1 - Personal Pursuit of Jesus
I Timothy 3:1-7
Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.
The reason you should pursue Christ is not so others will follow you more effectively, but because you are a sinner, in desperate need of a Savior. That being said, you cannot lead someone anywhere that you either have not been or are not going. You cannot lead people to follow Jesus if you are not passionately pursuing Him yourself.
2 - Unwavering Courage
Each week you are working with the toughest thing on the earth - PEOPLE
People are a tough crowd. They have their own language. They have their own style. They think they know everything. There will be weeks where you feel like you are absolutely waisting your time. In those moments you are going to need, courage. Courage to keep talking to someone that doesn’t seem to care. Courage to keep serving someone that doesn’t seem to want your help. Courage to look past who this person currently is, and see who they could be in Christ.
If you are going to be successful in Ministry, you are going to have to have and model unwavering courage.
3 - Self Control
A leader can’t expect to control others, if he is not able to control himself.
If there is one thing I would encourage you to control, it would be your thoughts. What you think, is what you speak. What you speak is what you do. What you do becomes habitual. Your habits will develop your character and your character will determine your destiny. Who you are and who is around you in five years will be in direct proportion to what you think today.
4 - A Road Map
No one will follow a person if they do not know where they are going. Because of this, a great leader takes time to map out where they are going in great detail. It is very important to have short, medium and long range goals for the ministry you lead. What is your small group, registration team, or worship band, going to be like in 3 months, 6 months, 12 months? If you don’t know, why would anyone join you?
5 - Something EXTRA
The only difference between ordinary and extraordinary is the word, extra. If you want to do extraordinary things in life or see God do extraordinary things in the lives of people. Then you are going to have to add something“extra” to all the ordinary things you do.
When you give extra-time, extra-study, extra-prayer and extra-planning, you open the door for God to do the extraordinary. So give something extra.
6 - A People Personality
A leaders greatest asset is not money, facilities, or programs. His greatest asset is people. A great leader knows how to communicate with, respect, enthusiasm and love for people. Here are some tips for having a people personality.
Smile.
It is very hard to be distant or “shut off” to someone that is smiling at you. So every time you talk with someone, pull them in and open their heart with your beautiful smile.
Ask questions about them.
Peoples favorite word is their name and their favorite story is their own. When you talk with people ask them questions about themselves. Get them talking about their life and they will love you.
Leave your problems at home.
Don’t bring your stress, drama and life issues with you to the ministry. Carrying that stuff around makes us angry, irritable, and frustrated. Those three things do not open peoples hearts to God. So check that stuff at the door and turn your heart towards the people and not the problems around you.
7 - Great Communication
There is nothing that we will ever do in ministry that only effects one ministry. Everything we do will include other departments of the church in one way or another. Because of this, we need to keep other people and ministries in the loop with all of the pertinent information.
Without teamwork, we will fail. To be a great leader you will need to communicate well to the people above you, beside you as well as under you in ministry.
8 - Attention to Detail
It’s not the big things that will hurt you. It’s the small details that will kill you. Pay attention to details.
9 - Responsibility
If you are going to be successful you must be willing to accept responsibility not only for your own mistakes and shortcomings, but also for those of the people under you. When things go well in your department give the credit to those around you. When things go wrong in your department, you step up and take responsibility for your team.
Nothing ever gets accomplished by pushing the blame off on others. We all make mistakes from time to time.
Three things to do when you make a mistake.
1- Own up to it.
2 - Learn from it.
3 - Move past it.
Which of these do you poses and which ones do you struggle with? I would love to hear from you in the comments below.