What makes a faithful and fruitful ministry leader? Here are five things I believe characterize great Kingdom leaders*:
Jesus-loving. Faith in Jesus is the fuel that makes any of the rest of it run. This ought to go without saying … but it has to be said because some of us have forgotten why we’re in this. But listen: Unless you are completely sold out to Jesus and obsessed with seeing his Kingdom come and his will be done, none of the rest of this matters. There is no other reason to take up space in the world of ministry.
We do ministry because we are passionate about seeing the Kingdom of Jesus Christ manifested on earth, as it is in Heaven. We are not focused not on building our own church or building our own kingdom or proving ourselves so we can get past our inadequacy issues. We are focused on building the Kingdom of God because we so desperately love, honor and adore Jesus Christ and are driven to make his name famous.
Vision-centered. If faith is the fuel, then vision is the destination. Every project, ministry, group and movement needs a focus. What is it God has called you to? What specific people, what specific work? Not every good idea is God’s idea for you. Have you spent time slogging through all the possibilities to settle on the place where God’s call, your passion and the world’s need intersect?
Team-focused. After I’ve fueled up and set my GPS, then I have to figure out who is on this bus with me. My team is the people I want riding with me. What would be the point of driving an empty bus?
In the Kingdom of God, there are no lone rangers. It makes absolutely no sense that we should believe this about every other ministry except the one we’d rather do by ourselves (read, “except the one we’d rather control”). A true leader will see the team as the key to success, and will focus on building an exceptional, self-actualized, authority-claiming team that works. Every single ministry needs a team, and an authentic leader will pour into that team so the team can pour into others, so that the net for catching people is as wide and strong as possible.
People-crazy. Contrary to what we may sometimes be tempted to think, people are not the problem in ministry. People are the prize! God loves people. We know this because Jesus shows us the heart of God and Jesus loves people. He ate with sinners. He had patience for people who didn’t get it. He looked on the most desperate, difficult people with compassion.
Jesus loved people and more than anything, wanted to see them set free. And if that is what Jesus wants then that is what we want, too. That ought to be our driving passion. Everything we plan and implement and work toward ought to be with the goal in mind of seeing people set free to love and worship God. If no one gets set free, why would we bother?
Systems-minded. Effective ministry doesn’t “just happen.” Ministries that build the Kingdom require team-led systems that can bear the weight of growth. My biggest mistake as a church planter — hands down, no question about it — was not becoming a passionate student of systems from day one. I had no idea just how much this would hamper growth in the long run. If faith is the fuel and vision is the destination, then systems are the vehicle that get us from well-meaning intention to an effort-worthy destination. Systems matter and learning to build them and sustain them is the passion of any effective leader.
Do you have a system for recruiting gifted people into your team? Do you have a system for developing that team for more effective ministry? Do you have a training system, scheduling system, follow-up system? Do you have a system for taking people someplace spiritually?
Systems are the key to productivity. I can’t emphasize this enough.
Production-defined. Jesus said we’d be known by our fruit. This means that at the end of the day, a leader has to produce; otherwise, by definition they aren’t a leader. Good ideas are not the fruit of leadership; productivity is. In ministry, productivity is defined as people saved, people moving forward in faith, people connecting to community, people becoming confident enough in their faith to attract other people to Jesus …
Let’s be real here. Sabbath is a necessity. Taking time daily to sit in the presence of God and talk and listen is critical to spiritual growth. Those things are central to a growing faith, but those things are not the end product. Leaders begin there, but they don’t end there.
Faith is the fuel that feeds our productivity.
Think of it this way. What good would it do to spend money filling up your tank with gas if you
don’t intend to go anywhere? Similarly, what good would it do to fill up your tank with gas, then drive around alone and aimlessly all day until the gas runs out? Why bother getting in the bus at all if you don’t plan to go anywhere?
Productivity matters. It defines fruitful ministry. It happens as we cast a God-honoring vision, focus on teams, get clear about the people we’re called to reach (and get our hearts broken for them), set priorities and put systems in place, and then stay disciplined in the work so God can begin to build something through us.
Jesus said it first: the fields are white for harvest, but the laborers are few. The Kingdom starves for Jesus-loving, vision-centered, team-focused, people-crazy, systems-minded, production-defined leaders who are ready to do the work of ministry.
