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Understanding Leadership

By Paul Collins

Leadership is not just the domain of the select few. We all express leadership in different measures within the framework of our giftings.

Authority and responsibility

Authority and responsibility go together. You cannot have authority without responsibility or responsibility without authority. The authority always matches the responsibility.

Leadership according to the gifting

Each person's giftings defines their leadership expression. Each time we pray, share or minister in any way, we are expressing leadership in that area.

Leadership and servanthood

God distributes gifts within the Body of Christ so that we might serve one another, not lord it over each other. True leadership does not promote a "boss mentality" but a servant mentality. If we have a wrong attitude - pride, self-elevation, greed, etc-then we have stepped out of the bounds of Biblical leadership.

General and situational leadership

General leadership is where a person has responsibility for a particular section of God's work for example, a local fellowship. Situational leadership is where a person expresses leadership at a particular time for a particular situation. Situational leadership must always find its expression within the covering of general leadership.

Developing Your Ministry

Ministry (which means "serving") is based on the gifts God gives each of us (see Romans 12:3-8). These basic gifts form the foundation of our ministry. But in order to develop that ministry, we must build on the foundational gifts we have.

Absorbed in the Word of God

God's Word must flavour everything we do and say. We must invest in the Word of God, develop a reservoir of His Word - a "Word Bank" that we can draw from at any time. This is more than just memorising scriptures - this is meditating on them, absorbing them, making them a part of your heart.

Establish Prayer Discipline

All ministry must have a daily base of prayer. Even Jesus said He could do nothing except what His Father was doing, and He spent time every day in prayer.

Begin to exercise your gifts

When you identify particular gifts God has given you, then begin to exercise them. Like your natural muscles, your ministry's muscles will develop as you use them.

Prepare for every meeting

Begin to see your part in the meetings as more than just a spectator. Spend some time with the Lord before each meeting, then be sensitive to the leading of the Lord. This doesn't just mean "preaching" or sharing a word publicly, but also means sharing one on one, praying for others, prophesying in the meeting, etc.

Invest in people's lives

The secret to ministry is spending time with people, showing concern and compassion for them. We find that it is out of witnessing to people or helping them in their problems that God often opens new revelations and new solutions to us.
"I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ" Philemon 6.

Ministry to your family

Our ministry priority is always first with our family. It is out of our ministry to our family that all other ministry develops. Some feel that ministry to the church comes before ministry to the family, but this is the wrong way around (see 1 Timothy 3:4-5).

Make yourself available

The only way to develop a rounded ministry is to set aside special time to help the church in any way, not just in your own ministry niche. Keep your eyes open to where there are "ministry gaps" in the fellowship and move to help fill those gaps.

A balanced ministry development

You need to concentrate on four aspects of your ministy development:
  1. To Yourself and Your Family
  2. To the Lord
  3. To the Body
  4. To the World
Identify which areas of ministry you are weak in and which you are strong in. Seek to bring balance in your ministry so that all four are strong.

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Copyright & copy; 1981,1996 Paul, Bunty and David Collins. All rights reserved. This study may be freely used and reproduced, wholly or in part, by the Christian Church for the non-profit purposes of study and training only, provided copyright and contact information is included.

Unless otherwise stated, all scriptures quoted in these studies are from the New International Version of the Bible, & copy; New York International Bible Society, used by permission. Other versions referred to are: KJV (King James Version), NKJB (New King James Bible), TLB (The Living Bible), Amp (The Amplified Bible) and The Message. All versions used by permission.

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