Lesson #9 – God may place a “set man” in every assembly or ministry, but it doesn’t mean that the others are dead men. Leaders ought to put structures in place to enable their followers do greater works than them.
At a recent Christ Lifeline’s executives meetings, we had a post-event evaluation of the Ilorin World Outreach Convention (WoC) that took place on 11 May 2013. Ilorin WoC 2013 was the first time I had deliberately decided not to attend a major event, so I was curious as to the outcome of the event. I asked the other executives how it went and if they missed me. Lanre Durowoju replied – “we didn’t miss you at all. Adeyiga Awomuti delivered a powerful message and the manifestation of the Spirit was awesome. Some people have called after the event to share testimonies of healings and transformation”. I muttered a delighted “thank you Jesus”. I informed the team that it was evident that we can function in the absence of the President and that was my intention for not attending this meeting. More so, one of the greatest tests of a leader is “reproduction”, and my desire, in the coming years, is to see our leaders and partners do what I do in ministry in greater dimensions.
It may sound like a tough call, but that is the example we see with Jesus Christ. Jesus spent about 3 years with His 12 disciples when He was physically present on earth, and when He left, almost all of them could do what He did, some did even greater works. I like the way Apostle John described their experience with Jesus in 1 John 1:1 (GW). He said – “The Word of life existed from the beginning. We have heard it. We have seen it. We observed and touched it.” They went beyond just seeing Jesus’ works and hearing Him; they touched Him; they experienced Him; they observed His process and products. That is reproduction! Unfortunately in our day, many followers just “see and hear”. That is why it is common to hear us start every “religious statement” with – “my mentor said” because we have not observed and experienced “what we see and hear”. Can followers today do 10% of what our leaders in the kingdom do, especially in the leader’s absence? Leaders in the Kingdom must consciously strive to develop better leaders. Many leaders in the world strive to ensure that their followers are not as knowledgeable or powerful as they are. In Christianity however, leaders ought to put structures in place to make their followers outperform them. The realm in which we operate is one where “a success” without many great successors is a failure and every leader must be committed to raising committed leaders.
In our early days in ministry, we used to long to stand before 10,000 people (or more) at a time to preach the gospel. But as we grow spiritually, our focus has shifted to – how can we raise 10,000 people to do what we do in God’s kingdom, in even greater dimensions? In 2 Timothy 2:2 (CEV), Paul told Timothy –“You have often heard me teach. Now I want you to tell these same things to followers who can be trusted to tell others.” This refers to reproduction – getting followers to start exhibiting leadership dispositions in the same measure as Paul. In Titus 1:5 (GW), Paul told Titus – “I left you in Crete to do what still needed to be done-appointing spiritual leaders in every city as I directed you.” This is our motivation in Christ Lifeline; we don’t want to lead “10,000 inactive people” who are spiritually weak, lethargic and content with being prayed over; we want to raise “10,000 foot soldiers” who will go to into the field of life, crush the adversary and get supernatural results everywhere they go. Some of the followers we bring up may end up attempting to sabotage the ministry however we should not be deterred from obeying the Word. Every ministry is likely to have a Judas Iscariot but we must trust God to deal with problematic situations or people we encounter in obeying his instructions. I am trusting God that in the next 10 years, we would have put in place stronger and better structures to enable others identify purpose, execute divine mandates, win many souls to God’s kingdom, and develop the next generation of leaders.
If you have a passion to function at this level described above but you are currently “inactive” or not operating in “full bars”, please join me by 2pm on 20 July 2013 as we celebrate our 10thanniversary. We would be sharing on the theme: Plugging into the present move of the Spirit. The venue is Bellus Court, 7A Akin Adesanya Street, Off Town Planning Way, Ilupeju Lagos. You can reach me at tope.aladenusi@christlifeline.org and we will forward an invitation letter to you.
Shalom!
