CHRIST AND LEADERS

Rev. Dr. J. N. Manokaran

Campus Books
1/34 Valluvar Road Arumbakkam CHENNAI

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Christ and Leaders - Rev. Dr. J. N. Manokaran

All rights reserved, no part of this booklet may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form without the prior permission of the copyright owners. Any part of this booklet that is quoted must bear reference to the title and author. The meticulous efforts of Ms Mary K in reviewing the content of the manuscript and helping in various forms are acknowledged. Printed by: Campus Books. INDIA Price: Rs 15

Personally Speaking.
This book on leadership is my reflection of a journey of adventure in faith for about quarter century. Knowing Lord Jesus Christ as personal saviour and walking in obedience is a glorious trek with a lot of suffering, surprises, miracles and wonders. Many of these articles are biographical in nature that it was learnt by life experience; stumbled to discover truths; or like lightning it struck the path. Almost for a decade, I traveled the length and breadth of great India ministering to thousands of pastoral leaders: lay leaders, professionals, missionaries, mission executives, para-church workers, and pastors in over a hundred cities/towns or places speaking more than a dozen languages. God also enabled me to minister to leaders in several Asian nations. The lessons were taught in varied environments like simple halls where delegates sat on the floor and sophisticated halls in posh hotels with modern technological aids of laptop and multi-media projectors. The thirst for knowing about leadership, developing leadership skills and desire to be effective leaders is same across culture, age groups, language groups and people groups. To those leaders who have emerged in the third era of Post-Independence era this books has been addressed. Three eras of Post Independence Missions: This post-independence mission era began in early 70s and has evolved into a formidable movement. This evolution has gone through three major phases. 1. First era: Cross-Cultural missions: In the early 70s and until late 80s the focus of mission was to send cross cultural missionaries from South and North East India to North India. Many young people reached North India, many of them not trained for that kind of missionary endeavour, struggling to learn the language and culture. In spite of human weaknesses, churches were planted in several pockets of North, West and Eastern parts of India.
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2. Second era: Mono-cultural missions: Some of the cross-cultural missionaries understood the dynamics of mono-cultural evangelism. It took lot of time for cross cultural missionaries to learn the language, culture, adapt to new climate and do ministry. Sometimes due to family circumstances or sickness or for children education, they preferred to go back to their native places. These visionary leaders took local leaders from the respective regional or cultural zones, trained them as church planters and send them out. This strategy clicked in several areas. In some places where the previous era missionaries failed, they were able to penetrate and plant churches. 3. Third era: Local church missions: Beginning from late 90s a new trend began to emerge. Many of the mono-cultural missionaries discovered their own gift of pastoral leadership, apostolic leadership and leadership. They started planting and pasturing mature congregations that became self-supporting and in turn they began to send out missionaries from the local congregations. This is happening as sporadic mushroom movement. Writing this book is not an academic exercise but a devotional and spiritual exercise; though footnotes are provided whenever someone has been quoted. But, the learning process was so varied in real-life circumstances and from the experience of numerous leaders that defies documentation process. This is a humble contribution to the third era local church mission leaders who are real movers and shakers in missions today, to help them enhance their potential, enlarge their tents, envision them for greater and sharper vision, empower them for doing greater things and encourage them to move forward until the Lord comes. I am thankful to Dr. Rev. S.D. Ponraj who encourages writers and leaders to measure up to the potential God has set for each one of us. Paul Landrey, International Director of Trainers of Pastors International Coalition (TOPIC) constantly encouraged me to write and bring out this publication. Credit goes to Joanne Fast, Assistant
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to President of Grace University, Omaha, Nebraska who edited the manuscript to make is readable. I am grateful to Dr. Rajesh Agarwal who is a dear friend and colleague in His Kingdom who wrote foreword for this publication. My wife Rosy, daughter Hosanna and son Thambos also taught me the meaning of leadership in our life journey together. J.N. Manokaran July 2007 jnmanokaran@yahoo.com

Christ and Leaders

Preface (2013 edition)

I always carry your book Christ and Leaders . It is a useful tool in my training ministry, commented a trainer. One pastor in Toronto (Canada) shared, This is the most profound book I have ever read on leadership. A director of missionary training institute said, It is compulsory reading for all our students who are trained in our institute. A dear friend from North East has distributed my book to several young people to read and asks for more copies again and again. Another friend said that this book has been the most comprehensive and practical book on leadership that he refers back again and again. Few shared that they have read the book several times. Like these several comments I have heard, received through mails and through emails. One person did a long distance call to appreciate the book. It is amazing to see that this book has been printed in three languages (English, Tamil and Hindi), in two countries (India and Philippines) and over 16000 copies in print. Some friends got the book as e-books also. When it was first published in the year 2007, I did not expect such overwhelming response. Nevertheless, it has been a blessing to many around the world. In some places, I was invited to teach on leadership because of this book. I have not made any additions or changes in this book. G John Timothy is my good friend, who stood by me even during trying times. He is a silent servant leader, who loves to invest in the lives of the people. It is no wonder that he has come forward to reprint the book for the benefit of the Body of Christ. We pray that the reading of this book would be a spiritual journey and life transforming experience. J.N. Manokaran jnmanokaran@yahoo.com August 2013.
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Foreword
The book Christ and Leaders is a timely book written by Rev. J.N. Manokaran. The book is exhaustive both in its contents and scope. It is based on sound Biblical principles as well as gives practical details for effective leadership. It will satisfy both the thinkers and practitioners. It is down to earth book which attempts to link Biblical principles with the present sociocultural context. The book contains 32 chapters which have been divided into three main sections viz., 1. Biblical Basis for leadership, 2. Understanding Leadership and 3. Developing Leadership. In the first section author has dwelled on leadership traits such as call, character and commitment citing examples from leaders of biblical times such as David, Abraham, Daniel etc and as well as present day examples. Importance of call is ably highlighted and everyone who reads will be personally challenged. Five biblical profiles on shepherd, spiritual example, spokesperson, servant and steward are a treat to read. The chapter on legacy really counts is challenging and makes a person to ponder, what type of legacy I am going to leave? In the second section emphasis is on understanding leadership which gives intricacies of practical aspects of leadership and deals with topics like talents, skills, spiritual gifts, temperament, ethics etc. The chapters on level of leadership and phases of ministry really open ones understanding on the subject. The third section gives insight on developing leadership and is a must read for every leader. How to overcome slackness? How to build ones capacity? How to manage time? How to be better mentors? What should be my strategy for developing leadership in my organization? These are some of the questions which are answered in this section giving practical insights. The entire focus of the book is on leade rs who can read the Scriptures with fresh eyes, relating the story of redemption to the human condition in its present cultural contexts . Every leader will find this book to be a practical manual on leadership and must for every person who is called by God to the task of leading.

Dr. Rajesh Agarwal

President, Rashtriya Susamachar Parishad. Bareilly Jun 2007
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Christ and Leaders

Christ and Leaders

SECTION 1

BIBLICAL BASIS FOR LEADERSHIP

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Chapter 1:

INTRODUCTION
The world is in need of leaders. We are living in a world where there is leadership crisis in all areas. Economics, politics, academics, or you name it, there is a crisis. Bu t there is no lack for magazines, books or seminars or consultations or training in leadership. In spite of these efforts, knowledge and progress, there is a serious dearth of leaders. The Christian world also faces the same crisis as the secular world. The issues faced by the world leaders are very similar to those the Christian leaders face within the church and in relation to the world. The biblical view of human beings is well said by the Prophet Isaiah,1 All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way So a sheep must be directed to move the entire flock in a single path.2 Today, leadership is viewed in terms of the position one holds the more elaborate the designation, the greater it is considered. Normally the question put forth is: Is he a senior pastor or the chief executive officer of an organization or the principal of a seminary? The higher the person is in the hierarchy, the more considered or respected or recognized he is as a leader. Some consider leadership as power to control people, resources and events. But the Bible teaches leadership as influence on people, events and resources that brings out good or benefit to many and brings glory to God. The Bible is not a leadership manual, but teaches much on leadership. Every character in the Bible is a model for leadership with their respective strengths and weaknesses. But the leaders lived in different times; some scholars estimate the time frame to be over 3000 years. They emerged in different contexts as refugees like Daniel and Nehemiah, in peace time like Solomon, during wars like
1

Isaiah 53:6 Ted W. Engstrom, The Making of a Christian Leader (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976), p.26.
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Gideon, during famines like Joseph, during freedom struggle like that of Moses leading Israelites to freedom from Egypt, etc. Leaders were unlettered like Peter, other were highly educated like Paul. But in all these leaders there are a few common traits that are needed for any Christian leader. That could be called a core competency in the modern management parlance. In this book each of these competencies is dealt as a chapter. Who is a leader? A group of beggars lived as a community in a particular city in India. They had one leader. The uniqueness of this community is that all were blind. Most of them were blind from their birth; some became blind due to accidents or sickness. I was curious to discover how they chose their leader. It was quite easy for them. Among them only one was blind only in one eye; the other eye was partially functional. Amazing! The person who could see better than the others was chosen as their leader. Christians live in a world where the spiritual eyes or perceptions of people are blinded by Satan - the prince of this world.3 Those who have personal encounters with the Lord Jesus Christ have their eyes opened, and that was the mandate given to Paul.4 So, all disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ are people who can see, in a sea of humanity who are blind. Every Christian is a leader in the context where he/she lives - that means leaders in the family, neighborhood, work place, community, society and nation. Every disciple of Jesus Christ will exercise some kind of influence on the people around them, they are de facto leaders. 5 The Lord Jesus Christ taught His disciples stating, You are the light of the world. 6 Light definitely symbolizes leadership and guidance. A Christian leader is a person with a God-

2 Corinthians 4:4 Acts 26:16-18 5 Eddie Gibbs, LeadershipNext: Changing Leaders in a Changing Culture (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2005), p.26. 6 Matthew 5:14
4

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given capacity and the God-given responsibility to influence a specific group of God s people toward God s purpose for the group. 7 False humility and leadership This leadership role for every Christian is a great mandate given by God. There is a professional public bus driver who was very humble and refused to sit on the first seat the driver s seat to drive. People around questioned him, What happened, why don t you sit and drive? He said, Sir, more honorable people are seated in the back seat, how could I occupy the first seat? He thought more socially honorable, economically powerful and older people were at the back seat, so he felt unworthy to be seated in the first seat. Though he was competent professionally, he felt unworthy in his social and economic status and avoided taking responsibility of driving the vehicle. This could be termed as false humility. Similarly, those who know the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Savior are leaders in the spiritual sense in their own context. They may be lower in the social or economic hierarchy but that does not absolve them of the responsibility of providing spiritual leadership. Leadership means to take responsibility of leading in the area where God has placed them. Light of the world or pillar of salt Christians are leaders in the world providing guidance as light to people in darkness. But, when the light is hidden under the bushel, there are two implications. There is no light, and darkness prevails. If darkness prevails, the light stand itself becomes a stumbling block or a hindrance that a person could hit and fall down. That means Chri stians who fail to be leaders in their context become pillars of salt, obstructing people, and may be the cause of their fall. Challenge for a new generation of leaders: There is a need for a galaxy of leaders who would be God s anointed men and women and transform this world. The church of the twenty-first century needs thinkers and leadership. By leadership, I mean leaders who can read
7

Eddie Gibbs, LeadershipNext: Changing Leaders in a Changing Culture (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2005), p.25.
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the Scriptures with fresh eyes, relating the story of redemption to the human condition in its present cultural contexts contexts that are increasingly multicultural and influenced by global trends. 8 There is also a need for different kinds of leaders anchored in the Word, relevant in the world and able to communicate to the new generation. We don t need new leaders but different kinds of leaders. 9

Eddie Gibbs, LeadershipNext: Changing Leaders in a Changing Culture (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2005), p.24. 9 Eddie Gibbs, LeadershipNext: Changing Leaders in a Changing Culture (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2005), p.47.
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Chapter 2:

CALL
He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens; from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance. And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skilful hands he led them. 10 These verses bring out the three essential ingredients of Christian leadership. They are Call, Character and Competence. God chose David and appointed him as the shepherd of God s people. This clearly states that God calls people to the position of leadership. It is not human achievement but God s endowment and endorsement. David led his people with integrity of heart, which speaks of his character. Also David led the people with skilful hands ; which speaks of competence. A lack in any of these three components will end up in leadership disaster. In this chapter, the first aspect of call is dealt here. Sometimes Call seems to be a controversial as well as misunderstood term. It is essential to briefly understand this term from the Scripture. Is Call Essential?: There are several categories of calls taught in the Bible: First, a general call from darkness to light is available to all people on the earth. So Christians share the message of the gospel to all people. Christ invited all those who were heavily burdened to get rest in Him. In the Old Testam ent God calls all who were hungry and thirsty to be filled and satisfied. Peter puts this call in a beautiful sentence: But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 11

10 11

Psalm 78:70-72. I Peter 1:9.

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Second, when a person comes to Christ, he has a call to witness and minister as a part of the Body of Christ. All who profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are expected to witness irrespective of their age, sex, economic status, social status or qualification. The Holy Spirit is given for Christians to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.12 Third is the call for the vocation or career. God has created each person in His own image, bestowed qualities, temperament, aptitude and certain talents. Each person has to choose a career as God has planned. When a person seeks to understand him/herself and discovers that aptitude and talent, the right career could be found for life, whether it is a doctor, nurse, teacher, professor, lawyer, engineer, driver, pilot, auto-mechanic, welder, fitter, cook, hair-dresser, cobbler, vendor, businessman, porter, postman, sales person, artist, etc. In the vocational call, God calls some of his disciples to take the role of leadership in the church on a full time basis. All Christians have a role in the Kingdom of God, but few are called to do ministry on a full time basis. The ministry is not a higher calling , but rather an important calling for which God has designed some people. 13 This call to leadership is something specific and, in fact, unique. The call is divine prerogative, and human expertise or efforts do not determine it. A person who wishes to serve the Lord in the Church or a related ministry on a full time basis should have a clear conviction that God has called him or her for the ministry. Though it is subjective experience or knowledge, it could be verified. Pat Macmillan writes, A typical person would define call as a conviction or inner leading, a sense of confidence and conviction that God is designating a particular direction. 14 The local church is the context where the call for full time ministry of leadership is tested and endorsed. The local church as the body discerns the call and encourages the person to
12

Acts 1:8 Pat MacMillan, Hiring Excellence: Six Steps to Making Good People Decisions (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1992), p.116 14 Pat MacMillan Op.Cit. p.107
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pursue the ministry. In the Antioch Church, God revealed the special call for Barnabas and Paul to be special ministers of the gospel.15 Being called and sent by God is the essence of mission. 16 Human resources department leaders should be sensitive to the guidance of the Holy Spirit to discern the call of a person who wishes to serve the ministry. Samuel was sensitive to God as he led him to choose David. What saved Samuel was not his expertise as an executive search consultant, but rather his sensitivity and willingness to listen to God during the selection process. 17 It is no wonder that the Lord Jesus Christ spent a night in prayer before appointing the twelve Apostles. The motivation for the ministry begins with the call. If factors like respect in society, finances, easy job, or any other factor becomes the motivation for ministry, then the person becomes misfit for the ministry. Paul writes, I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. 18 When God calls a person to be in full time ministry or a lay leader or tentmaker, He gives affirmation in three ways. Paul gives these three affirmations as his personal testimony while writing to Timothy. First, God gives him strength. Ministry is not done by human strength, but with divine strength and endowment of power. When a person sees fruit in his/her ministry then the affirmation comes true that God provides strength to do ministry. Second, God affirms a person stating He trusts him/her. God is not only trustworthy and faithful; he is gracious to trust sinful human beings. Every minister should reflect this faithfulness entrusted by God in his character. John Stott writes that this positive affirmation is possible as God gives the inner strength to be faithful.19 Third, the affirmation states the appointment of God. Ministry is not usurping what is not
15

Acts 13. Samuel Escobar, The New Global Mission: The Gospel From Everywhere To Everyone (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2003), p.88. 17 Pat MacMillan, Op. Cit. p.50 18 I Timothy 1:12. 19 John R.W. Stott, The Message of Timothy and Titus (Leicester: InterVarsity Press, 1997), p.51.
16

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lawful but it is the gracious appointment of God. Every minister should have a conviction that God has called him, strengthened him, trusted him and appointed him. Benefits of call Call gives conviction: When a person receives the call to do ministry, whether as a part-time Sunday school teacher or a full time Pastor, the person has a conviction that motivates him to do ministry. The conviction is based on the faithfulness of the one who has called him.20 A classical example in the Bible is Abraham. When God called him, he proceeded to an unknown destination in faith. The faithfulness of God and the conviction of God s call helped Abraham to move in faith. One s calling is describable, but not definable; stateable but not provable; more easily understood by those who experience it than those who do not. Christian calling is a sacred oughtness. 21 Call gives confidence: The call of God to do any ministry gives confidence to a person. The confidence is based on the strength or anointing given to do the ministry. It is not self-confidence based on intellectual capacity or physical ability or skills. This is a confidence that is based on serving the Unshakeable Kingdom22 under the leadership on an Unchanging King23. David demonstrates this confidence when he faces the challenge of Goliath. He rejected the confidence that comes by military apparel; his confidence was totally in the name of God. One servant of God who worked in the State of Bihar in India as cross cultural missionary for several years said, I went to Bihar with nothing in my hand, God has given me so many co-workers, churches and institutions. Even today, othe r people can take all these things
20

I Thessalonians 5:24. Ramesh Richard, A Biblical Theology for Ministry Motivation , J.T.K. Daniel (Ed.), World Evangelization and Christian Leadership (New Delhi: ISPCK, 2005), p.48. 22 Hebrews 12:28 23 Hebrews 13:8
21

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from me, but I will not be finished. I will start from scratch and continue to do the ministry. For I know no body on the earth could snatch away the anointing God has given me. The statement shows the leader s confidence. Call gives affirmation: The call of God gives affirmation for ministry. A person who is called is consecrated and appointed for the ministry. Sometimes this appointment is expressed in the form of ordination provided by church structures. The call for a person is subjective but becomes objective at the time of ordination. For some it is not from the church structures but by other lay structures like mission agencies or non-main line churches front line churches. All Christians are kingdom builders: All Christians, whether they are full time ministers or lay ministers, build the Kingdom of God. The roles are different, but the work is the same. Appreciating and encouraging one another would enhance our potential to transform the world through the glorious gospel. Let the full time workers value, affirm and accept the laity as partners in the building of God s Kingdom and conversely, the laity may value, encourage, and pray for the full time workers.

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Chapter 3:

CHARACTER
In the process of selection of a leader to deliver Israelites from slavery, God was looking for strength of character and compassion. 24 Character includes morality, ethics and integrity. There are several aspects in the character requirement of a leader. In this chapter, a few important aspects of character are picked up from several biblical personalities, so it is not an exhaustive list but an indicative list. Life of David Godliness: David was a man of higher character in comparison with his predecessor Saul. Though he had his own areas of weakness, his strength reveals itself wonderfully in his life. There are at least four main strengths in his life, which was contradictory to that of Saul. They are: godlin ess, graciousness, gratefulness and generosity. Apart from these there are trustworthiness, temperateness, self-control, respectability, hospitableness, and not loving money, not indulging in much wine and not pursuing dishonest gain.25 David was called as man after God s own heart . 26 This was said in contrast to his predecessor Saul. Saul, when rejected as king by God, wanted to retain a high ground in the eyes of people. Saul held the robe of Samuel, to prevent him from deserting him in front of Israelites and it was torn. This did not affect Saul to repent or to be remorseful. On the other hand, when David spared Saul s life, he cut the robe of Saul. He was remorseful that he humiliated a person who was anointed by God and so repented for the same.27 David was also bold enough to confess his sin of adultery and also write his
24

David Baron and Lynette Padwa, Moses On Management (New York: Pocket Books, 1999), p.5. 25 Exodus 18:21 and I Timothy 3:2-3,8. 26 I Samuel 13:14. 27 I Samuel 24:5,6.
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confession as one of the Psalms.28 This openness and transparency, sensitiveness to God s Spirit, and willingness to repent are marks of godliness. Godly people are humble and vulnerable. Life of David Graciousness: David was gracious in dealing with others. A splendid example is Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan and the grandson of Saul. He could have eliminated Mephibosheth, for he was powerful and could have done it without a note of dissent from any quarters. But he granted him all the lands of his grandfather and allowed him to eat at his table.29 A leader must be gracious to his coworkers and even dissidents. Life of David Gratefulness: Gratefulness was spontaneous in the life of David. His choice of phrases, words and metaphors to praise God is creative and imaginative. No one can parallel him in the act and vocabulary of worship. Michal, the daughter of Saul, did not like David s way of worshiping and honoring God. But David said that he was doing it out of gratefulness.30 Truly humble people are always grateful to God and to those who helped them. He was consistently aware of God s goodness and faithfulness and responded with gratefulness. Gratefulness to God and others who help us in the times of need makes a person great. Great men are grateful men. One of the marks of the last days is that people shall become ungrateful.31 Life of David Generosity: David sinned against God by ordering a census of Israel. God punished the children of Israel by sending a plague that killed many people. God commanded David to sacrifice by building an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah. 32 Though the plot was offered free of cost along with the building material and sacrificial animal, David refused to take it free. He said, No, I insist

28

Psalm 51 II Samuel 9:7,8. 30 2 Samuel 6: 21,22. 31 2 Timothy 3:1-2. 32 2 Samuel 24:18

29

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on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing. 33 One Christian leader invited his staff to celebrating an anniversary of the existence of that organization. Some staff and family members of the leaders went to dinner in a hotel. The leader ordered some food and three young men in the group ordered additional food. Several days later, the young men were shocked to see a certain amount deducted from their salary. The reason given was that they ate more than was stipulated for the celebration. The leader invited them, stating it as celebration, not paying from his pocket, and his family members also enjoyed the meal; in spite of all this, he was not generous, but unkind to charge his young co-workers. Life of Abraham Integrity: Integrity in the area of finance is another important aspect that needs consideration. Abraham was able to say, I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, I made Abram rich. 34 Samuel gave his farewell speech and challenged the children of Israel. Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the Lord and his anointed. Whose ox have I take n? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these, I will make it right. 35 In the New Testament, Paul also echoes a similar sentiment: We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one. 36 As Henry and Richard Blackaby write, Christian organizations seem willing to overlook significant character flaws, and even moral lapses, as long as their leader continues to produce. 37
33

2 Samuel 24: 24 Genesis 14:22,23 35 1 Samuel 12:3 36 2 Corinthians 7:2 37 Henry & Richard Blackaby, Spiritual Leadership (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2001), p.10
34

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Daniel: Daniel is a model for excellent leadership. Daniel is also a splendid example for effective leadership. There are three aspects in his leadership that can be lessons for today s leaders. Life of Daniel Resistance: Daniel entered into the country of Babylon as a young slave. As a teenager he must have felt that all his dreams were shattered forever. Traveling on the rough roads to Babylon would have been a nightmare for the youngsters Daniel and his friends. Many questions would have passed through their minds. But the Sovereign God was at work even in that situation. Daniel was chosen by the king to be in his administrative service. This is a rare privilege, given to a select few who were extraordinarily brilliant. He was taken to the best business or management institute in the world at that point of history. The education, lifestyle, and food were of the elite in the society. That was a great change in status for a slave. He observed the situation and came to a conclusion. He could not live in luxury that was in essence hedonism and opted for simple food and life style. Daniel s decision was based on the consciousness of a higher call rather than that of the call by the king of Babylon. Like Paul, Daniel s policy was that it could have been lawful for him to enjoy the lifestyle, but not permissible for him. Let us not debate the theological issues of whether he could eat the king s food. But the issue here is that Daniel took a decision not to eat it, for it was not appropriate for his call, mission and the will of God. He resisted all that was not in alignment with the purposes of God. Another time in his life we see him defy the king s order regarding his life of prayer. It was not lawful to pray to anybody else except the king, but he prayed to God of heavens and earth, and in public view. He resisted whatever was not compatible with the will of God. Human laws are subordinate to divine laws. Fear of God made him free from fear of men.

