Thoughts on Leadership

By Jerry Harris

One of my favorite Bible verses about church leadership is Psalm 78:70-72. 

“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 skillful hands he led them.”

These verses couple the two most important concepts pastors must possess, leadership and humility. Humble leadership is an oxymoron of sorts. It takes a certain amount of pride and confidence to believe that you would even possess a worthy vision, let alone seek to impose it on others to see it carried out. These verses point out that David’s calling never changed, he just shepherded a different flock of sheep! Moving from the shepherd’s fields to a palace in Jerusalem was only a backdrop for the same responsibility. The lions and bears were replaced with invading armies and internal uprisings, but David’s job was still to watch over and protect the sheep. Dancing before the Lord with all of his might as the Ark of the Covenant approached Jerusalem, David chose humility instead of pomp and circumstance. David’s attitude was critical for maintaining humility while leading, especially in times of success.  

The second part of the text refers to the two most important tools required to be a leader worth following, a heart of integrity and skillful hands. For a leader, these two attributes cannot exist apart from each other. We all know some incredibly skillful leaders that could preach, teach, cast vision, raise money, and motivate people, only to have imploded because of integrity problems. Let’s not forget the person these verses are talking about. No one could dispute the fact that David was a leader with skills. He was incredible at decision-making, strategy, confidence building, loyalty, surrounding himself with other great leaders, and wisdom. But his failure with Bathsheba set a course for his life that cancelled out much of his greatness. Isn’t it amazing how much skill can be cancelled out by just one major failure? That is the nature of integrity. It generates much strength but is only as strong as the first big failure. I know some pastors with great character but little skill. People may admire them but would be hard pressed to follow them into the dangerous waters of change or opposition.  

Is there a leader? There is no shortage of people who wear the badge. We have pastors, elders, deacons, trustees, superintendents, and committee chairmen. Are you ready for a moment of truth? Just how many of those spots are occupied by “true leaders”? So, what is a “true leader”?  

I love leadership definitions. I once heard a great quote from an army general who said, “Leadership is taking people to a place they would have never gone to by themselves.” There’s the problem! Without a true leader, these churches aren’t going anywhere. The people wearing the badge are often dug in and defending their ground. Another author wrote a statement defining a true leader saying, “Leaders lead!” Many churches are stalled because they have plenty of people called leaders filling roles established years ago for the right reason, but remaining for one purpose—to maintain what already exists. Someone’s definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. Churches that resist change are staring down the barrel of their own mortality. The changes so desperately needed require a “true leader” to help the church bring them to pass.  

Without a leader casting a vision, a church can find itself in turbulent waters. We’ve all heard the King James version of Proverbs 29:18 quoted in discussions of vision, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” The NIV translation says, “Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint.” Consider the word restraint. We usually see it as a negative word, but its use here suggests that when we forget why we’re doing something, it no longer restrains us. Restraint is a good thing when it holds us to what we’ve pledged to do. We are restrained by our Master to fulfill his Great Commandment and Great Commission. Paul embraced this concept of restraint by calling himself a doulos. It means a slave for life and a slave by choice. When our model becomes ineffective, we must remember that we are restrained to his mission. With so many years without change in the history books, we can become restrained to the wrong things and forget the reason we exist. Tradition has replaced mission in many churches in micropolitan communities. A visionary leader is critical to call attention to the changes so desperately needed to keep the mission primary. The book of Judges gives us a sobering commentary on what happens to God’s people when they don’t have an effective leader. The book ends with this passage, “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.”  

Visionary leaders face an uphill battle even in healthy environments. Leadership that moves the church to change is seldom comfortable. It will mean moving away from the place where you are. This is almost never easy. Policies and structures will be adjusted or abandoned. Key positions will be established. Others will be replaced or removed. Change is best served in healthy times, but the institutional inertia and the success of years gone by prompt existing leaders to consider that if it isn’t broken, why fix it? By the time many churches find the stomach to change, they are pretty far gone. Like a terminal cancer patient, they are willing to grasp for life with experimental treatments. In his great little book, How the Mighty Fall, Jim Collins discusses the downward spiral that leads once successful businesses to capitulation and death. His research shows that in an effort to reverse the fall, companies make sweeping changes. However, by the time they do it, they are over leveraged in the opposite direction and not healthy enough to manage the massive changes.  

Change is best accomplished in smaller increments. Driving even on a straight road requires constant corrections at the wheel. It may seem that you’re going straight, but careful examination reveals a long line of small corrections. By contrast, most of us have been distracted while driving only to be frantically forced into a major correction and a very dangerous situation. Big change divided up into lots of smaller, more manageable adjustments is a healthy strategy for churches. Harvard professor Marty Linsky observed, “Leadership is about disappointing people at the rate they can absorb.” What does this mean for a “true leader”? If you are already in a church that wants to change, do you have the patience for it? If you are thinking about going to one and implementing change, consider what already exists. Sometimes pastors have the same logic that a spouse does in a bad marriage. They think, “After we’re married, I’ll get him or her to change behavior.” That’s a bad thing to bet your marriage or your career on. When interviewing with a church, find out what is on and off the table. Make an assessment of what is needed before you say “yes” and have a frank discussion about specifics with existing leaders. “Can we get rid of the pews, the pulpit, the choir loft, the choir, the choir director, the organ, the organist, the order of worship, the Communion table, etc.? What about the by-laws? Existing leaders will talk a great game about their desire for growth, but when specific changes are discussed, you’ll get more honest answers. 

(This is the first of four excerpts from Micropolitan Church by Jerry Harris, available at no cost in the Resources section at Christianstandard.com.) 

Author: Christian Standard

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