Matt: Practical Leadership

I am finding that there are several practical things that one must consider when leading:

Daily and intentional prayer for those that you directly lead.
This can and probably should include the people that God has placed around you. Many of us work full-time jobs. As God's people, we carry his mission into the work place.

Self assessment.
What are your prejudices? What are the economic, social, class assumptions that you make? What are the caustic effects of nationalism, or sexism, or racism in you (if you think that you are not plagued by these things you might be in trouble)?

Building into a handful of people around you.
Who are you sharing your things with? What personal time and possessions are you letting go of?

What are you spending your money on and how do you view yourself within the American consumer complex?
Are you striving to simplify and create space for God or are you trying to fill up time and space because someone is telling you to? Leaders are watched by those they lead.

A lot of being a follower of Christ is about never being satisfied in what YOU know, and about resting in the feeling of patient unconditional love.

Lance: How to Know if it's "of God" or "of Me"

I think the struggle to know what things are "of God" and what things are just "of me" is an ongoing one for everyone. We all have our ideas about what we'd like to see happen or what we think would be great, and some ideas are less God than others.

While there's no magic or easy way to guarantee that everything you do will always be of God, I've always thought the best way to increase the chances is to make sure other people are involved in it, especially other people in your "community." If you're the only one thinking about it or involved in it, you only have your perspective, and therefore your blind spots, guiding the process. But if other people have some input, it's a lot more likely that somebody will see something you don't and be able to say, "Wait a minute, what about this" or "Yeah, I did that once and here's what happened."

It's like if one (genderless) spouse wants a new Ibanez SR900 bass with Bartolini pickups and a thru-body neck and goes out and buys one without discussing it with the other (genderless) spouse, and then Spouse #2 says, "Have you lost your mind? If we don't pay the light bill this month they're going to cut off our electricity!"

And FWIW, I've always been a fan of allowing/encouraging people to "bloom where God has planted them," which for me just means working out of the gifts that God has given to them. If people aren't working out of their gifts, they're not going to be particularly effective or happy (or aligned with God) and their efforts are going to be unsustainable and, ultimately, less God than they could be.

Leading by Community

In this article on leading by community, George Bullard succinctly notes seven major differences between committees, teams, and communities.

Unity Among Leaders

Jesus prayed for unity among the leaders of the church; leaders must practice it so that the church might reflect it. Unity in the church is fragile and must be actively defined and cultivated...

Needs:
1. Theological agreements (define tigers)
2. Friendships
3. Staying on mission (define)

Spiritual Dangers:
1. Pride, bitterness, jealousy
2. Legalism
3. Distrust
4. Failing to correct or remove troublesome leaders

Sociological Dangers:
1. Meeting environment
2. Putting business ahead of relationships
3. Frequent turnover

Protocol:
1. Work to share understanding
2. Bring drafts, not final proposals, to be considered
3. Keep no secrets from the Board
4. Be accountable with the Board
5. Submit to the Board's authority
6. Care for each other's families

Seven Questions for Finding/Cultivating New Leaders

1. Are they known and respected by the church and by outsiders to the church?
2. Are they already looked to for leadership, not by virtue of a position held?
3. Are they a functional/theological/relational fit with the other leaders?
4. Would the other Leaders consider them a "peer"?
5. Are they generous in service and financial giving?
2 Corinthians 9:11-13
Leviticus 27:30
Malachi 3:8-10
6. Are they supported in their ministry by their family?
7. Do they show the marks of a leader?

Marks of Leaders: Right Relationship with Church

1. Pulls the church toward God's mission with strength and love
2. Will live a disciplined life
3. Strong in battling the forces that oppose God

Marks of Leaders: Right Relationship with Others

1. Welcomes strangers, especially non-Christians
Deuteronomy 10:18
1 Timothy 3:2
Titus 1:8
2. Peaceable, not divisive
Romans 16:17-20
3. Cares for the people of the church
Acts 20:28

Marks of Leaders: Right Relationship with Family

1. Faithful in marriage, celibate in singleness
1 Timothy 3:1-2, 12
2. Family well-managed; children well cared for
1 Timothy 3:4-5, 13

Marks of Leaders: Right Relationship with Self

1. Mentally and emotionally even-tempered; self-controlled
1 Timothy 3:2
2. Not given to addictions
1 Timothy 3:2-3
3. Not a lover of money; finances sound
1 Timothy 6:10

Marks of Leaders: Right Relationship with God

1. Not a new Jesus follower; spiritually mature
1 Timothy 3:1,7
Ephesians 4:14-16
2. Knows, employs, builds gifts to serve God's church; serving according to strengths
1 Corinthians 12
2 Timothy 1:6-7
1 Corinthians 14:12
3. Worth imitating and following
Hebrews 13:7
1 Timothy 3:2
Titus 1:6-7