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As leaders it is essential to discern where to draw the line. What is compatible with the purpose, call and mission of God in our own lives? If we fail to know this, we are going to be leaders responsible for disasters. Daniel was able to resist temptations, sin, and deviations from God s call because of his convictions. Convictions build up a leader s confidence; otherwise that leader will end up in compromise. Daniel s convictions were based on his relationship with God and his understanding of the word of God. His understanding of Scripture provided him values - not situational ethics or trends of the times. Life of Daniel Dependence: Daniel was totally dependent on God. He was an intellectual, well-trained leader, handsome, quick to understand and qualified to serve the king38 but was dependent on God and the community of believers. The effectiveness and fruitfulness of Christian leadership is proportional to the leader s dependence on God. Daniel had consistent, intimate and living fellowship with God. His prayer life is a testimony for this. His responsibilities showed him that he was vulnerable and weak and he needed divine strength. The time spent in God s presence gave Daniel the inner stamina and strength to face all political and hostile environments. He was disciplined in his prayer life by fasting and praying; he also pleaded with God claiming the promises of God.39 Daniel s trust in God was marvelous. He was thrown in the lion s den for praying to God, contrary to the law. In the den God wonderfully delivered him. This deliverance was due to his trust and dependence in God.40 Daniel developed a peer group who could support him. They were his prayer partners. Their names are recorded as Shadrach, Meshach
38

Daniel 1:4 Daniel 9:2,3 40 Daniel 6:23

39

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and Abednego. When the crisis of all wise men in the country being destroyed by king s order was decreed, Daniel prayed with his friends. I don t think that Daniel prayed with his friends only during crisis. They probably met at regular intervals. The crisis demanded an emergency prayer meeting. All plans, projects, projections, and goals should be birthed in agonizing prayer. They are conceived in prayer rooms as visions and are given birth in boardrooms as projects. The prosperity and glory of the Babylonian empire that was compared with the golden head in the statue as seen by Daniel in the vision was perhaps due to the prayers of Daniel. His prayers permeated all administrative decisions in the kingdom. Life of Daniel Excellence: Daniel excelled in his work. First, Daniel distinguished himself by exceptional qualities he was not corrupt and he was not negligent.41 Daniel concentrated on his work. He put all his wisdom, training and energy to fulfill the tasks the heathen king assigned him. His work and performance was better than the other leaders or administrators. Others were envious of him. Second, he was not corrupt - corruption is not today s problem. It is a universal and historical problem. The officials in the kingdom of Babylon were corrupt. But Daniel distinguished himself with his honesty and integrity. There were conspiracies to somehow trap him in the act of corrupt practice. All his adversaries failed in their evil design. He was a trustworthy leader of the king. Third, neither was he negligent. Some leaders may not be corrupt, but they may be negligent. They may not sin of commission but may sin of omission. Being negligent means not doing the job that they are supposed to do. Many government bureaucracies suffer from this malady and disease. Government officials can be experts in creating legal problems, inventing wonderful excuses, shifting the responsibilities on others and failing to do what they ought to do. Daniel was not negligent in his duties. People could become
41

Daniel 6:4
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negligent when they are credit consciousness ; such credit conscious people will not do task that would not bring them glory. People could become negligent, when they are obsessed with their status and rights; such leaders will not do tasks that they consider below the dignity to be done. Daniel was not credit or right conscious. Spiritual characteristics: There are other characteristics that should mark a Christian leader. The Bible teaches many, such as love, peace, joy, cheerfulness, forgiveness, holiness, patience, faithfulness, stewardship, etc.

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Chapter 4:

COMPETENCE
There is a dichotomy in the mindset of people while relating to Christian ministries church, mission, church run institutions. The world tends to worship competence rather than character. For example, the world may respect a doctor who is highly competent, even though he may be an alcoholic. Christians, on the other hand, tend to spiritualize the issue by placing character at the high pedestal. In Christian leadership there is a necessity for integration of character and competence. Who would like to be treated by an incompetent doctor but one of high moral character? So competence cannot simply be neglected or wished away when we consider Christian leadership. Competence also includes the willingness and ability to accept responsibility as well as knowledge of one s own limitations. 42 It is also essential to understand that competence is a gift of God. God provided Bezalel and Oholiab with knowledge, ability and skills.43 Wisdom comes from God. 44 Ability is basically the blend of aptitude and attitude. A person who has good aptitude in an area could certainly gain knowledge and learn skills. Skills are the knowhow of doing things. Leadership demands competence and competence means hard work. There are five important components of competence: personality, talents, abilities, gifts and skills. Personality: Personality is the natural orientation of a person. Psychologists are of the opinion that there are four generic personality
42

Eddie Gibbs, LeadershipNext: Changing Leaders in a Changing Culture (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2005), p.137. 43 Exodus 31:1-3 44 James 4:17
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behaviors: Dynamic, Inspiring, Stable and Cautious. They are labeled with different terms by different leaders. One school of thought states Dynamic as Achiever; Inspiring as Motivator; Stable as Encourager and Cautious as Thinker. There are two dominate personality traits in a person while the other two are found in traces. The personality trait gives advantages in certain kind of professions. A cautious person could be a good researcher; play the role of devil s advocate in a team; and may have a prophetic gift. A stable person could be a good coach or mentor or counselor. The strengths of each personality should be developed to attain a higher competency level. The method of communication varies for different personality types and so is the attitude towards life, work, people and the world. Understanding the personality type helps the individual know the areas or careers in which he/she could excel, the method to communicate with others, and awareness of certain weaknesses. There are several personality analysis tests available on the Internet and given by several certified behavior analysts. These tests would help a person to understand his/her own strengths to help them to excel, and understand the weaknesses that should be marginalized or help sought from other co-workers. Talents: Talents are natural abilities that are bestowed by God on each individual. These talents could be discovered and then trained to develop into highest form. For example, a talent of singing could be developed by voice training, healthy food habits, exercise and practice. There are several talents - some of them are listed in chapter 22 of this book. Abilities: Abilities are capacities to do certain work. This is obtained by education. A civil engineer has the capacity to draw plans for buildings or bridges or malls. A doctor has the ability to diagnose the disease or sickness in a person. A teacher has the ability to lead a student to know more than he currently knows. Ability is the knowledge base of a certain discipline to help a person do the technical aspects of that work.

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Gifts: Every Christian is endowed with spiritual gifts through the work of the Holy Spirit. This is considered in chapter 23 of this book. Skills: Skills are abilities that are learned by training and practice. Singing may be a God-given ability, but playing guitar is a skill that has to be learned to complement and enhance that ability. Storytelling may be a natural ability but writing stories is a journalistic skill that has to be developed by training and practice. As leaders there are several skills that ought to be developed especially, such as decision making, interpersonal skills, etc. Skills bring structure to experiential knowledge. 45 There is a difference between talents and skills. Skills determine if you can do something, whereas talents reveal something more important; how well and how often you do it. 46 Conclusion: Competence can take you far, but it won t take you where God has planned for you to go. 47 Yes, natural talents and gifts are good but should operate in submission to God s will fulfilling the Kingdom Agenda of the Lord Jesus Christ.

45

Marcus Buckingham & Donal O. Clifton, Now, Discover Your Strengths (New York: Free Press, 2001), p.45. 46 Marcus Buckingham & Donal O. Clifton, Now, Discover Your Strengths (New York: Free Press, 2001), p.58. 47 Bill Hull, Choose Life: Exploring a Faith that Embraces Discipleship (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2004), p.193.
29 Christ and Leaders

Chapter 5:

VISION
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory. At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. Woe to me! I cried. I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty. Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for. Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? And I said, Here am I. Send me! 48 Uzziah was a powerful king who was righteous49 and an able administrator. He developed cattle rising and agriculture 50 which developed the economy of Judah. As a great builder, he fortified Jerusalem51 and rebuilt the city of Elath.52 His grave sin was, of course, he was presumptuous in burning incense which was the right of the priest, and God punished him instantly with leprosy. 53 Isaiah was naturally depressed that a good king, friend, well wisher and sponsor died. Now he was dogged with the question of what to do. At this juncture he received a vision. The vision had three dimensional impacts on him. The implication of vision affects a person s life that is driven by a purpose. Vision can be defined as a
48

Isaiah 6:1-8. 2 Kings 15:3. 50 2 Chronicles 26:10 51 2 Chronicles 26:9 52 2 Kings 14:22 53 2 Chronicles 26:16-21
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picture of purpose .54 Always authentic vision has divine dimension and human dimension. Authentic vision must be 55 generated from above and from within. This is true in the life of Isaiah. I. Vision of God: In the time of national and personal crisis he has a vision from God. Isaiah was able to have a glimpse of the Holy God in His majesty. Angels who covere d their faces and feet were calling to one another, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory. 1.1 Sovereign Lord rules over the world: It does not matter who is the temporal king or ruler of the nations. God is exalted and rules with His sovereign authority over the whole world. Kings may come and kings may go, the unshakeable kingdom and the eternal king are the only absolute eternal realities. Isaiah received an eternal perspective of life and began to see beyond the temporal. He had to learn to focus his vision beyond the King in Jerusalem towards the King in heaven. 1.2 God is Holy: The Holiness of God is awesome and demands worship and reverence from His creation. The vision gave Isaiah a glimpse of God s majesty, holiness and glory. Even sinless angels could not behold God and they covered their faces in his presence. Human beings are sinful and worthless in His presence but can enter his presence through the blood of Lord Jesus Christ that was shed for the remission of sins of humanity. II. Vision of himself 2.1 Reveals our spiritual inadequacy: Any encounter with God brings inward revelation followed by transformation. Isaiah felt his inadequacy and sinfulness when he saw the majestic vision.56 In the first five chapters he was declaring woe to several people. Now he
54

Pat MacMillan Hiring Excellence: Six Steps to Making Good People Decisions (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1992), p.243 55 Eddie Gibbs, LeadershipNext: Changing Leaders in a Changing Culture (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2005), p.150. 56 Isaiah 6:5
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says woe unto me . The sinful nature of a person is uncovered in the presence of God. Peter, when he confronted Christ, requested Him to go away from him because he was sinful.57 In the presence of Lord Jesus, Zacchaeus also confessed his sins by promising to do restitution58. Paul called himself the worst sinner. 59 A personal encounter with the Holy Lord exposes a person s spiritual inadequacy. 2.2 Reveals our ministerial inadequacy: The heavenly vision helps a person to see his/her infirmities and inadequacies. Who was he to declare woes upon others (first five chapters of Isaiah) when he was himself a sinner? Moses felt he was not equivalent to the task entrusted to him. He suggested God could choose a better person and eventually bargained to have Aaron as his assistant and spokesperson. Jeremiah said that he was only a child. He tried to explain to God that his speech was immature and incomplete like a child. He does not match the general description of the prophet and the mandate for a prophet. 2.3 Needs a divine touch: The angel took a coal from the altar of God and touched Isaiah s lips and he was cleansed of his sinfulness. A divine cleansing is needed to have effective and productive ministry. Divine cleansing is not a one-time event, but a consistent cleansing with an intimate walk with the Lord is essential for every Christian. The blind man who was healed needed another touch in order to stop seeing human beings as trees walking. Mary saw the risen Savior as a gardener and needed a rebuke from the Lord. The servant of Elisha needed a divine vision to see that God s angel would protect his prophet in the midst of threats by the army of an enemy nation.

III. Outward vision 3.1 Concerns-burdens-vision: Isaiah was able to hear the voice of God, understand his concern and volunteered to go on behalf of God
57

Luke 5:8 Luke 19:8 59 1 Timothy 1:15

58

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as His ambassador. An encounter with Christ transforms a person and provides new direction and purpose for life. The people who have concerns with the mind of Christ are chosen to fulfill God s purposes in His Kingdom. Moses had a vision to help his people become liberated, as did Gideon. Bo th were used by God to bring deliverance and victory. 3.2 Look with God s perspective: Isaiah suddenly realized that he was living with people with unclean lips. Darkness and sin around us arouses us to understand God s mission in the world. The Lord Jesus said to his disciples to look at the field. The harvest was plenty, ripe and ready indeed.60 But the disciples were not able to perceive it. Only people with vision will recognize the urgency of the harvest and go reap it. While lifting up our eyes, we can see the regions beyond as Paul did.61 Paul always had vision of the advancement of the Gospel.62 IV. Implications of visions 4.1 Vision determines priorities: Leaders should discern times, needs and define priorities. The Reubenites, Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh had already inherited the land. Joshua firmly instructs them to put on the armor and proceed to fight until the other tribes also received their inheritance of the land. Joshua was judicious in determining the priorities. If he had allowed the tribes to settle before others obtained the inheritance, there would have been chaos, rivalry and even civil war. Strategies are birthed in prayer rooms and are planned in the board rooms. Joshua received the strategy from the Lord. 63 Thenhe worked out details of the plan with his people.64

60

Luke 10:2 2 Corinthians 10:16 62 Philippians 1:12 63 Joshua 6:2-5 64 Joshua 6:6-7
61

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4.2 Life governed by vision Paul wrote that he was not disobedient to heavenly vision. He was constantly orienting his life in alignment with God-given vision. That vision helped him to turn his back to the past. He was neither impair ed by the bitter memories nor sentimentally grounded by nostalgia of his great achievements. His life became future-oriented, anticipating the entry of himself into God s glory. V. Vision and goals Vision and goals are closely related. Let us consider two football teams playing for victory. Suppose there are no goal posts. Could both teams really play? Yes, they could play but without results. The game may not have interest. There may be activity but not productivity. In the same way, if Christian leaders do not have specific goals, there may be much activity but no productivity. There are many events and programs may take place but there are no expected results. This is because of goal-less strategies that make leaders become as wandering stars. Paul had specific strategies. He claimed that he preached the gospel to all, beginning from Jerusalem to Illyricum.65 He had a specific geographical area as target. Ther e are people who shoot arrows and then draw the target; some draw targets and aim for them while some do not use their arrows at all. God-given vision will have God-given goals for every day, or every month or every year. Challenge The challenge for us today is to have divine perspective for effective Christian witness. A crisis drove Isaiah closer to God, which enabled him to see the eternal perspective. His ministry became much productive and effective after this encounter. Paul also had a similar experience and had a specific vision that enabled him to relentlessly pursue planting many churches and developing many leaders in the first century. Where there is no vision, people perish. 66 When people of vision are not taking leadership then

65 66

Romans 15:19 Proverbs 29:18

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ordinary people take over. Whe n a nation doesn t have a vision, small minds take over its affairs. 67 The focus of vision today for leaders is the completion of the Great Commission task. Vision is the interpretation and application of mission into a specific context. In the church, vision sees, with an eye of faith, the ways that we can turn the Great Commission into reality. 68

67

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power Within India (New Delhi: Penguin Books India, 2002), p.92 68 Eddie Gibbs, LeadershipNext: Changing Leaders in a Changing Culture (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2005), p.150.
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Chapter 6:

LEGACY REALLY COUNTS

During his lifetime Absalom had taken a pillar and erected it in the King's Valley as a monument to himself, for he thought, I have no son to carry on the memory of my name. He named the pillar after himself, and it is called Absalom's Monument to this day. 69 Enduring memory is the quest of many people. All people like to make a mark in the history of time by engraving their names in the sands of time. Legacy defined: Legacy is the impact we leave on the future generations. In other words, what will people remember us for? It can be positive and productive or negative and destructive. God has called us to invest our resources including time, talents, skills and treasure strategically, in high leverage activities with eternal perspective. Good stewards of God will leave a rich legacy that shall be a blessing to future generations. King Solomon rightly said, A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold. 70 Biblical Examples: The Bible gives us several examples of those who left legacies. Some of the characters left a positive and enduring legacy while others left a negative legacy. Moses was a great dynamic leader. His legacy was his vision for the nation of Israel and the law. Joshua as his successor left his legacy of leadership continuity. On the other hand, Samson is one of the bad examples in the Bible. He displayed great strength (Judges 14 and 15) but he fell to many distractions that kept him away from God s highest goal and purposes. His legacy was almost nil and even negative.

69 70

2 Samuel 18:18 Proverbs 22:1

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The Lord Jesus Christ was not interested in only doing miracles healing people, feeding people and raising the dead. If that was His only ministry He could have started a hospital or dharmsala71. But He invested in the lives of twelve disciples. His legacy was the band of disciples who turned the world upside down. This group of twelve people grew into a movement that is still impacting the world. Paul also followed the example of Jesus Christ. He planted churches and developed leaders who could carry forward his vision of reaching the world. Young men such as Timothy and Titus, as well as the many churches he planted, were the legacy of the great apostle. His letters are treasures for the church even today. Even in history we see several examples. Great servants of God like William Carey, John Wesley, Hudson Taylor, Mother Theresa, etc. had vision and implanted their vision into a group of people. They became their legacy perpetuating their ministry, thoughts and vision. There are also bad influences like Charles Darwin and others who were detrimental to human values and progress. What should we do? As Christian leaders we should think about impacting future generations until the Lord comes; our life, then, is an investment in the Kingdom of God impacting the present generation, future generations and eternity. 1. Have long term vision We need to have God-given vision that will transcend our own lifetime. That vision can transform the purpose of our life. The Apostle Paul made this beautiful statement, Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 72 That God-given vision became his purpose of life. He valued that more than anything else. It is not just catching hold of the vision, but the vision gripping and governing our life.

71

Place where pilgrims free place to stay, usually connected to a local temple. 72 Phil 3:12
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Vision does not come by itself. Godly vision is birthed in agony and prayer. General William Booth walk ed through the city of London one day and returned home and said to his wife, I have found my destiny. When he saw the city of London from God s perspective, the needs of the city moved Booth - the result was a vision of transformation that was translated into action through the Salvation Army. 2. Communicate the vision A life with such vision will be filled with passion. The passion will be indicated in conviction and enthusiasm. A person filled with a vision, passion and conviction will communicate the vision, and anyone else who passes his or her way will be influenced. Moses had a vision for the children of Israel that was given by God. He communicated that vision to the elders of Israel. He had to prove his credentials by doing miracles. Later he communicated his vision of the tabernacle to the people and also to the artisans. People contributed liberally while the artisans built according to the pattern shown by God to Moses. The type of people we get to follow us will depend upon the type of vision we have. If the vision is mean and shortsighted, then the followers will be also of similar vision. So leaders with destructive vision will get followers of the same. Absalom got followers of himself in pursuing his agenda to dislodge the king. 3. Build people around the vision We have to build a group of people who own the vision. Consider a toy doll. The same type of toy is made in five sizes. The smallest can be packed in the next and so all can be packed inside the largest one. Leaders, if they recruit people of lesser caliber than they are, the organization will become an organization of dwarfs or pygmies or Lilliputians. There was an only son of an old lady. Her son was talented in many areas. They were living in a country that was hostile to the Christians and the gospel. The young man was committed to the Lord. He was a well-accomplished sports person. He went to preach the gospel in some neighborhoods where the known city criminals lived. His mother advised him not to minister there. One day the unexpected
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thing happened when this young man was shot and killed. The mother could not be consoled for many days. One day when the mother was weeping and wailing, the doorbell rang. She did not want to answer the door. Reluctantly she went to the door. To her surprise, some teenage boys were standing there. They said, Auntie, are you the mother of James? The mother replied in the affirmative by nodding her head. One of the boys replied, Auntie, we came to thank you. We live in a notorious area where even police do not come. But James used to come to play and talk with us. Like him, we are disciples of Jesus Christ. James still lives in us. The mother was really moved. She realized not talents or skills or name, but the legacy of teenagers his son left was worth more than anything else is in this world. It is more so in the eternal perspective. Challenge It is not the gifts and talents or fame and name that counts, but the legacy we leave. We must leave a group of people who can carry forward the vision God has given us. A leader of a missionary movement was so depressed that he was edging towards retirement. He tried to extend his tenure by trying to change the constitution, which was opposed by the board members. He could not imagine a life after retirement that too without an official status and position. Somehow he managed to start a new organization with a similar vision of the original organization in order to continue to be a leader with a fancy position. In fact, he was responsible for the downfall of his original organization and the second organization he created did not survive for long. The most si gnificant test of leadership is not present performance but the legacy that the leaders leave behind them. Has the leader left the movement healthier, nor just larger? 73

73

Eddie Gibbs, LeadershipNext: Changing Leaders in a Changing Culture (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2005), p.215.
39 Christ and Leaders

Chapter 7:

COMMITMENT
Leadership is not only a call, a privilege and a responsibility - it also involves commitment. An effici ent leader is the one who is committed to a cause, or a philosophy or a person. Response to the Divine Call : This divine call has human response at three levels. Here I would use three terms: commitment, consecration and covenant. The first response is commitment to the call, which is mental consent or acceptance at principle level. This generally happens at the intellectual level. A person realizes the responsibility, knows that he/she has a role, joyfully embraces the call and makes a commitment. The second response is building upon the initial commitment. A person goes through the process of consecration, that is, to place on the altar of God, all gifts, talents, time, treasure, skills, etc. for fulfilling God s purpose in the Kingdom of God. A person could be committed but not consecrated that is, not making a positive decision as a response. Commitment on a mental level is theoretical and not pragmatic. In fact, consecration complements commitment. In turn, the lack of consecration makes commitment hollow. Third, there is an element of continuity, which can be termed as covenant. The ultimate test of the call is the covenant of continuous consecration and commitment. So the human response to the divine call is not a one-time affair but a continuous life-long process. Like marriage, the process involves more than one person and hence the response from human beings is vital, as God does not change his mind. Commitment to the Person of Christ: A Christian leader is essentially committed to Lord Jesus Christ. Peter challenged the listeners on the day of Pentecost to repent and accept Jesus Christ as
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Savior and Lord.74 A Christian leader s authority is derived from his relationship with Lord Jesus Christ. James writes, Submit yourselves, then, to God, Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 75 Submission brings empowerment of a Christian leader. While living under complete submission to the lordship of Christ, he has authority over Satan. Paul writes, I can do everything through him who gives the strength. 76 Being in Christ provides the strength needed in exercising apostolic leadership of Paul. Christian leaders should be Christo-centric in their thinking, attitude, approach and ministry instead of being denominational-centric. Paul had the right theology acknowledging the supremacy of Christ in the universe, over the nations, within the church and one s own life. Commitment to the Church: Christian leaders should be committed to the universal Body of Christ. God has chosen the Church as His instrument to accomplish His purposes in the world. Even though God works in the universe through His common grace, he fulfills His divine purpose of the Great Commission through the Church. The Church, as with any other human institution, is not perfect with all imperfect descendants of Adam tainted by sin. But the Holy Spirit is perfecting the Church by the act of sanctification of both the individuals within the church and the Church as a corporate body. There can be denominational differences with emphasis on a particular truth or upholding certain traditions, but all who are washed by the blood of Lord Jesus Christ are the people of God or family of God. A leader is committed to the universal Church that transcends denominational barriers and other social, national, cultural, ethnic and linguistic barriers, and also is loyal to his own local church where he/she is a part. Commitment to the Word of God: A Christian leader should be committed to the inerrant Word of God. The values, principles, focus, goals, purpose, priorities and vision of leadership should be
74

Acts 2:36-39 James 4:7 76 Philippians 4:13

75

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derived from God s Word. His life and ministry should be built on rock and not on sand. 77 Christian homes, churches, institutions, organizations should be built on the strong foundation of the Word of God. A Christian leader derives authority and mandate from the Scriptures. Commitment to the Great Commission: Christian leadership is missional leadership, committed to the mission of God in the world. The Great Commission given to the disciples, after the resurrection and just before the ascension as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, provides the core idea of missions. The implication of the Great Commission is that the Church has to make disciples of nations by using all resources, personnel, talents, time, treasure and energy at her disposal. The priority of this task redefines other aspects of church. Mission is not operating in an alien culture which is geographically distant, but engaged in making disciples in the context the Lord has placed us. God places some in cross-cultural contexts and they are expected to make disciples as they were doing in their home context. Christian leadership is a missional perspective with two dimensions. One type is providing vision for Christians to make disciples and the second type is making disciples of non-Christians. Commitment to the Kingdom of God: While all born-again Christians belong to the unshakeable kingdom of God under the sovereign reign of the unchanging king our Lord Jesus Christ,78 the world around is under the encroached authority of Satan. Introducing Kingdom values in the corrupt world may change systems and structures that are oppressive to the people. When Christians live practicing Kingdom values they contradict the value system of the world. Since there is warfare of the two systems, as Christian leaders they should uphold biblical values in a hostile environment.

77 78

Matthew 7:24-27 Hebrews 12:28 and 13:8

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Long Term Commitment: Naturally, the commitment is not temporary, but long term or even permanent. This also outlasts the sojourn on this earth. God expects an unwavering commitment of Christian leaders.

