Let’s talk about the Christian fixation, at least in America, on leadership and leaders. This topic may not interest you, but I assure you, it is relevant to every true follower of Christ.

Note that I said, “relevant to every true follower of Christ”, not every true “leader” who is Christian. Why is this noteworthy?

It is noteworthy because for most of the last two generations, Christians with a calling (pastors per se), have been overwhelmed with the call to be better leaders.

You may be thinking, but is that a bad thing, aren’t good leaders a biblical demand and focus?

Yes and no.

As I was speaking to one of the pastors in my life, today, I was reminded to note, that I am not against good leaders, or necessary and biblical leadership development. As The scriptures offers how step by step instructions for pastoral  ministry (I Timothy and II Timothy; Titus, I Peter 5:1-3 and others).

That said, I do propose that an improper focus on producing better leaders in the American Church, where much of the information is not coming from God’s word, but business and secular psychological modalities, is at times counterproductive to producing Spirit filled and transformed followers of Jesus Christ.

It is also my proposition that not only have leadership training materials, conferences, pod casts, and the like, fleeced millions of dollars from people desperate to succeed, they also raise hope for false messiahs to save the church from irrelevancy and death by attrition.

Many Christians worship false messiah pastors, who are great leaders and produce numbers, but are poor at producing disciples, who are faithful to Christ. These false messiah’s sell many books, have exponentially large YouTube and social media followings, and are lauded at Christian leadership conferences.

Their materials are sold to pastors, who are convinced if they can be like these great “leaders”, matching the leadership and ministries paradigms, they too can be relevant successful leaders.

When one enters a disposition of seeking to be a better leader, they are brought into a world of unnecessary self-examination, by men and women who believe themselves to be good leaders, based on business and success modalities of the secular world.

In this trap a person can become immobile in analysis paralysis, or worse yet believe if they have the correct leadership style, they can save their dying church or ineffective ministry.

This kind of thinking is alien to the word of God, and places and unfair emphasis on pastors and Church leaders, who need to show their leadership credentials, rather than being qualified for their ministry, by what God’s word declares is important.

It is important to remember that although Jesus Christ is THE LEADER of the Kingdom of God, He did not care about the leadership “essentials” of the leadership class of His day.

John 7:14-15  Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught. And the Jews marveled, saying, “How does this Man know letters, having never studied?”

The Jews believed that learning to minister the way a particular sect teaches was correct and acceptable, made good leaders. This is not the case in either testament.

Ecclesiastes 12:10-14 The Preacher sought to find acceptable words; and what was written was upright—words of truth.  The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd. And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.

It seems that Solomon, who tried all the world’s wisdom and came up lacking as a leader, settles on this one truth: great leaders are those who are unconcerned with the convention of the day, and are concerned with following God and His word alone (Fear God and keep His commandments).

It is difficult enough to hear the Holy Spirit over the loudness of the world, the flesh, and the Devil; and impossible if we are listening to the voices of “leadership gurus” of the American Christian church, who teach repackaged leadership development from the world.

Consider the Greatest Leader ever, Jesus Christ our Lord. What leadership training did He have?

He was raised by two normal humans, with unremarkable skills, however necessary they were. Our Lord learned the lessons of Judaism from His local synagogue, like every other Hebrew boy in Nazareth. He learned faithfulness and hard work from Joseph, which I learned from my own father: no class necessary.

What was Jesus’ leadership training? NONE to speak of, but He who is the Great Leader of all men, was that, because He is THE GREAT FOLLOWER of His Father and the Holy Spirit.

John 5:19-20 Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel…

The Greatest Leader of all spent His time looking for where the Father was working and joined Him. That is very interesting. Yet further still…

John 12:49-50 For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”

Jesus’ testimony, from both passages lines up with a very real New Testament truth concerning Christians, in a passage which is one of the few using a word used associated with leadership..

Romans 8:14-17  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”  The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,  and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

Those who are children of God, are good followers of the Holy Spirit, as He teaches us the word of God, and we hide it in our heart, using it to discern good and evil, in practical life (Hebrews 5:12-14).

Jesus, as the Son of God, was being led by the Spirit, as a Follower of the Father, as His chief priority. In John 4:34 He reveals to us that His food was to do the will of the One who sent Him and to finish His (the Father’s) work. He was unconcerned, whether He was lining up with the leadership modalities of His Day.

Consider how He carried out His ministry concerning mindset.

Philippians 2:5-11  Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,  who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,  but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.  Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,  that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,  and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The phrase “taking the form of a bondservant” is very important. A bondservant has no will of their own, even if their debt is paid and they choose to remain with their master. Christ was a bond servant paying off our debt, and His only desire was to fulfil the law and please the Father, by being perfectly obedient. That means His priority was following, not leading.

The word of God reveals He learned obedience through what He suffered (Hebrews 5:8). This means, as God, He learned the human lesson of obedience, which means what it takes to follow God, through suffering. He learned what it takes, not to be a great leader, but THE GREATEST FOLLOWER of GOD, as an example to us.

Remember His correction of the disciples when they were speaking about who would be greatest in the Kingdom.

Matthew 20:24-28  But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— 

Yes, our Lord Jesus Christ was leader over the disciples. He gave them commandments, which they did not like, yet He gave them. He did this because He was serving following the Father’s will, in His work. In that following His leadership was 100% about serving the disciples.

Was our Lord Jesus Christ the Greatest Leader? Yes, He is the Great Shepherd, but His concern in leading was being THE PERFECT FOLLOWER.
• Following His Father
• By Following the leading of the Holy Spirit.
• As the Holy Spirit leads by the Word of God hidden in His heart.

Nothing has changed and in response to the overwhelming denomination and Christian cultural pressure to be a good leader, we must align ourselves with God and His will.

Acts 4:19-20  But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.  For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”

Acts 5:29  But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men.

We need to rethink our fixation on leadership development, because what we ought to be training our called men and women to be is great followers of Christ, led by the Holy Spirit, rather than psychological tests, bent to place people in a four to six personality box; which is more new age and occult than Christian.

Consider that Pauls’ great call to the Corinthians, where sin and carnality abounded, was two statements, which did not consider how many would be offended by the truth He spoke.

1 Corinthians 11:1 Imitate (follow) me, just as I also imitate (follow) Christ.

1 Corinthians 4:15  For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.

Paul’s disposition of leadership was not training from other successful leaders, but being a spiritual father, who models the Christ life, teaching lessons of what Jesus did and would do.

Interestingly, Pauls’ words about ten thousand instructors in Christ, has come to pass. A search on amazon.com for “Christian Leadership” turns up 20,000 book offerings.

When considering the most popular Christian leadership guru, John Maxwell, we find he has published over 100 books dealing with leadership. When considering just a 250-page limit per book, that tallies 25,000 pages on Christian leadership, from one man.

How that number and volume does not trouble us, when most Bibles have approximately 1500 pages, is troubling; a Christian pastor (leader), has written 25,000 pages concerning a topic scantly mentioned in the New Testament.

If we take just half of the 20,000 Christian leadership entries and multiply that by 100 pages, that is 1,000,000 pages about Christian leadership. WOW!

With all this leadership development, for the purpose of saving the church, why are 1500 pastors leaving the ministry per month and 7000 churches closing per year?

Because leadership development is a parallel path to the narrow road, but it is not the narrow road.

In my next article we will examine three leadership statements that have been levied on pastors by leadership modalities.

1. If you are leading and no one is following, you are not leading.
2. Pastoral and leadership difficulties arise from his leadership style.
3. Leaders must learn to lead with  “spiritual capital”.

Don’t miss discussing these current leadership modalities, which may or may not be true.