Where's God in Your Plans?

Pastors, God has commissioned you to make disciples.

God has gifted you to equip your church members for ministry.

And God has committed you to train up not one generation of leaders but to oversee the training of two additional generations of leaders.

But are you? Are you doing these things?

I know I have struggled to develop leaders. Why? One reason is that I got busy doing church. Each week was filled with sermon prep and then preaching; administration, phone calls, visits.

Nothing wrong with that. But weeks would go by, then months. And before you know it a year has passed and I still have not developed a leader.

But that’s changing. And I want to share with you how it is changing and what you can do to develop the next generation of leaders at your church.

This is Mark Jones and you are listening to Coaching Christian Leaders.

Today we are going to answer an all-important question. And we must know the answer to move forward in our leadership development.

Here’s the question – How do you know if God is in favor of your plans?

Does God support what you are planning?

Let me share with you something that I do. And always when I do it I regret it.

I get a great idea.

I develop a plan.

I identify the resources.

I contact the people.

And I forge ahead.

But I forget to do one thing. And because I forget this, often my plans fall flat.

What do I forget to do? I forget to include the Lord. I forget to seek His help and I forget to commit this plan or this idea to God. And you know what happens? Eventually, nothing, because God has not established these plans.

If you have listened to the first 3 episodes on Leadership Development maybe you have noticed that I have yet to identify a person to train. I have not covered how to select a candidate. That’s on purpose. We are going to lay this whole thing out before we go and identify and recruit trainees.

You see I am taking the Field of Dreams approach.

Maybe you saw the Kevin Costner film where Kevin Costner’s character, a farmer, hears a voice in the cornfields “Build it and they will come.”

And so he does just that. He builds a baseball field.

That’s what I am proposing. We are going to build a leadership development program before we even pick out a candidate to go through the program. We are going to create each step and then we are going to ask God to give us the leaders to train.

But what if we do all this planning and fail to include God in the effort? It’s possible that when the system is finished there will not be a candidate because we did not include God in the planning.

So let’s bring God in now before we get too far down the road.

Open your Bibles to Proverbs 16 and let’s consider the first three verses.

I’ll read from the King James Version initially.

The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord. 2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits. 3 Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.

Of the three verses, verse one is the most difficult one for me to understand.

The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord.

So I read through some commentaries, especially those that are language heavy, but they confused me even more.

I also considered other translations. Here’s the ESV.

The plans of the heart belong to man,
    but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

Or how about the NIV?

To humans belong the plans of the heart,
    but from the Lord comes the proper answer of the tongue.

On and on I studied and finally I selected Pastor John MacArthur Jr.’s understanding of the verse. Here is his note from his Study Bible,

“Human responsibility is always subject to God’s absolute sovereignty.”

Dr. MacArthur’s note seems to square with the majority of others and the other two verses, 2-3, support the idea.

“Human responsibility is always subject to God’s absolute sovereignty.”

The Good News Bible translates the verse with the idea that Dr. MacArthur is teaching.

We may make our plans, but God has the last word

We can make all the plans we want. And we should do so. But always remember, God is ultimately in control, especially when it concerns His church.

Now let’s consider verses 2

2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits.

When we plan, according to verse 2, when we develop systems and programs, there is nothing wrong with that, but...we can be deceived. We can even deceive our own selves.

We can with good intention come up with plans and programs that are in conflict with God’s Word.

Maybe we find or develop something that is completely out of step with God and His Word.

Verse 2 teaches that God weighs our ideas. He examines our motives. He determines the truth in our plans.

So if we can even trick our own selves into a less than perfect idea, what can we do?

The answer is in verse three.

3 Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.

Every step of the way, roll out your plan before God. Show it all to God. Commit your work to God and He will establish it. He will fulfill it.

So how do you do that?

First, see if the Bible supports your ideas.

In our project, Leadership Development, we know that God is all for church leadership. The Bible devotes many verses to leadership. The roles of teachers, deacons, and elders come right from God. So we know that developing leaders is something God is for.

This is important in our understanding of God’s will. Many years ago Garry Friesen’s book Decision Making and the Will of God heavily influenced my thinking.

If you’ve read it then you either love Mr. Friesen’s approach or you hate it. I get that. But we can all agree on this. The Bible is the complete understanding of God’s moral will.

So when we develop anything, we must line it up next to Scripture. If what we are creating is in disagreement with the Bible then it is out of God’s will, His moral will.

Scripture then is the first filter.

But what if what you are developing is not addressed in the Bible? Well according to Mr. Friesen then you have the freedom to create it.

