Deconstructing Christian Leadership
Learning to lead like Christ
As you consider the most popular role-models in Christian leadership, ask yourself this question: what exactly is uniquely “Christ-like” in how they lead? Do they lead like Christ, or do they lead like the world and only talk about Christ?
Here are my 5 Keys to deconstructing Christian leadership.
1. You Can’t Lead Yourself
A quick search on the internet reveals the endless list of books, conferences, and articles about “self-leadership” and “learning to lead yourself.” But here’s the thing: the whole “self-leadership” movement is built on narcissism. It’s like saying, “If you want to be a great husband, be a good husband to yourself.” OR, “If you want to be a good parent, practice parenting yourself.” Yes, leaders can manage their habits and learn techniques for self-awareness. But, you can’t “lead yourself” because leadership is all about relationships—it takes more than one person.
2. You Can’t Lead Without Following
In some Christian leadership circles, the word “follower” is a taboo. The problem for these folks is that they look down on “followers” and see “following” as failure. What they fail to see is that following is healthy. Following isn’t just a stepping stone to leadership; it’s a lifelong practice of holy-submission. Biblical leadership isn’t about a hierarchy of the powerful rising above the weak. Christian leadership is never the next step “beyond” following. Followers don’t graduate into leaders; they keep following in important areas of their life while learning to lead in other areas.
You can’t be a biblical leader if you’re no longer under someone else’s leadership, mentorship, and accountability.
3. You Can’t Lead Alone
Why do so many pastors burn out? Because they’ve chosen to lead alone, but the New Testament doesn’t know anything about leadership outside the context of community. The Bible doesn’t talk about “solo-pastors” or a hierarchy of elders. Healthy leaders learn how to lead through teams. Sure, some people might think of a team as just a group of more talented followers, but biblical teams are about a group of equals—brothers and sisters in Christ—sharing the joy of serving, protecting, and the taking responsibility for the family of God.
4. You Can’t Lead Forever
Fun fact, on average one out of every one persons dies. Then what? What will be your legacy as a leader? As Christian leaders we must certainly take care about the needs facing our people today, but every decision for today must be made with an eye toward making disciples for tomorrow. Sometimes the decisions I make will never benefit me, but they will benefit the next generation. Think about Abraham. God promised him a land that he would never inherit, but he continued in faith so that his children’s children’s children would receive the blessing. It’s humbling to think about but most likely no one, not even my own family, will remember my name within two or three generations. But guess what? If I lead well, the name of Jesus will never be forgotten! Christian leaders must leave a legacy of Jesus, not personal accomplishments.
5. You Can’t Lead to Gain
The Christian leader leads to lose… leads to sacrifice… leads to serve… and leads to love. The Scripture tells us that Jesus’ disciples argued about who was greatest, and Jesus said, “If you want to be first, be the very last, and the servant of all (Mark 9:34-35).
My calling as a leader is to be an average man among an exceptional church rather than an exceptional man among an average church. What kind of leader are you?
