David M. Turner
DEFINITION AND PHILOSPHY OF CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP
Leadership: "The ability to turn a dream, a vision of a desired future state into a reality with and through the cooperation of other people."Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus, Leaders: the Strategies For Taking Charge, New York: Harper and Row, 1985.
Leader: "A leader is a person who has a magnet in his heart and a compass in his head. "Taken from class notes in Dynamics of Leadership C.E. 731 (DTS)
CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP AND THE LEADER
The essential difference between Christian leadership with the above definition is that first, the desired purpose or vision to which the leader is moving is intended in some manner to bring glory to God. This means that not only is his desired vision in conformity to God's Word but also that the method of reaching these objectives must be in conformity. Second, the character of the leader must be in harmony with leadership qualities described in Scripture. It is not enough that he has a vision and the skill to communicate and motivate others toward that vision, he must also demonstrate in his own life characteristics in conformity to the Christ Image. This means that the Christian leader must be a man of the Word who consistently leans on the Holy Spirit to direct him in self-management and people management in his quest for God's glory.
Adolf Hitler, Julius Caesar, and even Jim Jones were effective leaders in the sense that they could create a vision in the people and motivate them toward that vision. The difference between them and the Christian leader is that the Christian leader is a servant: first, to the Lord Jesus Christ and to the mission for which he is called, and second, he is a servant to the people to whom he has instilled the vision.
This paper is an attempt to form a personal philosophy of Christian leadership. The author is aware that most of the principles of leadership and the characteristics of the leader are based on a biblical ideal which we all fall short. But, if we as Christians intend to make an impact on this world for Christ, it is our duty to press on. Together we need to state with Paul,
"Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
It is at this point that the Christian first finds the source of leadership potential. He does not become a leader in order to achieve selfish gain. In fact, he is often unaware that he is even a leader. In a commitment to be a servant of Jesus Christ, he is given a vision which drives him to bring glory to his master.
His goal is not to lead, but to serve. In the midst of the drive to serve, others are pulled into the vision. This may be intentionally initiated, but is often is not. The commitment to and clarity of his vision, and the enthusiasm in which he communicates that vision draw others into the process. In the remainder of this paper we will look at five key components which make an effective Christian leader. They are Vision, Communication, Working With
People, Acting It Out, and Self-Management.
Vision
As mentioned earlier, a leader must have a vision. For Abraham it was the promise to be a great nation. For Moses it was to bring the people out of bondage and into the Promised Land. For Joshua it was to take the land. For David and Solomon it was to build the temple. For Nehemiah it was to rebuild Jerusalem. And, for Paul it was to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles. Each man had a vision which was based in the person and plan of God. The Christian needs such a vision. He needs to dig deep into the Scriptures to weed out the promises and plans of God and through prayer commit to a vision which will bring glory and honor to God. He needs to develop the vision into clear, tangible, realistic
objectives without loosing perspective of the whole vision. The Christian must be committed enough to the vision to be willing to overcome all the obstacles which might hinder making the vision a reality.
Communication
Without communication the vision will die with the dreamer who envisioned it. It the vision is big enough for one to accomplish by himself, then it is not really big enough to be called a vision. A true vision requires the participation of more than one. The Christian leader must communicate his vision to others. His belief, conviction, and commitment to the vision will give him the enthusiasm to attract others to it. Usually, he should have a clear understanding of the processes he will use to make the vision a reality. Nehemiah
evaluated the temple sight closely before starting construction. He knew what the cost would be. This, however, might take place in steps as it did with Moses as he worked out God's plan in a more gradual manner. Perhaps God knew Moses would have been too
overwhelmed had he known all that laid ahead.
The Christian leader must be able to communicate to his listeners that the vision is worth the sacrifice it will require. The vision must be as clear to them as it is to him. For them to follow they must not only believe but be convicted. This demands that verbally the leader must speak clearly and with organized reason. He may use verbal messages such as a motto which the people can rally behind. He will usually be good with metaphors, analogies or symbolism. Most of all, it must communicate by example. His life must demonstrate that he personally believes in the vision that he is attempting to get others to pursue.
Acting It Out
The hardest area of leadership is working with people. Having a vision and convicting people initially to that vision can be easier than formulating a program involving those people and then keeping them committed to the vision. Some leaders (most of the leaders I've known) are great at seeing a vision and pulling people into that vision, but these same leaders are not as good at working with the people that follow them. These leaders are good at selling the vision and organizing so as to obtain substantial financial resources to move the organization toward the vision. But, they find it more difficult to work with, instill in and maintain the vision in the people who work in the organization. The organization functions essentially because of the external support, whereas the internal working of the organization is one of maintenance rather than of vision.
