I will be sharing a brief review of every book I read this year. Hope you enjoy and hope it encourages you to keep reading.
HOLY CONVERSATIONS – by Gil Rendle and Alice Mann
Holy Conversations: Strategic Planning as a Spiritual Practice for Congregations, is a practical workbook for anyone who is looking to lead a congregation to a unified vision and purpose. This book would be especially appealing to those who have little or no experience in leading a church through vision setting and strategic planning. They offer a number of examples, resources, and tools in the appendix that you could use as is or adapt to your local setting. If you are looking to lead a congregation to become more purposeful and with a unified mission, consider this book as a resource.
A church leader must not be a new believer, because he might become proud, and the devil would cause him to fall.
1 Timothy 3: 6 (NLT)
It is a great joy to welcome new believers into the church! But Paul gives a warning: “A church leader must not be a new believer.” We should look to those who are spiritually mature to lead us.
Paul doesn’t give us a length of time to wait, just that we are to wait. This is good, because some new believers mature faster than others. There are some who could take years to be ready while others might be ready in a year. The important thing is to give the new believer time to learn and grow in their faith in Christ.
What might be some problems with new believers in church leadership? Paul, in his letter to Timothy cautions that a new believer put into leadership too soon may become proud. The new believer may see this leadership role as a position of elevation in the eyes of others and think of themselves as something special, rather than as a servant. And Paul is concerned that this new believer, in their pride, may fall. The NIV puts it like this: He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. The devil fell because of his pride. He wanted to be higher than Jesus. Paul is concerned that a new believer will fall prey to the same sin and hurt his walk with God.
Other concerns may be tied to some of the earlier instructions given to church leaders. A leader needs to have a good reputation and live a goldy life. The new believer may not have that to begin with. He may need to have time to mature and become more like Jesus, and to gain that good reputation with others around him.
Another concern may be that a new believer will not be able to teach in the same way that a mature believer can. If a new believer is good at research, they may be able to put together a good lesson, but their teaching would generally be theory because they have not yet had time to put into practice what they are learning as a new follower of Jesus.
A new believer may also still carry sinful habits. He needs to learn to set those aside before stepping into leadership. While it is great to desire leadership, there should first be a strong desire to live in right relationship with Jesus by the power of the Spirit.
Churches often talk about discipleship when referring to the process of maturing as a believer, where over time the new believer becomes more and more like Jesus. A new believer would benefit from some discipleship first, whether formal or by spending time in the activities and teachings of the church. Part of that discipleship could include observing and learning from the leadership board or shadowing a leader as they go about their duties.
The official church leaders should be people who have already shown their leadership in the church as maturing believers. Asking them to serve on a board or a committee is a natural next step, affirming that they are already one of the people that others naturally look up to and learn from. Ongoing discipleship prepares maturing believers for the next steps in church leadership, taking on smaller roles to begin with and then being asked to higher levels of leadership as they prove themselves.
Church leaders should be mature and passionate about Christ and His church. They should learn and develop and grow until they are among the best in the church and well prepared for leadership. If you are that new believer, then do your part to continue to grow and be discipled as opportunities allow. God will build you up to the time when others recognize you have already become a leader. When that happens, step into leadership with a confident faith in God and a desire to serve.
I will be sharing a brief review of every book I read this year. Hope you enjoy and hope it encourages you to keep reading.
ON BEING A PASTOR – by Derek Prime & Alistair Begg
This is a great book for any pastor, especially for one who is just starting out. It covers many aspects of the pastor’s role and how to do it well. It is a bit dated, yet most of the content still speaks to the pastoral role today. The first chapter is a great discussion on the call to be a pastor, pointing out that the role can be difficult, but very rewarding if this is what God wants you to do. The authors, both pastors with years of experience themselves, then talk about the character of the pastor, his home life, and how to lead a serve a congregation well. The authors both share examples of how they have applied the teaching in many sections of the book. It is good to see the way two different pastors do the work of ministry. A great book for anyone in ministry!
He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money.
1 Timothy 3: 3 (NLT)
A church leader is a manager of God’s household, so he must live a blameless life. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered; he must not be a heavy drinker, violent, or dishonest with money. …and he must love what is good. He must live wisely and be just. He must live a devout and disciplined life.
Titus 1: 7, 8 (NLT)
Not everyone leads a self-disciplined life, but leaders must be able to do so. Leaders need to have the ability to assess themselves against the expectations laid out for them. A Christian leader assesses themselves regularly against what the scriptures teach about leadership.
