Leadership and growth

As with marriage or parenthood, there is no standard training program for becoming an elder or deacon. Those of us who assume such positions must, in a real sense, pioneer our own course. Adding to the complexity, are the varying approaches and manners each of us adopts. Imagine a group of guys, who are not completely comfortable in their positions and have developed divergent ideas as to how to carry out their roles. You have the makings of a Deacon’s Meeting. I’m guessing you have the makings of an Elder’s Meeting too.

I am sometimes amazed at how differently we look at the same things. What one deacon sees as strength another fears is weakness. What one thinks is top priority another sees as less significant. That is not to suggest there is controversy among the deacons. Quite the opposite, we get along very well. But we do struggle to work together in meaningful ways. We struggle because we have yet to arrive at a common understanding of what exactly we are attempting to accomplish as the Sunshine Church of Christ.

What I am describing is not unique to our congregation. This lack of shared focus in leadership is common, not only in our brotherhood, but in other groups as well. We are not bad leaders. We are normal guys facing a great challenge. What we need to remember is that we are not alone and we have all the tools needed. It is easy as a leader, especially when you are working hard, to get the cart before the horse.

The leader of the Church is Jesus. He has promised that He would not leave us alone. Prayer is our avenue through which to petition our Lord for guidance and assistance. Dewey called a few of us together recently to pray for the needs of our youth. It was a powerful experience to pray with and listen to the prayers of my brothers. Just as we can grow in prayer as individuals, we can grow in prayer as a group. Each time we do this, we get a bit more creative, spontaneous, and personal. I heard that church leaders in Viet Nam have the custom of lighting a candle and praying until it burns out. Jim Cymbala, minister of the Brooklyn Tabernacle believes in prayer. He started with around 40 people who committed themselves to prayer. The congregation is now over 10,000. To this day, when he preaches, a select few gather to pray until he is finished.

I believe God has great and powerful blessings stored up for our congregation. We need to come together and ask Him to turn them loose. I truly believe that revival can happen in our day.