I recently had the opportunity to connect with an amazing team of church planters. They were spending the day together praying, sharing stories and learning about how to multiply disciples as they planted new communities of faith. One of their leaders asked me to stop by and introduce myself. As we were talking about how important it is to cultivate a healthy, Jesus-centered culture from the very beginning of any new church plant, our conversation began to focus on how important it is to invest time into growing healthy leaders.
My conversation with this group of church planters was refreshing for me. Often when I am meeting with leaders, I am saddened when we start down the leadership development road. On the one hand, this topic is so important and vital for every church to address, but it is disheartening to realize that developing leaders can easily become a utility, a means to an end. We can find ourselves pouring into individuals that show good leadership potential as a way of serving the vision to reach more people and grow a bigger church.
This strategy is often fruitful in the short term, as our desire to reach more people seems to connect with the aspirations of those who want to grow into a place of leadership. Usually, there is a burst of euphoria, as someone steps into an intentional relationship with an established leader. There is typically some kind of structure to the relationship. It could be a weekly, small group, or reading and discussing good books, or some other way of helping the “trainee” grow. Most of the time, this type of relationship seems to have a period of mutual benefit. The established leader gains a sense of accomplishment as they take steps to empower others to grow in leadership and in turn, develop more laborers to reach more people. The emerging leader will usually feel more value as the established leader engages them intentionally. They are typically excited to grow and become a part of the vision, and feel more useful for God.
So what’s the issue? Leaders are being developed and everyone is happy, right?
The Jesus Way
Over the years, one of the most important things that I have learned is that it can be easy to do the right thing but miss it when it comes to motives. Developing healthy leaders is absolutely essential in order to see the message of the gospel spread, but if our reason for developing leaders is primarily to serve our vision for growth, then we are missing out on the most essential motive for investing in people.
It is incredible how many discipleship programs and leadership development tools have been introduced to the body of Christ. Many of them are filled with practical insights that offer a step by step guide for equipping believers to become an impact for God’s kingdom. These tools can be a help to us, but they must never become our model.
Jesus is the One that we follow.
The life of Christ shows us that building relationships on LOVE is essential in developing Kingdom leaders. Jesus called men that most of us would have overlooked, and invited them into His life. For three years these “ordinary men” shared their lives with Him, learning as they walked, talked and listened to the One who had invited them to come and follow.
While His initial call to a few fishermen on the shores of was a clear invitation into mission, the way that Jesus walked out His life and ministry with the twelve has to be taken into account if we want to follow Him in seeing ordinary people equipped and released to change the world. Jesus did not simply call those with good potential and connect them during weekly training meetings. He gave Himself to them in a way that let them know that the message of love that He shared with the world, was authentically being worked out in their own lives.
“Jesus took the time to invest in their “BEing"
BEFORE He released them to DO mission.”
"Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end." John 13:1
As Jesus encountered the twelve, the twelve experienced His Life in a way that transformed their own. With some bread and wine on the table, Jesus invited them to remember Him. As these friends ate and drank the bread and wine, they were becoming the message that they would carry to world after His death.
It was not His clever powerpoint presentations or training lectures that led many of these men to become martyrs, it was the love that He demonstrated when He arose from the table, took off His robe and stooped to wash their feet. The DOing of the Acts of the Apostles flowed out of the BEing of men whose lives had been transformed by love.
While you and I are not Messiah, it is so important that we hear His invitation for us to follow Him in learning how to develop leaders. We can identify those that God is connecting us to and learn how to invite them into our lives. Invite them to walk with you and share their life with you in a way that they know that your investment in them is not an investment in your own ambition.
Jesus multiplied Himself in others, not because He valued multiplication, but because He valued others. Multiplying leaders is the fruit of Christ centered leadership, not the goal of our ministry. So find a few that you can love and share your life with. You will find yourself excelling in raising up Kingdom leaders as you follow the Jesus way.
“Investing in people’s BEING before trying to improve their DOING shows your commitment is to them instead of your own agenda.” #BuildUp - @bradmckoy Feb 17, 2016 via twitter
Brad and his wife, Adriane, have spent over two decades pastoring churches in the United States with a focus on reaching the “un-churched”. In 2011, they moved to Grove City, PA with their daughter Abigail to pioneer Antioch Overflow Experiment (AOX), a community of simple churches with a mission to “disciple, equip, and release sons and daughters of the King to transform every sphere of society for the glory of God.” Follow him on social media@bradmckoy to stay connected to him and his family.
Photo Credit: Alexander Catedral, Catedralography (banner and bio)
WANT MORE? CHECK THIS OUT...
In Culture of the Few, first-time author Brad McKoy takes would-be world changers on a journey to discover just how was it Jesus impacted and transformed the culture around Him—and the answer might not be what you expect. Culture of the Few will inspire world-changers to study five characteristics in the life of Jesus: Identity, Invitation, Intentionality, Intercession, Intimacy
Jesus is still in the business of turning ordinary men and women into history makers by inviting them into His daily life, and as the ultimate “agent of change” it is His example we need to follow.