One primary reason for this breakdown on the internal level is that the leader has not learned how to share the vision with others. He may be able to communicate it, but he is not always willing to allow others to be full participants in the vision. Often, people in the organization desire to be a useful part of the goal but become frustrated when the leader hordes it to himself. Several reasons why a leader does this is that: (1) He is possessive of the vision. Because it was originally his, he does not desire to reveal it all with others. (2) He is fearful that building people up for leadership roles within the organization may take control of the organization out of his hands. (3) He is fearful
that his own competency may come into question when someone comes up from within with a high level of competency. (4) He does not see the need to sacrifice his important time for training others inside the organization. (5) He is threatened to develop close
interpersonal relationships with staff because it may make him vulnerable. (6) He sees the goal as more important than the people and the means used to reach the goal. (7) His abilities and talents in the field are so high that he finds it difficult to come down to a level where he can teach others. (8) He is uncomfortable communicating with people one-to-one. This list is not meant to be comprehensive, but is only suggestive of some of the causes. A true Christian leader cannot afford to hoard the ministry to himself. He cannot afford to share the vision with financial backers and then not instill the vision in the hearts of those people who are helping him bring the vision to reality. If bringing glory to God is truly his goal, he must recognize that the means to the vision is just as important as the vision itself. For the Christian leader, "the goal never justifies the means".
The Christian leader must also come to grips with the fact that in the long run those people who make up the internal structure of the organization will have a greater degree of impact toward bringing the goal to reality than he will by himself. No man is immortal. If he is truly more concerned with the vision than with his own popularity, he will make sure the dream and the process is so placed into operation that if he should be pulled from the
scene it will still continue. For that reason, the people within must become a central focus if he is to adequately work toward the vision.
A good leader spends a great deal of time concentrating on the people. He communicates the vision and then guides them in the direction of the vision. He chooses highly competent individuals to fill key positions in the structure. This does not mean that
he looks to universities and colleges to find men who appear to have the most skill. Rather, he looks for potential in men, instills these men with vision, trains them with skills, directs them toward spiritual maturity, and places them in positions which are demanding but not frustrating, and which stretch but never break. The good leader recognizes where men are and gears his leadership style according to that level. For the man who has a low competence level, but a high level of commitment, he directs by giving an assignment and supervising him through that assignment. For the one with some competence, but low commitment, he coaches by both directing and supporting him. The man who has a high level of competence, but variable commitment, he supports by encouraging but giving little directive. For the man who has a high competence level and is highly committed, the leader delegates giving him an assignment and letting him creatively pursue it. This last level is the level where the leader desires to eventually lead
each man under him to be. The more men he can delegate to and who have the maturity to work together toward the vision, the more effective the organization will be toward bringing the vision to maturity.
Taking action to fulfill the vision requires characteristics in the leader other than those which are people oriented. The leader cannot be afraid of failure. Fear of failure cripples the leader from moving toward his vision. Despite the known power of Pharaoh,
Moses stuck to his plan. Nehemiah never allowed obstacles to interfere with the reconstruction of the city walls. Leaders, despite the odds, must never allow the prospect of failure to hinder their vision. They recognize mistakes as opportunities for growth. It is through mistakes that they learn to do better next time. Related to this, a good leader is a risk taker. He takes risks in his choosing of people. He doesn't choose them because of what they are, but because of what he sees they might be. He allows them to make mistakes. He also is risky with ideas. He knows that some risks will backfire, but the one that makes it will make up for the loss. He will learn from his errors. Last, he risks money. Money is viewed as an instrument to accomplish his vision and is never an end in itself, nor is it looked upon as a necessary evil. The Christian leader recognizes what money is and attempts to use it for good.
The church of Christian organization that merely attempts to maintain will eventually die. It can never remain constant. It is either moving forward or moving backward, but never standing still. The Christian leader recognizes this fact and attempts to move ahead. Jesus took risks with ideas when he sent the disciples out to preach the Kingdom of God, when he cast the merchants from the temple and when he last entered Jerusalem. He took risks when he chose the men he did to continue the ministry he had started. Who would have believed this bunch of misfits could have achieved what they did. Last, Jesus took a risk putting money into the hands of Judas Iscariot, knowing all the time the results of such an action.
