Leadership – growth and health
As has often been said, ‘Everything rises and falls on leadership’.
Leadership sets the pace, the attitude, the culture of the organisation, group or community. As the Bible puts it:
“Without wise leadership, a nation falls; there is safety in having many advisers.”
Godly leadership encourages and enables people to focus on the right things and to grow in healthy ways. However, wise leaders recognise that their real focus is not growth, but health. Growth is, in fact, God’s department, whereas health is the responsibility of each one of us, and, principally, the leader whose role it is to encourage and enable health in the community.
Leaders can make a number of mistakes when it comes to health:
Too great a focus on the goal.
In God’s Kingdom, the end never justifies the means. Nehemiah was engaged in the great talk of rebuilding the wall, but when he discovered that social injustice was rampant, he stopped the work (Nehemiah 5:1-13) because of the more pressing need to address hat was wrong in the community
Too great a fear of the personal cost.
There is always a cost attached to doing anything worthwhile, and that includes enduring the opposition and leading by example – two things that featured in Nehemiah’s story (see Neh. 4).
Too great a fear of the ‘big ask’.
Often leaders area afraid to ask people to step up and attempt something great for God on the basis that this will entail sacrifice and will come at a cost to those people. However, a healthy community is inspired to sacrifice for a great cause, and a wise leader is not afraid of calling for that sacrifice – so long as they are leading the way in that, demonstrating that they have sufficient credibility to challenge people with the ‘big ask’. Nehemiah was not afraid of the ‘big ask’ (Neh. 2:16-18), and the people responded in a healthy way.
If you are called to lead, then your responsibility is to ensure that there is good health in what you are leading. Growth will come when health is in place, but growth will never be sustained if it is at the expense of health.
Looking at the ‘signs of health’ Section, would you say that your group, ministry or church is healthy? What needs to change for that to be so?
COMING IN JUNE 2021:
KINGFISHER FAMILY OF CHURCHES AND MINISTRIES
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER
Our world is in desperate need. Jesus Christ is our only hope. Now is the time together to pray
The Vision:
To unite thousands of Christians around the world to pray on one day, for Church, community, nation, and our world.
SUNDAY 13th JUNE 2021
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Signs of health:
• We have a confident expectation of growth, not
just a ‘keeping things going’ mentality
• We have an excitement about what God is going to do next among us, rather than a ‘nothing ever changes’ mentality
• We have a passion for seeing society impacted and changed for good rather than a ‘what could we possibly do?’ mentality
• We care about each other and seek ways to support and encourage each other, rather than an ‘every person for themselves’ mentality
• We feel able to take risks, both in terms of personally stepping up and trying something new, and in terms of us as a group taking faith steps, rather than than a ‘don’t volunteer for anything’ mentality
Dear Pastor James Burn,
This morning I was will you on the zoom call in honor of Simon Haqq. I’ve written a small tribute to him: https://madmimi.com/p/a96e621
Thank you for your work in India and your assistance to Simon through the. years. God bless you.
Paul Rains