lessons from Catalyst Conference 2009

Lessons I learned from the 2009 Catalyst Conference.

1. Pastors should not worry about who is on whose side. Instead, we should make every effort to get everyone on God’s side!
   
2. When a church grows to a certain point it has to change to a more collective leadership model.
   
3. Humility is a prerequisite for great leaders.
   
4. Joshua obeyed God fearlessly and so should we! (Joshua 1)
   
5. Focus, intensity and time are three keys to momentum in ministry! (Thanks Dave Ramsey!)
   
6. “Integrity eclipses image.” (Chuck Swindoll!)
   
7. “Trust is a decision you make.” (Andy Stanley)

Spiritual Leadership (part4)

One of the greatest challenges for spiritual leaders, particularly in local churches, is raising the expectations of those they lead.

The old adage, “You get what you expect” is certainly true when it comes to leadership and is even more true regarding spiritual leadership. Spiritual leaders set Godly expectations and lead by example. Raising expectations requires wisdom, determination, and patience.

Here are some considerations for spiritual leaders who hope to raise the expectations of those they lead.

1. Without spiritual leadership, expectations will fall.
When God’s people left Egypt heading for the land promised to them by God they followed Moses, their God-appointed leader. Their expectations were high! They had their sights set on freedom! But when Moses went up to the top of Mt. Sinai to receive God’s commandments leaving them alone, their expectations fell. When he returned they had turned their backs on him and on God. Without spiritual leadership, expectations will fall.

2. Expectations must be guided by God’s Word, not personal preferences.
Spiritual leaders must be able to clearly distinguish God’s direction, God’s agenda, and God’s will from their own. We all have personal preferences, but spiritual leaders must be able and willing to set clear expectations that are clearly guided by God’s Word.

3. New expectations are first modeled and then taught.
Spiritual leadership is not saying, “Do as I say, not as I do.” That is a model for failure. Spiritual leaders must model what the expectations are for those they lead and set an example. Only when the new expectations are seen and recognized can they be taught and expected of others.

4. Raising expectations always requires confrontation.
“People are creatures of habit.” This is especially true for churches and for this reason when spiritual leaders want to raise expectations they can expect confrontation. Often times, raising expectations means changing the power structure in a church, family, or organization. People who want to hold on to their power will resist raising their expectations. Spiritual leaders must confront power structures in order to raise expectations.

5. Setting higher expectations leads to growth!
When Jesus preached the ‘Sermon on the Mount’ he raised our expectations of what it means to be his followers and disciples. Some say that his message was just an ideal that we could never attain. I believe he simply took that opportunity to clearly lay out his expectations for anyone who wants to be his disciple! Jesus raised the bar morally and spiritually because he wants us to grow morally and spiritually! When spiritual leaders set higher expectations of those they lead we can expect to grow!

Spiritual Leadership (part 3)

Who are spiritual leaders?

Spiritual leaders are men and women who. . .

• Listen quietly for God’s voice
• Read and meditate on God’s Word
• Actively and passionately pursue God’s agenda
• Place the Cross at the center of their lives
• Serve God daily
• Seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in all decisions and matters
• Pray intensely
• Speak in love and truth
• Lead others to Jesus Christ
• Are able to discern God’s vision and direction and faithfully share it with others

Spiritual leaders are motivated by a deep yearning to do God’s will and to serve the people of God. Their leadership and authority is not based on their position, their power, or their authority. Rather, spiritual leaders lead from the heart and their authority is not given by people, but comes from God.

Spiritual leaders lead from various positions in life! Whether they are pastors, moms, dads, grandparents, teachers, deacons, doctors, missionaries, whatever – spiritual leaders lead no matter what their position in life is!

Spiritual Leadership (part2)

What is spiritual leadership?

There are probably many ways that one could define spiritual leadership. Here is the definition of spiritual leadership that I would like to propose:

Spiritual leadership is the task of actively encouraging God’s people to seek and do God’s will together.

Let’s look more closely at this definition.