When I was a kid, my church circles strongly opposed drinking alcohol of any kind. Today, many Christians have decided abstinence is not a requirement in scripture. Paul, while not teaching abstinence, clearly prohibits church leaders from being “a heavy drinker”. He doesn’t say that they need to avoid getting drunk, but not be a heavy drinker. So the warning is actually about drawing a line earlier than getting drunk. It’s not hard to understand why. Drinking to excess will severely limit a person’s self-control.
In both Titus and Timothy, Paul speaks against being violent immediately after warning about drinking too much. This may be because for some, drinking may lead to violence (perhaps related to lack of self-control mentioned above). In any case, violence should not be part of a Christian leader’s character in any way. Instead, there should be gentleness. There should be a kindness in every leader. And they should not be known a someone who quarrels. They should be disciplined, controlling their anger.
A church leader should not be arrogant. Sometimes people in leadership think that everyone else should look up to them, expecting, even demanding, a certain amount of respect from people rather than choosing to serve others. Some church leaders, some pastors, act like little kings rather than servants of those they are tasked to lead.
A church leader must not be dishonest with money, or even love money! There have been many scandals in the news over the years bringing to light leaders who have used their position to build their own personal wealth at a cost to the organization they were entrusted to lead. That should not be.
When a Christian leader lives rightly, they will love what is good, live wisely, and be just. They will be more concerned about the people they serve and the organization they lead that they will be good and kind and wise in their actions. They will be more concerned about honouring God than trying to make themselves look good.
“He must live a devout and disciplined life.” A Christian leader will desire God first. There will be a constant desire to give God the glory and take none for themselves. There will be a longing to know Jesus in a deeper and more personal way. The Christian leader will spend regular time in God’s Word, not just for their next teaching responsibility but for personal growth and connection with God. There will be a desire to live out what they are reading, to honour God with their abilities and their position, whether in the church or in business.
A disciplined life is one that is careful to remove and stay away from characteristics that do not reflect a relationship with God, while also working hard to reflect the character of God in all they do. Discipline means you put some effort in. You evaluate yourself regularly against what you believe God wants of you. A disciplined person knows where to draw lines in life, knowing how to avoid extremes of one way or another so as to reflect Jesus in all they do. A Christian leader will live a disciplined life.
He must have a strong belief in the trustworthy message he was taught; then he will be able to encourage others with wholesome teaching and show those who oppose it where they are wrong.
Titus 1: 9 (NLT)
I love to teach. I love preparing a lesson and then teaching it to a group of people, small or large. I love to see learners understanding a new idea or learning how to apply a truth they have just understood. To be a leader is to instill new ideas and ways of doing things in others who are coming after you. A church leader must be able to teach. This is one of the main ways to instill new ideas and practices in those whom you are leading. My automatic reaction to this verse is to think of teaching thoughts and ideas, of preaching and teaching scripture and discipling others through teaching in a class or sermon. But we all know that teaching is also about hands-on and practical learning.
Apprentices are always learning, but only part of their training is in the classroom. Much of the teaching they receive is active hands-on learning. Leaders in the church may be good classroom teachers, or they may not, but if they are teaching others in practical ways, then they are still teaching.
I find it interesting that in Titus we are told that the leader must have been taught first and must believe what he was taught. A teacher cannot teach what they do not know.
The key teaching in the church is the “trustworthy message” of the gospel. We have heard and now teach the gospel of Jesus Christ to others. As leaders we continue to encourage others to get to know the Jesus of the gospel, and to receive His life-giving forgiveness of sins as we put our faith in Him.
Church leaders are responsible to teach many things in the church, but it always needs to come back to the gospel message. Whether we are teaching others how to be an usher or how to do run the sound board, all of that is to help others continue to hear the gospel message.
Part of a leader’s responsibility is to “show those who oppose it where they are wrong.” (Titus 1:9) It is not unusual to come across people that have not understood something correctly. Misunderstanding may be as serious as not understanding the forgiveness that Jesus offers to all who believe in Him, or something as simple as not following through on a certain responsibility they accepted. In either case, the leader’s job is to correct when correcting is necessary, and this is done by teaching and showing what the correct understanding is.
It is pretty much impossible to be a leader and not be able to teach. To lead is to be ahead of people in information or practices that somehow need to be passed on to those following. In the process of doing that, you are teaching. Yes, some are more gifted in teaching than others, but a leader will always be able to teach to some level.