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Chapter 8:

BIBLICAL PROFILE: SHEPHERD

Introduction: In the Bible there are several prototypes of leadership: Shepherd, Steward, Servant, Spiritual Example and Spokesperson. Each aspect is explored in the forthcoming chapters. Pastoral leaders are called to be shepherds of the flock. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the role model, example, mentor and guide in this area of leadership. All four Gospel writers have recorded the miracle of His feeding the five thousand plus. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. 79 The love of the Lord for the people and His compassion for the needy is beyond comparison. Love, compassion and care for people are the basic or essential qualifications of a Christian leader. In modern Christendom, there is a need for conducting Member Care or Pastor Care seminars and courses, which show the deviation of Christian leadership from standards set by our Lord Jesus Christ. Disciples were considerate about the Lord and wanted to protect him from impending embarrassment. The intention of the disciples was good but out of the purpose of the Lord. As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, This is a remote place, and it s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food. 80 Many times co-workers, congregation members and friends have noble intentions and give good suggestions to leaders. But leaders should know to discern the will of God instead of blindly following logical or rational ideas. Disciples perceived the feeding of people as a problem and were eager to avoid a crisis, while the Lord looked at this issue as an
79 80

Matthew 14:14 Matthew 14:15

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opportunity. Shortsighted disciples failed to see the glory and power of God that was to be manifest among the people. To run away from problems is not leadership but escapism that will stunt the growth of a leader. Problems are not dead ends of ministry pilgrimage but new beginnings of different levels and phases of ministry. But the Lord was sure and confident about his approach to the problem. As the compassionate Son of Man, He wanted to feed the people so that they would not faint on their way back home. Their physical needs should be met, as were their spiritual needs. The Lord was holistic in his approach in meeting the needs of the people physical, spiritual, social, mental, psychological and emotional needs. Physical needs like food; spiritual needs like the Word of God; social needs like fellowship; mental needs like teaching; psychological needs like sense of belonging; emotional needs like being wanted and loved. This incident happened near Bethsaida, the hometown of Philip, Peter and Andrew. The resourceful disciples said that it would cost eight months of a person s wages to feed them something. 81 Maybe they had some knowledge about the topography of the region, the cost of the food, and also the availability of such a large amount of food. It was good research information but not the vital information that Lord Jesus needed. How many loaves do you have? he asked. Go and see. 82 He was interested to know what was available within the community that He could use. God likes to use simple things readily available. Several examples are in the Scriptures rod of Moses, pebbles of David, sword of Gideon etc. Good decisions are made on the basis of good information. But right and relevant decisions are made on the basis of right information. Leaders must search for right information in order to make right decisions. Leaders should be able to find divine insights in human research. In a gathering of five thousand and more people, surely a few would have brought some food for their need. But only a small boy was
81 82

Mark 6:37 Mark 6:38

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willing to make available what he had for a higher purpose. Not all resources in the community are accounted for the purposes of God but only the available resources. Available resources become strategic resources for Kingdom Agenda. The only available resource in this context was five loaves and two fish. It was meager in comparison with the mammoth need. The Lord commanded the disciples to organize the crowd for the feast in rows of fifty people each. Planning comes ahead of the provision. It was an action of faith; the disciples obeyed the Master not knowing how food would be provided. Implicit obedience is the mark of discipleship. Leaders should be people of faith who can take great risks and plan. Followers trust leaders who have faith, and prove their faith by action. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to set before the people. 83 God s ways are not human methods; they defy descriptions and tease human imaginations and wisdom. God chooses his own methods; it may be manna in the desert, unfailing flour and oil in the widow s home - they are original and unique. Here He just multiplied the bread and fish to satisfy the hunger of the multitude. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketsful of broken pieces that were left over. 84 Christian leaders are called to satisfy the needs of people. People to whom we minister should be satisfied - their cups should overflow and be healthy like calves.85 A shepherd leader is a person of compassion and care, and an adventurer in faith.

83

Luke 9:16 Luke 9:17 85 Malachi 4:2

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Chapter 9:

SPIRITUAL EXAMPLE
A young boy wore brand-name jeans, Ray-Ban glasses, a stylish tshirt and colorful cap, and was driving his motorbike like a madman. He was not afraid, but all others on the road were terrified. Yes, this young man wanted to be a biker and was practicing his competency on a very busy road. Another girl spent nearly an hour in front of the mirror. She was naturally beautiful but was trying to enhance her beauty with modern dress, golden necklace, diamond earrings, facial powder and perfumes. Yes, she asp ired to become like Miss World or one of the popular models who endorse cosmetic brands. Natural Quest: It is natural for a human being to have a quest or aspiration to be like someone they admire and respect, or hero worship: 1. To be somebody: Even a child chooses a person as a model and begins to imitate him/her. Sometimes children opt for a fictitious character from a cartoon strip. The selection of a role model depends upon the individual s values. The boy who wanted to a biker values bikes more in his life. His priority is motorcycles. The girl wanted to become a beauty queen. Her priority was to become a glamorous personality in the world. The choice also depends on the talents and gifts a person has. Some are fortunate to discover their talents early in their lives. 2. Inspiration/Motivation: It is possible to get inspiration from a role model. The role model is assumed to have attained the highest level of excellence in their respective field. That is considered a benchmark in that field. Youngsters are inspired to excel in such a way to at least reach the level of the role models. 3. Awakens potential: Role models could awaken the hidden potential in a person. Others sometimes discover our gifts and talents. Paul as a role model awakens the potential hidden in Timothy. For this
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reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 86 Potentials of the youngsters, women and the laity in the church are still buried, hidden and unused for lack of role models. 4. Provides meaning to life: Role models provide the productivity or fruitfulness in one s life. Each person has a role to play in this world and has potential for positive contribution. So, role models help people to find meaning in life. Ultimate Role Model: The only Holy, flawless and perfect role model for humanity is the Lord Jesus Christ. He exemplifies all great virtues in highest and perfect form. Here are some examples: Humility that is considered a great virtue is personified in Jesus Christ, who took human form, was born in a manger and lived an ordinary life. Love, another virtue, is personified in Jesus Christ; He died for sinners, the ungodly and enemies of God (Romans 5). For some, power is a virtue. Jesus Christ demonstrated His power to forgive sins, and His power over nature, evil spirits and death. Grace and mercy also found the highest form in Christ. He had compassion on mankind by being willing to take the horrible death penalty on Himself. Within three plus years He accomplished the redemption plan as ordained by God. The Lord Jesus Christ is unrivalled in this aspect in the whole history of humanity. Paul Bold Role Model: Paul had the courage to say: Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. 87 It is a shame to hear from Christian leaders who: Do not look at me, better look at Jesus Christ. This does not come out of humility but out of lack of confidence in their walk with the Lord. The world likes to see people courageously demonstrating the character and power of Christ in their lives.

86 87

2 Timothy 1:6 1 Corinthians 11:1

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There are also several other examples in the Bible like Moses to Joshua and Elijah to Elisha. Imitators or Followers? Imitation is only copying the externals of a superior material while the internal remains the same. Imitation jewelry may look like gold jewelry but is not gold in essence. We are called not to be imitators or pretenders but to demonstrate the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. Counterfeit currency may look good but has no value in itself and is illegal. The Christians in Antioch in the first century were named Christians precisely for reflecting the radiance of Christ.88 Where are the role models? Christian leaders are called to be role models in the family, church and society. There is a lack of bold leaders like Paul who could challenge the younger generation to follow their examples. Pastors, preachers, and Christian workers are expected to be role models. Y oung people in the congregations and new disciples in the churches are looking for role models. Challenge There is crisis of leadership in every generation. People are looking for role models to follow. Unfortunately, the Church has failed to produce enough role models in all spheres of life. Yet, the Church is the only hope for this world. Why can t we become role models?

88

Acts 11:26
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Chapter 10:

BIBLICAL PROFILE SPOKESPERSON

God chosen leaders are spokespersons. They have different kinds of responsibilities towards different kinds of people. As spokespersons for God, they relate with God s people as shepherds and prophets to the world. As spokespersons for God s people, they intercede to God for His children and they also intercede for the perishing. In short, they have to sometimes represent God, sometimes God s people and sometimes the world. Speaking and Listening: There are two important skills these leaders need: Listening skills and Communication skills. Listening is a skill as well as an art. It takes a lot of patience, discipline and training and of course a lot of emotional energy. Listening to God is the primary duty of a Christian leader. Being alert, sensitive and open to hear the Lord s voice in all circumstances helps a leader to be a truthful and trustworthy spokesperson for God. Listening and Discernment: Listening to the people of God needs an added element discernment. Listening to the people of God means not only to hear but also to have the skill to discern the thoughts or ideas behind those words. Underlying aspirations, ambitions, thoughts and reasons should be discerned, which may be hidden by words. Understanding the times is a prerequisite for a leader. 89 The changing environment, which impacts all aspects of life such as social, economic, political, religious, technology etc., should be understood from the perspective of God s Kingdom and not from human understanding. God as sovereign ruler directs the world history that
89

Matthew 16:33
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would cumulate in the Lord s coming and the Kingdom of God coming in fullest expression. A leader communicating to the people of God needs different skills, while communicating to the world needs a different set of skills. With biblical history, theology and church history, it is possible to communicate with the people of God. When all these three are seen with suspicion, it becomes difficult for a leader to authentically communicate with the world. I. Spokesperson for God to Gods people and to the world: The Lord Jesus Christ is termed as Chief Shepherd, Great Shepherd and Good Shepherd with regard to His flock. The leaders in the church are called under-shepherds or pastoral leaders who have the privilege of serving God s people and also bear the burden of responsibility towards them. As God s spokesperson, a leader cannot afford to misrepresent God or misinterpret His Word. It is a sacred responsibility that should be carried out with utter sincerity and faithfulness. Shepherds voice to Gods people: A shepherd speaks with concern and love, and when necessary, sternly, to impart discipline. The shepherd knows the plan, purpose and goals he has for each sheep. The sheep has to be trained to hear and recognize the voice of the shepherd and to obey that voice. As under shepherds, Christian leaders have an important role in equipping or training the people of God to hear God s voice. 90 Though Eli the chief priest was not an ideal role model, nevertheless he helped Samuel to discern God s voice, rightly respond to his call and be obedient to his command.91 Sheep seek instruction from the mouth of the pastoral leaders, as leaders of the flock. "For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, and from his mouth men should seek instruction-because
90 91

John 10:27 1 Samuel 2:4-9

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he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty. 92 They interpret the Word of God to the people of God so they can shine as stars in the corrupt world. Prophetic Voice to the world: Christian leaders are supposed to be the voice in the wilderness similar to that of the John the Baptist. The mandate for John the Baptist was to prepare the way for Messiah. The mandate of all Christia ns today is similar to his, that we prepare the way for the Lord s Second Coming. Demanding people to repent, proclaiming salvation through the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and reconciling them with God the Father is the prophetic call of every Christian. As prophets, they are not supposed to compromise God s standards and demands. Therefore this is what the Lord says: If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me; if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will be my spokesman. Let this people turn to you, but you must not turn to them. 93 Jeremiah was supposed to be steadfast, unrelenting, rigid and not compromise under any circumstances on the fundamentals. The prophetic call also involves being the voice of the voiceless. The marginalized and neglected poor in the lower ranks of social hierarchy need people to speak on behalf of them. This role is for the Christian leaders to take. Moth er Theresa became the voice of the poor and dying in the streets. W ilberforce became the voice of the slaves raising his voice against the mighty British Empire. William Carey raised his voice to protect young widows who were burned alive along with the corpse of their dead husbands in a cruel practice of sati. William Booth raised his voice for the poor in the cities of the industrial era. Pandit Ramabai fought for the dignity of women, especially the deserted widows.

92 93

Malachi 2:7 Jeremiah 15:19

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II. Spokesperson for Gods people to God and to the world: In the New Testament, every believer enjoys the priesthood. But there is corporate responsibility also. James recommended that elders of the church pray for the sick. Therefore leaders are to be spokespersons on behalf of people. Interceding for their spiritual welfare and growth, and their social, family and economic life is the duty of an under-shepherd. Moses is a wonderful example who prayed for the children of Israel.94 Samuel said that he commits sin if he fails to intercede for the people of God.95 The harvest is truly plenty; ripe and ready but there are no harvesters.96 The people of God are called to pray the Lord of harvest to send forth laborers. Interceding for the unreached regions, people and nations is a responsibility of a Christian leader. Abraham interceded on behalf of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah that were facing God s judgment. 97 God s people have been given the mandate of Great Commission98, which in essence means Great Communication. Taking the gospel to all parts of the world is the mandate given to the Church. The Church as a corporate body of Christ is the custodian and communicator of the gospel. Custodian means to defend the purity and simplicity of the gospel. There could never be a silent church. Christians have a message and are appointed messengers of the gospel. Sharing the gospel to the whole world is the creative and eternally rewarding task given to Christians. Christian leaders should protect and plead on behalf of the people of God as Esther did. Esther saved Israel from being utterly destroyed by her wise intervention. Before she interceded before the king, she interceded before Sovereign God.

94

Number 14:13-20 1 Samuel 12:23 96 John 4:35, Luke 10:2 97 Genesis 18:16-23 98 Matthew 28:18-20
95

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Challenge: The task is great and a great challenge for any person. But we cannot escape from this reality. There is a great expectation from us by God, by His people, and by the world. As spokespersons we are accountable to God for every word we speak.99

99

Matthew 12:36
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Chapter 11:

SERVANT
She is seventy-nine years old, living in a humble dwelling without concrete, roof, air conditioning or even running water. Theologians acclaim her as the first healing evangelist of India. The biography of the unlettered woman is being read in theological institutions, of which she is simply unaware. She has pioneered in unchartered areas, taking the gospel light to rural and tribal areas. She has introduced numerous people to Christ. Yet she lives a life bordering poverty but rich in faith and content with all God has provided for her. She reminds of the parable taught by Lord Jesus Christ. This parable is one of the least quoted parables of Lord Jesus Christ. Maybe it is deliberately ignored as it brings a very strong message. Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, Come along now and sit down to eat? Would he not rath er say, Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink ? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty. 100 As disciples of Lord Jesus Christ we are called to: serve, not be served;101 be spent, not to spend;102 give rather than receive.103 But strangely, we observe the opposite in practice. It seems to be good theory, but taboo in practice. Not Worthy of Rewards: Christians are slaves of the Lord Jesus Christ by their own choice. The Old Testament Law permits the children of Israel to hold slaves for six years and release them on the
100

Luke 17:7-10 Matthew 20:28 102 2 Corinthians 12:15 103 Acts 20:35
101

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seventh year. But if the slave loves the master and determines to be a slave, he could be accepted by piercing his ear with an awl against the doorpost. Then he becomes a voluntary slave forever. 104 Asa voluntary slave, he does not have any rights as such but he serves for the love for his master. Christians serve the Lord out of love for the Master who gave His life on the cross of Calvary. Paul goes one step further and declares that he is a slave to any person in order to win that person to Christ.105 Out of his love for the Master, he was willing to become a slave to human beings in order to draw their attention towards the living and loving God. So Christians are called to serve out of love, not out of expectation of rewards. Rewards come anyway. Rewards are not the focus, but the privilege Christians have to serve Christ in this world. The promise of reward for serving the Lord is there in the Scriptures. Rewards for honestly seeking him, serving him, suffering for him, fulfilling the call of God all are real and for sure. But Christians should do all things out of love for the Lord. Not Worthy of Remuneration: One senior pastor in a city in Uttar Pradesh shared his experience. He was the chairman of the local organizing committee for a gospel campaign in the city. The meeting was about to begin in half an hour. One local leader went to escort the preacher to the stage from his guest room. The preacher for the campaign refused to go to the stage unless the money agreed upon was paid in cash. The local comm ittee had to hurriedly arrange the money so that the meeting would go on unhindered. A servant of God is not worthy of remuneration. A slave receives just the barest minimum as wages. It could be a shelter, a few clothes and food. Apart from this there is no valueadded wages in terms of bonuses or perks. Are the wages

104 105

Exodus 21:1-6 I Corinthians 9:19

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commensurate with that of the work or labor put in? Nobody bothers to ask this question when it comes to a slave. Money is not the criteria for serving the Lord. It is very hard today to find people who come to serve the Lord out of love for the Lord. Money, position, power and other mundane issues dictate decisions. Some opt to serve in missions or church as they are not competent for employment elsewhere. Yes, the promise of provision for our needs is there. It is not for Christian workers alone, but for all believers. How many Christian leaders have shipwrecked their faith by their love for money?

Not Worthy of Recognition: There was a meeting of local Christians to discuss a recently promulgated anti-conversion law. During the break, there was a great commotion. Some disciples of one of the leaders were vehemently arguing why their leader was not provided a seat on the stage. The leader, standi ng there, enjoyed the display by his followers and later walked off with his coterie. The world seeks for recognition. The drive to be great is inherent in all human beings. When we serve the Lord, the motive should not be recognition. That does not mean that we are nobodies. God honors His servants. When Stephen was stoned to death, he saw a vision in which the Son of God stood to welcome his servant.106 My Father will honor the one who serves me. 107 There is a promise of heavenly recognition by God the Father who honors those who faithfully serve Christ. But recognition should not be the sole motive for doing ministry. Challenge: God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue

106 107

Acts 7:56 John 12:26

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to help them. 108 Rewards, remuneration, and recognition may elude us while we diligently serve in His kingdom. But God is not unjust to forget our tears, wanderings, sufferings and sacrifice that we bear in His name. Worldly masters can forget and fail to recall the good things a slave does for the master, but God never forgets. God will provide us with a crown that will last forever, 109 which is called a crown of righteousness110 or crown of life111 or crown of glory. 112

108

Hebrews 6:10 1 Corinthians 9:25 110 2 Timothy 4:8 111 James 1:12 112 1 Peter 5:4
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Chapter 12:

STEWARD
One denomination that has its headquarters in the US and branches in several nations around the world decided to focus some of its resources in India. A circular was sent to all churches requesting them to tithe their budget for this mega-project for a period of one year. One state in India was selected to be the beneficiary of the mobilized resources. The State leadership was summoned and they were given the blueprint of this mega-project. The project was to construct 50 (some estimated it as 200) churches in the State with the same architectural design of a worship hall, a one-room residence for the residential pastor, and an open space at a cost of about Rs. 500000 (US$ 12500) a piece. Frenzied building activity happened in all districts of the state (one district I visited had 13 buildings); some had churches within 20 minutes walking distance from one another and some were in remote corners of remote villages. Pastors were appointed to live in the parsonages and conduct worship services and do ministry. (Many of them were reported to not even be Christians.) The mega-project came to an end after the pastors were supported for a few months (some said it was for two years while others said it was for five years). A majority of th e pastors ran away when the funding stopped. A few buildings became open toilets, some are being used by women to house their cattle, some places (it is painful to see) are being used by anti-social elements such as gambling dens, some are just abandoned, and only few are truly functional. Some independent pastors took over some of the buildings (encroached illegally) and do ministry, and very few are rented for the use of ministry of some kind. This happened in the past decade (late 90s) and it is not a story from remote history. This grieved me and all those who saw or heard about this failed mega-project. God s resources were handled without a sense of stewardship, violating basic principles of the Scripture. The following could be some of the reasons for this bad experience:
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1. Zeal without knowledge The denomination had a great vision and was eager to do something for the Lord in India. The vision was good, zeal was great, passion was wonderful and mobilizing resources was marvelous. But, there was no knowledge about the basic realities. First, the local church in the state was not strong enough to undertake a project of this magnitude. Second, the church locally did not have enough leaders to send out as missionaries through out the State. Third, constructing church buildings before gathering up a little flock of believers was unhealthy strategy. Fourth, the national leadership did not have the moral courage to state the actual status of the church but meekly submitted to undertake the mega-project. 2. Blind leaders leading the blind The workers who were recruited to plant the churches were not people called of God. Some were not even Christians. As the Lord Jesus said, they were hirelings, not shepherds of the flock. Most of them worked as long as they got regular support. But they did not bring people into living relationship with the living Savior. Since they did not have a conviction about their call or mission, they were unable to attract people to Christ or to the church. Some were village folks who thought it was a good side business. 3. Indiscretion National leaders and international leaders did not have the spirit of discernment. It was like the project of the Tower of Babel which had all the human ingredients but lacked divine will or sanction. They did not ask questions like: Do we need this project in this State? Is the project viable and sustainable? Is it God s will to invest such huge amounts on buildings when there are no disciples or communities of believers? It is reported that the leaders came to inaugurate church buildings in helicopters, inviting opposition and attention of the government, affecting the body of Christ in the State. 4. Insensitive Both the national and state leaders were not sensitive to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of orderliness and not disorder and confusion. The whole project was human imagination rather than divine revelation. They were also insensitive to the best practices followed by denominations and
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mission agencies. Mission agencies always bring people to Christ and encourage the local Christians to build the local church according to their ability and level of economic life. Then the local community owns the church and not the mission agency or the denomination. Here, the denomination owned the church and the local congregation, if any, did not own the local church building as their own. So the buildings were left uncared for. 5. Short Term vs. Long Term: The denomination was committed only for a brief span of time. They did not have long- term strategy or a long-range plan for the Church in the State. It was like mushrooms that spring up after rains and disappear when the sun shines. Or maybe they thought that buildings would attract people and churches would come into existence by a miracle. Challenge for effective stewardship: As leaders, pastors, and bishops, we are stewards of the Gospel and all resources entrusted to the Church for the advancement of the gospel. Stewards are expected to be faithful.113 Faithfulness is not just keeping accounts, but making sure the resources are used optimally, strategically and creatively to bring out the maximum results. We are called to be stewards and not accountants. The Apostle Peter writes that we must faithfully administer God s grace in various forms. 114 This Himalayan blunder is a monumental reminder for Christian leaders in India and overseas partners. National leaders should have their ears on the ground to understand the needs and aspirations of grassroots workers in order to develop projects that would bring blessings to local communities and extend the Kingdom of God. They should not blindly implement any project that comes their way. They should keep the interests of the local church as a priority and educate the partners to be relevant when serving (in India or elsewhere). Overseas partners should have discernment from the Lord and open minds to reorient themselves according to the needs of ministry. Let us strive to be faithful stewards bringing glory to God.

113 114

1 Corinthians 4:1-2. 1 Peter 4:10

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There are several resources God has given to His disciples. There are spiritual resources like the promises of God, the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, prayer, etc. Time is another great resource that is available to all in equal measure. God has given natural abilities or talents to each person in different degrees and measure. God provides opportunities to acquire knowledge and learn new skills. Economic resource is another great resource available in differing measure to different people. Stewardship is putting all these resources into proper use to fulfill God s purposes. Handling resources as stewards is a great responsibility. Here are five ways to handle resources in a right way. Optimum use of resources: Gideon was disappointed with the affairs of his nation Israel. He was wondering whether God had forsaken them. But the angel of the Lord appeared unto him and gave him the commission to deliver the children of Israel. Gideon was hesitant and reluctant to take the leadership role. He did not have the faintest idea from where his resources would come. The Bible says: The Lord turned to him and said, Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian s hand. Am I not sending you? 115 God expects us to use resources to their optimum levels. Gideon should have used all his strength as God would bless his efforts. Lack of self-esteem kept Gideon from being a good steward and using the resources for the deliverance of Israel. A Christian s self-esteem springs from the personal relationship with God. Paul could boldly say that he could do all things through Christ Jesus. Gideon also did not have awareness about God s plan in his life. Stewardship demands that a person understands God s plan or will in his/her life. Creative Use of Resources: God s children throughout history used resources creatively for the glory of God. Samson picked up a bone of an ass to kill one thousand enemies.116 Samson used an ordinary thing creatively by faith and God honored his faith and gave
115 116

Judges 6:14 Judges 7:15-20

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deliverance. An ordinary staff in the hands of Moses became a powerful instrument to bring plague on the Egyptians and even parted the Red Sea to make way for the children of Israel when the Egyptians threatened to overcome them. Five ordinary pebbles were picked up by David and used creatively to defeat Goliath. Gideon used a pot, a lamp and a sword as strategic instruments to defeat the Midianites. Optimistic Use of Resources: Those who sow in tears will reap with joy. The Christian life is based on faith. By faith heroes of faith did extraordinary things that defy imagination, which is recorded in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. Resources God has given should be handled with positive attitude. While using God s resources there should be anticipation or expectation that God will bless the efforts. Preaching without faith is futile, so also is prayer without faith. Abraham and Isaac sowed and reaped a hundredfold. The difference between them and their neighbors was faith. Strategic Use of Resources: The parable of talents provides insight on the strategic use of resources. The people with five talents and two talents approached work differently than that of the one-talented person. The one-talented man was rather a hard worker but not a strategic worker. Based on fear, he probably operated only during nights. He must have surveyed the waste lands during the night to choose the right spot to hide the talent. He must have dug the ground in the night. Having a suspicious nature, he would have carried the talent alone in the night, buried it and would have closed the ground. In spite of this hard work, the result was nil. God expects us as stewards to strategically use the resources in high leverage activities to get maximum results. Wise Use of Resources: Stewards should use their resources wisely. Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 117 Opportunities are created by God through various means, such as natural calamities, political events, wars, etc. In Ambala city, there is
117

Ephesians 5:15,16
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a huge cathedral steeple that survived bombing during a war between India and Pakistan. The city people thanked the Lord Jesus Christ stating, The Christian God took the bomb upon him and saved us and our city. This created an opportunity for the Church to witness. Instead, the Christian leaders raised funds to rebuild the church building from all people in the city, but failed to preach the gospel and also failed to rebuild the church. A historical opportunity was sadly lost. God has always provided open doors to the Church. Wise stewards discern God s opportunities and open doors in order to taken the gospel to unchartered areas. Challenge: We are accountable to God. All our work will be evaluated before the judgment by fire. Only the works that are done according to God s will, i.e., with gold or silver or precious stones will withstand the test. Other works of hay will be burned, allowing the person to only have salvation.118

118

1 Corinthians 3:12-15
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Chapter 13:

PRAYER
Prayer is a rare privilege bestowed upon Christians. Many times people do not understand the value of prayer. There is a story about a drunkard named John who lost his wealth and health by his drinking habit. The priest who counseled him for many years gave up. But, one day the man reached his office seeking a loan of ten rupees for a drink. The priest had an idea and said, Yes, John, I can give you ten rupees provided you promise never to pray in your life. John agreed enthusiastically, received the money and quickly left. On his way to the wine shop he began to think: I cannot pray if I get sick; I cannot pray for my children; If my wife is in crisis I cannot pray. Whom did I meet - a devil or the priest? Understanding the folly of his promise, he went back to the priest and said, Priest, I cannot sell my soul for a drink. Take back this money. The priest said, This is what I am trying to tell you. Quit drinking, embrace life in Jesus Christ. John became a transformed man. It took a shock treatment by the priest for him to realize the significance of prayer. The Bible has several models of prayer. God s servants throughout the Bible used prayer as a creative way to communicate with God and enjoy His fellowship. Prayer is not a formula or a magic spell or a mantra but a divine gift enabling us to have fellowship with the living God. God prefers and loves to work with those who are prayer warriors. Moses was a dynamic leader who derived his strength and authority from his relationship with God. He spent forty days and nights in communion with God to receive the Ten Commandments. He had to repeat again the fasting prayer as the first tables were broken. Jesus also began his ministry with forty days of fasting and prayer. Spending a long time in the presence of God in fasting provides spiritual strength and authority.

