Video Transcript: Building a Team of Leaders

As you think about church planting, it's very important to build a great team of  leaders, building a great team of leaders is essential. If your dream or goal and  the model you picked as a church planting includes growing, growing to the  place that you can have more impact in a local community, if that is your dream.  Now many of you may just want to do a cell group or if it's a house, church,  maybe some of these things aren't as important. But I even submit that even in  those cases, building a great team of leaders is vitally important. We saw how  Jesus built a great team of leaders, disciples, and we see how the apostle Paul  built a great team of leaders in the early church. So we're going to talk about  that. And these principles apply for such things as getting a elder board Deacon  board, for getting various ministries in the churches going. So as we talk about  building a great team of leaders, let's look at several important principles.  Number one, great teams will have a shared mentality that strives for the bigger  picture. And we're dealing with, um, Douglas Crumbly's book here. And he  writes, this does not mean that every person on the team is a big picture thinker. On the contrary, it does mean, however, that the outcome of every decision on  every front has the big picture of the ministry in view. They're always asking how each decision affects the ministry as a whole, the vision as a whole, the mission  of the entire ministry. This is the major difference between a committee led  church and a team led church committees are concerned how the decisions of  the ministry affect their area. Teams are concerned how their decisions affect  the overall ministry, see, there's a different shifts there. One's a mission, shift,  and the other is just I have my area, we're talking about this area, we care about this area, even at the expense of other areas of the church. Number two, great  teams always come back to what the vision and mission is. For the vision is  solidified in the hearts of the people of your church, you will have the continuity,  fit, fight for it. Make no mistake here distractions in the form of good ideas,  motivations, and needs will shout at you from every direction. So that's going to  happen. So in a lot of ways, as a leader, the church planter, you're developing a  direction, and there will be a push back. Great teams always have always come  back to what the mission, the vision is all about. So that's number two. Number  three, great teams are not moved by issues. Instead, they move issues with  their mission emphasis. This is the most difficult to teach from a laboratory  setting. Like here we are at Christian leaders Institute, we're talking about these  things. It's one of those things that you can practice and become proficient at  while in the clinic. That is while you're actually planting in a church. But until you  are faced with this, you still are not able to grasp the toughness of this one. So  as you become proficient in this clinic, this laboratory and get better and better  and you're focused on it. This is one area that you just have to live out great  teams are not moved by issues. Rather they move issues with their mission  emphasis. Number four, great teams do not make decisions based on whims,  and knee jerk reactions of a few loud people. This sounds like number three in 

some ways. And it may be very similar. When you plant your church, you have  the many, many people making many, many suggestions about what you and  the leadership of the church should be doing. However, the tyranny of the urgent is something is specifically have to watch for and I'll give you an example. Okay,  so you're planting a church and all of a sudden, you're having a meeting, and  you're going to talk about something important to the vision and mission of the  church that will keep moving the needle for reaching your community. Just then  the team starts and a problem is introduced like in often it comes in the form of  it's a problem with some be like somebody on the team didn't like last Sunday's  worship service. So you talk about something like that. And then you miss out on the vision, the mission that you're really talking about in your team. So don't get  caught up in making a knee jerk reaction quickly stay focused on the mission.  Number five, great teams are not afraid of disagreement among team members. And that's going to happen. In fact, what Douglas Crumbly says is that conflict is encouraged. Now, what he means by here by conflict does not conflict. But there is no peace, that mean spirited conflict, what he's talking about is some differing  of opinions. This is the one part of team leadership that I enjoy teaching to spirit  filled leaders the most knows how you mentioned spirit filled leaders who really  want the best. We are so used to not question their leaders, praising the  celebrities status of some in fear that we may in some way touch God's anointed if we fail to use the gifts strength, anointing that God has given us, the people  whom God sends you are not there just to serve your every whim. So what what we're talking about here is as a pastor and a leader, be one who asks people to  see things in their way, not necessarily how you see everything. Because these  quote, disagreements are opportunities to get a greater mission truth. Number  six, great teams are not afraid to pay the price. In his book, The indisputable law of teamwork, John Maxwell spells out that there are four prices each team  member must pay for the team to be successful. They are as follows sacrifice,  time commitment, personal development, unselfishness. I strongly suggest you  ensure all your team members have job descriptions that clearly spell out your  expectations. This won't solve all your issues. But this will go a long way in  making, making leading your church more manageable. You know, I want to  bring up something right now especially as you think about asking people to  serve as elders and deacons. A mistake I know I made an early church planting  is you ask someone to be an elder, but then you don't have a clear it out like  clarified, how long would you be an elder, maybe it should be three years and  just start out right from the start. So that people don't have this like unclear  expectation. So that later on when you're when you're ready to continue to get  new people and the person that you asked when you started is an elder, and  they're very offended, he or she, if they're a deacon, for instance, are very  offended, that you would move on and not have them serve in your church. So  put job descriptions, so to speak, volunteer descriptions, lay them out ahead of 

