The One-Step Principle for Developing Leaders

Jesus Christ demonstrated a simple, reproducible pattern of leadership: He concentrated on a few to get maximum results. Jesus focused His earthly ministry on a prayerfully selected small group of followers. Discipled by the Son of God and empowered by the Holy Spirit, these individuals transformed the world as they spread the life-changing Good News of forgiveness, hope, and eternal life.

How did Jesus train this small band of future leaders?

He did it one step at a time:

Modeling-I do it. "Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news . . . " (Mark l:14).

Mentoring-I do it; you are with Me. "Follow me . . ." (Mark l:17).

Monitoring-You do it; I am with you. ". . . and I will make you fishers of men" (Mark 1:17).

Delegating-Yon do it "He appointed twelve . . . that He might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons" (Mark 3:14).

Multiplying-You do it, and someone else is with you. ", , , He sent them out, two by two and gave them authority..." (Mark 6:7).

The application for today is clear: Build leaders, and leaders will build ministries. If you will follow Jesus' pattern, your church will follow a pathway of great fruitfulness and effectiveness. As John Maxwell says, "In order to be effective we must nurture all, equip many, and develop a few."

Be Intentional:

Leadership development doesn't happen by chance. You must plan for it. Just about all of the 200 ministries at New Hope Community Church were grown by leaders we had intentionally developed.

In my mind, I regularly saw a set of stairs called Leadership Development. "How do I move the person I'm developing from one step to the next step?" This question shaped everything I did, both with lay leaders and paid staff.

It seems that Jesus spent 75-80 percent of His time training key leaders in this way. My goal as a pastor was to follow that pattern.

Start Early:

What is your master plan for developing leaders in your local church? In answering that question, do you find yourself thinking only about those who are currently serving in leadership roles?

Many pastors look over the congregations that they serve and then lament," We just don't have the kind of leaders that other congregations do." Often the problem lies in clergy's limiting their view of those already developed as leaders. That's a common misconception.

Instead of noticing what kind of leaders people are, ask God what they could become! Get them on the stairway of leadership development and see what happens.

Make it your constant habit to say, "Susan, would you make this phone call to invite this person to the group?" And "Bob, I see you like to pray; would you lead us in closing prayer?" In sharing ministry like this, you're developing people, even if they don't realize it yet.

In one of the churches I started, I wrote down the names of twelve men and then asked each, "Would you meet with me every Thursday night? I'd like to disciple you and develop you to be a leader." Most of them were new Christians. Every time I went to the hospital or made a social call to a church member. I took one of these people with me. It added time, but it multiplied ministry. Then as the church grew; I used the small-group ministry to systematically develop even more leaders.

You can develop leaders this way in every size church. As you shepherd their development, pay attention to three areas: Spiritual formation, doing ministry, and becoming healthy, whole persons.

Fill the Steps:

In one small group I led was a man with great potential named Rich. I gave him various responsibilities. One week when I was away, he led the discussion. Upon my return the people said, "We had better discussion with Rich than with you." I was pleased.

I worked with Rich, and it wasn't long before he started a group of his own. Later he became our church's half-time staff person in evangelism. He eventually became a pastor of single adults, leading a ministry of 800 people.

  Rick matured in his ministry by going forward one step at a time. In a dynamic New Testament church, you should have people on every "step" of leadership development. No one starts at the top. Rather, people reach their full potential one step at a time. It requires an international plan, or it won't happen in most cases.

  In fact, if all that the church members see are elitists on the topmost step, they won't know how to get there themselves. One of the big boldbacks to lay mobilization is an elitist complex. If laypersons feel that only professional can do a particular type of ministry, they might never aspire to it or try to get there.

Keep Growing:

  Are you yourself growing as a leader? Is God stretching you (or pruning you), teaching you new things, pushing you beyond your comfort zone, and pressing you to know and trust Him as never before? As the Bible says, "To aspire to leadership is an honorable ambition" (1 Timothy 3:1).

  David Durey, a staff pastor at New Hope Community Church, says, "We can impress people at a distance, but we can only impact them up close." The more you experience personal growth, the greater your potential impact will be with those you mentor. Your growth will influence their eagerness to experience multiplied ministry impact in their own lives.

Make Leaders, Not Followers:

  Some leaders want to make followers; I want to make leaders. My friend Rick Warren, in his book The Purpose-Driven Church, presents a great challenge to pastors when he says, "A great commitment to the Great Commandment and to the Great Commission will grow a great church."

  Is that what God is calling you to do? Whatever the mind can conceive and you have faith to believe, with God's help you can achieve. Ordinary people accomplish extraordinary things with the Holy Spirit. Your congregation and community are full of such people. What will you do next to fill that set of stairs called Leadership Development?

By: Dale E. Galloway