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Nehemiah was a great leader who did great things for God. It is interesting to see how Nehemiah used information for prayer. 119 He may have been carefree in the foreign land, the citadel of Susa, with a good job to take care of himself and his family. His brother Hanani came to visit him from Judah. He shared the condition of Jerusalem which moved Nehemiah. Information, when presented, can create a burden in the hearts of the people of God. The firsthand report by Hanani moved Nehemiah to be burdened. His heart was burdened with concerns about the city of Jerusalem. The burden was overwhelming and his emotions were stirred. He cried, mourned and fasted. Nehemiah was also a man of short prayers. Then I prayed to the God of Heaven and answered the king He shot short prayers towards heaven while in the presence of the king, while working on his building project, and while traveling on horseback. Some of his prayers are recorded in Nehemiah 4:4-5 and Nehemiah 5:19. Certainly he spent several hours in God s presence in preparation with fasting for the Jerusalem building project, but also offered short prayers as and when the needs arose. Daniel followed three models of prayer. One model was personal regular prayers at regular times. So, when the edict not to pray to any God except the king was published, Daniel as usual went to his upper chamber and prayed. And for this he was thrown in the lions den. Daniel also had a small group of friends who came together for prayers. When the king sent a decree to kill all the wise men, for they could not describe the dream of the king and interpret it, Daniel sought time and went to pray with his friends.120 God revealed the dream and the interpretation to Daniel and he became one of the trusted officers of the king. Daniel drew his courage and strength from this small group of closely knit and praying friends. Daniel also fasted partially for a long duration of time, as in Daniel 9. During such times he received revelations about the end times. Elijah s model of prayer was intense and fervent, certain that the answers were to come. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed
119 120

Nehemiah 2:4,5 Daniel 2:17

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earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. 121 He prayed until the answer came in the form of rain. The servant reported back that there was only a cloud the size of a man s hand, but while he prayed the clouds became large and dark and there was a heavy rain.122 Esther followed another model of prayer. When she was confronted with the truth that there has been a conspiracy to eradicate the whole Israel community from the face of the earth, she needed spiritual resources to intervene. She derived strength through the fasting prayer of many Israelites. The corporate fasting prayer gave her the strength to confront Haman and ultimately defeat him, and with him the conspiracy to annihilate the Israelites. Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish. 123 A cluster of prayer warriors were praying for her when she was involved in the great task of reaching the king. Joshua gives another model for prayer. He organized prayer walking around the city of Jericho for six days. The whole exercise was a silent march. In prayer-walking the method is to use silent prayer from the depths of the heart. On the seventh day they rejoiced, Jericho s walls fell, and they celebrated the Lord and His victory. Joshua gave priority to the spiritual discipline of prayer, worship and consecration. Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you. 124 God would choose to use only those who are devoted and consecrated to God. Joshua worshiped the Lord. Worship is part of Christian leadership lifestyle. 125

121

James 5:17, 18. 1 Kings 18:42-46 123 Esther 4:16 124 Joshua 3:5 125 Joshua 5:14
122

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These are the aspects for which a leader should pray:126 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Optimism like David Capacity to love like Jonathan Personal holiness like Joseph Decisiveness like Joshua Courage like Esther Wisdom like Solomon Emotional authenticity like Jeremiah Commitment to celebration like Nehemiah Initiative like Peter Intensity like Paul

126

Bill Hybels, Courageous Leadership (Secunderabad: OM books, 2003), p.199-213.

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Chapter 14:

CHRISTIAN KINGDOM VALUES

In the Postmodern world there is no absolute truth, so there are only contextual or situational or relative values. In the secular world today there are five values that dominate leadership lifestyle. The naked values are: Position, Power, Possession, Pride and Prestige, and Parochialism which can be cloaked in modernity and apparent courtesy. Strangely, all these are not Christian values but values inspired by anti-Christ and hence they are Anti-Kingdom values. If so, there is a call for Christians to demonstrate Kingdom values in leadership. Position: Slave or Boss: Two of Lord s disciples of Lord Jesus Christ aspired to sit on the right side and left side of the throne of Lord Jesus Christ. That created a lot of upheaval in the minds of other disciples. So, Jesus called them together and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave - just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. 127 The position of authority in the world is to exercise power, and control over people. But the position in the Kingdom of God is that of slave, with the attitude of service. The value system has a different evaluation scale; it is not the amount of authority a leader could exercise, but the amount of service a person could contribute. The attitude of service does not come naturally in a person. Service is always based on love. Authority can be exercised without the element of love, but the best service comes out of love. When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon son of John, do
127

Matthew 20:25-28
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you truly love me more than these? 128 Leadership is not about accomplishing but instead it is being like the Lord Jesus Christ, demonstrating love in service. Joyful and loving service is the mark of Christian leadership. A Christian leader is not a boss but a slave. Power: Control or Empower: People associate leadership with that of power power to control people and resources. The more people who report to a person or decide on the budget, then those persons are considered as leaders. The Christian leadership value is not to control or exert authority over others but to empower others. So I will very gladly spend for you everything I have and expend myself as well. If I love you more, will you love me less? 129 The Kingdom of God thrives not by exercising a monopoly on resources but sharing resources. Paul was like a candle willing to melt while giving light to others. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 130 The Lord Jesus was willing to empower His disciples to greater things for the glory of God. He sent His disciples two by two to preach the gospel and heal the sick. He empowered and released them to go and do broader ministry. Paul also had a similar attitude of empowering younger leaders to do greater things. Elisha aspired for a double portion of anointing of Elijah as his inheritance and received it.131 Elijah was willing to empower Elisha and not restrain him. These leaders build dispersed and diverse leadership, distributing leadership to the outermost edges of the circle to unleash the power of shared responsibility. 132

128

John 21:15 2 Corinthians 12:15-16 130 John 14:12 131 2 Kings 2:9 132 Eddie Gibbs, LeadershipNext: Changing Leaders in a Changing Culture (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2005), p.63.
129

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A Christian leader does not exercise power to control but empowers and releases others. Leaders have been likened to gardeners who plant, prune, fertilize, cultivate and harvest. The leader does not control but cultivates. 133 Possession: Grab or Give: Power and possession are like Siamese twins. The worldly value is to love possessions but to use people. An adulterator could mix hazardous substances with edible products to enhance his profit. He loves money, his profit rather than people. Many leaders today are possessed by possessions. African villagers lay trap for monkeys by placing a narrow necked pot filled with nuts. A monkey will put its hand inside the vessel and grab as many nuts as possible. When the hand is full of nut s, the neck of the vessel is so narrow that the hand does not come out. If the monkey would let go of the nuts, the hand would come out. The monkey, torn between greed and the desire to escape, is unable to determine quickly what it should do. The villagers by then are able to catch the monkey. Satan also develops a similar ploy to catch Kingdom leaders into ineffectiveness. The best medicine to counter greed and possession is: It is more blessed to give than to receive. 134 Giving helps a person to be released. Like poverty, possession is also a vicious cycle. A Christian leader delights in giving for the greater cause rather than possessing for personal gain. Pride and Prestige: Rebel or Obey: The first couple rebelled against God by disobedience to God s express commandment forbidding them to eat the fruit. Rebellion has its root in pride. Pride worked in the depth of Eve s heart giving her aspiration to be like a god. Pride and prestige are anti-kingdom principles that keep a person from obeying God s Word and His commandments. Saul disobeyed God s commandment. Samuel clearly stated that Saul s arrogance
133

Eddie Gibbs, LeadershipNext: Changing Leaders in a Changing Culture (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2005), p.63. 134 Acts 20:35
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and rebellion were the root cause of His fall. Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacr ifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. 135 The fall of Lucifer the archangel was due to pride and rebellion. Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. 136 A Christian leader is a humble obedient servant of the Lord Jesus Christ who was Himself a Servant. The Son of God is our role model, a servant who was willing to die a humiliating death in the hands of his own creation. Humility and obedience are marks of a servant of the Kingdom of God. A Christian leader is not arrogant but a humble, obedient servant of our Lord. Parochialism: Love Limited or Abounding Love: The zealous disciples of Christ closed down a ministry that was being done in the name of the Lord Jesus, but not essentially as part of the Apostolic Band. The disciples proudly announced their feat to their Master. Mark records: Teacher, said John, we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us. Do not stop him, Jesus said. No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. 137 The reply of the Lord Jesus Christ came as a shock to the narrow-minded Apostles. There is a similar attitude today among many Christian leaders. Some denominational leaders claim that they are the true apostles and the true church while labeling others as dead churches. Several Pentecostal church leaders claim they preach the full gospel while others preach a half or quarter gospel. There are divisions in the name of denomination, caste, language, region, organizations, etc. Not parochialism, but koinonia is the Kingdom value.
135

I Samuel 15:22-23 Proverbs 16:18 137 Mark 9:38-40

136

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A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. 138 Love that transcends all cultural, social, economic, linguistic, national, denomination and geographical barriers, bringing koinonia in the Body of Christ, is the need of the hour. A Christian leader loves, respects, honors, celebrates and works with all Christians transcending all barriers. Challenge: Self-evaluation of our leadership life style is essential in our day-to-day lives. Any deviation from Kingdom values will be a trap of Satan to follow an anti-Kingdom value system. Christians should become role models in the society, following Kingdom values and creating revolutionary counter-culture.

138

John 13:34-35
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SECTION 2

UNDERSTANDING LEADERSHIP

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Chapter 15:

POSITION AND FUNCTION

Leadership is not described just from the perspective of position but also from that of function. Another way to describe it is formal leaders positional leaders and informal leaders functional leaders. Their leadership is based on influence and not on power to control. For example, a Sunday School teacher actually is doing the ministry of pastor in terms of function but is not designated as a pastor. The Sunday School teacher instructs children, mentors children, prays for children, nurtures children and visits children in their homes a similar job profile to that of a pastor. That means a Sunday School teacher is a pastor by function and not by position. Another term for the teacher could be non-formal leader, while a pastor could be termed as a formal leader. Task or people or service orientation: There is a great debate as to the style of leaders in the business world. Some say they should be task-oriented to gain positive and progressive results. There are those who argue that leaders should be people-oriented, as relationships are as important as results. Others wish that leaders were serviceoriented, then both tasks would be accomplished and there would be cordial relationships. As Christians we have to go to the Scripture to evaluate any concept. With Christ as our model, it would be instructive to learn from his leadership style. The Lord Jesus integrated all three: task orientation, people orientation and service orientation in his leadership expressions. Balancing three orientations is not an easy task. But for effective leadership we must strive to keep this balance. Task oriented: Christ s earthly ministry was clearly task oriented. He came to this earth with one purpose to make salvation possible and available to all humanity by His death and resurrection. His entire ministry was governed by the end vision of His vicarious death, resurrection and ascension.
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Satan tried to provide a shortcut during the temptation so that the Lord Jesus need not take the path of the cross. But Christ refused to worship Satan as he demanded in lieu of lordship of this earth.139 The Lord Jesus was not only aware of His task, but was confident of the process to complete the task, i.e. death on the cross. The goal of Satan was to distort Jesus perspective by making him focus on worldly power and not on God s plan. As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 140 We read that He focused on going to Jerusalem to be betrayed by Jewish elders and die on the cross as propitiation for sin. Jesu s was aware that He would face persecution, rejection and death in Jerusalem but He was determined to go there anyway. The Lord Jesus also shared or communicated this intent to his disciples time and again. It has been recorded in Luke 9: 22, Matthew 16:21-28 and in Mark 8:31-9:1. On one occasion, Peter tried to dissuade Him from that intent. The Lord rebuked Peter stating, Get behind me, Satan. 141 Peter was a valued disciple who would be a prominent leader in the New Testament Church, but that did not blur the vision and task that was assigned to Jesus by His Father. Jesus knew good relationships could be a temptation to keep us from fulfilling our tasks. My food, said Jesus is to do the will of him who sent me and finish his work. 142 For Christ the task was even more important than food. His bodily needs could wait, in order that opportunities to fulfill the more important task would not be missed.

139

Matthew 4:8 Luke 9:51 141 Matthew 16:23 142 John 4:34
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It is clear that the Lord was fully aware of His task and hence could not be deviated by a wily Satan, or a loving friend like Peter, or the pressing needs of the people around him. People Oriented: Lord Jesus was as people-oriented as he was taskoriented. Let the little children come to me. 143 His disciples were zealous to protect the privacy of their master. But Jesus was eager to embrace the little children and show his love towards them. He held children as role models for adults in several aspects of life. He was available to people in order to minister to them. Nicodemus was not interested in meeting the Lord Jesus during the day, as it might affect his social or religious status. Instead, he wanted a meeting after dark. The Lord was willing to spend time with him. Their beautiful and profound conversation has been recorded in John chapter three. It is amazing to see the Lord Jesus reaching the Samaritan village in order to have conversation with the women who came for water in the midday. 144 The dialogue between the woman at the well and Jesus Christ shows how He loved people He did not condemn but complemented and showed her the way of salvation. Again the people focus is well-stated in John chapter eight. A woman was caught red-handed in adultery and was brought before Christ. The accusers failed to produce the co-accused, the man with whom she may have had an adulterous relationship. He simply refused to judge, but instead, forgave her. His confrontation with Pharisees and Sadducees was basically a question of people orientation. The Pharisees and Sadducees strived to exalt the Law and crush individuals under the weight of that Law. But Christ taught them that human beings are precious in the sight of God. So he healed the man with a shriveled hand on the

143 144

Mark 10:14 John 4

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Sabbath day145 and commanded a man who was sick at the pool of Bethesda146 to take up his bed and walk. When Jesus said, The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath, he put people orientation in the right perspective. Service Oriented: The Lord Jesus was not only task-oriented and people-oriented, he was service-oriented. Being task-oriented, a person could behave like a dictator. Being people oriented, a person could be manipulated and exploited by subtle means. When a person is task-, people- and service-oriented, s/he displays genuine servant leadership. Jesus declared that His mission is not to be served but to serve. 147 The whole incarnation is a display of service orientation. The Lord Jesus Christ as Creator was willing to serve His creation, allowed to be humiliated by His own creation and covenant people, and accepted the death penalty to make available the salvation to humanity. Paul graphically portrays the attitude of Christ in Philippians chapter two. The Last Supper reminds us how Jesus was willing to serve His disciples. Washing feet was done by the least of all servants. Of all the twelve, none thought it fit to wash the feet of others. None of them considered himself as a servant. But, Jesus willingly washed the feet of His disciples, even though He was their Master and Lord.148 The global mission can happen only by servant leaders who willingly serve one another and thus bring glory to God. Integrated Quality: The Lord Jesus had all three orientations seamlessly integrated in His life and ministry. Instead of being swayed by secular philosophies of corporate leadership propagated by management gurus, Christians, especially leaders, should demonstrate the integration of task-, people- and service-orientations that would honor and glorify God. That is not easy, but takes hard work.
145

Mark 3:1-7 John 5:1-15 147 Matthew 20:28 148 John 13:1-17
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Chapter 16:

LEVELS OF LEADERSHIP
Leaders serve at various levels. As written in the introduction of this book, all Christians are leaders in their community as light of the world and salt of the earth. As God has provided spiritual gifts to all His disciples in the Body of Christ, each believer has a role to play. The roles, scope and intensity are varied; hence there are several levels of leadership. Moses led the children of Israel out of the oppression of Egypt. While leading them through the wilderness, he spent his whole day making decisions on behalf of the people. This took a toll on his time and health. The concerned father-in-law Jethro suggested that he should appoint leaders at various levels so that they could make decisions in that level and bring only the tough issues to him. But select capable men from all the people--men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain--and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 149 Moses, taking that advice, appointed leaders over tens, fifties, hundreds and thousands. He became the Chief Executive Officer.

The shape of the hierarchy in Christian ministry is an inverted triangle. In the corporate world it is a regular triangle. A Christian leader is a servant who shoulders the burden or responsibility of the church or an organization or institution. He is not the boss lording over people but a slave, serving all.

149

Exodus 18:21-22
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10 50 100 1000 MOSES V IV III II

Level 1 Leaders: Level one leaders are entrusted with the responsibility of caring for ten people. A good example is a Sunday School teacher who may take care of ten children. Praying, instructing, counseling and guiding these ten children become the job description of the Sunday School teacher. This is a voluntary job and he/she is not paid for the service. These teachers have intense influence on their students. They implement or execute the vision of the local church. How then do first-level leaders emerge? Typically they begin by demonstrating their competence in a specific area, but that competence also spills over to embrace a broader perspective. Often they demonstrate not only technical skill but also strategic thinking. 150 Level 2 Leaders: Level two leaders are similar to those leaders appointed by Moses, in charge of fifty people. They are like department heads of mainline churches Sunday School Superintendent, youth fellowship president or women fellowship
150

Eddie Gibbs, LeadershipNext: Changing Leaders in a Changing Culture (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2005), p.64.
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president, or like worship leaders or elders of the local churches of other denominations. They also serve voluntarily and do not draw a salary from the local church. These leaders also have an intensive influence on the people whom they serve. They also implement or execute the vision of the church. Level 3 Leaders: Pastors of small congregations and associate pastors of large congregations are similar to leaders of one hundred appointed by Moses at level three. A majority of leaders at this level serve full time and others are tentmakers. They have intensive influence on those who work alongside them, but have extensive influence over the whole congregation and possibly others beyond. If they are pastors of a local congregation, they need a vision to direct the church. When they serve as associate pastors they are implementers of the vision of the senior pastor. Level 4 Leaders: These leaders are Senior Pastors of large congregations or Presbyters or District Superintendents of several or many churches. They have extensive influence as they oversee a large number of people. These leaders give vision to others and challenge them to do greater things. If they are Presbyters or District Superintendents, their influence is beyond their own congregations, embracing their whole region. Level 5 Leaders: Level 5 leaders are like Moses, Bishops or General Superintendents of a denomination or a group of churches. They have extensive vision for the whole nation. They are visionaries with new insight, sense of direction and have extensive influence. Motivating others, communicating their vision, setting the direction and leading are the important responsibilities of Level 5 leaders.

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LEVEL

CHARACTER

SCOPE

INTENSIVE/ EXTENSIVE

EXAMPLE

PAID/ UNPAID

VISION

10

Local

Intensive

Sunday School teachers, small group leaders Youth Leaders, Women leaders, worship leaders Asst Pastor of large church, pastor of small church Senior pastor of large church, District superintendent, coordinators Bishops, national denominational leaders

Volunteers

Implement

II

50

Local

Intensive

Volunteers

Implement

III

100

Local

Intensive

Paid/ Parttime or Full time Full time paid

Envision and implement

IV

1000

Regional/ National

Extensive

Envision

Moses (CEO)

National/ International

Extensive

Full time paid

Envision

Role of various levels of leadership

Birth and Nurture: Church Growth: The first two levels of leadership in a church are intensively engaged in bringing new people into the Kingdom of God. The main focus is to do evangelism in the community and help people to know Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. Also they nurture new disci ples with care to help them grow in the Kingdom of God doing His Will. Growth and Maturity: Church Health: The focus of the third level of leadership is to ensure the robust growth of new believers. Feeding the flock with nutrients, food and medicine would result in a healthy church. The new Christians should not remain as babes but grow into maturity as adults. The flock must be protected from wolves in sheep s clothing, false teachers who would lead the sheep astray.
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Vision and missions: Church and Kingdom: The fourth and fifth levels of leadership look beyond their own congregations. Their vision is not local but regional or national or global in focus. These leaders see the broader role of the church in the community, society and the nation. They also look beyond boundaries to the unreached areas to mobilize and motivate the church to get involved in Godordained missions. Leadership is a process: In God s plan the leadership development is a process. A leader has to begin service and ministry at the first level, then God provides openings to move to the next level of leadership. It must be noted that all do not become Type V leader or even Type IV leaders. God chooses some to move into the next level and fulfill His plan in the Kingdom of God. Some may serve as a Level 1 leader for life.

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Chapter 17:

HOW GOD PREPARES A LEADER

God prepares leaders from the womb. The Bible also asserts that we are chosen even before the foundation of the world. Childhood experiences and exposures are part of God s plan of preparation. Having a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ is a lifedefining moment when drastic change begins. Then the Lord works in the life of a leader to help him to grow in spiritual maturity, moral purity and personal holiness. As doors for ministry open up, God trains them in the school of ministry and suffering. Later God uses the person in various capacities to fulfill the Kingdom Agenda in this world. The various stages of preparation for a leader are listed below with a brief description. Foundation: Two children and their mother walked out of an evening service one Sunday. The son was about seven years old; the younger girl about 4 years old. As they crossed the street, a car screeched to a halt just a hairbreadth distance from the boy. It was a miracle that the car did not hit the boy. The mother, who was a new believer, was rattled, as her husband did not know the Lord. If the accident had occurred, he would have stopped her from attending the fellowship of worship. The boy grew up to be a mighty national mission leader in India touching lives of thousands of people across the nation and also around the world. The godly mother used to say to her son that God protected him that day for a great purpose. The boy later was afflicted by tuberculosis, when the medicine used at that time did not have a one hundred percent success rate. The boy was cured of that disease also after a long treatment period. That boy, who is now a leader, strongly feels the Lord s hand was upon him, even though he was not aware of that at the time. The Lord s chosen leaders are guarded, guided and molded in their early years. God grants favor in the eyes of people. God orders the
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physical or geographical circumstances. From unlikely places leaders emerge. Nathaniel was convinced that nothing good could emerge from Nazareth, but the Lord Jesus Christ grew up in this good-fornothing town.151 God s chosen leaders are shaped by the education they receive in the formative years. Moses, Daniel and Paul grew up with the best education of that time, as that education would help them in their future ministry and leadership roles. But David s education was from nature, alone with God in the wilderness. God uses highly educated and less educated people to fulfill His purposes. One senior pastor in India had just 11 years of schooling but founded an organization that planted over 400 churches over a period of thirty years. Human relations also shape leaders. Parents shape the value system of leaders. Moses parents were able to implant values in him. Teachers inspire students, as Franke inspired Zigenbalg to go as a missionary to India. The local congregation, fellowship and pastoral leaders also exercise influence on emerging leaders. Life defining moment: Knowing the Lord Jesus Christ personally is the greatest moment in a person s life. Paul had a personal encounter with Christ on the Damascus road. In some leaders, God had to intervene on several occasions, but for some it is one great moment. Jacob had two great encounters at Bethel and Peniel. Isaiah had an encounter in the midst of his ministry as recorded in the sixth chapter of Isaiah. Moses had one great encounter near the burning bush. Gideon also had one encounter that shaped him as leader. This encounter could happen in a dramatic manner as in the case of Paul, or a simple manner as that of Samuel or through a dream in the case of Joseph. An experience like this changes the direction of a person s life. The aspirations, ambitions, desires and purpose of that person changes dramatically. Paul who had been persecuting the church became the planter of churches. Timid Gideon became a mighty warrior.
151

John 1:46
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Spiritual maturity Renewal of mind: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 152 An emerging leader can easily be spotted from among the crowd by his/her hunger and thirst for righteousness. Like a caterpillar that devours any edible thing and goes into a cocoon to emerge as a beautiful butterfly, emerging leaders learn from every possible source. This brings a transformation of the inner man comprising of mind, emotions and will. The mind contains memories, thoughts, attitude and ambitions. Memories could be pleasant or bad in accordance with the experiences a person had. A transf ormed person could look at bad experiences from God s perspective and be grateful for His providence. Joseph was able to see his rejection and ill-treatment by his brothers from God s perspective and said, And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 153 Thoughts are ideas that impress the mind from various sources like culture or tradition or media. The Bible says, every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 154 For example, a simple superstition like a person deciding not to proceed further on a road if a cat happens to cross the path. That means a subhuman being determines the life of a person created in God s image. If a Christian follows this superstition, then his life continues to be ruled by cultural thoughts rather than biblical thoughts. Similar is the conducting of marriage of Christian couples on an auspicious time and date. God is ruler of all time, therefore all times are good. Then
152

