Healthy Leaders | Issue 10
Seven ways to botch Bible stories, passionless Christianity, life-shaping examples, and the organizational necessity of building leaders.
Hey friends, don’t forget! Our free global online training Women and Leadership is scheduled for September 29 from 12-2pm GMT. We hope you’ll join Dr. Malcolm Webber and leaders from across the globe in examining what the Bible says about the role of women in Christian ministry and leadership. Don’t forget to reserve your spot!
Welcome to Issue 10 of Healthy Leaders.
In this issue ‒ seven ways you can botch Bible stories, passionless Christianity, life-shaping examples, and the organizational necessity of building leaders. Also: praise God for His patience with clueless followers! Let’s dive in.
The Worst Kind of Christianity
Joe McKeever takes aim at lukewarm religion in this convicting exhortation.
If being passionate about Jesus Christ means to care most deeply for the Lord, to focus on Him completely, to be willing to devote great amounts of time and energy to pleasing Him, then what would passionless Christianity look like?
A lukewarm, passionless faith in Jesus Christ is characterized by half-hearted devotion directed heavenward, powerless ministry rendered passively, thoughtless prayers offered mindlessly, and worthless offerings given begrudgingly. It cares little for the Lord and nothing at all for people.
…I have been there and done that.
I once confessed a period of backsliding to the church I pastored. I told them, “Some of you wonder how I could have preached when my heart was in rebellion against God. I did not say a thing I did not believe; I said a great deal I did not feel.”
God wants your heart in it, preacher.
And He is the source of a new heart.
7 Ways to Mishandle a Bible Story
On the topic of rightly handling the Word of God, Peter Mead offers seven ways you can botch it all up next time, using the story of Zaccheus as a model. I got a good chuckle out of a few of these:
Use cultural and historical insights to bring the story to life, not to cut the story to death. How did the tax system work at that time? How might middle eastern hospitality respond to Jesus’ passing through the town? Where were sycamore-fig trees in relation to Jericho? Shine a light on the story and keep telling it, don’t end up giving a series of historical lectures trigged by the details in the story.
… The story of Zaccheus is a gripping little narrative if it is told well. But if you use every trigger point to tell another story, you will lose it. I once knew a tax collector . . . I had a short friend once . . . I have a fun tree-climbing story . . . I remember a grumbling crowd in 1987, etc. Let other illustrative materials be fairly succinct so that the focus remains on the main narrative of the sermon.
If you want to grow in interpreting the Scripture soundly, we have a design with your name on it here.
The Ultimate Act of Leadership
Malcolm Webber makes the case that a key component of a healthy organization is the priority they place on leader development.
Jesus built His disciples who then turned the world upside down (Matt. 5:1ff; 28:19-20; etc.). Look at Jesus’ desire: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” (John 14:12, NKJV)
This is the desire of the truly great leader: to build other leaders who will entirely outdo him! His goal is to raise up leaders who will stand on his shoulders and then raise up more leaders who will stand on their shoulders and so forth.
… Building leaders is the central activity of the effective organization. It is hard-wired into everything everyone does. It is everyone’s responsibility to nurture and expect leadership everywhere. This creates leadership multiplication.
An organization, church, or ministry is only as effective as its culture of building healthy leaders. Is your organization doing it?
The Power of Example
Some good old-fashioned biblical common sense here from All Nations Church in Ilford regarding surrounding yourself with people who are good examples:
… we are all unconsciously shaped by example, for good and ill. When it comes to teaching the Christian life, it’s one thing to say it; it’s another thing to show it. So, Timothy saw Paul suffer for Christ and learned to do the same (2 Tim 3:10), but Abraham lied (Gen 12:13; 20:2) and Isaac, his son, followed his example (Gen 26:7).
This is why picking good examples to follow is so important in our Christian life. Our heroes are significant. It’s worth asking yourself: who are my examples?
In an age of celebrity leaders, it’s easy to be more shaped by the famous speakers whose podcasts we listen to rather than the faithful followers of Christ in our local body of believers. Seeing fellow sinners being holy will have more impact on our walk with God than we think.
Be on the look at for them. Pray for God to provide them. For, the examples we surround ourselves with will shape us, whether we like it or not. If we ignore this, it doesn’t stop us being shaped; it just means we’ll be shaped in unhelpful ways.
My Thoughts on God’s Incredible Patience and Grace Toward Us
To close us out, here’s Chuck Lawless with an encouraging reminder to all you leaders in the trenches.
I’m grateful God calls surprising people like the disciples to lead his church, but that’s not the primary reason I love these stories.
It’s encouraging to read about the humanity of these men, but that’s not my first interest.
I love these stories because of what they tell us about Jesus. He’s a God of grace who gives second and third chances. Even for leaders.
His patience is beyond comprehension. Amazing, actually.
When you feel like all you do is fail, God is still Who He has always been: a God of immeasurable grace and patience.
That’s all for this one, friends. If you found something encouraging in this letter, share it with a friend. If you’ve found something encouraging outside of this letter, send it our way. We love to share what our leaders love.
Until next time, we’re with you!
— Chris
(for all of us at LeaderSource)