Section 8: The Leaders Decisions (part 2)

Section 8 - The Leader’s Decisions

Group Activity: Create a one-page visual summary of the leader’s decisionsStudy chapter 8 in Blackaby’s Spiritual Leadership.Study chapter 15-16 in Sanders

Section 9 - The Leader’s Schedule

Group Activity: Create a one-page visual summary of the leader’s schedule.Study chapter 9 in BlackabyStudy chapters 17-19 in Sanders

Section 10 - The Leader’sPitfalls & Rewards

Group Activity: Create a one-page visual summary of the leader’s pitfalls.Study chapter 10-11 in BlackabyStudy chapters 20-22 in Sanders

Section 8The Leader’s Decisions

J Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership:Chapter 15 The Cost of Leadership

Chapter 16 Responsibilities of Leadership

J Oswald SandersSpiritual Leadership:

Chapter 16

Responsibilities of Leadership

2 Cor 11:28Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of

my concern for all the churches.

Jesus defined leadership as service - a definition Sanders suggests that applies to secular or spiritual fields.John A MacKay suggested that the “servant” is the essential image of the Christian religion.The Son of God became a servant in order to fulfill the mission of God - this is the pattern that we have to follow today.

Service

A true leader is primarily concerned with the welfare of other people, not of his own.He shows sympathy for the needs of others - but this sympathy fortifies and stimulates - it does not soften and weaken.He directs others to be confident in the Lord.In each emergency he sees the opportunity for helpfulness.Joshua served Moses and took on leadership from that position.

D. E. Hoste spoke about the secrets of Hudson Taylor, whom he had followed in leadership of the China Inland Mission:Another secret of his influence among us lay in his great sympathy and thoughtful consideration for the welfare and comfort of those about him. The high standard of self-sacrifice and toil which he ever kept before himself, never made him lacking in tenderness and sympathy toward those who were not able to go as far as he did in these respects. He manifested great tenderness and patience toward the failures and shortcomings of his brethren and was thus able in many cases to help them reach a higher plane of devotion.

Discipline is yet another responsibility of the leader, a duty often unwelcome. Any Christian organisation requires godly and loving discipline to maintain divine standards in doctrine, morals, and conduct.Discipline which is applied in a leaders life will rub off onto those around them - this might happen through the leaders practices and habits or by imitation.

Applied Discipline

Paul describes the spirit required in leaders who exercise discipline. “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted” Gal 6:1 The fundamental ingredient in all discipline is love. “Warn him as a brother” 2 Thess 3:15

“I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him” 2 Cor 2:8. The person who has faced up to his or her own problems and weaknesses is best able to help another in a way both loving and firm. The spirit of meekness will achieve far more than the spirit of criticism.

Approaching a disciplinary situation, the leader must remember five guidelines: (1) first conduct a thorough and impartial inquiry(2) then consider the overall benefit to the work and to the individual(3) do all in the spirit of love and in the most considerate manner(4) always keep the spiritual restoration of the offender in view(5) pray it through.

The spiritual leader must know where they are going before presuming to lead others. The leader must go before his flock. The Chief Shepherd gave us the pattern. “When he had brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice” John 10:4A. W. Tozer “The ideal leader, is one who hears the voice of God, and beckons on as the voice calls him and them.”

Guidance

Paul said to the Corinthians, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” 1 Corinthians 11:1.Paul knew whom he was following, where he was going, and could challenge others to follow him there.It is not easy to guide people, even mature Christians, who have strong opinions of their own. The leader cannot assert his will recklessly.

D. E. Hoste:In a mission like ours, those guiding its affairs must be prepared to put up with waywardness and opposition, and be able to desist from courses of action which, though they may be intrinsically sound and beneficial, are not approved by some of those affected. Hudson Taylor again and again was obliged either to greatly modify, or lay aside projects which were sound and helpful, but met with determined opposition, and so tended to create grater evils than those which might have been removed or mitigated by the changes in question. Later on, in answer to patient continuance in prayer, many of those projects were [put into effect].

A leader must initiate. Some leaders are more gifted at conserving gains than starting new ventures, for maintaining order than generating ardor. He must be ready to jump start as well as hold speed. Paul constantly took calculated risks, always carefully and with must prayer, but always reaching for what lay beyond.

Initiative

The leader must either initiate plans for progress or recognize the worthy plans of others. He must remain in front, giving guidance and direction to those behind. He does not wait for things to happen, but makes them happen. He is a self-starter, always on the lookout for improved methods, eager to test new ideas.Robert Louis Stevenson called the attitude of safety and security “that dismal fungus.”

The greatest achievements in the history of missions have come from leaders close to God who took courageous calculated risks.More failure comes from an excess of caution than from bold experiments with new ideas.

The wife of Archbishop Mowll said, “The frontiers of the kingdom of God were never advanced by men and women of caution.”A leader cannot afford to ignore the counsel of cautious people, who can save a mission from mistakes and loss. But caution should not curb vision and initiative, especially when the leader knows God is in control.To take responsibility willingly is the mark of a leader.

Joshua did not hesitate to follow one of the greatest leaders of all history, Moses. Joshua had reasons to plead inadequacy, but still did not repeat Moses’ sin. He promptly accepted the task he was given and set about the work.When Elijah was taken up, Elisha did not flinch at stepping in - accepted the authority conferred by the falling mantle and became a leader in his own right.In each case these leaders were assured of their divine calling. Once that issue is settled, no one need hesitate to do what God had set before.

Archbishop Benson lived in a different era, but his rules for life carry relevance today:•Eagerly start your main work.•Do not murmur at your busyness or the shortness of time, but buy up the time all around.•Never murmur when correspondence is brought in.•Never exaggerate duties by seeming to suffer under the load, but treat all responsibilities as liberty and gladness.

•Never call attention to crowded work or trivial experiences.•Before confrontation or censure, obtain from God a real love for the one at fault. Know the facts; be generous in your judgment. Otherwise, how ineffective, how unintelligible or perhaps provocative your well-intentioned censure may be.•Do not believe everything you hear; do not spread gossip.•Do not seek praise, gratitude, respect or regard for past service.

•Avoid complaining when your advice/opinion is not asked for, or set aside.•Never allow yourself to be placed in favorable contrast with anyone.•Do not press conversation to your own needs and concerns.•Seek no favors, nor sympathies; do not ask for tenderness, but receive what comes.•Bear the blame•Give thanks when credit for your own work or ideas is given to another.

Service, applied discipline, guidance and initiative have been discussed - which of these do you find most intimidating?

Read through the final list of archbishop Benson - are specific there areas of challenge within these?