The Art Of Leadership

In the western world today there is a crisis of leadership – whether in the church or outside. It's true in schools, in the health service, in business - such as in the railways, in government and in the family. The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, was criticised in the recent fuel protest for being out of touch and arrogant. In America they have struggled to elect a leader. Here the F.A. couldn't find a home - grown England manager!

Many schools have difficulty finding new head teachers. Some Church of England schools, especially in the North, don't get any applications from committed born again Christian teachers who have leadership skills for the post of head. No doubt some people are put off by the workload and others maybe feel they haven't been trained for such a responsibility.

Certainly training for Christian leaders whether in schools or in churches does need an overhaul. In America they're now saying that seminaries can be cemeteries. Yet how we need to pray for more Christian head teachers to be appointed as they can, under God, have a profound impact on the life of a school, on the lives of the children and young people and even on the community the school serves. Perhaps God is calling some of you here tonight into school teaching and some of you to be leaders in our schools. Will you respond?

Last week there was a report on the radio about a management crisis in the health service and in one Oxford hospital in particular where it was said the hospital was becoming increasingly dysfunctional as a result. But then managers are not always leaders. Bishops in the Church of England now often have a managerial role rather than a leadership role, unlike the overseers in Ephesus in Acts 20, and often they end up managing decline. There is also an absence of godly leadership in much of the wider church. As a result there is a lack of vision and certainly the Church of England is becoming more and more dysfunctional. It was reported last weekend that two Church of England dioceses are almost bankrupt. As the Bible says: "Where there is no vision the people perish". (Proverbs 29:18 KJV) Or as the NIV translates it: "Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint".

Last Monday in the House of Lords four Anglican bishops voted for the government's bill to legalise homosexual sex for 16 year olds. There are now 13 openly practising homosexual clergy on the General Synod of the Church of England with no apparent action being taken by even evangelical leaders within the Synod. Who will guard against and fight the wolves and the wolves in sheep's clothing warned of by Paul in Acts 20:29-30 and by Jesus in Matthew 7:15 and as true shepherds do, as Jesus said in John 10? Some people in the wider church don't seem to realise the importance of competent godly leadership. Yet it is a gift of God given to some for the good of the church. Listen to Romans 12:5-8:

…in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us …If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership let him govern diligently…

Those with the gift of leadership are to govern diligently, which means they are to govern with care and effort. Not all are leaders. There are other gifts. Remember that no single gift is better than another gift, nor is one believer superior to any other because of the gift that has been entrusted to them. Notice too that not all teachers are necessarily also leaders. So what is Christian leadership? One definition is this by an American church analyst:

"A Christian leader is someone who is called by God to lead and possess virtuous character and effectively motivates, mobilizes resources, and directs people toward the fulfilment of a jointly embraced vision from God". (Barna)

This was true of Paul. Here we have three C's of leadership – calling, character and competence. God's calling is the necessary starting point in the life of a leader. So if you're not called don't do it! Paul was called (Acts 9:5-15). The scope of leadership God expects most people to provide does not extend beyond their immediate family – though of course that is very important. But some will be called to Christian leadership in the church.

A godly character is another mark of a Christian leader. And another is leadership competence – having skills that enable leaders get results. For example, look at vv.17-18. Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church and they came. So let's now look further at the art of leadership from this passage in Acts 20, where Paul gives one of the first leadership training seminars to the elders of the church at Ephesus, as he bids them farewell and commits them to God. You see Paul was concerned for the future leadership of the church, especially with the rise of wolves or false teachers.


First, PAUL'S EXAMPLE: how he lived and what he preached

Leadership involves leading by example, by the example of Christ, by practising what you preach. Apparently my football team lost to West Ham yesterday because no-one led by example. We can learn from Paul's example. Look at vv.18-21. Paul said to the leaders:

"You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, although I was severely tested by the plots of the Jews. You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus".

