The Leadership Conundrum

Everything rises and falls on… what now?

Oh yeah, I remember what they say: “Leadership.” Well, John Maxwell does anyway.

But you know what, I think he’s on to something. The success or failure of any organization—be it a church, a business, a non-profit organization, whatever—ultimately depends on the quality, (or lack of quality), of its leadership.

Another great definition of leadership is provided by Marcus Buckingham, who said, “Leadership is taking people into a better future.” I like that too, but one thing needs to be clarified—what is a “better future,” exactly? That could mean a lot of things to a lot of different people.

To understand what it looks like in the context of biblical values, I would look no further than Ephesians 4 to find out what that better future is supposed to be about. What I get out of what Paul is saying there is that church leadership—under the headship of Christ—are to be about one thing and one thing only: equipping people in the church so that they—not the leaders alone—can do the various works of ministry.

So what this looks like, as I understand it, is that church leaders should unapologetically be about the business of investing most of their leadership energy into helping individuals within the church to become who they are; to become the person God made them to be. In large part, this involves helping people to discover their God-given gifts, talents, passions and abilities, and then leading them into areas where they can use those abilities for the works of ministry they are indeed passionate about—doing what they love.

I think that if leaders were to do this, instead of running themselves ragged simply trying to keep the typical one-hundred-and one church ministries afloat, and doing much of the work themselves, there would be a major paradigm shift in the ways we think about, and do, church. Think of the average church leaders’ weekly schedule: how much of it is truly spent in pouring their leadership energy into equipping others? On the other hand, how much leadership energy is spent trying to keep everything going, simply in order to maintain the status quo?

In my opinion, I think many churches are in this boat. Here’s a description that I think fits many churches: They have many good and worthwhile ministries. They have many good and honest, hardworking people who sincerely believe in those ministries, whether or not they have ever been actually equipped by their leadership to do them. On any given day of the week one encounters every stripe of ministry—from mothers with preschool children, prayer rooms, coffee get-togethers, men’s prayer breakfasts, and on and on. Now what is wrong with all of those ministries? Nothing, except for one crucial factor: No one running those ministries can tell you how their ministry fits in with the big picture vision of the church.

Hang on, you say, that’s not fair. To be truly fair, we have to ask: Then what is the vision, mission and purpose of that church? Here’s the problem: the leadership doesn’t have one. Or if they do, it’s one they stole from another, “successful” church, or a book on church growth, or from “40 Days of Purpose.” Maybe they even got it out of the Bible—Great Commission, Great Commandment. But do you want to know what the real problem is, bigger than not having a vision, a mission, or a purpose? Two words: status quo.

Just for the sake of argument, let’s say that the leaders of the church I just described decided it wanted a complete paradigm shift. Its leaders became convinced that they should be all about an Ephesians 4 culture, a church sold out to equipping its members for ministry, along with everything that statement means. But in order to come to that place, every current ministry would have to be shut down for a period of time, re-assessed in light of the new priorities of the church. Following this time, some hard decisions would have to be made about which ministries get to continue, and which ministries get the axe. Only those ministries that fit into the new vision get to carry on.

Oh, and to make matters worse, all the current leaders would have to step down from their leadership positions for a period of time as well, regardless of how long they have been in leadership. They need to undergo a solid one-year leadership training program that not only equips them to lead their ministry, but also evaluates them during that time to find out if they even have the character and abilities even to be a leader at all. The truth is, some won’t make the cut.

You tell me—how many church leaders are willing to take these kinds of radical steps in order to lead their churches into health? I think we’re not going to see it happen, for the simple reason that many churches exist to maintain the status quo, to meet people’s expectations. As long as everybody gets what they want, the church members don’t complain. Notice I didn’t say they were happy. But if you as a leader try changing things around, try doing some radical surgery like I just described, and here’s my advice: Get your resume up to date.

Say, ever thought of working for Starbucks?