Category: Daily Leadership

Pray and Prepare

How can we focus on leadership development?

First, we must pray. Recently, it was suggested that the church spend a Sunday evening in prayer for the leaders of our country. While this is needed, should we not be more concerned with praying about leaders for the church? What will become of the church if we have the leaders we want for our country, but have no leaders in the church?

Second, we must be diligent to prepare others to lead. Consider the fact that we diligently prepare, train, and educate leaders in the corporate setting. Somehow, we have not exercised the same diligence in the church, and we are experiencing the consequences.

Preparing More to Lead

The need for leadership continues to be urgent.

While we understand the primary role of elders to involve the work of a shepherd, we also find that part of this role points to the responsibility of maintaining purity in teaching.

However, the lack of leadership development in years past has created a vacuum where the majority of congregations do not have elders and congregations with elders have too few to deal with the challenges.

Most locations recognize the problem, but what should be done? The answer lies in our return to God’s design, which means we need to initiate a plan for encouraging, promoting, and preparing more to lead.

The Urgency of Leadership

A description of the need to study leadership covers a wide spectrum. God’s design is the overarching premise by which we understand the necessity of leadership.

The lack of leadership, or the representation of poor leadership, is plaguing the church.

Decisions are left to the majority vote in a men’s business or congregational meeting. Sadly, the minority generally rules when this occurs.

According to God’s design, elders (leaders) were appointed to shepherd and provide biblical direction for God’s people. When this does not occur, the church suffers.

Therefore, the urgency for biblical leadership must be a priority for His church today.

Leading in the Home

Scripture indicates that God designed every area of leadership, beginning with the home.

God designed the home with leadership. Paul reminds us of that design, “The husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church” (Ep. 5:23). This explains why he instructs husbands, “Love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her” (v. 25).

Love indicates something significant in the direction of leadership. Husbands must give their best in the home.

To properly lead in other areas of life, we must build the right foundation in the home and ensure that husbands give their best in leading our wives and loving them as Christ loved the church.

God’s Design

Why is it important to study, promote, consider, and develop areas of leadership?

After attending a Bible class focused on marriage, I began to think about the emphasis on God’s design for marriage. I was intrigued with how often we want someone to tell us how to “fix” the problem.

Rarely do we go back to God’s design. As a result, we continue to struggle with the same problems and issues that have plagued the home for millennia. Successful marriages recognize and follow God’s design. It is that simple!

What about leadership? Could it really be that simple? Yes! The answer begins with God’s design.

Potential to Grow

The following expression is significant: “Every conversation is important. When a specific wording is missed or an inappropriate judgment made, it can temporarily or permanently stunt another person’s potential to grow in leadership.”

If we understood how our words might promote or hinder the leadership potential of another person, would we give more careful thought to what we say?

Solomon reminds us that the power of life and death are in the tongue. With our words we either build up or tear down.

We must not allow anything to influence our words in such a way that it would discourage someone from reaching their leadership potential.

Prepared by the Past

I once saw a billboard with the following statement, “The past does not define, it prepares.”

Perspective proves to be reality for all of us. When we consider the perspective we hold on our past, it is amazing how often we define our lives by it.

Regardless of what has happened, good or bad, success or failure, how different would the future be if we lived with the perspective that our past only prepared us from something greater?

We cannot live in the past. We certainly cannot change it. Why not use the opportunity to view the past as a foundation for the future God has in store?

What If…Part 3

What would life be like if we took out the “if factor”?

Think about the following questions.

Do we limit the power of God by the boundaries we create in our own mind?

Do we believe God has the power to do far beyond all we ask or think according to the power that works within us?

What do we hinder God from doing when we place limitations on Him?

What could God do through you and me as leaders if our faith was greater?

When we believe that God can and will accomplish His purpose, in spite of us, maybe we would stop thinking small and start thinking big!

What If…Part 2

Yesterday, I posed this question: What would we do if we knew we could not fail?

The challenge is to see a much bigger picture. Consider the following: If we could not fail…

Would we talk to the neighbor across the street?

Set greater goals for reaching the lost in our city, state, or country?

Approach world missions with loftier efforts?

I ask this because we can’t fail! The Bible reminds us that not one of God’s good promises ever failed.

He is with us and for us, and “if God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31). Why are we waiting?

What If…Part 1

Think about the various ways we use the word if.

If
we could only win a game.

If
I had a dime for every time I heard someone say…

If
you do that one more time I am going to stand you in the corner (or some other form of discipline).

If
I hear this any more I will go crazy.

If
archaeologists would find (a Biblical artifact) I would believe.

We often speak with the conditional use of the word if.

Yet, there is also great significance to the use of this word. What would you or I attempt to do if we knew we could not fail?