Month: December 2007

In yesterday’s blog, Steve mentioned some key leadership hindrances. Another hindrance is thinking that only very mature people can make disciples who make disciples. We must remember that one of the most effective evangelists of the New Testament was the woman of Samaria—a new convert of a few hours. Immediately after her encounter with God we read that the woman of Samaria went into action:

“[She] . . . went back to the town and said to the people, Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?’ They came out of the town and made their way toward him. . . Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I ever did.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, ‘We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.’ (Jn. 4: 28-30, 40-42). In Leadership Explosion I wrote the following three paragraphs:

How long did it take the Samaritan woman to get into ministry? Long enough to go into the village and come back! Don’t miss the opportunity of using newer Christians in cell leadership. Jesus didn’t; nor did Paul.
Fatima, a newly baptized Christian, planted the first daughter cell from my own small group in Quito, Ecuador. Plagued with a debilitating bone disease, she felt compelled to share the gospel while there was still time. With the zeal that characterized the Samaritan woman, Fatima gathered her non-Christian family and friends for the first meeting. Her house was packed—some arriving two hours early. They listened to the gospel message with rapt attention and in the months that followed, several of them decided to follow Jesus Christ. Fatima’s zeal and effectiveness clarified to me the importance of using newer Christians in small group ministry.

Peter Wagner reminds us that the potential for evangelism is much higher in new Christians than mature ones. This is primarily due to the fact that new Christians still have contacts with non-Christians. New Christians are enthusiastic. When they are not allowed to evangelize or serve right away, they become stagnant and lose their enthusiasm. Our problem so often is not seeing far enough down the road. We fail to connect the person who walks down the aisle to receive Jesus with future leadership in cell ministry. For lack of proper guidance, many potential cell leaders slide out the back door.
Comments?

 

Joel

 

by Steve Cordle

I have appreciated and learned from the posts and comments on leadership this week!

Raising up and discipling those who disciple others is not easy work, and we surely don’t like to see disicple-making leaders fall away for any reason. If we can identify and neutralize forces which sideline leaders, our ministry fruitfulness will be deeper. Some of the more frequent “Leader-eaters” I have seen would include:

* Family issues – if the spouse is not involved and supportive, or there is a marital strain, or the children have suddenly increased needs/issues, the leader may not be able to continue.

* Spiritual sag – leaders who are not personally meeting regularly with God will probably drop out of ministry eventually

* Distractions – work, house-remodeling, coaching soccer… need I say more?

* Sin – it happens

* Ministry frustrations – an unresponsive group, quarreling members, decreasing attendance…they all can undermine a leader’s confidence and enthusiasm.

When we consider that it usually takes extended one-on-one discipling and on-the-job development of ministry skills and teaching to equip someone to become a leader, and then fighting off “Leader Eaters” like these to stay a leader, it’s no wonder that the list of fruitful, long-term disciple-makers is shorter than we’d like it to be! Praise God for each one you’ve got! And help them fight off the Leader Easters.

This has been a very healthy discussion about seeing everyone as a potential cell leader. Steve Cordle mentioned the importance of leading in a one-on-one situation. He shared some of the adjustments he’s been making in preparing leaders. In yesterday’s post, Rob Campbell talked about his own journey in preparing leaders.

I’ve also made some adjustments over the years. For example, my five-book basic equipping series finishes with the book called Lead. That book is specifically designed to prepare a person to lead a cell group. Yet, I now teach that when person has finished Lead, he or she might personally lead a cell or be part of a leadership team that starts a new cell. There was a time that I taught that a person needed to be the sole leader of the cell. Now I teach that a person might be part of the a leadership team that starts a new cell. Why? I’ve becoming increasingly convinced that team leadership is so critical in cell ministry. I rejoice in those who can start a cell from scratch. Yet, another option is to encourage lay people be part of a leadership team.

