The greatest need

The lessons of the Old Testament continue into the times of Jesus and the apostles. Jesus urged his followers to “…pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” (Matt 9:38) Paul commanded Titus to “…appoint elders in every city” (Tit 1:5) To Timothy he wrote: “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Tim 2:1)

God has always looked for faithful and committed leaders, and no matter where we live, we should make it our number one aim to train as many leaders as we can. It is hard to overemphasize the importance of ongoing leadership training in our churches. Wherever I travel both inside and outside Russia, I see the same thing: the fastest growing churches are those that are most devoted to leadership training.

Jesus spent most of His time with His twelve disciples, not preaching to the crowds. He understood that the best He could do with the time He had was to raise up devoted leaders who would continue the work He had started.

THE FASTEST GROWING CHURCHES ARE THOSE THAT ARE MOST DEVOTED TO LEADERSHIP TRAINING.

Responsibility

The key word for a leader is responsibility. This is the main difference between a leader and the people he cares for. The leader needs to feel a higher degree of responsibility than all others; that is why he is a leader. He stays in all kinds of weather, he knows he is accountable for what he does and he will do his very best to complete the tasks given to him.

Many people like to join a church, visit the Sunday meetings, but not take responsibility. Responsibility is a burden not everyone wants to bear. It is convenient for the flesh to come to church when it suits, go some other place when that seems better, and not take up any obligation that binds up the time. This is a little like the spirit of our time. People do not want to have too many attachments, but pick what is most comfortable for the moment.

But the church has no future without responsible leaders. Isaiah heard The Lord asking this question:

“Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?”

Isaiah 6:8

In other words, who can be trusted? On whom can God lay a burden, knowing that the person will be ready to accept the responsibility?

THE CHURCH HAS NO FUTURE WITHOUT RESPONSIBLE LEADERS.

Quality training

Real leadership training takes time. To develop accountably is not done overnight, and it is not done over distance. Joshua spent most of his life in the presence of Moses before he was fully trained to lead the conquest of Canaan. Elisha served Elijah for a long time, Timothy followed Paul for years all around the Roman Empire.

If your heart burns for leadership training, you must devote your full strength and your best time for that. You must know who are the ones whom God calls you to train, and you must have a plan to follow. Halfhearted attitude and sloppy preparation will never produce strong leaders.

Paul used these words when he wrote to Timothy:

“I remember you in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see you…”

2 Timothy 1:3–4

When you can think of your co-workers with the same passion as Paul, you can become a great leader.

Continuous leadership training

It is my prayer, that God will open our eyes even more to see the great need for new generations of leaders. Some will be ministry gifts, some will be deacons and home group leaders, some will work in the church while others will be volunteers, but they will all have in common that they will share in the responsibility for the church and be willing to lead others.

Team building and leadership training go hand in hand. In our church in Moscow, we have a Bible School, many different leadership courses, and a seminary for the education of pastors. All this is necessary, but for leaders to grow, there must also be places where people can start to minister under the supervision of another leader.

WHEN A LEADER TAKES TIME TO TRAIN, ENCOURAGE, AND CORRECT HIS CO-WORKERS, THERE CAN BE A CONTINUOUS GROWTH OF NEW LEADERS.

In a well-functioning leadership team, individuals can serve and grow at the same time. When a leader takes time to train, encourage, and correct his co-workers, there can be a continuous growth of new leaders. This should be our aim! I believe that with a thoughtful and purposeful strategy for leadership training, this can happen in every church and in every branch inside the local congregation.

An example to follow

We should consider how Jesus started His earthly ministry. He found some simple men, often with very little confidence in what they could do, and called them to join Him. Why did He do so? Because he understood that preaching, healing and delivering people were not sufficient for His ministry. He needed to raise up leaders. Only if there were well-trained workers who could remain standing in all kinds of circumstances, would His mission be completed.

Think in the same way! Whatever leadership task you have in the church, you can also simultaneously train other leaders. When we who are pastors make this our main cause, I believe we are on the right track. The number and quality of the leaders you leave behind determine the result of your ministry.