Every pastor should read Decision Making and the Will of God. We will call it our first recommended book for this Leadership Development program. If you’ve never read it then there will be a link in the show notes of this episode and a link on my Resources Page at CoachingChristianLeaders.com

 

So remember what we learned in Proverbs 16.

• Your plans are always subject to God’s absolute sovereignty.
• God is going to weigh out your plans. He will test your motives and look for the truth in them.
• So lay out your planning before God and ask Him for His help and for His blessing.

Whatever you do, don’t do like I have in the past and get months into development before you remember to bring God into the planning. Now is the time to begin to share every idea you have with God. Ask Him to test you and your motives.

At the very end of Proverbs 16 we find this verse.

The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.

I used to paraphrase this verse to my kids when we played Monopoly. I would say to them, “You can shake and blow on those dice all day long but God is the one who determines the numbers. So blame God when you have to go to jail or pay the rent at Park Place.”

As we create our plans and programs make sure God is included. Make certain you remember that He is in control and He will direct your steps.

When you cannot get a biblical understanding of your plans, then go ahead and dream and create. But also ask God to weigh your motives and your methods. Ultimately we want God to bless our efforts.

Thanks so much for listening to Coaching Christian Leaders. I would love it if you would review this podcast. You can do so wherever you listen.

Recently the podcast was picked up by Gaana and Deezer. I am very grateful to both Deezer and Gaana for taking us on. Welcome new listeners. Make sure you subscribe to the podcast where you listen.. That way you will never miss an episode.

I will be with you next week.

Resources Mentioned

The MacArthur Study Bible

Decision Making and the Will of God by Garry Friesen

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Without This, Your Leadership Development Will Fail

Often when we start a new project, when we begin to develop a new program, if we are lacking a certain ingredient, if we do not have one specific emotion, the project withers and dies.

But when we possess it we will see the project through.

This is Mark Jones the host of Coaching Christian Leaders and today I will share with you that one essential ingredient you must have to move your leadership development program forward.

When we last met, you were taking your first steps in leadership development.

You determined the leadership position to develop and then you created a one-page job description for that position.

If you have not done that then take a few minutes to do so.

What is that position you wish to develop?

I am working on developing elders. Maybe you need to create youth leaders or build up your children’s staff. Maybe it’s a deacon or women’s ministry leader. Whatever, you need to identify it and then create a simple job description.

In the last episode, I encouraged you to ask yourself this question – Why does my church need this leader now? And I wanted you to link your answer to your church’s mission statement.

Here’s is what I mean by that. Our church’s mission statement is To Share Christ and Build Disciples.

So when I ask myself Why does my church need elders now? – the answer must satisfy the mission statement. I need elders now to build more disciples.

If your need does not satisfy your mission statement, then pick a different leader to develop.

If you want some additional help with these steps just grab my worksheet titled First Steps. You can find it at CoachingChristianLeaders.com on the Worksheets tab.

The First Steps Worksheet covers this episode and the previous two episodes. You can use it by yourself or print multiple copies and use it with your team. Go to CoachingChristianLeaders.com, open up the Worksheets tab, and grab your copy.

Five Coaching Questions

Today we are going to cultivate something essential. Very early in the creation of this leadership development program, we need this essential ingredient or the process will fail.

What is it? It is a sense of Urgency.

Why urgency?

Without urgency, there will be no lasting motivation to take this on. There will be no passion in the process. And when there is no sense of urgency there is no forward momentum.

How do create urgency? You will create urgency by answering the following coaching questions.

So grab a piece of paper and something to write with or grab the First Steps Worksheet and let’s create some urgency.

In order to create a sense of urgency, I am going to ask you five coaching questions. Take the time to honestly and fully answer each question.

I wish I was sitting across from you. When I personally coach pastors, it is questions like the following five that I ask. And pastors grow dramatically as they think and answer each question.

When I coach a pastor we explore each response and dive deep into the pastor’s situation.

Since I am working with you via a podcast I want to encourage you to answer each question fully and honestly. Bounce these questions and your answers off of a close friend or mentor. Better yet, discuss them with a key leader in your church.

Here’s question number one.

1. Without this leader what is the current situation at your church?

Take a minute and think this through. Then write down a short paragraph that explains the current situation without this leader. You are trying to assess the impact not having this leader makes on your church.

I told you that I am working on developing some new elders. But for this question, I’ll use a different need as an example.

I need a Children’s Ministry Director, someone to pull together our different children’s ministry teams and give them focus, training, and support.