Another adustment I’ve made is to use the word disciple-maker rather than the word leader. I’ve found from experience that it’s simply more Biblical to use the term “disciple who makes other disciples” than to use leader. If we can help each person to become a disciple who makes other disciples, we’re helping people to understand the Biblical base for ministry. I teach that a D-1 disciple is some who is in a cell. A D-2 disciple is someone who is in the equipping track and is participating in the life of the cell. A D-3 disciple would be taking someone else through the equipping track either one-o-one or one-on-three, etc. A D-4 disciple would either be part of a leadership team that starts a new cell or someone who is leading the team. A D-5 disciple would have multiplied the cell, etc. The goal, then, is to get everyone through the process.

The main reason for quoting so much from Leadership Explosion lately is to help open our eyes to the possiblities around us. Jesus wants us to raise up an army of “disciples who makes other disciples.”

For more on seeing everyone as a potential leader/disciple-maker, click here.

Comments?

 

Joel

If I was a betting man, then I’d bet you could finish the title of this post.  “If we were all leaders, then who would follow us?” OR “If we were all leaders, then where are all the followers?”  By the way, I’m loving these recent posts by Joel and Steve on leadership.  If you haven’t read them, then take a moment to catch up as this post deals with leadership as well.

In Steve’s last post, he is candid and honest wrestling with the thought that everyone is a potential leader.  I, too, embraced this cell church prinicple and taught it for many years.  I’m not so sure it’s valid at this point.  Yes, I do agree that with the right heart and through mentoring, discipling, practicing, and more…a person can develop into a fine leader.  I trust that you have seen this with your own eyes!  Super!  Yet, we should not diminish the valuable heart and contribution of a “non-leader.”

In Larry Osborne’s latest book, Contrarian’s Guide to Knowing God, he writes, “For those of us who are leader types, we can expect to find plenty of help for our spiritual journey.  We’re the prized prospect, the kind of Christian most churches and ministry organizations encourage and motivate best.  We need to keep at it; we’re vital to the future of the church and God’s kingdom.  But we also need to work hard not to project our personality and calling on everyone else.  The goal of spirituality is not to lead– it’s to know and please God.”

Larry reflects on the life of his own parents.  While they held a few leadership roles in the church, they would opt out more than in.  He writes of his Mom reading the New Testament over and over again.  His Dad was a disciplined reader.  Larry states, “All they did was live of life of obedience with grace and dignity.  All they accomplished was raising three children who would walk with Jesus as adults– and who, strangely, would all have gifts of teaching and leadership….In my mind, they were not only spiritual, they were spiritual giants.”

As already mentioned in the most recent posts, God is quite creative when calling out leaders.  Let’s trust His heart when we can’t trace His hand.

Comments?

by Rob Campbell

www.cypresscreekchurch.com

 

When talking about seeing the leaders around us, we need go no further than Jesus Christ. Look at the ones he choose. They were an odd assortment of lower class, simple folk–and a few rebellious ones as well. Here’s a paragraph from Leadership Explosion:

It’s surprising that Jesus did not choose key, prominent men to form part of His twelve. None of Christ’s disciples occupied important positions in the synagogue, nor did any of them belong to the Levitical priesthood. Rather, they were common laboring men, having no professional training, no academic degrees, and no source of inherited wealth. Most were raised in the poor part of the country. They were impulsive, temperamental, and easily offended. Jesus broke through the barriers that separated the clean and unclean, the obedient and sinful. He summoned the fisherman as well as the tax collector and zealot. Jesus saw hidden potential in them. He detected a teachable spirit, honesty, and a willingness to learn. They possessed a hunger for God, a sincerity to look beyond the religious hypocrisy of their day, and they were looking for someone to lead them to salvation. In calling the despised to Himself, in sitting down to a meal with publicans, in initiating the restoration of a Samaritan woman, Jesus demonstrated that even these people were welcomed into the kingdom of God.

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Christ’s small group was full of problem people. We would label most of them as the “extra grace required” type. Yet, Jesus molded, shaped, and prepared them to be the key leader’s of His church. Are we willing to welcome those with rough edges into our cell groups with the view of preparing them for future leadership? I know it’s hard, but it is the way of the Master.

Comments?

 

Joel