– Tope S. Aladenusi
Have you ever sent your child, servant or subordinate on an errand to perform a task who shows unwillingness to do so? Imagine such a child, servant or subordinate murmuring or frowning his face and reluctantly left to perform the task. He came back after a while with the job well done but not without his frowning face, murmuring lips and dragging feet. How will you feel towards him though he performed the task well?
On the other hand, you might have found yourself in a situation where your boss, parent or pastor asked you to do something at a time when you are not willing or in a mood to do such, though you wished to do it. Since you couldn’t disobey him, you eventually went ahead to do the job against your will, having a feeling of being forced to do it. Can you really do it with excitement, and derive fulfilment and satisfaction? I guess the whole time you spent on the job will be miserable just because it was done with lack of interest.
In my years of service to God, I’ve seen and heard Christians times without number complain about their work for God. It is obvious from their words, actions and lifestyle that they are not doing the work willingly. They murmur about the time they spend for church service, meetings, choir practice, and others. They complain that the church/ministry work is affecting their work, business, family, leisure and social life. The truth is that this attitude is harmful to their progress and will not benefit them at all. A careful look at their life will show you how stagnant and unproductive they are. It is high time such attitude is dropped.
God’s commandment is this “Do all things without murmurings and disputing”. Philippians 2:14. When you murmur or complain, you disobey God; and He is not pleased with anyone who does so! Any labour that is done with such attitude is wasted and has no reward.
Dearly beloved, do not be carried away with so many church activities that are not beneficial to your spiritual growth, be diligent to do the work with a perfect heart. Graduate from the class of those who complain about anything they do in church, so that your labour will not be in vain. The next time your pastor or leader ask you to do something, endeavour to do it heartily, cheerfully, willingly, as unto the Lord. Are you a pastor, Sunday school teacher, children minister, chorister, usher, missionary, church member? Whoever you are and whatever you do for the Lord, do it with understanding. Do not murmur. Do not complain; for God loves a cheerful giver. He will surely reward your labour of love.
But how can you really work for the Lord your God with understanding? How can you take up responsibilities in ministry without complaining? How will you spend several hours in leaders’ meetings that affect your business time without murmuring? The answer is right there in the word of God and we will discuss this together in the second part of this message. I love you.
– segun eshorun
How are leaders developed? Some argue that leaders are born while others assert that leaders are made. In my view, leaders are both born and made. Study a few kids in the playground and you will see that in-built in some of them are qualities of leadership. They just lead and others follow. This may be proof that leaders are born that way…. however this is not a doctrine. It is just a truth. And the Church today has the challenge of ensuring that we do not relegate our young children to the backstage but help them develop leadership skills.
In the same way, several people develop leadership qualities as a result of experiences of failures, war, other challenges and childhood events. However, the key to leadership development lies not in these experiences whether good or bad but in people’s responses to those experiences.
Today, it will be rewarding to study how God develops leadership qualities in His people. A Fuller Seminary Professor, Robert Clinton in “The Making of a Leader” enumerated six stages of leadership development from God’s methodology as revealed in scriptures. I kind of agree with his theory. In this study we will look at his theory and my personal meditations on leadership development.
The six foundations include: 1) Sovereign Foundations, 2) Inner Life Growth, 3) Ministry Maturing, 4) Life Maturing 5) Convergence and 6) Celebration or Afterglow.
The first phase of leadership development recognizes the sovereignty of God in our affairs. There is really not much any of us can do about where we were born, our nationality and the financial status of our parents. God in His awesome way sorts all these out Himself. This is very influential on the way we perceive and manifest leadership skills. Like the Psalmist said, “Yet You are He Who took me out of the womb; You made me hope {and} trust when I was on my mother’s breasts” Ps 22:9 Amp.
This is a stage we can do nothing about. But it is great to know that the Lord has plans for us to do us good. His thoughts are always of good and not evil to give us a hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11.
Keep trust in Him. He will make you the leader worth emulating.
– david sanda
http://www.davidsanda.org/cyberword/