Leaders are then to:

Serve the Lord with great humility and with tears. Christian leaders are to serve the Lord, they are not to serve other masters such as money or their own selfish ambition, they are to serve Christ and all those he has entrusted to their care. Jesus said:

"You cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve both God and Money". (Matthew 6:24)

And Christian leaders are to serve by leading. But they are to do so with great humility – refusing to claim anything for themselves and not by forcing their will on the people. Godly Christian leaders I've had the privilege of working with have all been marked by an out an out commitment to serving the Lord and to spreading the gospel and by humility. The Lord Jesus himself said to his disciples:

"You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many". (Mark 10:42-45)

Our attitude, whether leaders or not, should be the same as that of Christ Jesus who took

the very nature of a servant and humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross,

as we remember in this Communion service (Philippians 2:5-8).

Serve the Lord with great humility and with tears. Which doesn't mean that leaders go around crying all the time but rather that they have a personal concern for all those in their flock. I've seen some of those godly Christian leaders I mentioned a moment ago in tears both literally and not over converts concerned for their maturity (cf Colossians 1:28-29).

Leadership involves hard work, sacrifice and pain. Paul served the Lord with great humility and with tears in Ephesus despite being tempted to give up because of the plots of the Jews. Leaders will face opposition but they are not to lose heart or give up or give in or have the same attitude as their opponent. They have also to be able to take criticism and weigh it. Rather they are to continue with the task the Lord has given them faithfully and diligently in his strength guided by the Spirit. Leaders need our prayers (Eph.6:10-20).

Christian leaders are also to: Proclaim the whole will of God Paul did not hesitate, v.27, to proclaim to them the whole will or counsel of God, even though he was under pressure from the Jews. The whole of the Bible's teaching. V.20:

"I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house".

A summary of his preaching comes in v.21:

"I declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus".

It was evangelism in depth. Christian leaders are to preach the whole gospel, even though some will not welcome the truth. And they must also be concerned to build up the body of Christ and to teach future leaders, as Paul taught these Ephesian elders. Paul was taking the Ephesian church through a first century Moore Course, so to speak, as only an Apostle could. If you're a leader in this church have you been through at least part of the Moore Course?

Paul's ministry was selfless, faithful and earnest. He taught publicly and from house to house, which reminds me of Richard Baxter, a church leader of the seventeenth century, who visited 800 families a year proclaiming the gospel and teaching the Bible. Now there's a challenge! Laziness is not an option for faithful Christian leaders. There were future challenges for Paul too but he was determined to:

Finish the race and complete the task Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace, which, of course, he'd experienced. Even though that task will lead to prison and hardship, v.23. Leaders are to finish the race and complete the task Jesus has given them. There will be times when we might want to bottle out of that task. Or we might have a seemingly better offer. Or we might simply ask why me Lord? Paul didn't here. He was compelled by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem and he considers his life worth nothing to him, if only he may finish the race and complete the task the Lord has given him.

Again his ministry and leadership were selfless. Maybe some of the Ephesian elders were struggling with their future challenge knowing that Paul would not be with them. Well here Paul leads from the front. He knows that the soul of true leadership is to ask nothing of one's followers that you are not prepared to do first. Look at vv.26&27:

"I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God".

As a watchman who warns people faithfully of the coming of an enemy is not guilty so Paul was innocent as he had proclaimed the whole gospel to all. So…


Secondly, PAUL'S CHARGE: Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers…

Look at v.28 of Acts 20. Leaders are to pay attention to their own spiritual condition as well as that of the church (1 Timothy 4:16). If it is poor then we won't have much to give. What is our spiritual condition at the moment? Are we praying and reading God's Word? What are our relationships like with others at present? What about our relationship with the Lord? In this Communion service we are asked to examine ourselves.