Matthew 5:6 Genesis 45:5-7 154 Genesis 6:5

153

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celebrating lucky times and dates means a Christian is still driven by thoughts that are alien to God s Word. Stereotypes of the world also register in the minds of Christians. A fatalistic world view is also one among them. A copy cat idea is another. For example, everyone takes bribes so I also will take bribe. Or, all tell lies, so I also te ll lies. Paul writes that this is conforming to the patterns or trends set by the world. Media influences the thoughts of a person. Millions of bits of information are disseminated through the media daily. They are subtle ideas that turn a person from the Word of God. Homosexuality is an alternate and healthy life style or Premarital sex is alright or Extramarital sex makes life more exciting, etc. are ideas promoted by media. A Christian has to fill his mind with the Word of God. That should be the foundation, standard and guide for our life in this world. Ideologies, traditions, customs, superstitions, media and wrong role models should not conquer or influence the mind of a Christian. This is the litmus test for a Christian: Paul writes, Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about such things. 155 When Adam committed sin, he did not like to take responsibility. Adam declared, The woman you put here with me - she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it. 156 He wanted to justify himself and prove himself as innocent. Every person has a strong desire to justify himself/herself rather than confess and repent. In order to justify, Adam blamed God first. He figuratively said, Lord it was your mistake. You are the originator of the problem as you put a woman besides me. His first accusation was against God Himself. In the next step, he shifts the blame to Eve. Trying to find scapegoats is the oldest game man has been engaged in since creation.
155 156

Philippians 4:8 Genesis 2:12

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We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 157 This should be a constant endeavour by every Christian to keep his thoughts pure from all kinds of defilement and corruption. All thoughts and ideas should be for the building up of the Kingdom of God; any anti-kingdom ideas should be exiled from the mind of a Christian. Memory is another gift of God. To remember experiences, promises and law is good to make a person wiser and mature. But the nature of man is to forget good things. The Psalmist reminds himself by saying, Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. 158 Forgetting God s faithfulness and promises is a weakness of human nature. The ch ildren of Israel forgot how God delivered them from Egypt with His mighty hand, but they remembered the onions they were missing during their journey through the wilderness. In the Eastern culture, an old man near death called his trusted son and whispered in his ears the list of people whom he had to take revenge or else his soul will not rest in peace. So, the evil memory perpetuated strife, hatred, fights and even wars for generations. Retaining a bad experience in memory creates bitterness. The bitterness then evolves as hatred, which promotes itself as revenge. Children who are abused carry deep scars in their mind affecting their adult life. When such a person comes to Christ, the old memories are erased and he/she is able to lead a normal life. In the Christian walk, Satan tries to inactivate a Christian by bringing afresh the past sins in the minds. Forgetting the effectiveness and legal power of the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse all sins, a person gets unwarranted guilt conscience. When a person trusts in Christ for

157 158

2 Corinthians 10:5 Psalm 103.2

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forgiveness all sins are forgiven for ever. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. 159 Old failures and defeats in the memory of a Christian could harm his/her spiritual life. Failure is not final. Peter denied Lord Jesus Christ but was restored again to leadership. David committed sin of adultery but was restored after public confession though he paid heavily for the consequences for his indiscretion. Paul forgets what is behind and presses forward160 to fulfill God s plan in his life. Imagination is a gift from God. Coupled with creativity, imagination could become a blessing to whole humanity. But imagination could be used for evil purposes. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 161 This is an example of evil use of imagination to commit sin against God. Imagination should be creative, positive and for the glory of God. Sanctified emotions:A leader has to be temperate and set an example for others. He/she cannot afford to be impulsive, short tempered and reckless. Emotions are God given faculty that could be beneficial to human being. Fear of pain, helps a person to be careful while driving. Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. But unwarranted fear about men, circumstances, future, failure etc. could harm a person. A Christian has to learn to be led by the Spirit. This spiritual growth would help him/her to bring forth the fruit of the Spirit. Paul writes: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 162 The fruit of the Spirit is one fruit but nine tastes. The fruit of the Spirit seem to be emotional qualities. Surrendering completely to the Lord ship of Lord Jesus Christ means

159

Psalm 103:12 Philippians 3:13 161 Matthew 5:28 162 Galatians 5:22-23
160

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to walk in the Spirit. This brings transformation that normal or carnal emotions are sanctified and fruit of repentance is manifested. The Holy Spirit provides a person with emotional stability or emotional quotient or emotional intelligence. To be the most effective kind of leader, one must possess emotional stability. Such stability can be measured only in the ways a person copes with anxiety or conflict and the way he relates to or deal with others. 163 Surrendered Will: God has given free will as a gift to humanity. While animals make choices by instinct, human beings make choices by will or conscious decision. This freedom of choice is given to us as human beings with a trust to exercise moral responsibility. God has graciously given this gift with good will that we would use it responsibly. And there are inevitable consequences of all human choices; some could be immediate and temporal while others could be later and eternal. Human will or decision making capacity is tainted by sin, so it is flawed. Even simple decisions go haywire at times. Our weak will has to be surrendered to God and we will receive back an empowered will from Him. This is a marvelous spiritual transaction. That means to let go of all ambitions, aspirations, plans and agendas, and receive God s plan in our lives. This process helps a Christian to be completely consecrated for the glory of God. He/she becomes God s instrument of righteousness in the Kingdom of God. Ministry Opportunity: God in the preparation of a leader provides ministry opportunities. There are three aspects to be considered in this section. Witnessing A person who has received Christ as personal Savior obviously can not keep quiet. Th e unfathomable joy and peace that the world cannot give or take away, and a loving, living relationship with the Savior motivate a person to share this newfound experience
163

Ted W. Engstrom, The Making of a Christian Leader (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976), p.86.
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with others. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. 164 Witnessing means to share the love and power of the Lord Jesus Christ experienced in a person s life. The transactional power to cancel all the burden of sin and the transformational power to make a person a new creation are the subjects of witnessing. A simple three sentences sharing of testimony is modeled by Paul in Acts chapter twenty-six: Life before conversion; the Salvation experience; and life after conversion. Many leaders even now find it difficult to share their personal witness with clarity. The reason could be they were not trained in the discipleship process to meaningfully share their witness. Sharing the gospel Sharing the personal testimony many times opens doors for sharing the gospel. People are interested in the lives or stories or experiences of a person. Testimonies of God s love and power attract people to the Lord Jesus Christ. People wish to hear more about the Lord. That provides a wonderful opportunity to share the gospel. It is indeed an art to share the gospel according to individual needs of a person. There are several methods used by various leaders, organizations and churches. Some of the more wellknown tools are: Jesus film, Four Spiritual Laws, The Bridge, Step Up To Life, Heart of Man, etc. A person should choose the method of sharing that he could most comfortably communicate the gospel. Service God provides opportunities to do ministry in and through the church. Numerous voluntary service opportunities, such as Sunday School teachers, youth workers, worship group members, prayer group members, etc., provide insights for workers about themselves, especially their gifting and calling. This is like on-the-job training, where a person learns from what he or she does. Teaching in Sunday School allows a person to learn basic Bible truths, skills of communication or story telling, interceding for
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Acts 1:8
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others, and working with others. Peers and leaders could give developmental feedback to help an emerging leader become more effective. Doing or experimenting in various ministry opportunities helps a person to discover his own talents and gifts, and allows the local church to affirm such gifting. Being faithful in these small jobs provides open doors for wider ministries. For example, teaching five people in a small Bible study would be a precursor for teaching Bible to a large congregation. Counseling teenagers could be an open door for counseling ministries. Most of the time, God provides a mentor or coach in a person s life. Barnabas is a good example of a mentor who guided Paul for effective ministry. Barnabas took Paul under his wings, taught him, encouraged him, motivated him, spoke on his behalf and created ministry platforms. Barnabas led the team of two for the first missionary journey. Later Paul takes over the leadership. Mentors are magnanimous to promote their disciples for higher levels of leadership. In emerging leaders development, 165 mentors play three roles: 1. Somebody spotted our potential 2. Somebody invested in us 3. Somebody trusted in us with responsibility Ministry strategy Being in service for two or three years would help a person to determine the area of ministry. It could be a call to work among children or youth or teenagers or couples or small groups. Even in the selected area, there could be more specific target groups. Children s ministry could be for orphans or children at risk. Youth ministry could be among students or school drop-outs or drug addicts.

165

Bill Hybels, Courageous Leadership (Secunderabad: OM books, 2003), p.124-126.

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Chapter 18:

PHASES OF MINISTRY
Ministry has different phases. Writers, psychologists and analysts divide the life span of a leader into three or more segments. These segments could be similar for a majority of leaders and certainly some unique features would be found in each and every leader. For the sake of convenience, we would like to pick up three important phases in the ministry. They are the di scovery phase, the development phase and the distinction phase. Discovery Phase This is the stage that an eager disciple begins to do something for the Lord. He/she tr ies to get involved in all possible ministry opportunities. The opportunities could be varied, beneficial and educational. They could include joining the worship group, teaching Vacation Bible School, involve d in skits with young people, street preaching, tract distribution, visiting the sick, etc. In the newfound enthusiasm and first love for the Lord, all ministries are exciting, all opportunities are challenging and there is a desire to understand the various needs of people and facets of ministry. As the ministry opportunities grow, the growing leader has to make good decisions. These choices would depend on various factors like temperament, natural talents, spiritual gifts, skills and education level. A dynamic personality person will probably not be a good counselor as a counselor needs listening skills a weakness in that personality type. A highly educated person would find it difficult to communicate in a Bible study for illiterate people. Our ministry also depends upon the experiences we had in our lives. God as sovereign Lord prepares a person even before he comes to Christ. There would be good and great experiences and bitter and sad experiences. Dr. Ramesh Richard describes them as stars and scars respectively. Stars stand for the highlights, significant events, and memories you love to live by. When you think about
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them, you wish you could go through them again. 166 All go through pleasant experiences that we would like remember, cherish and celebrate. The particular selection of these stars discloses many important factors about you. They reveal some of your motivations. They tell you if you are driven by your possessions, relationships, appearance, etc. 167 These star experiences will facilitate a person to excel in doing certain ministerial tasks. Some bitter and sad experiences make deep marks in a person. Such experiences are part of a person s life but should never allow it to take control of one s thoughts and life at large. Here I want you to discern scars that are still so fresh in your mind that you can relive them if you give them the power to return. Your insides flood with pain sadness, bitterness, horror, anger, and disappointment. 168 Paul does not want to be controlled by his scars so he forgets the past and moves forward.169 These bitter experiences, however, could make a person very sensitive and give capacity to minister to others. For example, a person who loses his mother due to sickness as a teenager could minister effectively to another teenager who goes through that experience. A person who survived child abuse could effectively minister to a person who experiences similar abuse. God may lead a person through valley of death or suffering in order to enable a person to mature and be able to lead others. During such circumstances they should not rebel or resist but learn lessons that the Lord intends for us. The true Christian leader will not resist or rebel against the experiences of life, but will accept God s hand upon his life. 170

166

Ramesh Richard, Soul Vision: Ensuring Your Lifes Future Impact (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2004), p.137. 167 Ibid. p.139.. 168 Ramesh Richard, Soul Vision: Ensuring Your Lifes Future Impact (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2004), p.142. 169 Philippians 3:13 170 Ted W. Engstrom, The Making of a Christian Leader (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976), p.50.
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Development Phase The first phase of discovery may exist for a period that would be different for each person. For some it may be a short time of two to three years while for others it may be longer. The next stage development stage is a time when a leader focuses on certain aspects of ministry, in that he/she becomes a kind of expert. Becoming an expert happe ns by two means: education or training and practical experience. When a person is in the discovery stage, he/she also discovers the inadequacies to do effective ministry. There is a need for more knowledge, which could be gained by reading some good books or undertaking some training - formal or informal. For example, a person could become an expert in the rehabilitation ministry of drug addicts as he/she works among them. Experience with reflection is a great education. While doing ministry in a certain area, a person learns by careful observation, frequent evaluation and thoughtful reflection. If this could happen while being mentored, that brings forth a combination of experience and expertise. At this stage, then, the profile of a person is established among those whom he serves. The leader may be labeled with phrases like Teacher, Missiologist, Scholar, Author, etc. Distinction Phase Maybe after ten or more years of ministry, a person emerges as fruitful minister. The influence and impact over the years is seen in various forms. The ripple effect of ministry is seen in an unexpected manner. As a pastor, he might see some of the children of the church grow into adulthood and be in a sphere of influence in government or business. A mission challenge given in a youth conference may inspire a young man to go on to cross-cultural ministry. After many years, it may be possible to meet them in an unexpected context to see the fruitfulness of that ministry.

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It is like Aaron s rod which budded, blossomed and produced almonds. 171 The fruit would not just be limited to a local geographical area but may reproduce even to the corners of this earth. In fact, any person could be used by God for global impact. Challenge It is always good to understand the ministry phase. Evolving from one phase to another may be sometimes painful, especially when we are not able to understand the directions given by the Lord. In my life also I was not wise enough to understand the change of phases in ministry and had to go through painful experiences. God changed our ministry course from being crosscultural missionaries from Tamil Nadu to Haryana to a different role. Since we had a wrong understanding of commitment, feeling that our commitment was to one part of our nation, we were not able to see the next phase of ministry. My wife went through a long period of sickness and in the midst of the crisis we tried to discover God s will. At that time, one servant of God advised us by stating that our commitment is not to a geographical region but to our Lord. This was an illumination, so we decided to move to Chennai. God used us more in the northern regions of India and later, to the whole nation, in the next phase of our ministry.

171

Numbers 17:8
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Chapter 19:

LEADERSHIP AND ETHICS

The train was just entering the city of Chennai. When I peeked out of the window I could see a row of red uniformed porters sitting on their knees the whole length of the railway platform. As the train entered, they carefully watched the wheels as it came to halt. As soon as the train wheels stopped, they jumped into the compartments of the train to solicit customers. They have an unwritten code of conduct that does not allow them to enter the train to solicit customers until the train comes to a complete halt. Even the uneducated, rough and tough guys follow some basic principles for coexistence and cooperation. But it is disheartening to see the rat race that can exist between pastors, denominations, mission agencies and Christian institutions. Sheep stealing Few years ago a popular Tamil cinema comedian, through the witnessing of a simple pastor, came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Savior and decided to become His disciple. This news spread like a wild fire throughout the city of Chennai. Scores of pastors started visiting the celebrity s home, trying to win him over to their church. Frustrated with too many advisers, counselors, evangelists and pastors, the actor directed his office receptionist and security guards not to allow any Christian into his premises. Alas, that person backslid and now lives as an alcoholic. All the pastors (shepherds) wanted an additional sheep, especially a celebrity. In the mad rat-race, the sheep was butchered mercilessly. Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture! declares the Lord.172 Sheep-stealing or fishing in another fisherman s basket is a common unethical behavior among many pastors today. It is more shocking to know that pastors of mega-churches steal the sheep of rural or slum
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Jeremiah 23:1
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churches. Recently, in one city there emerged a church with moderate members. The pastor wanted to change his church into a mega-church. He convinced two rich businessmen who owned buses to provide free service for people coming to the church. He strategically marked the routes of the buses through several villages surrounding the city and several colonies and slums within the city. Suddenly the poor Christians living in villages got a free ride to the city and were pleased to have chartered buses visiting their villages, even sometimes their street corner. Slowly the village church pastors lost their members while the city mega-church gained numbers (not members). Shepherd stealing A new agency springs up in one North Indian state. There is a lot of publicity, web page, attractive brochures and craving for international recognition. This agency sets a lofty target of a few thousand churches and a few hundred missionaries within a decade or so. Sadly, some well intentioned leaders of foundations wanted to support this agency, believing the propaganda. The local leaders (district leaders) go around and called missionaries and pastors working in other agencies for seminars. In the seminars the missionaries and pastors are wooed to join the new agency with increased salary and perks. Within a matter of few months, the new agency has several missionaries (and churches as these missionaries walked out with their congregations) and the number of missionaries in other agencies has dwindled. Now this new agency enjoys the limelight and funds. Sponsor stealing One young man is doing wonderful ministry among the nomads (gypsies) in the city of Chennai. One pastor from overseas wanted to support this particular ministry. He visited his ministry, took photos of the ministry and promised him regular support. Unfortunately, this young pastor could not speak English so he took that overseas friend to another pastor in the city who was better educated. After two years, th e educated pastor lives in luxury while the young man still exists as he did before. The truth is that the educated pastor slandered about the young man, cheated him and hijacked the sponsor. Did the senio r educated pastor do the right thing in the sight of God?
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Sponsors have herd mentality to support certain ministries for a season. There was a season for orph anages, then church planting, then training, now it seems to be prayer. A man of God who is committed to prayer began a national movement to mobilize prayer for missions. His call and commitment to prayers is beyond doubt and question. Suddenly four more agencies begin prayer networks with similar nomenclature, in order to hoodwink the international sponsors. One network slandered about the original movement run by the man of God and cornered all support for their network.

Understanding ethics Ethics is defined as a code of written or unwritten norms that governs the behavior of a person or a group with respect to what is right or wrong. The secular world considers four approaches to ethics. Utilitarian approach : In this, ethics is determined when a decision brings good for a majority or more people. Individual rights could be sacrificed for a higher cause or purpose. Individualistic approach : In this an individual s long term benefit is considered and a decision is made. Moral rights approach : Each individual has fundamental rights. Any decision taken should not violate the fundamental rights of a person. Justice approach : Ethical issues are based on equity, fairness and impartiality. It is nearer to the codified law. By all these approaches the senior pastor s behavior stands exposed. His decision to slander a young man and grab the sponsor violates the utilitarian approach, as it was done to benefit himself rather than the community. He considered his individual benefit instead of the benefit of the young man, violating the individualistic approach. He violated the fundamental rights of the young man and thus trespassed the moral rights approach also. There was no fairness or equity or impartiality in his decision, violating the justice approach to ethics also. By secular standards alone, the pastor stands exposed. Let us examine the biblical standards. Jesus Christ said: For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of

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heaven. 173 Christian righteousness (ethics) should surpass the ethics of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law and certainly the standards proposed by the secular world. The Pharisees followed the externals of the law or ceremonial aspects of the law but violated the spirit of the law. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices - mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 174 Why do Christian leaders fail in following fundamental ethics or righteousness? Here are some possible reasons: Low self image: The senior pastor (who grabbed sponsors for gypsy mission) did not have the right identity. His identity was not in Christ as Paul states but in other temporal things like possessions. He had a pseudo-identity in the form of riches, position, power and authority. His self-image got a boost when he was able to control more resources. For that, he was willing to slander a more righteous man and grab what was not his. Though he was doing ministry, he was not sure about his call for the ministry. So he could not understand that the One who has called him is faithful. But Paul s identity was in Christ Jesus, which is secure and not altered by any temporal thing. Paul assertion is amazing: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 175 Paul s relationship with our Lord surpassed every conceivable aspect of the world. This relationship gave Paul the proper self-image.

173

Matthew 5:20 Matthew 23:23 175 Romans 8:35-39

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Lack of faith: The senior pastor did not have faith in the Master whom he served. It is God who provides him with resources, so he need not grab money or sponsor. Rebecca instigated Jacob to grab the blessing that rightly belonged to Esau. As a result Jacob had to run away from home for more than 20 years. He gained the possession but lost the security and love of the home. Abraham gave Lot the privilege to choose first, and later Lot had to run away from the place he chose, in order to save his life. In that bargain he lost his wife, and his daughters bore children from him, bringing shame to him. God instead gave the best to Abraham. The senior pastor, like Lot, made his own choice, maybe to his own peril. Worldly Worldview : Winning is the life theme of the modern world. In the rat race, all is fair. The world worships success. Cheating is equated with smartness. Self interest is considered as the priority. Taking advantage of another s weakness is the norm. Christ s model is the incarnation in which He renounces the glory and throne to serve people. Grabbing is the worldly view but God s view is renouncement and sacrifice. The tragedy is to run for success as defined by the secular world. It defines success by numbers, statistics, power, position and possession. But a Christian is a pilgrim who is called to be faithful rather than to be successful. Ananias who baptized Paul does not appear in the Book of Acts again. He was a faithful servant of God but not a successful servant of God from the secular perspective. Ananias priority was obedience in his relationship with the Lord and not glamour. Challenge The challenge for Christian leaders today is to follow the model of the Lord Jesus Christ. A ll decisions in our life should be based on sound Scriptural principles, which are not according to the secular world. Christians must not follow the model of secular world in the realm of ethics but follow the higher law of righteousness that glorifies God.

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Chapter 20:

LEADERSHIP AND CO-WORKERS WELFARE

There are at least two kinds of leaders. Institutional leaders try to keep their position secure and maintain the status quo. Inspirational leaders who are progressive, proactive and influential are concerned about their co-workers. King Saul failed to be an inspirational leader but functioned as institutional leader. Under his leadership the Israelites lacked morale. a) Unnecessary covenant or oath: A leader who loses confidence tends to spiritualize and become subjective. To continue to establish his hold on the people of Israel, Saul had to adopt some gimmicks and one of them was his unwise, unwarranted and unnecessary oath. Saul said, Cursed be any one who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies. 176 The troops were gearing themselves for the battle and Saul makes an oath that is totally illogical. That was the time when so ldiers needed more energy and stamina and therefore nutritious food. His statement was also more personal. He wanted to avenge himself. Neither God nor Israel figured in his whole thinking and hence he said what he did. That shows that his self-importance preceded God s glory and the welfare of the nation of Israel. Even today, Christian leaders call the people for sacrifice in the areas that is not necessary. The gullible people who hear such inspirational talks commit for sacrifice, which is exploited by these leaders. One missionary commented, My commitment to Christ is not for the exploitation of mission leaders. But really that is what is happening. One woman decided to not take any milk or nutritious food as a vow to the Lord. When she became sick she continued to refuse to drink
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1 Samuel 14:24
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and eventually died of malnutrition. Such inducement for an illogical oath shows the leader is obsessed either with the task or with him/herself. b) Israel Without Resources Apart from Saul and Jonathan none of the soldiers had spear or sword.177 It is strange for an army to go to war totally without weapons. The technology of the armory of the enemy was superior to that of Israel, as was the quantity of ammunition. Saul failed to make the army equipped and relevant to face the challenges. The Church today sometimes fails to equip the laity and sometimes even the full-time workers for effective ministry. Only Saul and Jonathan had a modern weapon. It was more a showpiece rather than strategic weapon. Even today churches and missions take all the privileges and responsibilities and leave the laity without any responsibility and hence they end up as mute spectators. The concept of faith life has been used to put people in ministry without proper resources or training. Today many ministers of the gospel do not have proper evangelistic tools or pastoral tools. Not only do they need tools but also training and retraining and retooling. c) Israel did not have stamina When God miraculously gave the victory over the Philistines through Jonathan, the army of Israel did not have the strength or stamina to pursue enemies. Jonathan observed: How much better it would have been if the men had eaten today some of the plunder they took from their enemies. Would not the slaughter of the Philistines have been even greater? 178 What a tragedy? There was one innovator or pioneer who broke the barrier and brought in victory, but the Israelites did not have the stamina to enter into the victory. Today, God is working in wonderful ways. Many people come to the Lord in droves. Does the Church have the capacity to disciple them
177 178

1 Samuel 13:22 1 Samuel 14:30

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and care for them? Indeed, the care- givers themselves (pastors and missionaries) often are not cared for well. So they do not have the strength and stamina to look after the new sheep who join the flock. But we have a wrong theology that full-time ministers should be poor, barefoot, with torn clothes, children in government schools, etc. to keep them humble and effective. The secular corporate world takes cares of their staff better than many of our denominations and mission agencies.

d) No blacksmith in Israel (I Samuel 13:19-21) There was not a single blacksmith in the land of Israel. Instead, they had to go the Philistines to sharpen their household requirements like sickles and axes. This shows that the Isra elites totally unprepared for the challenge they were facing. Saul did not think ahead or work toward building such infrastructure. There is a need for specialists and experts who can impart training and prepare proper tools in the ministry. But sadly, the church has not invested the resources to nurture such people. The church, then, has to look for trainers overseas even though we have a pool of talents who are not tried or tested. Challenge Saul is a symbol of bad leadership in terms of membercare and welfare. Let us be leaders who care for our people and their welfare, who train and invest strategically and wisely in people who would in turn build up human capital for the Kingdom of God.

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Chapter 21:

KNOWING YOUR TEMPERAMENT

Broadly speaking, the psychologists divide humanity as four major personality types. The terms used may be different but they denote the same personality type. One set of names given is: Choleric, Melancholic, Phlegmatic and Sanguine. Some prefer to call it as DISC Dynamic, Inspiring, Stable and Cautious. A few Christian leaders prefer TEAM Thinker, Encourager, Achiever and Motivator a team needs each of these personality types. In the four personality types there are two dominating personality types and two marginal personality types. The two dominating personality styles are the natural strengths of a person. The other two are possible weakness. It should be understood that all four temperaments are integrated in a person, of which two would be dominant. There is nothing good or bad about any one. God has created each person with a unique blend of all four personality types. Building strengths would be the strategy for personality development. You will excel only by maximizing your strengths, never by fixing your weakness. 179 God uses all personality types and from the Bible and the history of church we could see how God used various personalities for His own glory. Effective executives do not start out by looking at weaknesses. You cannot build performance on weakness. You can build only on strengths. 180 Accepting our personality type is an important aspect of personality development. Here is a brief description of each personality temperament along with some biblical examples.