THE NUMBER AND QUALITY OF THE LEADERS YOU LEAVE BEHIND DETERMINE THE RESULT OF YOUR MINISTRY.

During my first years of ministry in Norway, I got calls to preach in some very interesting places, but The Holy Spirit did not allow me to go. I was once invited to go to the USA on a very exciting trip, and for a newly graduated Bible School student, this was more than great news! I remember that when I got the invitation, I ran around the house in sheer excitement. But when I asked The Lord about it, He quietly told me to stay at home. He made me understand that I should stay in my hometown, and care for the youth group that I was responsible for.

I was puzzled at this, wondering why He would not send me out into the big world. But later it started to dawn on me why He was leading me in this way. Your greatest moments are not always when a lot of people see you and listen to you. If you want to be like Jesus, think about how He spent His time. By patiently ministering to a handful of men, he turned ordinary fishermen and tax collectors into mighty leaders in the church. And what can be greater than that!

The quest for leaders
Tasks to work with

1) What priority does leadership training have in the ministry you are involved in?

Think about how many workers and leaders this ministry has produced during the last few years.

2) Speak with your team about how is it possible to serve and train someone at the same time.

3) Speak also about the place that Jesus gave leadership training in His ministry, and why this was such a priority for Him.

2
Why a team?
About the benefits of working together

All Christian ministry is teamwork.

When Jesus taught us about the church He would build, He made it clear that teamwork, unity and brotherhood would be the core principles. God’s kingdom is not the place for him who does not want to submit to leaders or work with others. There is no place for a solo carrier in the church. Selfish ambitions must be left outside the door when you enter God’s house. Here, you need to dress in humility and companionship.

A team is a group of people who not only know each other, but also strive together to reach a common goal. The word “team” is often used in sports or businesses, but nowhere does it have a deeper meaning than when we speak about the church. Nobody can bring people closer to each other than The Holy Spirit. He can deliver us from our own arrogance, and melt us together for the purposes of God.

NOBODY CAN BRING PEOPLE CLOSER TO EACH OTHER THAN THE HOLY SPIRIT.

From the Old to the New Testament

“Teamwork” can sound like a contemporary expression, but it represents the same truths that the church was founded on from the very beginning.

In the Old Testament we often see that men and women of God served individually in their callings. Men like Joshua, Gideon, Samson, Elijah and Jeremiah seem more like elected individuals who carried out important missions from God, than people who served in community with others.

This picture changes however when we come to the New Testament. Jesus made it clear from the beginning that the disciples needed to continue the work together in unity with each other. He said:

“…but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave.”

Matthew 20:26–27

He emphasized humility, submission and cooperation. During three and a half years, He turned His disciples into a strong group of ministers, and this was the concept that was supposed to continue in the church.

As the story continues in the book of Acts, this is the very pattern we see. Among the first Christians, we do not read about any inclination amongst the apostles to dominate the others. What we read is about believers who lived in a unity and fellowship that astonished the world.

“Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul… And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.”

Acts 4:32–33

The apostles appear in the book of Acts as a group of leaders, and even though Peter was the one in charge among them, they served together as a team. When difficult questions needed to be decided, as in Acts 15, they came together, listened to each other, respected the senior leaders and came out with a common answer. Their unity and mutual respect became the strength of the church. No more do we see the lonely prophet who walks and serves by himself.

When the gospel started to spread in the Roman Empire, it was through mission teams travelling together. The first example is Paul, Barnabas and John Mark, followed by larger teams. Luke, who travelled with Paul on some of his journeys and wrote the book of Acts, simply says “we” when he tells his story. “…we sought to go to Macedonia”, “…we were staying in that city for some days”, “…as we went to prayer.” (Acts 16:10, 12,16)

Paul was the leader of the team, but Luke did not use expressions like “Paul and the rest of us”. No, he said “we” because this is how they thought.