A church leader must be faithful to his wife – or her husband. Paul advises church leaders to remember their priorities. Yes, serving in the church is a good thing – a great thing even – but he warns them not to forget their responsibilities to their spouse as well. Many church leaders work full time jobs outside the church and serve the church with the left-over time they may have. Others work full time in the church as pastoral staff. It is easy to see the church work as being so important that you begin to neglect the person most important to you.
I am serving as a Transition Pastor which means I serve a church for about a year or so in preparation for their next full-time pastor. One of the things I like to do is work with the church to make a plan for the first 90 days of the new pastor’s ministry. I want to help them see the importance for balance in the pastor’s ministry. That same balance needs to be there for any church staff or volunteer. Remember that you need to consider your spouse and make time for them to.
Part of “faithfulness” to your spouse is giving them time too so you do not make them feel they are fighting the church for attention from you. Faithfulness involves giving them priority in your life.
Some versions of 1 Timothy 3: 2 are: “husband of one wife,” or even “man of one woman.” If you want to be a God-honouring church leader, you will protect your marriage. You will be committed to your spouse. You will protect that relationship and not let anyone else into that place that you hold for them.
It is the nature of church work that volunteers work closely with other volunteers. You pour your heart into what you are working on. You are dealing with spiritual issues, which sometimes become emotional issues. In the process, some leaders have begun to transfer feelings and thoughts they had for their spouse to the person they are working so closely with. Guard yourself against sharing too intimate details with someone who is not your spouse, especially if you are working with people from the opposite sex.
You can protect yourself from some of the dangers by doing a few simple things.
Never spend time alone with a person of the opposite sex
If you need to meet with someone in your office who is of the opposite sex, make sure your office is set up with windows that anyone walking by can see what is going on inside. Keep the door open. If that does not work, ask if you can have another person sit in on the conversation.
Don’t spend time working on projects with a person of the opposite sex. Invite others to work with you, or make sure that the work being done is out in the open where people are coming and going. Protect yourself from any problems or perceived problems.
Never drive anywhere with only one person of the opposite sex in your car. Either take separate cars or invite another person to join you.
Tell your spouse everything.
Tell your spouse about what you are doing. When you are ever in a situation that may cause an issue, let your spouse know as soon as you can. The more open you are with your spouse the less you will be tempted in the wrong direction. Hiding things lets temptation grow, bringing them out in the open takes the power of that temptation away. And the more you share with your spouse, the more they will trust you as well.
Set guidelines and policies.
The more that is made clear at the beginning, the easier it is to stay on track and protect your relationship with your spouse. Develop clear guidelines for your staff and volunteers to make sure you all understand your desire to protect relationships and marriages.
Church leaders, do everything you can to protect your marriage as you serve the church.
I wonder how many leaders love the idea of leading people as long as it doesn’t intrude on their personal time? We are quite private people as a culture. We want our own space. We want a place to leave all our work behind and unwind after a long day. We want some “me time.” How does that align with today’s leadership lesson?
In both Timothy and Titus, we read that a church leader needs to “enjoy having guests in his home.” Most other translations just use the word “hospitality,” or “given to hospitality” (KJV). The New Living Translation interprets it in a certain way.
In Jewish circles, out of which the church grew, hospitality was a high value. We can understand the benefit when we remember that there were not many hotels or BnB’s available in ancient Israel. Travelers depended on the kindness of others to open their homes to them for the night. But I wonder, how does caring for travelers relate to church leadership today?
In the larger picture, hospitality is about caring for people in need. They may not be travelers passing through, but they could be others in your church or neighbourhood with unmet needs. Since Paul includes this characteristic of leadership in both Timothy and Titus, it is not likely that he slipped it in as an extra. He made sure to highlight it. So how do we apply it to our lives as leaders in the church?
If you are a hospitable leader, you care about people. You care about their needs. I just recently took in the Global Leadership Summit(GLS). It was interesting to see the theme of loving people under your leadership come up again and again. A good leader understands that leadership is not about just getting people to get the job done, but recognizing and caring for the people whom you are leading.
Yes, you might open your home and have them over for a meal or backyard barbecue. It might be a great experience for those you are leading to see a bit more of your life and to spend time together outside of the work setting.
A hospitable leader might be one who has an open-door policy. A closed door closes off relationships, but an open door says, “I invite you in to interrupt me because I want to help.” If there are times you need to block everyone out to focus on something, then make sure that you have certain times where your office is clearly open and accessible to your team or your church.
At the GLS, Craig Groeschel taught that leaders who want to build trust must be transparent. Hospitality might be one way to be transparent and open. If they feel free to pop in for a chat or to discuss some questions, their trust in you will increase. They will see that you care enough about them to stop whatever you are working on to listen and to connect with them.
