LEADERSHIP TIPS FROM P G VARGIS

[PG Vargis]

A leader is like a river. Starts as a small stream. But gathers on the way other streams and becomes a mighty river – feeding people, cattle and agricultural lands and nourishing forests. It never stops working – day and night. A river exists for others and then vanishes.  You can be a Pampa river of Kerala or Ganges of India or Amazon. The choice is yours.

P G Vargis

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Leadership note. Grow with me.

And share this with others. Let the world grow.

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PART I      DEVOTIONAL MESSAGE (COPIED)

A Brotherhood

The church is a brotherhood, a family, in which there are no classes of people... The New Testament prescription for leadership in the local church is a body of elders, a plurality of leaders who function as brothers, submitting to one another, with no one man in a superior position to another. (You can study these passages and meditate on their implications in regard to leadership structure: Acts 14:23; 20:17-31; Phil. 1:1; 1 Thess. 5:12,13; 1 Tim. 3:1-13; Tit. 1:5-9; Heb. 13:17; 1 Pet. 5:1-4.)

 

The clergy system is a direct attack upon the very nature of the body of Christ. It introduces a false concept of a special spiritual class, with the accompanying temptation to pride and abuse of power that comes when one man is exalted positionally over others. It also leads to passivity on the part of those who are, by implication at least, "second class" in the church. Members of the body do not use their gifts to carry on ministry since the professional "minister" is doing the work.

Perhaps the worst result of the clergy system is that it stifles the spiritual development of the men of the congregation. God's plan is that ordinary, unschooled men can become elders, overseers and shepherds (pastors) of God's flock. They can grow in grace, can learn their Bibles, can develop leadership in their families-to the point that they can be recognized and set apart to pastor the church as a part of the body of elders. They do not have to go to Bible college or seminary. They can strive through on-the-job training to be leaders in the congregation. However, the clergy system removes this possibility from most men and smothers the godly ambition to servant-leadership. So men are unchallenged, and the congregation is weakened-not mention its families whose leaders are given no practical incentive for spiritual growth.

Can you see how all this fits with a return to what we have called "the family-based church"? We must get away from the single pastor model in which he inevitably becomes a program manager, an executive in a bureaucracy. We must return to the concept of brotherhood where the church is seem as a family and no one man has a position by which he dominates others. We must abandon the model that burns out one man and leaves the rest unchallenged.

PART II

9 Reasons Some Pastors Are Not Strong Leaders

By Chuck Lawless

Pastoring requires being a leader, but not every pastor is a strong leader. Rather than harshly judge these pastors, though, we need to understand reasons they may struggle—and then prayerfully help them. Here are some of those reasons:

1.         They have never seen strong leadership modeled. Too many pastors are still learning leadership on their own because they’ve never spent time with a strong, godly leader. They have no personal role models.

2.         They’ve seen bad models. When they see a poor pastoral leader, some pastors spend as much time trying not to be that way that they sometimes fail to develop positive leadership traits. That’s leading by avoidance rather than by intentionality.

3.         Their training did not include enough attention to leadership. I teach at a seminary that requires a leadership course, but I’m aware that one course is just a start. Learning leadership takes time and training.

4.         They may not be gifted for leadership. I do believe that leadership skills can be taught, but some pastors are more gifted than others for the task of leadership. Leadership is, in fact, a spiritual gift.

5.         They’ve been wounded in past ministries. Some pastors who were once strong leaders have scars from previous ministries—and leading has simply become difficult. It feels risky once you’ve been hurt.

6.         They’re still young. We’ve all been there: young, zealous (arrogant, even), and convinced we can lead. It’s only when we mature that we realize just how poorly we were leading. Some pastors may be in leadership roles before they’re ready.

7.         They’re in maintenance mode. Maybe they’re weary, or they just don’t want to tackle the challenge of change. Some are more focused on retirement than on developing an energetic ministry.

8.         They’re unwilling to ask for help. It’s hard for many of us to ask for help, especially if the church has called us to lead. The result is leadership in isolation—and that’s seldom good.

9.         The church structure may not let them lead. In some congregations, the structure of committees and boards so handcuffs the pastor that few people could lead.

Take time now to pray that your pastor will lead well. What other reasons would you add to this list?

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Have a day of growth for the glory of God

p g vargis

www.pgv.com