Who doesn’t want to grow their church or ministry?  Most pastors/leaders set out to run their leadership race strong and reach as many people as possible which in return will reflect in the growth and health of their church/ministry.  The challenge during all of the working, doing, meeting, planning, etc.,  is to continually stop and evaluate how you’re stewarding your leadership dreams.  Have you deviated? Are you bogged down in the wrong details?  Are you the only one carrying the load? Who’s with you and who’s not? Leading for growth requires that we stop and create these moments or seasons of leadership reflection.  Of all of the things these “mirror moments” have produced in my leadership life, the one that has shown the greatest dividends in our efforts to reach people; letting leaders lead.

I encourage you to not be intimidated by empowering other leaders.  If God has called you to lead that House, then He is going to protect you and give you the wisdom to steward them.  It’s no good to pray for growth or help if you are going to be afraid to use the folks God sends you when they arrive.  Healthy leaders have an innate desire to want to be led and to lead.  Sometimes they will recognize it and other times you will need to point it out to them.

Leadership should not be squandered, but given generously.   Don’t make leadership a closed off group but rather a wide open concept. Make sure everyone knows that they can be a leader.

Every leader needs to be leading a leader. Creating a depth chart of men and women that are being empowered and encouraged to carry the torch.  I have had key leaders on my team that were just average attendees for four years. But, given the challenge to rise up and take on responsibility, they have risen to the occasion.  They have become some of the strongest and most effective leaders on our team.  Their contribution was felt in every are; pastoral care, connecting people into God’s House, leading teams, protecting culture and raising up other leaders. If I had failed to give them the opportunity to lead, growth would have been stunted.  By the way, these “key” leaders were not on staff of the church. They worked full time jobs.

Leading for growth is leading other leaders.  Identifying them. Then empowering them to carry the vision with you.  Allowing leaders to run with responsibilities and giving them authority to make decisions.  Don’t be afraid of them making mistakes.  You and I both have made our share of mistakes in developing our leadership.   And, I feel safe in saying there is a 100% chance that any new leader is going to make a decision that you wouldn’t have made. They’ll do something that you would have done different.  But, that’s leadership. You mentor, you grow, you teach. You’re patient with them.  Don’t cut their leadership legs out from underneath them.  There has to be a starting place, an opportunity to learn and be stretched.  Here’s the deal; If God can trust us with facilitating the saving of a soul, surely we can get past ourselves enough to trust someone else with the shepherding of them.  The same guiding grace applies to both.  Grace doesn’t make our leadership perfect; it covers us when it is not.

Church growth is always preceded by leadership growth.

Lead Big, Bryan

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