179

Marcus Buckingham & Donal O. Clifton, Now, Discover Your Strengths (New York: Free Press, 2001), p.26. 180 Peter F. Drucker, The Essential Drucker: Selections from the Management Works of Peter F. Drucker (Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann, 2001), p.130.
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1. Choleric or Dynamic or Achiever : They are generally go-getters who have the passion to achieve and succeed. As strong leaders they are task oriented rather than people oriented. In the pursuit for success they do not mind personnel casualties. They like to have quick results, they are result-oriented. Challenges instigate their passion and vision to succeed. Risk taking is their normal trait, but sometimes that leads to drastic blunders. They take charge in crisis situations and lead. Because of their high energy level, they are impatient with people and expect high results from others also. They do not like restrictions; they want meaningful freedom to operate well. Joab in the army of David was a choleric. He was a go-getter fighting on behalf of David. He kille d Abner and Amasa, two potential generals who could have taken his place as army chief. Joab killed Absalom even though David had requested his army to be gentle or tender with him. Such go-getters are ruthlessly task oriented and fail to be sensitive to people. They are good church planters in pioneer areas as they have the spirit of adventure. Paul was in this category so he was a great church planter. The difference between Paul and Barnabas in handling John Mark is a good example of personality differences. Paul as a dynamic personality could not tolerate a deserter, John Mark, and did not want him for the next missionary journey. Barnabas, an encourager wanted to take John Mark along, as he discerned his potential and wanted to invest in his life. Though Paul did this, he later was more considerate to others in developing leaders like Timothy, Titus and others. In simple terms: Let s get it done. 2. Melancholic or Stable or Encourager : These people have artist temperaments and generally function and make decisions based on their feelings or emotions. They have very good qualities of being amicable, loyal, friendly and co-operative. Being consistent and willing to listen are their strengths. They are affectionate with people and so care for people. Since they have swinging moods, followers
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find it very difficult to understand their priorities or values. Their weakness includes procrastination and not willing to change, as they prefer routine work patterns. Solomon falls into this category of personality. He was a great architect and builder. His palace and the court were aesthetic and beautiful, which won the admiration of the Queen of Sheba. His wives, from different foreign countries, whom he married for political reasons, could emotionally blackmail and mislead him. Barnabas is another example, though we do not know about his aesthetics tastes. He was a people person, so he found Saul and invested in his life when the early church leaders looked at this new convert with suspicion. He was willing to give the leadership position to Paul and just encourage him to do well. Later he took John Mark under his wings; John Mark was restored and became the writer of the Gospel of Mark. In simple terms: You can depend on me. 3. Phlegmatic or Cautious or Thinker : Their tendencies include orderliness, discipline, thoroughness, analytical and preciseness. They are generally slow in making decisions as they carefully weigh the various options available to them. They like to analyze and weigh the pro and cons, study various options and then come to a decision. Their main weakness is procrastination. Esther falls into this category of personality. She was cajoled and persuaded by Mordecai to make a decision that had far-reaching consequences. Moses primary character also was like this. These types of personalities are thinkers who can analyze situations. They are interested in research and are good in information management and interpretation of information. They are more prophetic in their ministry style. Some times they are known as the devil s advocate. As they are more dependent on facts and figures, they tend to be pessimistic. In simple terms: Let s do it right.
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4. Sanguine or Inspiring or Motivator: They are party people who love to be among people. They bring life to gathering by jokes and wits. They are apt for handling public relations. They are visionaries, motivating others to do great things. Generally, they initiate many new projects but may not be able to complete them unless they have great administrators alongside them. Their weakness is they tend to forget all until the next party or gathering. They are good communicators and could sell anything dreams, visions, ideas and consumer items. People don t buy newspapers. They buy news. It isn t glasses that are purchased; it s better vision. 181 In fact, they are good fund raisers. Nehemiah was a great motivator in that he could motivate the Israelites, family after family, to build the wall of Jerusalem in a most adverse environment. They have the capacity to mobilize people into action. Great mobilizers who called the church to mission work are examples in the history of missions. In simple terms: Let s make it fun and exciting. What about Jesus? The Lord Jesus Christ was a perfect personality with all the personality styles in perfect equilibrium. But as human beings we cannot be like him in that perfection. How to find our personality style? It is important for a person to find it, in order to be effective leader. There are companies that do personality analyses and provide results. It is done for a fee ranging from Rs. 2000 or US$ 500 per person and above. Some Christian professionals offer this service for Christians at a discounted price. Another easy way is through the Internet. There are some websites that offer this service for free. One such example is http://www.christianet.com.
181

John C. Maxwell, Be a People Person (Wheaton: Victor Press, 1989), p.77.

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Chapter 22:

KNOWING YOUR TALENTS AND SKILLS

One of the great tasks of a human resources manager is to identify the aptitude of a person. People are naturally inclined to do certain things well, which is their strength. They would be able to do other things, but not with the same proficiency. They would be misfit on certain things. Some broad areas are liste d below. Interests determine the level of motivation. Pat Macmillan writes, The greater the correlation between the interest of the person and the activities of the position, the greater the levels of energy, creativity, and initiative that will be displayed by the worker. 182 A leader has to understand his own talents and skills. Talent is often described as a special natural ability or attitude. 183 Sometimes it is a process of discovery. Many times talents and spiritual gifts are identified by others. It is not that a person thinks he has such talents, it should be affirmed by others acquainted with that person. Certainly the local church and Christian fellowship provides a context and opportunities for such discovery. Dr. Selwyn Ebenezer, one of my close friends, discovered my writing talent as he read some of my letters written to him. He encouraged me to write and that was a great discovery, and that provided me the impetus to emerge as writer. 1. Verbal/Linguistic ability: Some people are good in reading, writing, telling stories, memorizing dates, facts and figures, and they think in words. They might enjoy writing letters rather than making phone calls. Paul had this ability, writing nearly one third of the New Testament.
182

Pat MacMillan Op.Cit. p.91. Marcus Buckingham & Donal O. Clifton, Now, Discover Your Strengths (New York: Free Press, 2001), p.48.
183

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2. Logical/Mathematical ability: They are strong in logics and analysis. So they are good in solving problems, asking questions, working with numbers, research, evaluation, experimentation and they adapt well to computers. L uke interviewed people, recorded dates and systematically presented the gospel and the Acts of Apostles. He had this ability. 3. Visual/Spatial: This group of people has the capability to visualize and imagine. It is easy for them to create and interpret maps and charts. They have the capacity to design, draw, build, create, and daydream. Moses had this ability an d led the Israelites through the wilderness. Even Joshua had this ability, dividing the land to various tribes. 4. Physical/Kinesics: They are able to use tools, dance, run, act and work in crafts. They are good in sports and body language, like to move around and mingle with people. Miriam, sister of Moses was able to sing and dance when God delivered the children of Israel from Egypt. 5. Musical/Rhythmic: They are good in picking up sounds, singing, remembering rhythms and melodies. They love to sing, hum, play and listen to music. David was a great composer, whose songs were used in worship by the Israelites and are favorites for Christians even today. 6. Interpersonal/Social: They have the capacity to understand people, lead, organize, and communicate. They can quickly form teams, make friends, join groups and network. According to John Bradley and Jay Carty there are three kinds of interpersonal relationships: multi-relational, familiar group relational and singular relational. They estimate that 15 per-cent of people are multirelational, 70 per-cent are familiar group relational and 15 per-cent

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are singular relational.184 Some examples of leaders from the Bible Andrew was singular relational, Daniel was familiar group relational and Solomon was multi-relational. 7. Intrapersonal/Introspective: They are generally strong willed people who work best alone. They have strong determination and perseverance to achieve. They reflect, analyze and evaluate. Jeremiah the prophet had this ability; his book, Lamentations, is a good example. Implications: A person with linguistic ability will well fit into a reporting or communication department. Those who have a mathematical or logical ability would love to serve in an accounting department. The planning depart ment needs people who have the ability to visualize. Event management needs a person with kinesics ability. The worship team needs people with musical abilities. A receptionist/sales executive needs social and interpersonal skills. People with introspective gifts are needed for research departments. Discovering our talents would help us to do the best in our career or ministry.

[P ]
184

John Bradley and Jay Carty, Discovering Your Natural Talents (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1991), p. 70.
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Chapter 23:

KNOWING YOUR SPIRITUAL GIFTS

Spiritual gifts are special abilities given by the Holy Spirit to each person at the rebirth experience to be used to minister for the benefit of the Kingdom of God and growth of the Church. There are a variety of gifts. There are several Scriptures that give a list of spiritual gifts. They are Romans 12:6-8; I Corinthians 12:4-11, 2830; Ephesians 4:7-13; I Peter 4:10; I Corinthians 7:13-14; and Ephesians 3. In the Old Testam ent, the passages are Exodus 31:3-5 and Psalm 150. Paul gives the lists as suggestions and not as an exhaustive list. God gives some people multiple gifts but all believers have one gift or another. There is no gift greater or superior to the other. It is essential to use the gifts wholeheartedly without withholding it from God s service. It is not possible to prepare an exhaustive list of all spiritual gifts but a list could be derived from various Scripture portions. This is a list derived by Peter Wagner. 185 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.
185

Prophecy (forth telling, preaching, utterances) Service (ministry) Teaching Exhortation (stimulating faith, encouraging) Giving (Contributing, generosity, sharing) Leadership (authority, ruling, administration) Mercy (sympathy, comfort to the sorrowing, showing kindness) Wisdom (wise advice, wise speech) Knowledge (studying, speaking with knowledge) Faith Healing Miracles (doing great deeds) Discerning the spirits (discrimination in spiritual matters)

Peter Wagner, Your Spiritual Gifts (Secunderabad: Ben Publishing, 1999), p.53-58.
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14. Tongues (speaking in languages never learned, ecstatic utterances) 15. Interpretation of tongues 16. Apostle 17. Helps 18. Administration (governments, getting others to work together) 19. Evangelist 20. Pastor (caring for God s people) 21. Celibacy (continence) 22. Voluntary poverty 23. Martyrdom 24. Hospitality 25. Missionary Other gifts that could be added to Wagner s list are: 26. Craftsmanship 27. Intercession Discernment of spiritual gifts is essential for allotting the right job for the right person. It is possible to discover the spiritual gifts of a person by the following three ways: First, a person is excited or passionate to do a certain kind of ministry. Some are passionate while teaching a small group of people. Some may be excited in singing and leading worship service. Some enjoy working with children. Second, the fruit of the ministry could be indicative of a person s spiritual gift. Some people have a gift to lead many people to Christ through personal evangelism. Their fruit is the number of disciples won by their efforts. Third, there are tools developed by various organizations that help to discover a person s spiritual gifts. Generally, the tools have a set of questions with a different score for each answer. The scores are evaluated to discover the spiritual gifts. Discerning spiritual gifts is a vital factor in making people decisions. Deploying the person for the right position would enhance the effectiveness in the Kingdom of God. One missionary was not good in language study in his college. But after coming to know Christ, he
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was endowed with the spiritual gift enabling him within six months to master the language where he served as missionary, with the ability to speak in the accent and tone of the local people. It was not his natural talent, but the spiritual gift that helped him to learn the language. William Carey, who did not have the privilege of being a great academician, was able to master several languages and translate Bible into them. How to discover spiritual gifts Like talents, spiritual gifts are discovered by others. The local church provides such context. Some leaders have the discernment and could discover such spiritual gifts. Good mentors help us find the gifts. There are tests that are useful which are administered by some organizations. There are free tests available through Internet also. One such website is http://www.christianet.com.

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SECTION 3

DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP

\
115 Christ and Leaders

Chapter 24:

CAPACITY BUILDING
Mentoring: Greek tradition Mentoring--from the Greek word meaning enduring--is defined as a sustained relationship between a youth and an adult. Through continued involvement, the adult offers support, guidance, and assistance as the younger person goes through a difficult period, faces new challenges, or works to correct earlier problems. 186 The notion of mentoring is ancient. The original mentor was described by Homer as the wise and trusted counselor whom Odysseus left in charge of his household during his travels. Athena, in the guise of Mentor, became the guardian and teacher of Odysseus son Telemachus. 187 As a mentor he played the role of friend-philosopher-guide. 188 Guru-Shishya relationship in India is a mentoring relationship from ancient India. The Bible But mentoring happened in the Bible even before the Greeks adopted it. In Genesis we read about mentoring as Moses is counseled and encouraged by his father-in-law, Jethro, in the management principle of delegation. Moses reaches out to mentor two young leaders in Israel: Joshua and Caleb. In other books of the Bible we see Naomi, mother-in-law, mentoring Ruth, a Gentile daughter-in-law. Watch a young pro phet in training, Elisha, running to keep up with Elijah, to learn. These were par ents or pacesetters to those who followed them. Paul s training style was custom-made for each individual or for each team. His training was innovative and creative according to the situation. Paul s training of his co-laborers also revealed his situational leadership approach. To Titus he sent instruction. To
186

http://www.ed.gov/pubs/OR/ConsumerGuides/mentor.html assessed on 9th June 2005. 187 http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/mentor/1.html assessed on 9th June 2005. 188 Ananya Roy, Distance Mentoring from Business Today ( 9 November 2003), p. 173.
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Timothy he offered encouragement. He prepared and trained workers to continue what he had begun in various cities, adapting that training to the specific needs of each worker. 189 Timothy was more prone to lean than lead.190 But Paul mentored him so that a dependent leader became an interdependent leader. Paul did not try mass production leaders. His approach was to spend time with individuals and couples and impart vision, passion, basics of Christian life and skills needed for effective ministry. Model of Mentor from the Bible: Barnabas 1. Barnabas was generous with his goods/possessions (Acts 4:36). If a person is not generous with his money, he cannot be generous with other aspects of life. 2. Barnabas was ready to trust people. He took time to know people, and meet their needs. He trusted Saul and took him under his wings (Act 9:27). 3. A mentor stands up for his friends (Acts 15:36-41). Barnabas was a mentor who stood and supported others, like Mark. Paul saw Mark as unfit for ministry but Barnabas did not allow Mark to be destroyed or discouraged. Paul was a perfectionist/purist while Barnabas was a redemptionist. 4. Barnabas got excited about the good things that happened in the life of others (Acts 11:19-26). 5. Barnabas, the mentor, encouraged others to walk in the Lord. Two types of mentoring: The two types of mentoring are natural mentoring and planned mentoring. Natural mentoring occurs through friendship, collegiality, teaching, coaching, and counseling. In contrast, planned mentoring occurs through structured programs in which mentors and participants are selected and matched through formal processes.191 Natural mentoring is also termed as informal mentoring that always happens. Reg Hamilton writes, Informal
189

The Leadership Bible: Leadership Principles from Gods Word (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998) p.1347. 190 J. Oswald Sanders, Paul the Leader: A Vision for Christian Leadership Today (Bromley: STL Books, 1983), p.167. 191 http://www.ed.gov/pubs/OR/ConsumerGuides/mentor.html assessed on 9th June 2005
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mentoring has always gone one, of course, and will continue. 192 India has a long tradition of this informal mentoring, such as a father mentoring his son in the same trade. For example, a father is a tailor and trains his son to be a tailor from childhood. Planned mentoring in ancient days was done to princes to take over the reign of a State. Internships for medical professionals in hospitals are planned mentoring processes. Engineers are supposed to serve in projects while being mentored. Most professionals have to undergo a type of internship that provides an opportunity for planned mentoring. Walter Wright writes, The way you choose to lead is not up to you. It is determined by the maturity level of the person you seek to influence. 193 Natural mentoring or planned mentoring is determined according to the status of learner. Some learners learn well in a natural mentoring process while others learn better in a planned mentoring process.

INTENSIVE

OCCASIONAL

PASSIVE

DISCIPLER SPIRITUAL COACH COUNSELOR TEACHER SPONSOR MODELS: GUIDE CONTEMPORARY HISTORICAL (HERO)

MORE DELIBERATE

LESS DELIBERATE

192

Reg Hamilton, Mentoring: A Practical Guide to the Skills of Mentoring (New Delhi: Sterling Publishers (P) Ltd., 1996), p.7. 193 Walter C. Wright, Relational Leadership: A Biblical Model for Leadership Service (Secunderabad: OM Headlines, 2000), p.39.
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Mentoring continuum There is a mentoring continuum.194 The following diagram provides the idea about the mentoring continuum. It varies from intensive to passive mentoring. Intensive Mentoring Discipler Spiritual Guide Coach Occasional Mentoring Counselor Teacher Sponsor Passive Mentoring (Models) Contemporary Historical A person whose life and ministry currently serves as an example and inspiration. A past life that teaches dynamic principles and values for life, ministry and / or profession. Timely advice and correct perspectives on viewing self, others and ministry. Gives knowledge, understanding and insights regarding a particular subject Career guidance, protection and support within an organization. Enablement in basics of following Christ. Accountability, direction, and insight for personal growth, spirituality and maturity. Motivation, skills, and application needed to meet a task or challenge.

Principles in mentoring Mentoring programs are established to match a suitable adult or older youth--the mentor--with a younger person. In the modern world of technology, the reverse also happens
194

Bob Gilliam during Coaching for Life seminar in Chennai on 23,24 May 2005.
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in certain areas. For example, a young computer professional may mentor a senior executive on computer related aspects. Mentoring is an interactive learning relationship. 195 In this relationship the mentor does not decide the agenda but instead, the protg. Mentors challenge, confront, cajole and coach the protg. Among the relational skills effective leaders cultivate is that of exhortation. Exhorters are people who spur others on to higher levels of achievement. In doing so, they help turn their constituents into leaders. Effective leaders acco mplish extraordinary things by enabling others to act. The apostle Paul demonstrated this ability in II Timothy 2:14-21. 196 Mentoring creates a personal relationship for newcomers in an organization or in a department. The mentor speeds up the process of integration of a new person in the organization. This also provides orientation of a newcomer in the ethos, culture and vision of the organization. Mentoring is initiated by senior leaders who wish to groom emerging leaders. Some mentoring relationships begin when senior people take an interest in, and promote the cause of, a subordinate or person they believe has untapped potential. 197 Approaches to MentoringApproaches to mentoring are: The Sponsor System, Peer Group Mentoring, Self-Development Mentoring, Managers as Mentors, Role Models, and Informal Mentoring.198 The first five are planned mentoring while the last one is natural mentoring.

195

Walter C. Wright, Relational Leadership: A Biblical Model for Leadership Service (Secunderabad: OM Headlines, 2000), p. 44-45. 196 The Leadership Bible: Leadership Principles from God s Word (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998) p. 1420 197 Reg Hamilton, Mentoring: A Practical Guide to the Skills of Mentoring (New Delhi: Sterling Publishers (P) Ltd., 1996), p.7. 198 Reg Hamilton, Mentoring: A Practical Guide to the Skills of Mentoring (New Delhi: Sterling Publishers (P) Ltd., 1996), p.9-21.
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1. Sponsor System The mentoring process is initiated by the organization. The aim in this system is to develop quickly an individual or an elite group to fulfill short-term projects identified by management succession planning to ensure that the talented people do not walk out of the organization. The mentor is a senior executive of integrity and credibility. 2. Peer Group Mentoring This type of mentoring happens in the pre-management stage where young recruits are groomed. The aim is to teach assertiveness, coaching, counseling and other skills. Mentors are allocated who are likely to share the same interests and values. There is no generation gap as mentors are chosen from the same age bracket. Peer group mentoring is done especially when a person crosses the professional lines. For example, a field missionary may be deployed in the finance department. Peers in the financial department mentor the new person with practical knowledge and helps. 3. Self-Development Mentoring This approach is used to demonstrate to young people the responsibility they have for making use of the development opportunities the employer provides. 199 Proactive, self-confident and action-oriented people adopt this method of learning. Here they are introduced to Experiential Learning Cycle. There are four steps: 1. Have an experience; 2. Reflect, examine and learn; 3. Make wider application and sense of the experience;

199

Reg Hamilton, Mentoring: A Practical Guide to the Skills of Mentoring (New Delhi: Sterling Publishers (P) Ltd., 1996), p.12.
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4. Apply principles for future action .

1. Have an experience

2. Reflect, examine and learn

4. Apply principles for future action.

3. Make wider application and sense of the experience

Learners should make the best use of their experience by making links between this new experience and their previous knowledge in order to recognize its relevance to their future.200 Role Model: Any mentor is a role model. In this, a leader who is an expert in a certain field mentors in that aspect for a period of time. John Stott, the great evangelical writer, used to recruit two or more students to help him in research of his writing projects. By helping the writer, these students learned many skills such as research, organizing research material, writing, etc. Paul was a model for Silas, Timothy, Titus and others. When he led the church planting missionary teams to various parts of the Roman Empire, Paul was a
200

Reg Hamilton, Mentoring: A Practical Guide to the Skills of Mentoring (New Delhi: Sterling Publishers (P) Ltd., 1996), p.27.
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model. He never traveled alone for ministry. By taking his younger colleagues, he was modeling for them in the ministry. Coaching: Bob Gilliam defines coaching: Professional Coaching is an ongoing partnership that helps clients produce fulfilling results in their personal and professional lives. Through the process of coaching, clients deepen their learning, improve their performance, and enhance their quality of life. Coaching accelerates the client s progress by providing greater focus and awareness of choice. Coaching concentrates on where clients are today and what they are willing to do to get where they want to be tomorrow. 201 Coaching is a partnership as both seek the same goals. It deepens the learning experience of both the mentor and learner. It improves performance due to motivation; accountability and weakness are dealt with. It also accelerates the progress by using the wisdom of the coach and adopting better methodology. While mentoring focuses on the holistic aspect of development, coaching focuses on skill development. Coaching is a way of improving someone s performance by identifying and tackling skill deficiencies. 202 Coaching is also described as closing the gap. For example an assistant pastor may be coached for counseling ministries. The coach will focus mainly on counseling skills and may not teach other aspects of ministry for that period of time. The four components of coaching:203 Observation, Analysis, Modeling, and Practice and Review. 1. Observation: the coach sees, in detail, the level of performance and area of improvement. 2. Analysis: the cause of poor performance is identified and understood.
201

Bob Gilliam during Coaching for Life seminar in Chennai on 23,24 May 2005. 202 Reg Hamilton, Mentoring: A Practical Guide to the Skills of Mentoring (New Delhi: Sterling Publishers (P) Ltd., 1996), p.62. 203 Ibid. p. 63.
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3. Modeling: the coach demonstrates or explains correct performance. 4. Practice and Review: the new behavior is tried out under supervision. The Bible is essentially a book that provides biographies of people both in the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament is built through the lives of Abraham, Moses, David, and Elijah. Jesus, Peter, and Paul had life-stories that glue the New Testament together. Paul writes a command to believers, Therefore I urge you to imitate me. 204 Coaching is a continuous process. Paul is a good example in providing continuous coaching. His letters to Timothy and Titus provide insights into the coaching relationship with these young men. He instructs, guides, exhorts, teaches, trains and counsels them through this distant learning process. There are four steps in coaching: Step 1: Discovery phase: The coach must give undivided attention in a private setting and listen with rapt attention to the genuine aspirations of the concerned person. It would be good to give a personality test if the candidate has not yet taken one. It could be either TEAM or DISC personality test. If the job entails spiritual ministry/gifts, then a test should be given for understanding the spiritual gifts or ministry gifts of the person. The coach should discern the person s traits, style of working or functioning, etc. A good coach separates the person from the problems and then focuses to help him improve. If the coaching is done for developing an individual, then his/her personal vision and mission statement should be obtained. If there is no mission statement, s/he should be coached to develop one. If the coaching is happening within a department, then the vision and mission of the department in the context of the overall vision and mission statement of the organization should be emphasized. The
204

I Corinthians 4:16.
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coach should discover how the individual s vision is in alignment with the vision of the organization. Step 2: Understanding the gaps Coaches should not treat their trainees like students by stating what is right or wrong. They help them to develop analytical skills so that they can self-criticize or selfevaluate themselves. The lear ner explains to the coach the job/project/assignment being done, the method he adopts and the result he gets. Then the coach, l ooking for desired results, suggests better ways of doing things. The coach explains the reasons for adopting certain methods or using certain skills/tools in order to achieve the desired results. One young missionary was able to bring people to Christ in a mission field in Maharastra. But after the initial success there were none others who came to Christ. He approached a coach who suggested that he should focus on the relatives of the people who came to Christ and try to reach them. Following that suggestion, he was able to bring many (about 30) to Christ within six months, relatives of those who came to Christ in the first instance. The desired result was to bring more people to Christ. The methodology was to use the kinrelationships to canalize the gospel. Step 3: Opportunity for practice/performance improvement Trial and error is the common axiom that is used for learning, but it could be trial and success, which is a more effective way of learning.205 A good coach ensures that the trainee practices the new learned skills or tools as soon as possible. A coach also creates a lowrisk environment or setting up a dry-run situation or rehearsal. If the coach is not able to be present, then performance indicators should be developed in order to help the person measure his/her success. A senior pastor may requ est his assistant to practice his preaching skills in a cell group or cottage meeting before performing in a larger congregation.