I have a Pioneer Club Director. I have someone overseeing Children’s Church. I do not have anyone overseeing Children’s Sunday school and I do not have a Children’s Ministry Director.

Without this position filled and developed the different children’s ministries never coordinate with one another. The staff that teach the kids during Sunday School, mid-week Pioneer Clubs, and Children’s Church never go to any training. And we are really dropping the ball in how we minister to kids.

So what about you? Without this leader what is the current situation at your church?

2. What could be the situation at your church when this leadership position is filled?

Wow, what a question! Let your imagination run wild. Envision what could be if you had this position filled and functioning at its fullest potential.

Using my example of a Children’s Ministry Director, I see kids coming to Christ. I see staff connecting, coordinating, and serving at a high level. I see families growing in their faith.  I see a focused, trained, and supported children’s staff.

What could be the situation at your church when this leadership position is filled and the leader fully developed?

Here comes question number three. It’s time to dive deeper into creating a sense of urgency.

3. Is the development of this position something that could be done or should be done?

Think about that question for a second. Is the development of this position something that could be or should be done?

What’s the difference between could and should? Could means that it can be done. It is a position that could be filled and developed. But something that should be done is something that must happen. You must fill this position. You must develop this leader. If you do not, there will be negative consequences.

Only move forward in developing this position if the answer is “should be.”

Just because you can do something is not a reason to do it.

Only move forward if your answer is “should be.”

4. How will you feel if this leader is not developed?

I want you to tell me how it will hurt if you do not develop this leader?

A sense of urgency comes when we know something should be accomplished and when we feel the hurt if it does not come to pass.

If I do not develop a children’s ministry director, then kids and families will not grow in their faith. It is possible that kids in our community will not hear the gospel; at least from us. This greatly concerns me. And if I put names and faces to it, if I envision who it actually affects, then my heart breaks.

How will you feel if this leader is not developed?

And here is the final question.

5. What are you willing to sacrifice to develop this leader?

This is a tough question for me to ask because often the answer is time. It takes time to identify, train, and place a leader. And time is something most pastors do not have.

If “time” is what you are willing to sacrifice, let me encourage you. The time you invest in leadership development you will receive back in spades once the leader is serving.

Maybe “time” is not the answer you came up with.

What are you willing to sacrifice to develop this leader?

As you think about the answer, compare the thing sacrificed to the potential gain once the position is developed.

You have to sow to reap.

Those are the five questions to create urgency.

I have created for you a worksheet that covers the first three episodes on Leadership Development. To get this worksheet go to Coaching Christian Leaders and click the link in the Worksheet Tab. There you can grab a copy of the First Steps Worksheet.

How Can I Help You?

These are typical coaching questions I ask my team and I ask those that I coach. When I provide personal coaching, these five questions take about an hour or more to cover.

Why does it take so long? Because when the client answers, we explore the answer and dive deep into the actual situation at their church.

Maybe that is something you need. Maybe you or your team needs some personal coaching. Email me at Mark@CoachingChristianLeaders.com and let’s set something up. A few sessions of coaching can be an amazing experience. And you will get the personal touch that this podcast can’t provide.

Just email me at Mark@CoachingChristianLeaders.com and let’s explore some personal or team coaching to move your ministry forward.

Thanks for listening to Coaching Christian Leaders. I will see you next week.

Please share this episode with others!

The Future of Church Staffing

Matt Lombardi and Rachel Baird share their expertise on church staffing. Both are with Shaar.Work. Shaar is a platform that connects Christian freelancers and contractors with churches.

Shaar.Work is a wonderful resource for both small and large churches. 

I really do appreciate both Matt and Rachel taking the time to explain their service Shaar.work. I learned a great deal from both Matt and Rachel. Shaar.Work can be a great resource for small and large churches. And I believe they are on the cutting edge of church staffing. So check them out at Shaar.Work.

Contact Information

Website: Shaar.Work

Matt's email: Matt@Shaar.Work

Rachel's email: Rachel@Shaar.Work

Closing Thoughts

Next week I will be back with another episode on How to Develop church leaders. If you like the Coaching Christian Leaders podcast, then share this episode with other pastors. Maybe you're in a pastor's Facebook group or a member of a ministerium. Email or post a link to Coaching Christian Leaders.com and encourage them to check it out. Email them a link to this episode or some of the others I have published.

Thanks to all who listen. This is Mark Jones. I will speak to you next week.

Please share this episode with others!