If hospitality is about meeting needs, a leader may want to go out of his way to talk to volunteers in the church to see what needs they have that the leader could help with. Serving alongside a Sunday School teacher or the youth leader may be a way of sharing a bit of yourself with that volunteer, learning what they need and encouraging them in the role they serve.
A hospitable church leader should also recognize the opportunity to welcome guest to church in a way that makes them feel welcomed and loved. While this is not inviting guests into your home, it is inviting them to the church and its services. If guests are not greeted warmly, they may not connect enough to want to return.
A hospitable church leader may welcome guests into their home but will also go out of their way to meet the needs of the people around them: church members, volunteers, and people you encounter in the community.
To be a hospitable leader is to go out of your way to meet the needs of others and to love them.
There are many leaders in the church, from volunteers to paid staff to elders and pastors. While the Bible seems to speak most directly to elders and pastors in Timothy and Titus, Paul speaks to anyone who is in leadership in the church and in Christian ministry as a whole. I believe it is valuable to explore what the Bibl3 says about church leadership and these various roles, and want to give good time and space to do so. As such, this is the first post of a series on this subject.
An Honourable Position
You may have heard the perspective that no one should be too quick to jump into a leadership position at church. They say things like: “If you were reluctant to become a pastor, that is better than someone who has desired it for a long time.” They seem to think that it is a good display of humility to drag our feet a little in becoming a pastor. Yet when we look at 1 Timothy 3: 1 we read, “If someone aspires to be a church leader, he desires an honourable position.” Not only is it an honourable or noble role in the church, it is honourable to desire to fulfill that role.
Church leadership is a position of great responsibility and great privilege.
Some translations of scripture describe the position referred to above as “overseer” or “bishop.” This person takes on a role of leading people in a certain direction. Paul is an example of this when he writes “And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11: 1). While a church leader might teach a class or lead a program, a large part of their leadership is leading by example. People who spend time with a church leader will likely become a little like the leader they follow.
There are many different aspects of the leader’s role, but I specifically want to remind us that it is a role that is an honourable position because it helps point others to Christ and a relationship with Him. The honourable part is that the leader has chosen to move past being a disciple to being a disciple-maker. They are now pouring into others in the same way that others have given to their spiritual growth.
In the Old Testament, prophets spoke God’s words to the people and priests went before God on behalf of the people. While church leaders today do not fulfill those specific roles, leaders do have the honourable position of speaking God’s words to those they lead and to bring those who follow before God in prayer. In a small way, a church leader acts like a bridge between God and His people, introducing them to Jesus Christ, the one “true bridge” who made it possible to have a relationship with God in the first place. This is the great privilege of leadership, that we get to help others grow in their relationship with God through a growing faith in Jesus Christ!
How is it an honourable pursuit?
To desire to be a leader, specifically a church leader, is to desire to help others to grow. What better pursuit is there than to help people grow in their faith in God and their relationship with Jesus Christ? We should long for many more individuals to step into church leadership, as both volunteers and paid full-time servants. We should pray for others in our own churches and Christian circles to recognize God’s call on their lives and step up to what that call may be. It is important to recognize that not every leader is called to lead in the church – godly leaders are needed in the business or political world as well, but it is an honourable position to pursue in the church.
As leaders who are already serving and leading, we need to look for ways to continually invite others into this honourable position. Let’s give others opportunities to try to learn and grow as leaders. And let’s thank God for how He chooses to use church leaders to impact so many others for Christ.
Many issues arise in our world today because of our search for the answer to the question: What is the truth? Theological issues may come about when we search for answers in teachings we have not heard before. Political issues can begin when we as Christians question what our place is in politics or responding to decisions our governments make. Moral and lifestyle issues are often found when the church is unsure how to respond to what is becoming acceptable in the world around us and even in the church that has historically not been accepted. What is the truth?
While there are many today who pretend we can have different truths to guide us, truth doesn’t work that way. If I am driving down the highway and decide that my truth is that I am in England so I will drive on the left-hand side of the yellow line, my truth will be quickly confronted by another truth when the traffic in that lane comes hurtling towards me. That is a silly simple example, but the fact is, what we believe about things makes a difference, and impacts our relationship with others. Truth, as God has laid it out, affects all of us.
As people of God, and as leaders of churches, we need to recognize that our answers need to be found in God’s Word. His Truth must be upheld in our churches. I do understand that sometimes we need to do some work to determine how God’s truth impacts the questions we face. But our answers should be informed by God’s Word – the Bible.
