LEAD BREAK - Thinking about Leadership

TROWEL & SWORD

Resources - Leadership

February 2002

LEAD BREAK

THINKING ABOUT LEADERSHIP?

Rev. D. Groenenboom

When we think about leaders our thoughts tend to gravitate toward the minister, the elders, and to a lesser extent, the deacons. If you’re on Session, you’re a leader. Easy!

Not really! For some time now, the view that leaders are people on Session, has been challenged and I believe rightly so. For one, simply being on Session makes a person a leader as much as being at the ‘Gabba makes you a world class Australian Cricketer. Two, many people who have leadership gifts do not necessarily end up leading the church – if the truth be known many of them end up pretty frustrated people. Finally, leadership is not just a “Session” thing. What we believe about leadership impacts at all levels of church life: worship, Sunday School, Playgroup, small groups, diaconal work, and the new building project. Leadership, and what we believe about it, is a critical factor in how your church is developing. I would even venture to say that if leadership is not a focus in your church, then your church is not developing. Further, your church is neglecting some of the clearest teachings of Scripture. If we want a healthy church, we should be giving leadership our utmost attention.

I have come to a settled conviction: leadership is, and has been, crucial in the history of the Christian Reformed Churches of Australia. In many ways my conviction is borne out of my own personal experience, and what I have observed around me. I can think of several congregations which have gone through significant turmoil. They all faced different issues: personality differences and communication breakdown; dwindling membership; congregational splits. They were all very different congregations, all existing in different areas in Australia, all with different “hot button issues”. But they also share several aspects as well: they are all now significantly smaller than they were some years ago; their struggles were long, drawn out affairs, and left the remaining membership tired, unmotivated, and fearful of the future. And they also shared this: in every case leadership was a significant issue. With leadership of a different type, their future may well have been different. The issues they faced may well have worked out another way – more positive even? And many of the people who “left” those congregations might have stayed.

Something else: cast your mind back to 1997. Our Synod was presented with a timely open letter from Ben Aldridge. He helped us see some of the issues faced by crumbling congregations, bickering brethren, and a shrinking ministerial corps. Reading his letter, and looking out our history over the last 10 years, we have to acknowledge that leadership – from ministers, elders, and members – has often led to more complication than conciliation.

It’s not my intention to hang all of that out again, but I want us to be clear. Leadership matters! Leadership is critical. John Maxwell says, “Leadership ability determines a person’s level of effectiveness”. If we apply that to the church, it would mean that a church’s effectiveness in following God’s call is dependent on the abilities of the church’s leaders. In short: as are the leaders, so is the church. If our deep desire is for the church to become more mature, more responsible to the Word, more effective in pastoring God’s people, more determined and competent in its witness, we will need more than leaders. We will need great leaders who are passionate about following Christ in His likeness. They won’t need to be “supermen”. But they will need these three things:

1. a clear vision of what God’s intention is for His church
2. how to go about making that happen it in their own local situation
3. the courage to do whatever it takes to achieve it

Be sure about this: all this emphasis on leadership does not challenge God’s sovereignty. We are not placing all the emphasis for a healthy church on fallen and failing people. We are not making the health of the church a man-centred thing. We’re just looking at the way our sovereign God normally works. He brings health to His church, by grace, as He worked through people. His normal way of getting the church to develop and to be strong and effective is through leaders who can teach, lead, and model His will to God’s people.

Each month I hope to be able to extend and challenge your ideas of leadership in the Church. My prayer will be that as we interact will may gain a more determined resolve to build a better church – one that increasingly resembles God’s plan for His Bride.

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