1. Spiritual leadership is a task.
What does it mean to say that spiritual leadership is a task? Several things. First, it means that spiritual leadership is not a gift or only for a select few. Anyone can be a spiritual leader if they are up to the task! Second, it means that spiritual leadership is primarily about doing. Spiritual leadership is about seeking and doing the will of God and leading others along the way. Spiritual leadership is purpose driven. We should think of it as an assignment. Or better yet, as multiple assignments in succession.

2. Spiritual leadership is active, not passive.
Spiritual leadership is not about sitting around waiting for God to do something. God has already done something! God has offered his Son, Jesus Christ for our salvation and now leads us day by day by the Holy Spirit! Spiritual leadership is about acting on what God has already done and what He is already doing. It is not about waiting for God to do something else! Spiritual leadership is about proactively and passionately pursuing what God has created us to do and finding out what He has in store for us!

3. Spiritual leadership is about encouraging.
The opposite of encouraging is discouraging. When we do not encourage people to seek or do God’s will, we are actually discouraging them from seeking and doing God’s will. Spiritual leadership, then, is about encouraging people to seek and do God’s will not just by our own influence, but in the name of Christ. Paul writes, “Encourage one another and build each other up.” (1 Thess. 5:14)

4. Spiritual leadership is primarily for God’s people.
God called Abram to go and be a leader of God’s people in a new place. When God called Moses, God called him to lead God’s chosen people out of Egypt. Spiritual leadership is primarily for God’s people. This does not mean that spiritual leaders won’t impact non-believers. It does, however, mean that the primary context of spiritual leadership is the Church, and that the primary purpose of spiritual leadership is to move God’s people to live and act in obedience to God’s will. It can also be said, then, that spiritual leadership is not just for pastors. But it is also for Bible Study leaders, moms, dads, grandparents, even business leaders and owners who are believers.

5. Spiritual leadership is about seeking and doing God’s will.
The whole point of spiritual leadership, as Henry Blackaby puts it, is “moving people on to God’s agenda.” It’s that simple…yet, it’s that complicated! The whole aim of spiritual leadership is to get people to “get over” their own agendas and get on with God’s agenda. The only way we can accomplish this is by seeking and doing God’s will. First, we seek to know what God’s will is for our lives, families, churches. Second, we do it! Whatever it is, wherever it leads, whatever it means – we do it!

6. Spiritual leadership is relational.
The old adage, “A leader without followers is just a person taking a walk” holds especially true when it comes to spiritual leadership. Spiritual leadership is all about relationships and seeking and doing God’s will together with other believers. Without strong relationships, spiritual leaders cannot lead. Unlike other leaders, spiritual leaders do not have to count on their own influence to lead others. Instead, spiritual leaders rely and depend on the influence and leadership of the Holy Spirit in their own lives and the lives of those they lead.

In the next post I will talk about who spiritual leaders are.

Spiritual Leadership (part 1)

Yesterday I pulled a book off of my bookshelf in the office entitled, Spiritual Leadership: Moving People on to God’s Agenda, and started reading it. I read this book for the first time back in November 2005. I have chosen to re-read it now because I have just completed my two year mark as the Senior Pastor of Neel Road and because I believe that our church is at what I call a “Growing Point” where we are ready for a new phase of spiritual growth.

Spiritual growth requires spiritual leadership.

Over the next few weeks I will be blogging off and on about spiritual leadership. I will share my insights and learnings from the book as well as some of my own thoughts and discoveries on spiritual leadership.

I have chosen foot washing as the word picture for spiritual leadership? Why? Because I believe it communicates, more than any other act or gesture, the meaning and purpose of spiritual leadership which is to move people on to God’s agenda.

So over the next few weeks I will explore and wrestle with some of these questions:

• What is spiritual leadership?
• Who are spiritual leaders?
• What do spiritual leaders do?
• How do spiritual leaders act?
• What makes spiritual leadership different from other types of leadership?
• Why is spiritual leadership so incredibly important for the Church today?

My hope and prayer as I read through this book again is that God will open my eyes to see where spiritual leadership is needed in my life, my family and my church; that God will open my mind to learn what is for me to learn at this point in my life right now; that God will open my heart to the Spirit’s leadership; and that God will open my life to be the spiritual leader He wants me to be.