How might we find answers in the Bible?
Read the Bible.
The first priority to actually read the Bible. Read it regularly and search it for answers to your questions.
As you read, ask God, through the Holy Spirit, to give you correct understanding of what you are reading. We recognize that the Bible is more than a story book, though it contains many stories. Whether we are reading biblical stories, or a teaching section, or even some of the poetic books like Psalms and Proverbs, we want God to help us understand what the truth is and how it applies to my life and to the church where I serve as a leader.
Consult with others on difficult passages or topics.
We are blessed to have the results of many experts at our fingertips. We can find commentaries where others have worked through scripture and give their expert opinions. We can make use of tools that help with word studies and guide us through some of the definitions of the original language. We can read books by people who are struggling through some of the same questions we are. We cannot interpret scripture completely on our own, there is importance in reading scripture in community. Whether we agree or disagree, there is benefit in seeing how others have processed biblical truth in light of this topic. I’m presently reading a great book on how to respond biblically to those living a gay lifestyle. There are many other topics that others have been able to work through in more detail than we have so we can learn from them. Just make sure their teaching is arrived at by careful study of scripture.
And one of the simplest ways to consult others is to have conversations with others in your church as you work through scripture to find the answers you need. Find some other believers and read the Bible together. Work through scripture as a leadership team and ask God to guide you to the correct understanding and application.
Do what it says.
The hardest part of allowing the Bible to guide our leadership, is to then do something about what it says. If it means leadership needs to confront false teachers or people living contrary to truth in your church, then do it. If it means changing policies on how volunteers are screened, then change the policies. If it means teaching the church what it means to live out truth and love in light of Gods Word, then teach your church that.
If we are going to allow the Bible a prominent role in church leadership, then we need to make sure we read it regularly. We need to do the work of understanding it clearly, and then we need to follow through on what God is asking us to do as a result.
If we are Christian leaders, whether in the church or elsewhere, our leadership must be informed by the truth of God’s Word.
How do you remember meetings and appointments you have scheduled? As church leaders, we are often busy enough with our own families and work lives that we can easily forget some of our responsibilities at church. We have many options available to us if we want to keep track of our schedules. We can go old-school with a day timer or paper calendar. We can use calendars on our phones and computers. We can set alarms that remind us of an upcoming event. The problem is, these are no good unless you actually use them.
I recently talked with a church board who had just about missed planning a tradition in their church. Every Father’s Day, people would bring pies to share after church. This was tradition. Someone always reminded people and made sure it happened.
This year, personnel had changed and no one remembered until the Friday before the special day. As a result, a few people were scrambling the day before to make sure everything was in place. If this event had gotten on the right calendar, it may have caused a lot less stress.
So what can we do? And what needs scheduling? Here are a few thoughts on scheduling and setting reminders ahead of time.
Choose a system of scheduling that works for you.
It doesn’t matter which system you use, the important thing is to choose one that you will continually use. Don’t use more than one system because then something is likely to fall through the cracks.
Chart everything.
For me, I put everything on my calendar in my phone. When I say everything, I mean everything. All meetings are written there, whether board meetings, or board responsibilities. For bigger events, you may want to break down deadlines for parts of it to be done by earlier dates.
Set reminder alarms
Often, I not only put the event at the correct date and time, I also put an alarm to remind me ahead of time so I can make sure I will be prepared and on time.
Scheduling helps planning
Marking everything on your calendar allows you to also plan ahead for preparation time. Because I know of events far in advance, I know when to delegate certain aspects to other volunteers on my team. And of course, scheduling helps reduce conflicts because you know not to plan another event at the same time.
Your calendar helps you say no
One value of charting everything on the same calendar is that you can see when you are getting overwhelmed and need to say no to something. If you don’t have everything – your work schedule and personal life – on your personal calendar, you may not realize how busy you are with both parts of your life at the same time. You do not need to feel guilty because you know you do not have time to take on anything else.
Watching your activities helps you see where you spend your time
We are not always aware of how we are spending our time. We get caught up in doing what needs to be done. When you look at your calendar and see that you are spending a large portion of your time doing things that have nothing to do with your vision, you need to adjust your activities. If you notice that an overwhelming amount of time is spent on work, and you are missing out on family time, you need to adjust your schedule.
Setting reminders of appointments and meetings and events can help you be more prepared for them, as well as help you see where you need to adjust your priorities.
Elevate with Andy 