Step One of Leadership Development

Intro

What‘s stopping your church from fulfilling the Great Commission? What is stopping your church from sharing Christ with your community, building small groups or Sunday School classes, from staffing children’s ministries?

You might say, “I don’t have enough people. I’m boiled down to just a faithful few and we’re doing all we can. And we can’t do any more than we currently do.”

But here’s another reason. And I will use myself.

The reason we were falling short...The reason we were not fulfilling the Great Commission is that we were just doing church and not intentionally developing leaders.

 

This is Mark Jones and I help pastors create leaders.

Now is the time to get intentional and begin to create a system that will develop future leaders.

In the last episode, I presented a biblical foundation for Leadership Development. I shared with you three Scripture passages:

• Matthew 28:19-20
• Ephesians 4:11-12
• And 2 Timothy 2:2

I discussed that God has commissioned you to Make Disciples, ;that God has gifted you to Equip the Saints for Ministry, and God has entrusted you with the responsibility to train Multiple Generations of Leaders.

If you have not listened to this episode I recommend that you do so.

Today we will build upon this simple foundation and begin to construct a simple Leadership Development System.

Today is that first step.

Here are a few ground rules for ME as we go forward.

1. Anything I share with you on this podcast must be simple and actionable.
2. The system we create must be attainable by both small churches and large churches.
3. I want to keep these episodes short and give you something you can easily do before the next episode drops. So I will give you a bit of homework.

With that said, let’s get to work.

Step One - The What

Here is our first step in creating a Leadership Development process.

You need to determine the What and the Why of this system.

Let me explain.

You are going to start creating a Leadership Development system by looking at the end of that process, the finish line. I want you to determine the finished product before you determine the system to get there.

To do that, you need to know What you are developing and Why you are developing it.

Here’s an example.

Remember in the last episode I shared with you that my elders were concerned. They felt strongly that we needed some new elders and some new Sunday School teachers.

That then is my What.

What do I need to develop, what kind of leader do I need to develop? I need Elders and Teachers.

Truly my church needs more than that. I could use some new deacons and deaconesses. I could use some new workers in our Children’s Ministry. I could really use someone to develop an outreach team. On and on I could go.

That might be your case as well. You might need all types of leaders. But no church and no pastor can develop all of these at once. So we need to make a choice based on an immediate need. And this immediate need, if developed, will lead to the development of other leaders.

Here is what I mean.

Let’s you and I answer the first question:

What Leaders Do You Need to Develop?

Take a minute to brainstorm and then write down every leader you need to develop.

I’m going to write down Elder, Sunday School Teacher, and I’m going to write down all the others I mentioned – Deacons, Deaconesses, Outreach Team, Children’s Ministry workers.

You do the same – Write down every leadership position you need. Answer the first questions -What Leaders Do You Need to Develop?

So you have before you a list of the leaders you need to develop. 

Out of that list, you need to pick just one. I know you want to develop all but that’s not practical. Choose one.

How do you choose the one? For me, I’m going to listen to my elders. They pointed to the need for new elders and Sunday School teachers. But that’s two, not one.

Then I’m going to think about this – If I develop one of those will that process lead to the development of another. For me the answer is yes.

Here’s what I mean. For the most part, our adult Sunday School classes are led by our elders. If I develop elders I am also developing Sunday School teachers.

I can pull back and look at this another way.

If I develop men I can then begin to identify those who would function well as elders and those who may function better as deacons.

That idea takes in the direction of discipleship. I’ll have more to say about how to use discipleship to develop leadership in a future episode.

But going back to the idea of first developing men, I am now setting up the possibility of identifying both elders and deacons and then from that pool of men and developing the leaders.

 

So look at your list. Ask yourself a few questions.

1. What leader do I need to develop that fills the most immediate need?
2. What leader, if developed, will also lead to the development other leaders?

Now that you have determined What Leader to develop it’s time to determine the Why.

Step Two - The Why

Answer this question – Why does this church need a _________________ fill in the blank or Why does this church need this leader?

Why does my church need elders?

I don’t want to get all Simon Sinek on you. Simon Sinek is a leadership expert who has written a few books on Why. His best seller is Start with Why.  If you have 15 minutes I would encourage you to watch his Ted Talk on this subject. I’ll give you a link in the show notes.

Simon Sinek Tead Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=en

I’m going to use the Why question this way. – I’m going to use Why as a filter or a second check.

When you answer the question, Why do I need this leader? In your answer, you should be able to link the need to your church's mission.

