John Maxwell is fond of saying, “Everything rises and falls on leadership.” As a young leader, this phrase would resonate in my heart. I had been a youth group leader, part of a church plant team, and a pastor. I had seen the need for leadership in all areas of ministry. Whenever there was an event, there was a need for leadership. Whenever the church was moving in a new direction, there was a need for leadership. Whenever there was a crisis, there was a need for leadership.
There was a time when I would saturate my life with anything that would help me to become a better leader. On my bookshelf I had books by Maxwell, Bill Hybels, and Wayne Cordeiro. I would attend the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. I would listen to Maxwell’s and Hybels’ tapes (and later CDs) on leadership. Whenever I went into a bookstore I would head straight to the leadership section. I would coordinate leadership events in my church.
Then in the summer of 2008 I was introduced to Dr. J. Robert Clinton. I spent two weeks with him in a class a Fuller Theological Seminary. During that time he taught me how God developed a leader over a lifetime. This was a paradigm shift for me. Most of the things I learned about leadership told me what I needed to do to become a leader. But Dr. Clinton was teaching me what God already did to help me to become a leader.
In 2011 I began to teach Dr. Clinton’s theories at New Hope Christian College. I taught students how God was developing them to become a leader and how the positive and negative experiences of life were part of God’s sovereign design for character, skills, and values maturity. But I began to notice something. The students were struggling in three areas: personal time with God, studies, and ministry. Because the students were so overtasked in ministry, they didn’t have enough time to spend with God or to study. Because they didn’t spend time with God, they lacked the intimacy needed to navigate life correctly.
I came to the conclusion the school was training students to be leaders but they weren’t even disciples yet. The students were serving and leading so much, they were on the edge of burning out. The church was asking more from the students but the students had no more to give. Here is what has happened within the past twenty years:
The first line represents what should be, the second line represents what is. The first line reflects how healthy discipleship and leadership progresses. There should be sufficient time for a believer to learn the basics of discipleship (intimacy with God, Bible study, prayer, Sabbath, etc) along with service prior to becoming a leader. But the second line is what I’m seeing more and more. A shorter time for discipleship but more time devoted to service and leadership. When this happens, a believer’s Christianity is based on service not on intimacy with God.
I was having lunch with a friend who said not too long after becoming a Christian during his college years, he was asked to serve in a youth ministry. When the ministry grew too large, they had to split the weekly meetings up in two, with the main leader taking one group, and my friend taking the other group. Looking back he said he was too young to lead a group and wished he had more time to develop as a disciple. He quickly went from a believer to a disciple to a servant to a leader in less than a year.
In order for leaders to last the long haul, they first need time to be a disciple. The habits gained during the discipleship process will be the foundation for the rest of a believer’s life. Sufficient time for a believer to mature as a disciple before being placed in a leadership role is critical.
Next week we will look at what happens when a believer is made a leader too soon.
Questions to Think About:
Looking back over your life, did you have too little, too much, or just the right amount of time to develop as a disciple?
If you are in a growing ministry, are you placing people into leadership before they’re ready for it?
© Gary Lau 2013
All rights reserved. This article may not be distributed, forwarded or duplicated without prior permission from the author.
Leave a Reply