I often hear conversations about how to find
leaders. While it is true that leaders are indeed sometimes
found, more often they are discovered.
Let me explain.
As we seek to reach the unchurched and unsaved in our
community, our church will grow; it is a natural by product. With numerical
growth there also must be a growth of leaders who will assist in equipping,
edifying, and encouraging new believers.
But, if we wait until we NEED more leaders we will begin a process of FINDING
a leader. The conversation goes
something like this,
You: “Hey Joe, we need a leader for a small group
we are starting (place in your own leadership need).”
Joe:
“What day?”
You:
“Thursdays.”
Joe:
“Ya, I am free on Thursdays. How long?”
You:
“Maybe a couple months.”
Joe:
“What do you want me to teach on?”
You:
“Well Joe, I don’t really need you to teach – I need you to facilitate a
meeting about God’s love.”
Joe:
“Sure! I got that.”
If the story ends like many stories I have heard; the small
group didn’t go so well. At a minimum,
Joe lectured and people lost interest.
In some really bad cases, the group turned into a griping session about
the changes at the Church.
If we wait to FIND a leader when we NEED a leader, we have
waited TOO LONG. Let me suggest we make
it our daily lifestyle to DISCOVER leaders.
The growth of a leader takes time. Perhaps one of the biggest mistakes we make
is to FIND someone to lead out of necessity instead of having taken the time to
train a leader. Leadership training is a process that starts
out of relationship.
If you are searching for leaders, the Holy Spirit will place
a name or face in your heart. (If I have a kindred Spirit with someone, that is
often God’s way of telling me that I need to invest in this individual). I usually start with a casual meeting. Out of that meeting either I DISCOVER that
they have a spirit of humility and demonstrate an interest in growing or they
don’t. When leadership potential is DISCOVERED,
leadership training then begins. I will
discuss this process in next month's blog.