time. Number seven, great teams are leading teams, you will know the  difference between leading and managing. Leading always has the future in  mind managing has the present in mind, leading asks Where can we go  managing asks, Where are we at? While both are necessary? Please hear me  in the beginning, there will be there will need to be a whole lot more leading than just management of the church. You know, one of my friends, Rich DeVos, talks  about that is it he says there's the leading phase, the managing phase. But after  the managing phase things decline. And then there has to be a new  revitalization. In a church plant. It's about vitalization. It's about taking off. It's  about leading and training your leaders to lead others to lead. So you're always  thinking about how to have that servant leadership out there and how to raise up more leaders. I want to change gears now and basically talk about the leader  qualities for the launch team. So here you are wanting to plant a church and you need to find people who will join you in launching a new church. And in some  ways, that's daunting, because you're thinking, How do I find the people who will help me launch this church? What do they look like? Well, let's talk about some  of these leader qualities. And when I say this to understand that nothing is  perfect, so you might want to get the perfect leader quality but in some ways,  you want to strive for something in you prayerfully receive who the Lord has  given you. Again, first of all, before they're asked to serve on your launch team,  look at their Facebook page, and not just their current posts. But go back a  couple of years as far as you can, if you see a few posts that are red flags for  you pay attention to them, any flaws in character will be magnified and harmful,  if put into a leadership position. Now, I want you to know, I don't want anyone to  think, oh, we are joined to just look at people's Facebook's for reasons to sort of  be gossipy or stuff like that? No, what you're looking for are quality people. And  you do want to flag those people who will be cause trouble if it is possible for  you to see that. Leader qualities for launch team ask their former pastor, how  long? Were they with you? How well do they serve? What are their strengths or  weaknesses? How do they treat people? Now many times you don't can't do  that. But if you can, that'd be great. I remember in one of my church plants, a  leader came, I believe that was a leader. You know, I put him in positions of  leadership. And once he was in the position, he was nothing but trouble. And  eventually, it ended badly. And you tried to pick up the pieces then I was talking  to his former pastor, his former senior pastor, somehow we were at some mutual dinner and in Hey, how's that so and so doing? And so we talked a little bit. And  when I found out as a former pastors that ah, he created all kinds of division and dissension here. And you know, we were glad he left and I, first of all, I thought  to myself, Why didn't you call me if you knew he came to my church, but really, I  could have taken the responsibility too and said, Hey, so and so has come here? And he seems like he's the leader? Should I be worried about anything? Is he  doing good? And that pastor would have told me that he created a lot of 

dissension. So these are good ideas to think about. Here's other leader qualities for the launch team, do a spiritual gift and a spiritual finder profile on them and,  and their use their online tools to help you do that. There's books you can buy  that sort of help you find out who's who has certain gifts and who doesn't. If you  can run a nationwide background check on each leader as well as have one run  on yourself. And again, in many places in the world, you can't do some of these  things, but in other places in the world, you can the ideas, you're developing  quality launch team leaders, your team needs to meet be made up of people  who are loyal to the vision, the leadership team, and are full of intense passion  for the new church plant is short and you're looking for people of integrity,  character, and who have a good temperament. This is not a place for insecure  people who are pouters, blamers, hot headed, they need to be people of their  word loyal, and of course, spirit filled. You really are looking for quality people on your leadership launch team. Now I want to talk about a reality check here.  Think about it. Leadership is leadership. If you cannot get people to attend be  active in Sunday school class you lead. How in the world? Are you going to be  successful launching a church? If you can't get along with team members  serving in children's ministry? How will you ever build a top leadership team for  an entire church with impact leaders? If you're not able to host and grow a small  group of 12 people in your home? How do you grow a church with 100 plus.  Now why is Douglas Crumbly, talking like this? Well, it's this way. You're thinking about church planting. In a lot of ways what you've done with a little means a lot  of connections way of thinking a home discipleship way of thinking. It's look at  your own family. The issues are related to getting your family to walk with God,  are microcosms for what it takes to lead others to walk with God or to lead  others in leadership. The fact of the matter is, is a church planter can reach a  church planters lid, the lead pastors inability to recognize that he is the one  keeping his church from being effective, has put a lid on the top of the  organization. Regardless of how hard they may try to grow the church they  continually Hurt, keep hitting the same lid and never realizing that they are the  problem. This is the reason many pastors tell me that their church will reach a  certain level of growth, stop, fall back, grow back to that level again. The whole  cycle continues to repeat itself year after year. And many times leaders are  needing a breakthrough. But they have no idea that the kind of breakthrough  they're they need is not always spiritual. Sometimes the most of the time, it's a  breakthrough in leadership. Why do I bring this up? Now? You see, we can talk  about raising up a team of leaders. But we have to be very circumspect about  ourselves as a leader, do we feel secure to give others the stage? Do we have a clear sense of the vision so as others come along? We're, we're helping them in  influencing them in a vision. Yet it while we're influencing them in a vision? Do  we give each team leader an area where they can own the authority and the  standing and the training to do well? And are we able to like get our 

organizational thinking, we're not hitting the church planter lid? In conclusion.  years ago, a wise instructor taught me something very valuable about releasing  those around me to lead. It was in the form of a question that I have never  forgotten. He asked, Why would God search all over the world? In answer to  your prayers, sending you spirit filled, anointed and gifted people with a passion  for what they are called to do, and then expect you not to allow them to lead?  This is a question that every church planter should ponder, often. Think about  this. You are a steward not only of your money and your time, but of the people,  the gifts that God has given you in the people around you. And yes, you can get  burned. And then you can sort of not want to keep raising people sometimes,  and that often is the struggle church planters have. But it's this constant journey  of saying thank you, Lord, for the people in my life, the people you brought into  my church, and how can I create these opportunities, bathe in the vision and  mission of the church, utilizing the people that God has given us? So as we  think about church planting, leadership, team development, never forget, it's  about getting out of the way of God and bringing forward a team that can reach  your community for the gospel of Jesus Christ.