Be shepherds of the church of God which he bought with his own blood The pastoral oversight of the church belongs ultimately to God himself. The church is God's church. They are the flock of God the Father purchased by the precious blood of God the Son, and supervised by overseers appointed by God the Holy Spirit. If the three persons of the Trinity are thus committed to the welfare of the people, should we not be also? Those of us who have pastoral leadership responsibilities should be humbled by the fact that the church is not ours but God's. We should also be inspired to faithfulness as we remember how valuable each sheep is in God's sight. Richard Baxter, who I mentioned earlier, wrote a book called 'The Reformed Pastor' is an exposition of this verse, v.28 of Acts 20. He writes this:

"Oh then, let us hear these arguments of Christ, whenever we feel ourselves grow dull and careless: 'Did I die for them, and will you not look after them? Were they worth my blood are they not worth your labour? Did I come down from heaven to earth, to seek and to save that which was lost; and will you not go to the next door or street or village to seek them? How small is your labour and condescension as to mine? I debased myself to this, but it is your honour to be so employed. Have I done and suffered so much for their salvation; and was I willing to make you a co-worker with me, and will you refuse that little that lies upon your hands?

Be on your guard! Vv.29-31:

"I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard!

Wolves were the chief enemy of sheep in Paul's day. Sheep were defenceless against them so the shepherd had to be constantly vigilant. So do the shepherds of Christ's flock. As we've seen Jesus warned of false prophets – wolves in sheep's clothing.

So pastors today should both feed the sheep and protect them from wolves by warning them of error. Indeed we are to refute error and discipline those who are in error. We are to fight the wolves. But the church today is very weak on this. At meetings I've been to with bishops they are always saying we must always be positive in our teaching and never negative. That is not the teaching of the NT.

Surely one reason why there is so much theological confusion today is the lack of action against false teaching. If, when false teaching arises, Christian leaders sit idly by and do nothing, or turn tail and flee, they will earn the terrible label 'hirelings' who care nothing for Christ's flock. Then too it will be said of believers, as it was of Israel, that "they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild animals". (Ezekiel 34:5)


Thirdly, TRUST GOD Paul's final words to the Ephesian elders begin thus in v.32:

"Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified".

Paul commits the leaders to God and to his care. Paul won't be seeing them again. He has been involved in training them and teaching them. Now they are put in the hands of God and placed under the word of grace, the word of his grace, which builds up Christians and makes them mature, "which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified". The primary reference is to Scripture. Jesus is the lining Word revealed in the Scripture who gave himself up for the church. One Christian leader from 200 years ago, Charles Simeon, said:

"The Holy Scriptures are justly called the word of God's grace because they contain a wonderful revelation of grace sufficient for our every want. By that the whole work of grace may be carried on and perfected within us. It is by that that we are at first begotten to God: and by that shall we be nourished unto life eternal."

Leaders are to trust God and take their orders, as it were, from him and his word. He will sustain them and feed them spiritually. A leader-like man

does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. (Mt 4:4)

Who pastors the pastor? God himself. Trust him. Don't covet anyone's silver or gold or clothing. There's no need to. Rather be examples of selfless giving and of helping the weak, of practical godliness. "It is more blessed to give than to receive". The church needs leaders today who are trusting God, who are submitting to the authority of God's Word, to Jesus Christ as Lord, who are not seeking men's approval but God's, who are willing to live by faith and step out in faith and take initiatives under God. Is God calling you?

We see here too that the art of leadership involves the art of delegation. Delegation to the right people, which of course demands right judgement which means leaders are to be people of prayer. Paul was compelled by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. He had to delegate further to those called by God and trained by him. He had to turn the church over to the nationals. Who are we, if we're in a leadership position, delegating to? Who are we helping to train? If we are not we are preventing growth – both of individuals and of the church.

So to conclude. We have seen something of Paul's leadership – his faithful work, his trusting in God despite uncertainties in the future, his readiness to die for the sake of Christ and his teaching of them, equipping them to take on the responsibility of leading the church themselves under God. And godly leaders today are to be faithful, giving themselves to the service of the church as freely as Paul had done, communicating God's vision, proclaiming the whole gospel, telling the truth, fighting the false, led by the Spirit, training others called by God. Like the Ephesians we stand under God's blessing and under the command of the Lord Jesus to give freely and help the weak. Is God calling you?