205

Reg Hamilton, Mentoring: A Practical Guide to the Skills of Mentoring (New Delhi: Sterling Publishers (P) Ltd., 1996), p.67.
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Good mentors create the right environment for their followers to thrive. One senior pastor trained a young man to take over the pastoral responsibilities of a branch church. He accompanied him for few weeks and gradually allowed him to take charge. He also spoke to the elders of the churches individually encouraging them to support the new pastor in every way. The young pastor within a period of twelve months was able to develop the congregation into a healthy church. Step 4: Evaluate performance and give feedback Evaluation is a high skill process. The coach vividly describes his observations so that the candidate understands the difference between what he is doing and what he ought to be doing. A good coach helps the candidate himself to evaluate and say what he did and what should have been done. Then the consequences of behavior is also explained; Because you did this happened. Then the coach should encourage the candidate to state what specific action could be taken to improve her/his performance. Specific improvement action plans like, I will write my whole sermon before I preach so that I do not stray during my preaching, should be developed for further improvement. Deploying Deploying leaders to do projects is an important aspect in training. It is a four step process. Step 1: I do, you observeA senior missionary takes a new recruit along with him for visiting a village for evangelism. The senior missionary performs his ministry of visiting homes, teaching children in the evening and conducting a Bible study in the night. The new recruit accompanies the senior missionary for a period of time observing, making notes and learning the process. Similarly, a pastor could take an assistant when goes for visiting families or conducting cottage meetings. Step 2: We do together Now the senior pastor or missionary as a mentor or trainer involves the newcomer also in the ministry. He assigns parts of the role to be done by the new recruit. In this phase
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of training the new recruit is groomed to do the job in an incremental manner. For instance, begin with 20% of the assignment and gradually increase it to a higher percentage with the ultimate aim of achieving 100%. In a worship service there are several components like prayer, liturgy, worship, reading of Scripture, announcements, preaching, benediction, etc. The new person may be given one component the first time. It could be increased in the next service. Within a period of time, the new recruit would be able to grasp the whole exercise. Step 3: You do, I observe Now the mentor takes the back seat. The learner has to perform the whole function in the presence of the senior leader or mentor. The senior person is there to observe the progress, provide valuable suggestions, give tips for improvement and shape the person to become competent. Step 4: Independent role 1. Providing roles If the senior pastor or leader is satisfied with the performance on the particular project, the person would be provided independent opportunities for ministry or job. Paul gave Timothy such independence. Timothy emerged as a potential leader when he was comparatively young, but this did not deter Paul from giving him responsibility. 206 For Paul, age was not the only deciding factor for leadership. Paul was able to de ploy Timothy at a relatively young age. Paul took a risk and placed Timothy in demanding and challenging situations. Deployin g youngsters into challenging situations helps them to grow. The emerging leaders stretch themselves, work hard and measure up to the situations. It is like the mother bird pushing the baby bird out of the nest to make it fly. Challenging situations will help stronger and mature leaders emerge. 2. Preparing context Paul knew that Timothy was naturally diffident by temperament: when he sends him, for example, as his representative to the more turbulent church of Corinth, he has to ask
206

Kenneth Prior, Perils of Leadership (Mumbai: Gospel Literature Service, 1997), p.139
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his friends there not to underestimate him but to put him at his ease and see that he is not intimidated. 207 (I Corinthians 16:10f) Paul prepared a group of people who could stand by Timothy and support him. Paul did not throw Timothy to the wolves. But he made sure that he had enough moral support. Good mentors not only deploy the learners for performing greater responsibilities but also prepare the context and the people to help them to be effective. 3. Monitoring or supervising Paul monitored the progress of the leaders. He made them accountable. The leaders reported about their tasks. Monitoring is an important aspect in training. Paul s letters to Timothy and Titus show how Paul monitored the young men, their situations and their ministries. As a keen observer, he understood the strengths and weaknesses of the leaders. Accordingly, he encouraged them or rebuked them. He took pa ins to understand the context of their ministry. He provided them guidelines to function in such situations. Providing organizational tips for building the church, Paul monitored them to become excellent leaders. The communication between Paul and others were excellent, transparent and continuous. Paul combined hard-edged direction with gentle encouragement.208 Giving responsibility There is a paradigm shift in a learning organization. Walter C. Wright captures this in the statement, The leader is responsible for the success of the follower, paid or volunteer. In the leadership relationship, I prefer to ask for whose success are you responsible? rather than the traditional who reports to you? 209 The goal of capacity building is to enable more leaders to take up responsibilities. A learning organization aims to raise the level of each person in the organization to a higher level of leadership. The disciple, when he is

207

F.F. Bruce, Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free (Grand Rapids: William Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989), p. 214 208 I Timothy 4:6-16 209 Walter C. Wright, Relational Leadership: A Biblical Model for Leadership Service (Secunderabad: OM Headlines, 2000), p.169.
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fully trained, will be like his teacher. 210 An organization provides the opportunity to bring out the latent potential of a leader and provides the opportunity to prove him/herself. An atmosphere of love ought to prevail in Christian institutions, as this statement by the Lord Jesus Christ denotes: By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. 211 When there is love, there is trust. Giving responsibility is based on love and trust along with competence. After the disciples are tested for competency and trusted for integrity, they are given responsibility. When the responsibility is given, there is accountability also. They are made accountable to the organization. Learning organizations also forgive when emerging leaders commit mistakes. Freedom to operate within certain parameters is needed. One leader said to an emerging leader: The bottom line is the organization is Christ centered, evangelical in ethos, within these parameters you have freedom to do what you wish to. That leader emerged as a national leader within a period of five years. Freedom to experiment new ideas, try new methodologies, consider relevant strategies and innovate execution is part of handing over responsibility.

210 211

Luke 6:40 John 13:35

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Chapter 25:

MENTORING EMPOWERING LEADERSHIP

There is dearth of leadership in all spheres, in all countries and at all levels. One of the reasons is the absence of godly leaders who could discern emerging leaders, then affirm and develop them. In the history of Israel, God prepared David to take up the leadership role as the King of Israel. A shepherd boy was groomed by God to be shepherd of His own chosen people. David would be grateful to God for Jonathan, son of Saul, who played a vital role of empowerment in his life. Leaders who emerge need affirmation, affection, empowerment and encouragement. When that is done for any person, s/he is empowered to take up the leadership role assigned by God in His Kingdom. But strangely, many emerging leaders do not find such empowerers in their lives. As a result many have left their role of leadership to become anonymous and routine workers who fight for their survival. Jonathan had the gift to empower David for future role of leadership in the Kingdom of Israel. Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return to his father s house. And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt. 212 Discernment Jonathan had the gift of discernment, which his father Saul lacked. Jonathan was able to discern God s purposes for the nation of Israel. Knowing God s will for the kingdom of Israel, Jonathan knew it would be accomplished through the leadership of David. Saul could not discern God s purposes through David as he
212

1 Samuel 18:1-4
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was myopic in his vision - he could not think beyond himself and his own family. Jonathan with an et ernal perspective discovered David as God s chosen instrument at that point of history for the welfare of the kingdom of Israel. Since Saul could not discern God s sovereign will, he persecuted and harassed David and would have preferred him eliminated from the face of this earth. At the same ti me, Jonathan, who could understand God s sovereign will, became David s soul mate, friend, well-wisher and defender. The world is full of pe ople like Saul rather than of the likes of Jonathan. So there are stories of conspiracies, fights, violence, unethical practices, stagnation and deterioration in organizations, corporate houses, business houses, institutions, government and also within the Church.

Love The Bible clearly states that Jonathan loved David as himself. How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron s beard, down upon the collar of his robes. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore. 213 The binding cord of such unity that provides goodness, pleasantness, fruitfulness and blessedness is love. Jonathan loved David while Saul hated David. The reason for Saul s hatred was that the people Israel rated David better than Saul in their folk song. Jonathan could love David as he recognized they belonged to and served the same Master. Their purposes converged and blended with the greater purposes of God. Saul saw David as a competitor while Jonathan saw him as collaborator. Jonathan perceived that he could complement David to build the kingdom of Israel, bringing glory to God. Thus Saul began to feel in secure and hated David to the point he wanted to kill him.

213

Psalm 133:1-3
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Some leaders perceive emerging leaders as a threat for their authority, role, position and family. Like Sa ul, they are envious of emerging leaders and wish to see them disappear from their arena of operation. Envy breeds hate, which in turn creates insecurity, developing into sins of violence, unethical practices and even elimination of emerging leaders. Saul s envy caused him to develop a murderous attitude and behavior towards David. Affirmation Jonathan made a covenant with David in the presence of God. He affirmed that David w ould be the king of Israel and he would be his deputy. Don't be afraid, he said. My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this. The two of them made a covenant before the Lord. Then Jonathan went home, but David remained at Horesh. 214 Jonathan was willing to promote David ahead of him and was willing to play second fiddle to him. This was because he knew God has chosen David ahead of him. Jonathan determined to align himself with the will of God rather than fighting against the will of God. Saul, in contrast, was fighting against God by trying to bring Jonathan as king and his successor. Protection Jonathan was the defender of David. Saul wanted to put David to death; no one in the court spoke up for David. But Jonathan had the courage and conviction to question his father, Saul, of his intentions. Why should he be put to death? What has he done? Jonathan asked his father. 215 Empowering leaders defend emerging leaders when they are wronged. Jonathan was a buffer between Saul and David. Challenge The world would be a better place if more Jonathans were around. As leaders in the Kingdom of God, it is their duty to affirm emerging leaders as much as possible within their spheres of influence.

214 215

1 Samuel 23:17-18 1 Samuel 20:32

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Chapter 26:

MENTORS OR TORMENTORS
Raju went as a missionary from Tamil Nadu to North India and was back home like a ball thrown against a wall within three months. The whole congregation was really puzzled. Many were of the opinion that the young man had backslidden from his commitment and forsaken his first love. He was really depressed. One close friend counseled him for many hours. The reason for his return was found out. The mission agency had sent him to be groomed and trained under a senior missionary. The person who was intended to be a mentor turned out to be a tormentor. This can be the biography of several young men who have left full-time ministries to work in secular fields. Stewardship Stewardship is a pet word in evangelical circles. The reference is usually limited to time, talent and treasure. This lopsided understanding of stewardship has left our leadership bankrupt. A leader is a steward of the followers, co-workers or personnel under his care. A brother/sister in Christ is more precious than time, talent and treasure in the sight of the Lord. Instead of using time, talent and treasure, we love them. At the same time, instead of loving people, we use them. This is the malady eating up the vitality of the Church today. In the Bible we read about pagan kings like the Pharaoh and Darius who were wise enough to recognize, accept and make use of the services of Joseph and Daniel by encouraging them to use their capabilities, skills and talents for building up their kingdom. But for building God s Kingdom we often do not have this generous spirit and broad-mindedness. Leaders Become Tormentors a) Envy : King Saul is a typical tormentor who harassed, persecuted and insulted David. The reason is easy to discover for the Bible records that he was envious of David. The people praised David ten times more than they did Saul. It was
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not flattery, but sincere appreciation. Indeed David surpassed Saul in wisdom, faith and boldness. But Saul could not accept this fact.216 Senior leaders often look upon many young leaders who have talent, ability and competence with envy. They are supposed to recognize, appreciate and encourage them, but the truth is otherwise. Where are the Barnabases?217 b) Insecurity: Saul was unsure of his position. A more competent person was around and he could not permit or tolerate that. Like Herod, who killed innocent children, Saul hunted David. He wanted his son to succeed him and he could not allow any likely rivals to survive. Many churches and organizations have hereditary leadership, though India is a democracy. The leaders eliminate all potential competition, and choose their son or son-in-law to or nearest relative to succeed them. But there are many godly leaders who encourage all to leadership roles. c) Rule or ruin: This is another philosophy of a few leaders. One bishop had been in that position for nearly fifteen years. At the twilight of his career he wished to bifurcate his diocese. The executive committee members questioned his intentions. The bishop wanted to go down in history as the last bishop of such a large diocese. He wanted to be remembered as an emperor, while others after him would, in comparison, be regarded as chieftains or petty kings. Such hypocrisy! If his inte ntions were good, he would have done it at the beginning of his tenure. Another leader created several problems before he left his position so that his successor would be in a bind. He did it deliberately and systematically. d) Me only: This generation is called the me only generation. People are interested in their own welfare and not bothered about
216 217

1 Samuel 18:5-9 Acts 4:36; 9:26-27; 15:37-39

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anybody else. Some are ready to sacrifice moral principles, ethics and dignity to achieve this. And Christian leaders are not exempt. One consultant to a Christian organization said, A Chief Executive wanted a salary revision for his organization. He asked me to design a proposal, which was advantageous to him. He insisted that he got the maximum benefit while others got only marginal benefits. What a shame! They can cite a hundred reasons for not giving better salaries to others. e) I suffered; so why not others: It may be true that leaders suffer, work hard, and swim upstream to attain their positions. So they feel they have the right to inflict suffering on others and be sadistic. They spiritualize suffering. Of course, God has called us to suffer, but that does not permit a leader to go out of his way to make life miserable for his subordinates and co-workers. The Strategy of Tormentors a) Impossible tasks: The senior leaders use this tactic to put off upcoming leaders. They assign impossible tasks. Saul sent David to war against his enemies, the Philistines, hoping for his failure.218 b) Insignificant tasks: Politicians transfer inconvenient officers to insignificant positions. They seem to be the role models for some Christian leaders. A good writer in an organization is shifted to administration. A young pastor is assigned to routine jobs like addressing envelopes and sticking stamps on them. c) Insufficient appreciation: The successful tasks are not appreciated. Very often the boss takes the credit. The contributions of others are just ignored. This can drive a young, upcoming leader to depression. By these strategies, either the person leaves the organization or situations are created to ease him out.

218

1 Samuel 18:21
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Result The net result is the loss for the Kingdom of God. Many organizations are left without proper successors. Their performance is mediocre. Many potential leaders have become casualties because of the unethical behaviors of leaders. God calls such leaders to repent and work with Kingdom mindset and attitude.

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Chapter 27:

3 RS OF LEADERSHIP
Dr. Paul Heibert drew the attention of the students of a theological institution in the city of Bangalore to Paul s address to Timothy, where he discussed the three R s of leadership. As I meditated on those three words, I was refreshed. 1. Reflect - II Timothy 2:7 To reflect means to think, or evaluate or introspect. Christians are consta ntly advised to use their mind to reflect. Paul called Timothy to reflect on the thoughts he shared in the earlier verses. He gives three pictures of a Christian: Soldier, Athlete and Farmer. All three ro les require hard work, long-term investment of resources and hope that sustains in those roles. Soldiers are required to obey and please their master. Pleasing God who is the Great Shepherd is the first priority of a Christian leader. Obedience is the only way to please God. An athlete should compete according to the rules. A Christian leader should be leading according to the principles laid down in the Scriptures. Stewardship of resources, personnel, and time is the basic ground rule of leading. That demands excellence and optimum and productive use of all resources. A farmer should be the first to receive and rejoice in the fruits. The assurance of the fruits helps the farmer to toil hard. Understanding God s faithfulness and promises strengthens a leader to hope for fruits of his/her labor. Reflection is a refreshing and renewing exercise. In the busy modern life, taking time to reflect becomes a last option. But it is good to have a short reflection as often as possible. A discipline of reflection once a month can be of true benefit. 2. Remember - II Timothy 2:8 Life is full of experiences; some may have changed the course of our life. Such memories are treasured in
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the inner sanctuaries of our hearts. The personal encounter with Christ is the prominent one. Along with that there could be other wonderful experiences like healing, calling for ministry, or a vision. Remembering them will help us to be focused in alignment with God. Paul calls Timothy to remember the gospel truth. Human beings tend to remember the bad things and forget the good things. Christians should learn to remember the good things and forget the bad. The Israelites were able to remember the Lord s doings by writings of Moses, signs like the brazen serpent, song of Miriam, sacraments like the Passover, festivals and monuments. There could be personal memorials and corporate memorials. Apart from the personal experiences, the collective experience of the people of God is also valid and should be remembered. Persecution in the first century church was a corporate experience. A short-term mission trip or a short seminar can be a collective experience that can change the course of our life. 3. Remind - II Timothy 2:14 Believers should be reminded constantly through exhortation. God s faithfulness, God s nature, God s promises, God s commandments and God s plan are some of the aspects that could be reminders for us. Exhortation is a leadership tool to enrich the life of followers. Paul exhorts Timothy to remind others and also to warn them. Warning is the responsibility of the leaders. Challenge May God help us to remember God s interventions, reflect on the happenings and events in our lives, and remind others of our reflections and memories.

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Chapter 28:

BIG ON EFFICIENCY
The Hindu, dated 10 April 2004, published an article Big on Efficiency. The entomologist, Edward O. Wilson, once calculated that if a leafcutter ant were 1.8 meter tall human, it would run a kilometer in two minutes 20 seconds, and keep up that pace over a whole marathon. Then it would pick up a load weighing 150 kg, and run all the way back at the slightly slower speed of a km every twoand-a-half minutes. The ants can shift their home, manage traffic jams, and measure accurately the floor area of its individual nest, all in the dark. These amazing facts remind us of the verse in the Bible: Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. 219 Four characteristics are obvious when we think of ants. They are amazingly small creatures with energy, enthusiasm, hard work and diligence and are self-motivated.

1. Future Oriented The ants are future oriented. They neither live for the present nor are prisoners of past. Being alert in harvest season, they gather their food. Opportunities are like birds with wings - they quietly fly off. An ts know the harvest season is for a short period of time. If they do not gather food at that time, they will suffer or even die. Many young people do not understand this simple principle. When God gives them their youth, opportunities to study, learn and gain skills, they do not realize that these provisions are seasonal in their life cycle. So they miss opportunities and then experience regret and tears in their older years. All opportunities in the present are God s investment for our future.

219

Proverbs 6:6-8
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In summer the ants think about winter. The winter or rainy season is hazardous for the life of ants. Not being able to go out in search of food during adverse climatic conditions, the ants plan ahead. They toil in summer and gather food for the adverse days. Storing for the future is wisdom. Human beings have a greater responsibility to be wise. God has placed eternity in the hearts of men.220 Living for the short span of earthly life is not a great achievement. But to invest this short life for the welfare and treasure for eternity is wisdom. 2. Overcome obstacles The article in the newspaper comments that the garden ant takes an alternative route when it encounters obstacles. The obstacles do not deter the urge for the ants to reach their destination. They have goals and nothing can stop them from achieving the goals. Many times they sacrifice their lives to reach their goals. The goals, destiny, and destination determine the meaning for survival of an ant. They do not want to be mere survivors but achievers. They cannot be intimidated by threats or harassment. The power of resilience to rebuild their life is wonderful. Stumbling blocks are converted into to stepping-stones. Life governed by the will of God, or God-inspired vision, becomes an adventure, where obstacles are challenges and crises are opportunities. Life is like Pilgrims Progress with surprises and God s wonderful providence. 3. Hard worker Ants are industrious and persevere in all adverse circumstances. They carry load s that are more than their body weight, go long distances without showing signs of tiredness or fatigue. They always move briskly. There are no signs of laziness or haziness or dizziness. Are they a ddicted to Boost, the secret of their energy? No. They do not need special vitamin supplements or tonics to be hard workers.

220

Ecclesiastes 3:11
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Diligent hands bring wealth;221 diligent hands will rule;222 the diligent person values or prizes his possessions;223 diligent are satisfied224; plans of diligent prosper. 225 Ants personify all these qualifications delineated by the wise king Solomon. A diligent man will be exalted to serve before kings.226 4. Self motivated One director of a Christian hospital said, Here we appoint a laborer for Rs. 1000 (USD 25) a month and then we appoint a supervisor with Rs. 2000 (US$ 50) a month to monitor the work done by the laborer. How true this statement is. There is a lack of work ethics in all walks of life. Unless monitored or supervised, many people do not work to the optimum level of efficiency. But ants are self-motivated creatures. They have no commander or supervisor or overseer, yet perform their duties absolutely well. Paul declares that Christ love compels us227 to be stewards of the gospel in this world. There are some people who are motivated by the fear of the boss. When the boss is not there, they do not work. Some perform to be in the good books of another boss, partner, spouse, children etc. Rewards, perks or promotion could motivate some people. For the sake of survival some people work. But Christians should be motivated by the love of God and nothing less.

221

Proverbs 10:4 Proverbs 12:24 223 Proverbs 12:27 224 Proverbs 13:4 225 Proverbs 21:5 226 Proverbs 22:29 227 2 Corinthians 5:14
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Chapter 29:

SLACKNESS VS. DILIGENCE

One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys. 228 This verse is an interesting but a powerful verse. The Bible declares a person who slacks is no better than a person who destroys. The word slack according to Advanced Learner s dictionary is not putting enough care, attention or energy; not doing it well enough. In God s perspective there are only two things possible one is excellence and another is destruction. Christians are called for excellence and not for destruction. It is not just doing, but doing well. It is not just doing well, but doing the best. Not just completing a project but completing it well or perfect. Christians are a called-out community with a mandate to transform the world. It is immaterial whether or not a person is in full-time Christian service. All Christians have a God-ordained role in society. Christians cannot afford to be slack in their vocations. A curse on him who is lax in doing the Lord s work. 229 Jehoash and Elisha Elisha was ill and King Jehoash went to meet him. The interesting incident is recorded in II Kings 13:14-20. Elisha requests to open the east window and shoot. Jehoash shoots an arrow and Elisha declares that it is the arrow of victory. Again, he asks Jehoash to take the arrows and strike the ground. He struck it three times and stopped it. Elisha was angry and said, You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. Now you will defeat it only three times. 230 Striking the ground was insignificant act, but it was symbolic and an act of faith. The king failed because he was slack, and lost his victory over Syria.

228

Proverbs 18:9 Jeremiah 48:10 230 2 Kings 13:19

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God is not slack God has created man in His own image. The Bible teaches us that God is not slack in His promises.231 The creation of God is a wonderful demonstration of His work. The creation is perfect and scientists down the centuries have failed to fathom the depth of the mysteries in creation. The work of redemption is perfect and complete. If God is slack even for a moment, the whole universe will plunge into chaos. He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 232 God is not slack even for moment. 1. Do not Procrastinate Slackness leads to procrastination. Things that ought to be done today should not be postponed for tomorrow. The Bible teaches the importance of the present. Today is the day of salvation. Tomorrow can be too late . As Christians we have to develop a discipline of making optimum use of our resources each and every day. 2. Wrong Priorities Christians can be sucked in non-essential issues. Non-essential issues can drain us of our energy, time and knowledge. Paul warns the young leaders, Timothy and Titus, against this. The believers of that time were attracted to genealogies, myths and tales.233 Nehemiah is a good example. He refused to get involved in trifle matters. David fell into sin, because he was slack in going to war. 3. Under Performance Many times our performance does not match our potentials, talents or gifts. Scientists believe that even the best intellectual uses only 11% of the capacity of his/her brain. Underperformance is slackness. We have to measure up to our full potential, strength and resources. How to overcome slackness: There are three things from Paul s life that can help us to overcome slackness. First, motivation. What motivates us in our ministry? Paul declares that the love of God

231

2 Peter 3:9 Psalm 121:4 233 1 Timothy 1:4, 4:7; Titus 1:14
232

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compels him for ministry. 234 Second, consistent orientation towards the vision God has given us.235 Paul says that he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision and he continuously pursued that vision. Third, a need for passion.236 Paul says that he was obligated, eager and ready to preach the gospel.

