“Pastors are the Biblical leaders…
… of the church. They should be respected and obeyed”. When these words fall from your lips, you are limited as a leader in your church. Their truth is not in question, but the wisdom of claiming them is suspect. No real leader has to claim to be the leader.
There are some things that can help you lead your church.
Serve. How did those deacons get to be deacons? They served. Church leadership is based on service. The pastor serves more people, more ways than the deacons. His opportunity for leadership is greater—but only if he serves.
Pray. Don’t just preach, pray over decisions, people, opportunities, and challenges. Laypersons want their pastors to be men of prayer. God wants the same thing. As He answers your prayers, He confirms your leadership.
Demonstrate. Do you want them to witness? Do you want them to tithe? Do you want them to read their Bibles every day? Do you want them to sacrifice vacation time to serve the church? Do it yourself. Show them how. Show them what God honors. Never scold them for not doing what you will not do.
Sacrifice. Get this down: Good leaders are personally sacrificial and relationally extravagant. They give themselves, things, time, and money to the Lord and others, and they claim nothing for themselves. Recently a deacon told me the problems he was having with his pastor. Real struggles. But the deacon was moved by the pastor’s sacrifice for the church building program. So the deacon, struggles and all, made a sacrifice himself. And he led other men to help the preacher send his child to college.
A word about vision: Most books on leadership stress vision, and I have been guilty of making it the “holy grail” of leadership. But I am having second thoughts. Jesus is the model leader. He built his leadership on his relationships with the disciples. He shared expectations, demonstrated what he wanted, evaluated their efforts, invested his time and affection in them, and lived with them. Then in his last moments with them he stated his vision: “Go into all the world…” They followed his vision because they followed him. It was his relationship with them that moved them to sacrifice their lives for him. Not his vision. Vision is important, but relationships are essential.
Emil Turner serves as executive director of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. He and his wife, Mary, have two sons and two grandsons. Turner enjoys fishing and hunting in his spare time.