I believe God has already given every church its mission statement. He gave it to us in Matthew 28:19-20. Where I pastor we have simplified that commission with this Mission Statement – Our mission is to Share Christ and Build Believers.

When I answer the question Why do I need Elders? It needs to support the mission statement. Our elders definitely play an important role in Building Believers.

So when you answer the Question – Why do I need this leader? – Make sure the need of the leader supports your church’s mission.

If you can’t come up with a good reason why or it does not support the mission then maybe you need to pick a different leader to focus on.

• Step One – Determine What Leader you will develop first.
• Step Two – Ask yourself Why do we need this leader?
• And now Step Three – Write a Job Description for this position.

Step Three - Job Description

This job description is more for you than for them. This step is essential because this description will determine the core of your program.

Writing this Job Description will be your homework. I warned you that I would give you some homework.

Here’s a bit of advice on the Job Description. Keep it short.  Keep that job description to one page typed. And when I say one page I mean just the front, not front and back.

Years ago I wrote a job description for our Sunday School Director position. It was three pages long. No one could grasp what I wanted and it scared away every potential volunteer.

Keep it to one page. This one page will discipline you to really think about what is important for this leader to know and to do – the essentials of this position.

By the way – When you are finished with this job description – email it to me. I would love to see what you have created. You can email it to Mark@CoachingChristianLeaders.com

So today we started at the end of the Leadership Development System.

• to determine the What – What leader do you need to develop?
• To answer the question, Why is does the church need this leader?
• And we finished with some homework – creating a one-page job description for this position.

Conclusion

Thanks for listening to Coaching Christian Leaders.

I hope that what I have shared will help you develop the future leaders of your church. Don’t forget to email me with a copy of your job description.

The next episode will be an interview with Matt Lombardi and Rachel Baird of Shaar.work. Shaar.work is a website that helps you find freelance ministry professionals. I know you will find this interview helpful because Matt has created a website where you can go and hire team members that will fill your church’s immediate ministry needs.

Don’t forget the upcoming Mastermind. I offer two masterminds per year – one in the Spring and one in the Fall.

We all need some advice now and then. With this mastermind, you can sit down with a few fellow pastors and ask them for feedback. They’ll listen to you and then share with you their experience.

Everyone gets to share what they are working on and get feedback from fellow pastors. A mastermind is a great learning experience.

So go to CoachingChristianLeaders.com for more information. I would love for you to be a part of this experience.

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The Biblical Basis for Leadership Development

Opening

Welcome to Coaching Christian Leaders.

I have a question for you.

Are you frustrated with a lack of leadership?

Maybe you want to start a new ministry – but there’s no one to lead it.

Or you look at your current ministries – say your small groups or children’s ministry – and you note that they always depend on the same few people.

That’s dangerous because you are one disgruntled family, one upset person away from the ministry without leadership.

Or maybe you have the people but they never take initiative. They never lead.

If you’re frustrated with a lack of leadership, I understand. I’ve been there. But I’m digging out that hole and I want to share with you how you too can develop leaders.

My name is Mark Jones and I help pastors develop leaders.

Here’s a story that happened to me about a year ago.

I lead a small rural church and I have thee elders.

They are great guys. They love and support me. I really value their insights. But they are getting older. In fact, every one of them is retirement age.

I tell you their general age because it is important to the story.

About a year ago I was in an elders’ meeting.

One of the elders said in the meeting, “We aren’t getting any younger. We need some new elders. Who can we ask?”

Before anyone could answer, another elder chimed in, “We also need some new Sunday School teachers. Who do you think we could ask?”

These men made two important observations and each asked an important question.

They identified a need – new elders and new Sunday School teachers .... And they asked a good question – “Who can we ask to fill this need?”

Their observation and their question pointed out a problem our church had.

Here is what I mean -  when you are looking around a congregation hoping to identify a new leader you are NOT doing ministry the right way.

The wrong way to do ministry is to just do church. We were just doing church. We were not intentionally developing disciples. We were not developing leaders.

When you’re just “Doing Church” one Sunday rolls into the next.

You walk out the door of the church on Sunday. The service is over.

Everyone goes their separate ways.

Then you return again next Sunday and do it all over again.

You do this Sunday in and Sunday out. Week in and week out. And before you know it a year or two have passed and you have done nothing to develop leaders.

Sure you’ve preached some sermons and taught some classes, but you have not developed future leaders.

If you just do church, then this is what happens when a leadership need arises - You either have no one to plug in or you plug anyone in.

If that’s you – You’re just doing church, then this podcast will help you.

