to do. It’s not that he does not know how to do it. His problem is that he cannot do it alone. It’s impossible. He needs a team around him who will block for him. He needs people who he can hand the ball off to once in a while. There needs to be someone on his team who he can throw the ball to and trust that that person will do all he can to run it through a defensive line of huge, strong, mean, people who do not want the ball to get past them. Most importantly, he needs blockers. These fellas will systematically put themselves in harms way to protect the quarterback. Because if the quarterback is in any way hurt or removed from the game due to injury, the game is over for his team.
You see the quarterback is not the fastest. He is not the strongest. He is not the most agile. He is however, the one calling the plays. He is the one who knows what it’s going to take to get the ball to the other end of the field. The quarterback does not make the touchdowns, he puts the ball in the hands of the ones who will.
Many pastors have thought for too long that they alone are the quarterback, the running back, the blockers and the entire defensive line. For this reason, their churches are too often stuck at the line of scrimmage with no means of advancing toward the desired goal.
Some years ago, I was preaching for a pastor friend who let me know he really did not need other leaders in his church. He was capable of doing all the needs of ministry in the church so he saw no need to bring anyone else along side him to help. This church has had several seasons of revival and growth, but many years later, it is right back where it was 15 years ago. I wonder where this church could be at today had this man committed himself to raising up disciples in the ministry.
Jesus understood that He would not be around forever. He knew that the work of the Kingdom was bigger than one man’s talent, or giftedness. Early in his ministry he set out to find 12 men whom He could invest Himself in. What is strange to me is that He did not go looking for these men in the synagogues. He did not find Peter in the temple worshiping. Jesus called Peter to discipleship and leadership long before the man even had a relationship with God.
Soon after he found Peter at the sea shore, he found Matthew at the tax collectors booth and called him to be on his staff as well. Listen, our Lord knew full well that He was going to need help to get this gospel to the whole world. Do you really think you can reach your city all by yourself? Be honest, you do good to find the time to put a good message together each week. How many people live in the town you pastor in? How about the county? Do you really think that you can reach them all by yourself? You couldn’t reach them all, if you had 5 other people just like yourself.
You need a team. You need to surround yourself with people who understand that you are the one calling the plays and that you alone are the one who understands how to get the job done. This team needs to know that you are in it for the long run. That you are going to call every play in the book and them some if it takes that, to win your city.
Who are these people? Who are the future leaders in your church? They are not the ones who most men would pick. They may not dress the part. They may not have even been in the church for very long. Other pastors would pass them right up. The leaders you need are people who are worshipers. They love the Lord. They want to please Him. They also love and respect their pastor. They would never say or do anything to hurt him.
Your next assistant might very well be the man who works on your busses – even in the rain. He might be the one who shows up early to turns lights on and stays late to turn them off. Some will say, “Well, they have no formal training in the ministry”. Can I say, that might very well play to your advantage. Peter had no real training either. In fact Jesus walked right past the men who did have formal training to find Peter. Did Jesus disciple and train Peter? Yes He did, and he also mentored him into a walk with the Father that brought him to a position of excellence in the ministry.
Look around your church this Sunday. Prayerfully ask God to show you the faithful little David who will some day be King. There’s a Joshua in those pews whom God is using to hold up the arms of the ministry. If you will mentor them, they may be the one who ultimately fulfills your vision and calling.
