Qualifications for Leading
OK - so this might be obvious to everyone else, but it just hit me this week like a ton of bricks and I had to put it out there, because it connects so many rambling thoughts that I have been having. First, the scripture. This is from II Corinthians 11, where Paul is proving his own qualifications as a follower of Jesus. It is his resume. His qualifications for why he should lead them. Take a read.
"But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?"
So, what are my qualifications? As I think about telling my story, what things qualify me as a Jesus follower? What things have I been willing to put at risk, and what things have I given up for the sake of the gospel? Well, not much to be quite frank. I have logged hours perhaps, given some money, been cold, or had to listen to a friend ramble on so I could talk. Not much of a resume.
I think, too, about how we evaluate christian leaders in our culture. Somehow we miss the qualification Paul describes. We measure their Christ-following based on the other resume. The resume that shows their expertise. The resume that shows that they have what it takes; that they are capable and skilled. We look at how successful their ministry is, how big their church is, how many books they've written or how many speaking gigs they get.
As we select our elders and leaders, this is the resume that I want to hear about. I don't care what expertise they have, what they have accomplished, or how well they speak. I want to know two things. What they have been willing to sacrifice, and what have they lost for Jesus. These are the only qualifications that matter.
"But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?"
So, what are my qualifications? As I think about telling my story, what things qualify me as a Jesus follower? What things have I been willing to put at risk, and what things have I given up for the sake of the gospel? Well, not much to be quite frank. I have logged hours perhaps, given some money, been cold, or had to listen to a friend ramble on so I could talk. Not much of a resume.
I think, too, about how we evaluate christian leaders in our culture. Somehow we miss the qualification Paul describes. We measure their Christ-following based on the other resume. The resume that shows their expertise. The resume that shows that they have what it takes; that they are capable and skilled. We look at how successful their ministry is, how big their church is, how many books they've written or how many speaking gigs they get.
As we select our elders and leaders, this is the resume that I want to hear about. I don't care what expertise they have, what they have accomplished, or how well they speak. I want to know two things. What they have been willing to sacrifice, and what have they lost for Jesus. These are the only qualifications that matter.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Kevin Miller on -
Amen brother! I've always said if I want to truly know about a man, let me meet his wife...and kids. His next door neighbors, and his coworkers. I've seen wealthy men in particular who are put in places of leadership in christian organizations due to their wealth and expertise. Yet if you visited the companies they own you'd realize their employees have no respect for them. Same with wives and children.
Then you have guys like me who few people like EXCEPT for their wives and children.
I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with either for church leadership.
Thanks for the wisdom.
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Permalink Reply by Community on -
Those are totally right questions for qualifying leaders. And it's so upside down from the world's perspective. We do usually look to 'good numbers', business or financial success, speaking engagments, 'wow' factor, books written -- gains in life -- when we look for leaders. We don't look for the credibility of loss, brokeness, failure, or suffering. But, those things describe all the actual disciples of Jesus.
These questions are so totally right. But I'm finding them a bit disturbing.
They are kind of haunting me:
What have you been willing to sacrifice?
What have you lost for Jesus?
It challenges me to want to know my own answers to those questions. 'Makes me want to identify those things and embrace them. But it also makes me wonder where God wants to show us, as a community, the ways to LIVE in places of loss and real honest-to-goodness sacrifice. He seems to be pointing us in that direction, right now, in the real-life needs of Woodland Park.
Those two questions are the heart of ChristFollowing, the guts of our stories -- and like you said, the credibility for our leadership.
Hmmmm ... disturbing. And very important indeed.
"If anyone would come after me,
he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for me, will save it.”
~ Jesus
.
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Permalink Reply by Roy Fitzwater on -
Steve,
Great comments. How about if we have the elder candidates that we present to the church in January, answer those two questions as a part of their "bio/testimony"? Tomorrow night is the last night of our elder training/discussions where we will be asking each man to share where they believe God is leading in terms of service as an elder. Please pray for God to be the one that makes it clear to each one of us.
Roy
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Permalink Reply by marco on -
a leader is a relational and inspirational figure. either through their words, their actions or both.
i seek a leader who is qualified but someone who is also a good speaker, a proactive teacher of the Scriptures, a great life coach, one who leads by example.
life, as we know is messy.
we ought to acknowledge this fact and thus live and lead, as Jesus would, with tolerance and appreciation for those willing to lead – for being a leader is no easy task. yes, there are many personalities that are placed in positions of influence simply by default however, it is equally important to be a good listener, to be open to different styles of teaching and to new perspectives and ultimately, to aspire to become a great leader.
to lead is to serve.
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Permalink Reply by Community on
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This also seems relevant. It's a quote from a larger article Roy Fitzwater handed to Staff:
What counts in your life and mine is not successes but fruits.
The fruits of your life you might not see yourself.
The fruits of your life are born often in your pain and in your vulnerability and in your losses.
The fruits of your life come only after the plow has carved through your land.
God wants you to be fruitful.
~Henri Nouwen
(via Roy Fitzwater)
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Permalink Reply by Kevin Miller on
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Hey, that is the stuff: fruits
Which are...love, joy, peace, gentleness, kindness, self-control...and some others I can't remember off-hand. But that's what we are talking about. The stuff that a man of zero notoriety may have, and the man of high notoriety does not at all.
Yes Roy, great fodder for the elder search!
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Permalink Reply by Kirk Greenstreet on -
Don't forget that Paul actually listed qualifications for men to become elders and leaders. They are the main lists we look at for people to become spiritual leaders. I appreciate what you are saying in your post, but don't forget about these when it comes to qualifications that matter.
I Timothy 3:1-13 and Titus 1:5-9 and 2:1-8
There are more scriptures scattered around the New Testament that also give direction on how to select men and women for leadership. I like what you are saying but don't limit it to those qualifications when the Bible speaks clearly about others.
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Permalink Reply by Jeff Musgrave on -
Wow! good Blog. I like the points being brought up. I think of the leaders in scripture as;
Joseph; sold as a slave, falsely imprisoned for many years, then he gets to lead
Moses; 40 years leading sheep (one of the lowest of jobs in society), then leads Israel.
Jeremiah; a child, maybe 12 or 14 years old, known as the weeping prophet.
The Disciples; fishermen & peasants, bottom rung of society, then become the beginning of the movement
St. Paul; had to be stripped of all his credentials, everything, before he was ready to lead.
It makes me think that I have a long way to go to become a leader like Jesus is calling me to be.
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Permalink Reply by Steven Leigh on -
It sort of feels like a race to the bottom. Directly opposite from the race to the top that so many of us get caught up in.
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Permalink Reply by Jeff Musgrave on
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Yes, it does. I was thinking some more on this. What if we looked for a man to lead, someone that has scrubbed toilets for 20 years, never moved up in his field, but served joyfully and with enthusiasm when he went to work every day. For 20 years he scrubbed toilets and mopped floors. He raises a family on minimum wage and maybe uses food stamps once in a while. He spends time with his kids and they love him for it. People in the community like him, not because of his status in life, but because of his kind spirit. That seems to be more of the direction that the scripture points us to.
Are there any Janitors in the House???
Would we, in our church world today, even consider such a person for leadership? Would we say, ‘he is not successful for a reason and God is judging him’ or ‘he must not be very smart to be stuck in such a dead end job, we need smart people for leadership’ or ‘we need experience for leader ship and what experience would he have cleaning toilets’. I wander how we would react to such a person. Would we be the crowd on Palm Sunday chanting “Hosanna” or the crowd on Good Friday chanting “we want Barabbas”.
It is an upside down Kingdom!
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