Together, the two of us, you and me, we’re going to create a simple leadership development system. So grab a notepad and something to write with and let’s get to work.

Scripture

Today, our first step in Leadership Development is to look at the Scripture and to answer some questions about the current state of our ministry.

These are the three passages we will look at.

• Matthew 28:19-20
• Ephesians 4:11-12
• 2 Timothy 2:2

They’re all familiar passages.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

When do I look at the Great Commission – Matthew 28:19-20 I have a question – What is a disciple?

Jesus has commissioned every church – your church and mine – to make disciples. So what’s a disciple?

• A disciple is basically a believer in Christ.
• A disciple is a follower of Christ.
• A disciple is a student of Christ.
• A disciple is one who makes Jesus’ teaching the pattern for life.
• A disciple is someone who is being transformed daily by Christ.

The reason I point out Matthew 28:19-20 is the fact that Jesus has called us to make these disciples. The church is commissioned to seek out and develop disciples.

Leadership Development is nothing more than discipleship with purpose. With discipleship, you are moving an immature believer to that of a mature believer. You are moving them from baby food to adult food.

Leadership Development rides on this discipleship track.

The Great Commission is giving the church its purpose or mission – To Make these disciples.

Here’s a question for you: What is your church currently doing to make disciples? What is your process? What are your methods of discipleship?

Take a minute, pause this episode, and answer those questions. Here they are again.

1. What is your church currently doing to make disciples?
2. What is your discipleship process?
3. What are your methods of discipleship?

All of these questions are similar. Think about it this way. If someone showed up at your church tomorrow and at the service put their faith in Christ, how would you move that person from a New Believer to that of a Mature Believer? What would be the steps? What are the essentials you would teach that person?

Now Look at Ephesians 4:11-12

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

You know this passage. God has given gifted individuals to the church for a purpose – to equip believers for the work of ministry.

In that list of gifted people can you can find yourself? You are most likely the pastor or pastor-teacher.

Why did God give you to the church?  – to equip believers to do the work.

That word – EQUIP – is translated “perfecting” in the King James. The idea of the word is to SET RIGHT like you set a broken leg.

But I want you to think of it this way. When you Equip you are putting something in order. You are laying down a process. You are creating a system.

A pastor creates a process or a system that trains the church members to do the work of ministry.

What is the result of this pastor-led system? It is the building up of the church.

Okay here are some new questions.

1. How are you equipping your church members to do the work of the ministry?
2. What’s the system?
3. What is the current outcome?
4. Or how many leaders are you producing every year?

Think about it this way.

You have a process of discipleship that takes an immature believer and moves them toward maturity. As they move along this discipleship track, how do you identify potential leaders and begin to train them for ministry?

One more passage – 2 Timothy 2:1-2

You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.

Over the years many pastors have told me that 2 Timothy 2:2 is their life verse.

That’s great! It’s great to have a life verse.

It’s even better when we live out our life verse. So let’s look at the verse and ask some questions to see if you are doing what the verse is instructing.

What is Paul doing in this verse?

He is giving Timothy a mission. And that mission is to build multi-generational leaders.

Paul taught Timothy and many others to do the work of ministry. Paul trained Timothy knowing that someday he, Paul, would be gone. But the work would go on.

In Matthew 28 it was “Make Disciples”

In Ephesians 4 it was “Equip believers”

Here in 2 Timothy it is “Entrust faithful men. But it’s more than that. It is to entrust faithful men across multiple generations.

Paul taught Timothy. Timothy teaches others. And those others teach others.

I have a question for you. Take a minute and answer it. - What system do you have in place to train the next generation of leaders?

Paul gave Timothy a mission – to train multiple generations of leaders.

And God is calling you and me to do the same.

 

So lets you and I do that.

Together let’s develop a system, a process, that will make disciples, that will equip leaders, that will develop leaders, not just one generation, but two, and even three generations deep.

I’ll speak to you next week and we will begin to do just that.

Closing Thoughts

Before you go. I want to tell you about the upcoming Christian Leaders Mastermind.

What’s a mastermind? It’s a group of pastors, missionaries, and other Christian leaders who meet together to discuss ministry issues.

Imagine sitting in a virtual room with 8 other experienced pastors. Sharing your idea or your problem and getting concrete, practical feedback from these leaders? That’s a mastermind.

I offer Masterminds twice per year and I would love for you to be a part of one.

In future episodes, I will go into greater detail, but if you want to know more now, just go to CoachingChristianLeaders.com for more information.

This is Mark Jones and I’ll talk with you next week.

Please share this episode with others!