234

2 Corinthians 5:14 Acts 26:19 236 Romans 1:14

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Chapter 30:

DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY FOR LEADERSHIP

Paul was a great leader who developed great leaders. The test of leadership lies in multiplication of more leaders. Paul was a successful leader because he was able to produce numerous leaders. The leaders trained by Paul made great impact on the history of the first century church. Developing leaders was the ministry culture of Paul. Recruitment, training, deployment and development are the four steps adopted by Paul to create a group of leaders in the church. 1. Recruitment Recruitment plays an important role in development of leadership. A wrong selection is bad both for the individual as well as for the Church. Missionary attrition could be reduced if proper recruitment happened. According to a study done by World Evangelical Fellowship, Daryl Platt writes it was found that the reasons for attrition among missionaries are: doubt or confusion about the personal conversion, indifference to a clear vocational call, inadequate preparation and spiritual immaturity. 237 Paul was careful in these areas. Most the leaders who emerged under Paul s tutelage were his own converts. The individuals had a strong conviction regarding their relationship with Jesus Christ. Paul was also convinced of their call for full time or bi-vocational ministry. Paul himself prepared the emerging leaders adequately. He was the mentor, teacher, trainer and coach. The leaders used by Paul were also spiritually mature. It is interesting to note that Paul chose men, women and couples to leadership positions in the cities. Men like Silas, Timothy, Titus, Luke, women like Lydia and couples like Aquila and Priscilla. In
237

William D. Taylor (Ed.), Too Valuable to Lose: Exploring the Causes and Cures for Missionary Attrition (Pasadena: William Carey Library, 1997), p.196.
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urban ministry, men, women and couples are needed for leadership. Women have a more visible leadership role in urban areas when compared with rural areas. Christian couples are effective ministering to families. The house of a couple can become an open home where the children of God worship, are trained and new converts are nurtured. Paul brought in leaders from several backgrounds. Jews, Hellenistic Jews, people from mixed marriages, and Gentiles. This demonstrates that the gospel transcends all racial barriers. The leadership team should reflect the cross-section of the city, providing representations of all groups. In order to reach the whole city, the cross-section of the whole city should be discipled and represented in the Church leadership. The presence of people from various backgrounds demonstrates the unity of the Church in Christ. In a divisive world context, the unity of the church is a powerful witness. Such united multi-cultural, multi-racial and multi-generational team can minister to various groups in the city. Silas was a Hellenistic Jew and a member of the Jerusalem Church.238 He was one of the two messengers sent by Jerusalem elders to Antioch.239 He was also a Roman citizen like Paul. 240 Bi-cultural Silas was suited for ministries in the cities, as cities are pluralistic and multi-cultural. Silas was anchored in culture as a Hellenist and anchored in the Scriptures as a member of the church in Jerusalem. His citizenship gave him political identity and security. Silas as a Roman citizen was on the same level as intellectuals and influential leaders in the cities. Timothy was from the city of Lystra. He was the son of a mixed marriage, though unlawful, but frequent during that time.241 His

238

Merril F. Unger, Ungers Bible Dictionary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1985), p.1024 239 Acts 15:22 240 Acts 16:37 241 Merril F. Unger, Ungers Bible Dictionary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1985), p.1100
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mother Eunice242 was a Jewess, who brought him up in the Jewish faith. Mixed marriages are a city phenomenon. The children of such marriages have both advantages and disadvantages. Again Timothy was bicultural person brought up in a pluralistic family context. This made him apt for relating to both Jews and Gentiles. Paul circumcised him.243 This action of Paul is beyond comprehension. He vehemently argues for liberty from the law in his letter to the Galatians, but circumcised Timothy. It is not possible to know whether it was for tactical and strategic reasons or theological reasons. Timothy was not a Gentile Christian in the sense in which Titus was. By birth, as the son of Jewish mother and by religious upbringing Timothy was a Jew in all respects save the admittedly material one of circumcision. 244 The circumcision of Timothy could be a good mission strategy but not good theology. Should theology be the source of missions or should strategy determine the theology? Paul built his own evangelistic work on preexisting prayer group led by Lydia, an upper-class professional woman (Acts 16:14). 245 Paul was comfortable with women in church leadership. Women in cities take up leadership roles. Lydia was a professional woman who was a leader in the society and was also recruited to lead the church that gathered in her house.246 Professional Christian women living in cities can bring colleagues and neighbors to Christ. Their homes and work places can become meeting places for worship. Paul did not replace Lydia with the male converts who also joined the same church. Leadership in the church is not gender specific. So Paul s method of recruitment had several dimensions. The competency factor was the important aspect for the selection of Lydia. The bi-cultural life style and Roman citizenship decided in favor of Silas. Timothy was recruited to minister to both Jews and
242

II Timothy 1:5 Acts 16:3 244 F.F. Bruce, Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free (Grand Rapids: William Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989), p. 215 245 Ray Bakke, A Theology as Big as City (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1997), p.154 246 Acts 16:40
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Gentiles. Aquila and Priscilla were business associates of Paul who became his ministry associates. Paul not only led them to Christ, he equipped and encouraged them into the ministry. The couple worked as a team. A couple-team is eff ective in urban situations. 2. Training Paul s training style was custom-made for each individual or for each team. His training was innovative and creative according to the situation. Paul s training of his co-laborers also revealed his situational leadership approach. To Titus he sent instruction. To Timothy he offere d encouragement. He prepared and trained workers to continue what he had begun in various cities, adapting that training to the specific needs of each worker. 247 Paul did not try to mass-produce leaders. His approach was to spend time with individuals and couples and impart vision, passion and the basics of Christian life. A great deal of Timothy s training was received on the job, as he traveled with Paul a unique privilege for so young a man. 248 Working alongside a senior leader helps younger leaders to develop skills, relationships, character and vision. Learning to work under a senior person is a desirable part of the early training of a leader. 249 Paul s method of training was apprenticeship. There was a combination of formal, non-formal and informal training. He taught them the scriptures. He trained them by making them do small errands. When he withdrew, he c ontinued to guide and coach them from a distance. Modeling, mentoring and monitoring were the components that were part of the strategy of Paul for training. He was a model for the young leaders who followed his footsteps in the ministry. His life was a model for young people to imitate in the areas of vision,
247

The Leadership Bible: Leadership Principles from Gods Word (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998) p.1347. 248 J. Oswald Sanders, Paul the Leader: A Vision for Christian Leadership Today (Bromley: STL Books, 1983), p. 168. 249 Kenneth Prior, Perils of Leadership (Mumbai: Gospel Literature Service, 1997), p. 144.
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passion, hard work and strategy. Silas followed Paul into prison. Silas was promoted from his position as official representative of the Jerusalem council to Paul s right-hand man. Because of his willingness to take advantage of any opportunity to serve God, and his resolve to preserve despite opposition, setbacks or imprisonment, Silas was a leader worth imitating. 250 Paul was the model for Silas. When he led the church planting missionary teams to various parts of the Roman Empire, Paul was a model. He never traveled alone for ministry. By taking his younger colleagues, he was modeling for them in the ministry. He mentored leaders to be effective. Timothy was more prone to lean than lead.251 But Paul mentored him so that a dependent leader became an interdependent leader. His disciples matured in character, grew strong in face of persecution, and developed skills for various kinds of ministry. He mentored through exhortations. Among the relational skills effective leaders cultivate is that of exhortation. Exhorters are people who spur others on to higher levels of achievement. In doing so, they he lp turn their constituents into leaders. Effective leaders acco mplish extraordinary things by enabling others to act. The apostle Paul demonstrated this ability in II Timothy 2:14-21. 252 His exhortation was threat or coercion. But it was gentle, with ample reasons and explanations. Mentoring includes nurturing the leaders. Paul was excellent in nurturing so many young people and allowing them to use their gifts and grow. Paul monitored the progress of the leaders. He made them accountable. The leaders reported about their errands. Monitoring is an important aspect in training. Paul s letters to the young Timothy and Titus shows how Paul monitored them, their context and their ministry. As a keen observer, he understood the strengths and weakness of the leaders. Accordingly, he encouraged them or rebuked them. He took pains to understand the context of their
250

The Leadership Bible:Op.Cit. p. 1402. J. Oswald Sanders, Op.Cit. p.167. 252 The Leadership Bible: Leadership Principles from Gods Word (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998) p. 1420.
251

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ministry. He provided them guidelines to function in such situations. Providing organizational tips for building the church, Paul monitored them to become excellent leaders. The communication between Paul and others were excellent, transparent and continuous. 3. Deployment Timothy emerged as a potential leader when he was comparatively young, but this did not deter Paul from giving him responsibility. 253 For Paul, age was not the only deciding factor for leadership. Paul was able to deploy Timothy at a relatively young age. Paul took a risk and placed Timothy in demanding and challenging situations. Paul believed that Exemplary living could largely offset the disadvantage of youthfulness. 254 Deploying young people into challenging situations helps them to grow. The emerging leaders stretch themselves, work hard and measure up to the situations. It is like the mother bird pushing the baby bird out of nest to make it fly. Challenging situations will help stronger and mature leaders emerge. Paul knew that Timothy was naturally different by temperament: when he sends him, for example, as his representative to the more turbulent church of Corinth, he has to ask his friends there not to underestimate him but to put him at his ease and see that he is not intimidated (I Corinthians 16:10f).255 Paul prepared a group of people who could stand by Timothy and support him. Paul did not throw Timothy to the wolves. Inst ead, he made sure that he had enough moral support. For survival in urban ministries, the support group that can constantly encourage, pray and provide moral support is essential. Paul not only equipped and encouraged the emerging leaders; he empowered them. Empowering is providing authority and creating credibility for the person. When Titus was sent to Corinth, he was
253

Kenneth Prior, Perils of Leadership (Mumbai: Gospel Literature Service, 1997), p.139. 254 J. Oswald Sanders, Paul the Leader: A Vision for Christian Leadership Today (Bromley: STL Books, 1983), p. 169. 255 F.F. Bruce Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free (Grand Rapids: William Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989), p. 214.
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empowered by Paul. He went under the authority of Paul. Giving responsibility and not authority will make a person ineffective, in spite of skills and abilities. Titus was a Gentile convert who began his ministry as Paul s liaison officer. Skilled in conflict management, Titus was empowered by the apostle to resolve the restless situation in Corinth and to set the Cretan church in order. 256 Creating leaders is a deliberate act. The leader should prepare appropriate contexts for leaders to emerge. This does not happen by default but by strategy. The strategy is certainly risky. But Paul gave his authority and deployed his young colleagues in ministry. The strong backing of Paul created an apt environment for the emerging leaders to face their challenges confidently. 4. Development Paul poured his own personality and conviction into the life of Timothy. 257 It is not just training and deployment. There is a further step of development. Paul poured his convictions, faith, vision, passion, character, and skills in the life of Timothy. It was done through multiple means. Paul called Timothy his son in the faith; 258 my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. 259 Paul transmitted his passion through a personal and intimate relationship with the emerging leaders. He treated the young men as his spiritual children and worked for their welfare and development. Paul was interested in the long-term contribution of the younger leaders. Paul developed leaders by instructing them regularly. Emerging leaders need a sense of direction. This is offered by instruction and advice. Senior leaders have to become consultants and leave the young workers to take responsibilities. Apostle Paul instructed his
256

The Leadership Bible: Leadership Principles from Gods Word (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998) p. 1423. 257 J. Oswald Sanders, Paul the Leader: A Vision for Christian Leadership Today (Bromley: STL Books, 1983), p. 167. 258 I Timothy 1:2 259 I Timothy 2:1-2
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associates Timothy and Titus con cerning worship, leadership, organization and administration of the churches, as well as teaching them how to deal with the various groups within the assemblies. 260 Paul combined hard-edged direction with gentle encouragement.261 Development is to strengthen and stabilize a leader. It involves overall or comprehensive growth in spiritual maturity, ministry skills, character and knowledge.

260

The Leadership Bible: Leadership Principles from Gods Word (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998) p. 1354. 261 I Timothy 4:6-16
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Chapter 31:

MEMBER CARE SELF CARE

Love your neighbor as yourself, is the command given by our Lord through Moses in the Law. 262 It was re-emphasized by our Lord during his earthly ministry when he gave the Great Commandment.263 The Great Commandment has three aspects: First, loving and serving the Lord; second, loving one s self; and third, loving others. Unfortunately, it is often interpreted as only two aspects - loving God and others. Loving one s self is not always taught in the Church. Caring for oneself is as legitimate as loving others. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit, 264 declared Paul. Taking care of the temple of Holy Spirit is an important task. Physical Physical fitness is absolutely essential to be effective. An athlete who is not physically fit would not be able to perform to his/her best abilities. Similarly, a soldier trains the body to be alert and fit to be effective to face challenges. A Christian leader should take all efforts to be physically fit to accomplish the will of God. Yes, God certainly permits illness, sometimes chronic, in our lives. But from our side, we ought to do our best to be fit, healthy and active. Food is both nutrition and medicine as God blesses it. Eating healthy food and at the right times is a good discipline. When there are symptoms of serious illness, it is wise to approach a doctor for good treatment. Understanding our body is very important for a leader. Some people need eight hours of sleep while some could manage with six. So our sleeping habits should be according to the needs of the body. Some people have the ability to work best early in the morning; some work
262

Leviticus 19:18 Matthew 22:38-39 264 1 Corinthians 6:19

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better in the daytime; still others are more productive late into the night. Leaders should schedule to do their most important work according to their peak working times. Emotional Emotions are God s wonderful gifts for humanity. Emotions are good while under control and guidance. The people who cannot control their emotions are controlled by their emotions. Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city. 265 To love and to be loved are God s provisions for a healthy personality. Leaders should have h ealthy relationships with their spouses, which will provide physical and emotional satisfaction. A simple check is to ask the question, Do I feel happy to be away from home, or long to be back home at the earliest? If there is a tendency to be away from home, then there is a need for reality check in the family relationship. Psychological Self-esteem is another element in loving oneself. Self-esteem is not derived from educational qualifications, positions or designations, power or influence, or financial status. It is derived from our relationship to God. Our dignity is through the assurance of salvation through our faith in Lord Jesus Christ. That gives us the position of being children of God, granted by God Himself. Our role in the Body of Christ, the Church, is our life purpose. If not, self-pity, envy, worthlessness and defeat would overwhelm our lives. Our psychological strength is derived from spiritual resources of the Scripture and the empowerment of Holy Spirit. Walking in faith and walking in the Spirit provides the needed self-esteem and proper self-image. Mental Mental ability or intellectual capacity is another aspect of our personality. Our abilities to think, learn, analyze and remember are part of our mental capacities. It is believed that even the best
265

Proverbs 16:32
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intellectual in the world uses only 11 per cent of the brain. That means there is immense potential in each person that has never been utilized. Reading the Bible is an absolute necessity, providing us spiritual, moral and mental resources. Along w ith that there is a need to read devotional books, mission books and Bible expositions. That will provide us further understanding of the Scripture. Understanding current affairs will equip us to be good ministers of the Word. Interpreting the Word to the world demands a certain level of understanding of contemporary issues. That makes the leader in the community relevant. Moral All efforts should be taken to safeguard our moral life. Joseph is a splendid example of one who safeguarded his life against sexual sins.266 Abraham refused to take wealth from pagan kings and was content with what God had provided.267 Sex and money are two powerful landmines planted by Satan in our spiritual pilgrimage towards heaven. Forgiving others does not come naturally. Forgiving others means subjecting one s ego to be nailed at the cross. Forgiveness does not flow when we just look at the person whom we ought to forgive, but by looking at our Savior who graciously and generously forgave others. He expects us to reflect His character and love in our relationships. If resentment remain s, instead of forgiveness, this could lead to psychosomatic diseases. Social A circle of friends can form a good support group to a leader. Such social relationships are essential for robust health. The local church provides this nurture and care. Leaders should also develop a few close friends who could be prayer partners, counselors and peers exerting positive influence. Pastors might want to select a few city
266 267

Genesis 39 Genesis14: 23
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pastors to be their close supporters. Other leaders might select their friends from other organizations. Spiritual Growing in the knowledge of our Lord and His Word is very important. Meditating on the Word of God day and night is a prerequisite for being successful. Discerning the will of God is through the study of His Word. Understanding God s purposes in our personal lives also is through His Word. There is a need to pursue diligently the spiritual disciplines of prayer, meditating on the Word of God, fasting, fellowship, etc. As more responsibility is thrust upon a leader, there may be a tendency to neglect these basics. It is good to always remember that these basic spiritual disciplines alone have brought us this far. Financial God wonderfully provides our needs. But it is not our greed or covetousness that God has promised to meet. We should know the level of lifestyle we ought to live in God s presence. It is not wise to aspire for a lifestyle that God has not called us to live and in which to serve. Some are called to minister to a wider public, rich and mighty, and their life style would certainly be of a higher level. Some are called to serve the urban poor or poor tribals. In any case, the lifestyle should be at par with the people whom we serve. Getting into debt in the name of faith is quite possible. Some leaders are caught in the debt trap as they claim faith and God s guidance. They lack discernment as to whether the idea was from God or not. Our presumptuous faith could lead us into debt trap. Elijahs Experience of Pastoral Care from God Elijah experienced a burnout. He was emotionally drained. The fear of death, loneliness and depression were a deadly combination that made him to seek death (I Kings 19:1-18). Here the Lord ministered to him in three levels. First, the Lord gave him good food and good sleep. This was repeated. This enabled Elijah to come out of physical stress. Second,
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the Lord spoke to him. It was the spiritual restoration. The Lord was not in the thunder or earthquake or fire. Elijah was brought to a position where he could hear the whispers of the Lord. Third, there was a ministry of restoration. God commanded him to anoint the king, anoint his successor and also remember the 7000 remnant. Jesus provides Pastoral Care to Peter A parallel is seen in the life of Peter. Peter was offered breakfast (John 21:12), he heard the voice of Lord Jesus (John 21:15,16 &17), and Peter was given the ministry assignment of feeding the lambs (John 21: 15-17). Also a leader can develop personal discipline. One leader suggested: In your waking hours, 60 percent should be work, 30 percent relationship, and 10 percent you -- it is almost a tithe. This is personal time. Do something you want to do. Keep your hobbies alive, whether it be listening to music, performing music, writing, art, reading, decorating, etc.; it can be anything. Please don t say I have sacrificed everything on the altar when I surrendered myself to full time service. Resurrect your hobby and use it. At times it will give great relief and healing. Peers level: A missionary needs to develop a group of peers who can help sustain in trying circumstances. Seek small groups for multiple options however big may be your crisis. 268 Such fellowship among peers is a great blessing in missionary service. Your accountability group must have these four things as the basis: confidentiality, mutual trust, empathy and a long-lasting commitment to pray and stand with you. According to B. D. Prasad Rao, Koinonia is always a curative community. 269 Solitude, support group, spiritual guide and spouse are the four keys for effectiveness.270 Organizational level: The organization is responsible to its workers. It needs to develop ventilators in the form of retreats, seminars,
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B.D. Prasada Rao, Pastoral Care to the Pastors (National Council of Churches Review, September 1999) p.642. 269 Ibid 270 J.N.Manokaran, Key to Effectiveness (Echo of Madras, July 1997) p.2.
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picnics, etc. That provides the breathing space, or margin or opportunities to relax. The ventilators are not shortcuts for the problems nor the doors to escape. But they are the breathing space. 271 The organization must realign in many areas. Goals must be accomplished but not at the cost of people. For more effective outcome in the ministry, consider the following Pastoral Care concerns: Recruit missionaries not to show the strength of the organization but to match the need. Do not bite more than what you can chew in terms of expansion of work, which ultimately create stress and strain to the organization and donor constituency. Create a proper support system, which will enhance the work in the field without spreading too thin. Be willing to encourage, recognize, appreciate and reward the missionary publicly. Do not spiritualize and say God will reward at the end. Let there be constructive criticism and evaluation built on mutual confidence. Do not see the problems always from the administrative angle. Let your empathy be known to people. Adopt a holistic approach. Allow and facilitate the missionary, along with family, to take time off from the routine field situation. It needs to be done in regular intervals. This may be made mandatory.

271

B.D. Prasada Rao, Op.Ci. p. 641.

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Chapter 32:

10 PRINCIPLES OF TIME MANAGEMENT

In the fast changing world, in an era of fast food, when the world is trying for quick solutions - time becomes a vital resource that has to be harnessed and used for the glory of God. As Christians are expected to be stewards of all resources, they should utilize time wisely. Peter, the apostle, advises us to be effective and productive Christians272 which is possible only by using time wisely. When ti me is managed properly, there will be time for work, family, hobby, relaxation, health, pleasure, friends and relatives. Defining Time Some scholars define time like this: Time is a continuum in which events succeed one another from past through present to future. Time keeps on moving whether one likes it or not. In fact, time management is the set of skills needed to effectively deal with the events in our life. There are two important terms to understand time: Chronos and Kairos. Chronos is whole time, which is 24 hours, or one day. Kairos is time blocks, for example 30-minute blocks or 15minute blocks that could be mastered by a person. Myths about time There are many myths about time. Some people think that they do not have time, which is a myth. Instead, God has given time equally for all. Time cannot be saved nor can we get more time later. Some people think

272

2 Peter 1:3-9
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planning does not work, and they think just to work hard without planning will bring success. Another myth! Ten Principles of Time Management Principle 1: Right Attitude: Progress vs. Maintenance Progressive tasks take a person further to a better place. Maintenance keeps a person where he/she is and gives a feeling that all is fine. The most effective people are those who do progressive tasks rather than maintain the status quo. Progressive attitude always has a vision or future orientation. Principle 2: Effective planning Vision will be like a dream unless effective planning is done. Planning should reflect the long-term vision and goals, milestones to achieve at regular intervals in order to reach the destination. Progressive attitude means to have right priorities and to identify the distractions. Planning has two important components wide-angle planning and telescopic planning. Wide -angle planning is to have a larger or broader perspective. It is focused on the long-range plan but has short-term objectives. In wide angle planning a person learns from mistakes and builds on success and strength. This also includes regular study, reading for professional growth and personality development. Telescopic planning is to zero in on a specific task or project. This project will be well- organized with a daily plan, things to do, anticipated hindrances and interpretations, along with a margin for coping with stress and unexpected happenings. Principle 3: Discipline Discipline is the process of focusing on a chosen activity and finishing it without being distracted. Discipline is what a
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person does and not what a person has. Discipline is resolve in the mind and execution by the will. It does not happen by itself, it involves commitment and hard work. Principle 4: Tackle procrastination Procrastination is a common failure in time management. Dead line means - a person falls dead if he crosses it. So, deadlines should be considered as important and even as a danger zone. Fulfilling a task before time is a good habit so that there is time for evaluation and reflection. It is a personal discipline to do a task on time, and estimating the correct time for that task is very important. Some people always estimate the time incorrectly. Some are lazy and postpone projects. Some do not like the unpleasant job and try to push it back as much as possible. Procrastination also reflects poor planning. It is always good to plan and write on paper the plan of execution. Principle 5: Focus Focus is the power to keep moving forward when everything around you pulls you back. A shooter cannot hit the target if there is no focus. Similarly, a football player cannot reach the goal if he is not focused. Discipline is required to keep the focus, and focus helps you to get things done. What distinguishes the leader from the misleader are his goals.273 Principle 6: Use tools that will help you There are many tools developed to help a person to manage time. A diary could be a helpful tool. A daily planning ca lendar could help a person to plan peak time-blocks for important activities. Have a daily do list of priorities. It is good to follow a routine pattern. Having a habit to put things in the proper place helps a leader
273

Peter F. Drucker, The Essential Drucker: Selections from the Management Works of Peter F. Drucker (Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann, 2001), p.270.
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not to lose time in searching for pen or pencil or such trivial things. Principle 7: Catch Time Robbers Leaders should be careful about time robbers. Some time robbers are thrust upon us. Interruptions by phone calls that are non-essential are one example. Untrained staff may di rect an unimportant person or issue to us. Some meetings ar e not absolutely necessary but have to be endured. Failure of equipment or loss of power could be another time robber. A disorganized boss can also rob a persons time. Unwarranted e xpectations from people could be time robbers. Some time robbers are internal. Failure to delegate is a loss of time. Failure to listen to those who we should may also lead us to unnecessary time loss. Principle 8: Peak hour performance Each person has his own peak performance time. It is estimated that a person has three hours of peak performance, five hours of good performance, six hours of moderate performance, and two hours of exhaustion. The peak-hour performance could be morning or mid-morning or afternoon or evening or late night. Each person should know his/her own and place the most vital and important activities at that time. Leaders must lear n to avoid doing things under exhaustion, as productivity would be very low. Principle 9: Clock vs. Compass The clock represents tasks while the compass represents vision. Both are important and should be synchronized. Managing the present time effectively in order to fulfill the long-term vision is having balance. Principle 10: Multi-tasking Multi-tasking is having the capacity to do more jobs in a given time. This is just wise planning. For example, waiting for a person to come and meet
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you could be used for making some phone calls. Waiting time becomes profitable time. The two tasks of waiting and making phone calls are accomplished at the same time. Think and be creative Time management is a skill that could be learned and mastered with the right attitude. As Christians, we have more responsibility as stewards to utilize all time profitably.

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Epilogue
Leadership often times a lonely journey. It is being amidst the crowd, who may appreciate, adore, and praise; but a leader do not have real true friends. In the path of leadership, the sufferings, emotional scars, frustrations, spiritual warfare are all solely borne by the leader. There are no alternatives or short cuts. Well meaning friends could come along side but could not share the burden or burnt. It is at this depths Lord Jesus Christ who has gone through similar journey walks with us, inspires us and encourages us. The lonelier a leader becomes, it becomes an opportunity for deeper meaningful communication and relationship with Lord Jesus Christ. In the same depth of loneliness is also Satan lurking to defeat and finish a person. So, it is also a spiritual warfare at its intensity best. Leaders go through valleys of decision where they are called to take momentous decisions that would change ones life and lives of many more. Such decisions are not easy options, but difficult proposition. Criticism is an occupational hazard of leader. People criticize for both things done and things left undone. Learning to cope with criticism is a survival skill a leader should develop. Leadership is converting stumbling blocks as stepping stones and scars as stars. This is easily said than done; good theory but painful in practice. Leadership is holding on to fundamentals. The best soccer player or any sports person would daily practice the fundamentals to be a great player. As Christian leaders, regularly practicing the fundamentals helps to be productive and effective leaders. There is a network of leaders, who mentor and coach fellow leaders for effectiveness, fruitfulness and accountability.

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