Self-Management
Who a man is will determine his leadership potential more than his vision, communication skills or his ability to act upon his vision. If the Christian cannot manage himself he will not be able to manage people and thus cannot be a leader. Dreams are
a dime a dozen. The difference between a dream and a true vision is the characteristics of the one who has it. The following are some of the chief characteristics of an effective Christian leader.
He is a constant student. He is always aware that he has not arrived and so moves in the direction of perfection. This means that he is not only a student of his own particular field, but that he is a student of himself, people, and life in general. Everything he learns is viewed through a biblical grid. His fundamental world view is derived from the Scriptures and data is evaluated form this biblical perspective. He is aware that the Scripture does not contain all truth, but that all it contains is truth. External data is thus judged for its truthfulness on the basis of Scriptural truth.
As a student of self, the leader has a realistic knowledge of himself (Romans 12:3). He does not think more highly of himself than he ought, but neither does he underestimate his abilities, gifts and talents. His self-worth is not determined on the basis
of what he does, but on the basis of who he is in God's eyes. He does not have the time to pity his inadequacies. His commitment to his vision pushes him forward in spite of them. By this it is not meant that he doesn't recognize those inadequacies. Anything that slows down or hinders his goal of glorifying God is carefully considered. He concentrates on improving those areas and delegating them to those people who can do the job more effectively. He avoids allowing his ego to interfere with his central focus.
As a student of self, the Christian leader is concerned more with who he is than what he can do. He knows that God can do the work without him. He is aware that God's focus is on the inward man and that his efforts are vain unless his private world and life
is in line with God's desires. With this in mind, he concentrates on conformity of his person to Christ - the ultimate leader. Integrity, honesty, perseverance, emotional maturity, commitment, kindness, faith, discipline, etc., are goals to which he strives.
With Christ as his model, he is always aware that he falls short of the ideal. It is this aspect of his life that keeps all else in balance. Time in Scripture, prayer and fellowship with other believers help him to avoid the danger of egocentricity; lack of balance between work, family and fun; and loss of his sense of vision and basic priorities.
The Christian leader must consistently strive for excellence in his own field. It is particularly within his field of study that he seeks to glorify God to his community. He knows that it is within his field of work that he will find the greatest opportunity to manifest Christ to the broadest and most influential areas of society. It was David's excellence in music that gave him access to Saul, Solomon's wisdom which drew the Queen of Sheba, the artistic craftsmanship of Bezalel and Uri which won them favor with Moses to build the ark of the Covenant (Ex. 35) and Daniel's administrative excellence and godliness which gave him a consistent hearing before the kings of Babylon. Any man who is recognized as excelling the ordinary man in a given field will be watched, not only for his abilities but for his testimony. Not only are his skills modeled, but also his character. One look at the news media's preoccupation with Hollywood stars evidences this fact.
To be excellent in a given field the Christian leader must consistently study his field. He reads and attempts to perfect not only the skills required of his field, but he also recognizes the interrelationships between his field and others, and thus reads those to gain insight in his own. He tries to stay abreast with all aspects of the contemporary setting that might allow him to become better at his occupation.
The effective Christian leader is also a student of people. He studies men who have proven themselves to be the best in his attempting to pick their brains to find out what it is that has made them the men they are. He will model the traits themselves to be effective
leaders. He will study biographies of men from history. He will see not only the strength of such men, but also their weaknesses. He will allow the total man to be his lesson.
The wise Christian leader will study people in general. The author of Proverbs learned as much from observing the fool as from the wise, the lazy as from the astute, the wicked as from the righteous. He recognizes that in all men there lies a lesson to be learned, There lesson he applies to his own life, to his occupation, and communicating truths to others.
Conclusion
Though there are similarities between the Christian leader and the secular leader, the latter differs in the nature of his vision, the emphasis of his self-management, and the relevance he places on acting out his vision. The vision of the Christian leader should always ultimately bring glory to God. This means the process is always as important as the end product, for God must always be glorified by the means. The Christian leader is always more concerned with who he is than with what he accomplishes. He knows
that the fruit of his labor, if it is truly fruit, is from God and that an inappropriate means will never produce true fruit. Self-management goes beyond the perimeters of his occupational skills and his appearance to constituents. He is concerned foremost in pleasing God and manages himself to this end. Communication also is consistent with glorifying God. He does not deceive or manipulate others into his plans. Instead, he pulls them into the vision knowing that it will improve each of them in the process.