The importance of church leadership

Throughout my three-and-a-half decades of ministry I have noticed that leadership is lacking in many churches. Pastors are often content to manage their churches, not lead them. Those who do attempt to provide some leadership often lead by consensus. It's like the politician who has to check with the latest polls before taking a stand on an issue.

A politician was once asked his opinion on a certain issue. He responded that some of his friends were for it and some were opposed to it. He was asked again his opinion, and he replied that he agreed with his friends. Sounds like what happens in many of our churches.

Many, many times I've written in this blog that everything rises and falls on leadership. No organization, including churches, can rise higher than its leadership. When the pastor is a leader he or she will attract other leaders. Leaders are drawn to other leaders.

Go to some larger church's websites and look at the pictures of the staff serving that church. Don't limit yourself to just the well-known churches led by celebrity pastors. Pick an state and a denomination and begin to click on the websites listed there. I did this earlier in the week and was amazed at how often the larger churches had a staff that appeared to be sharp and on top of their ministries. I realize you can't tell much from looking at pictures, and some of these people may have been dumber than a bowl of soup, but as I read their bios I doubt that was the case. My first thought was the senior pastor must be a good leader or there would not be so many other leaders willing to serve those churches. It didn't surprise me that these were some of the largest churches in their communities.

Pastoral ministry is challenging, and when the pastor seeks to lead the church rather than merely manage the machinery, it can become even tougher. Many pastors have the scars to prove how challenging leading can be, but they can also point to great successes that occurred because they dared to lead. Jesus never promised that following Him would be easy. In fact, He consistently taught just the opposite. For those of us in leadership, it can be even more challenging, but lead we must.

Are you leading your church into the future God desires for it, or are you willing to manage it until you can move on to another church? Our churches are crying out for leadership even if they don't know it. Give them the leadership they need.