Video Transcript: Lesson 35 A Model for Developing Leaders

Hello, welcome back once more, we're talking about leadership. We're kind of  getting neck deep in leadership, and what does it mean to be a leader and how  to be a leader. And today, we're going to kind of keep pushing into this. We've  touched on this theme a bit in the past, but we're really going to be talking about  a model for developing leaders or really expanding a leadership base. Some of  this is going to, again, we've we've touched on this level, but we're going to do  just a short scripture study. And then I'll just share a little bit about how I go  about doing this. And so let's get right into it. Let's ask the Lord for His blessing  upon us. Lord, we love you. We pray that you'll bless our time together today.  Lord, if there's someone listening today who is very tired and weary, Lord, just  give them that extra push to listen well. And, Lord, if there's anyone who's really  discouraged, getting to the end of this and wrestling with issues of leadership  and doubting who they are, God, I pray that you would encourage them and  remind them that they it's never about them, Lord, it's about your calling, and  their willingness and the work of your spirit. We pray this in Your name, amen.  Okay, so going back to Henry Blackaby, remember, we use his definition for a  spiritual leadership and Henry Blackaby said something that I really agree with,  and he says, the call to growing an organization is to grow its leaders. So an  organization, whatever it is, it will only grow in proportion to the number of  leaders it has, so certainly a healthy organization. So if, if you have this many  leaders, you know, the church can grow to this capacity. You're never gonna  have a church, or whatever it is an organization this big, with, like, just a small  number of leaders. So we want a healthy, strong organization. And so if we want it to grow, not just numerically, but in effectiveness and all that kind of business.  Hopefully, by now, you know, it's not all about numbers. If we want it to grow, we  need to grow its leaders, right? Because if we never grow leaders, the the  organization is never going to get any bigger. And certainly that applies to  churches as well. So I really appreciate what Blackaby says on that this idea  that we have to, you know, you want to be growing leaders. So one of the ways  we see that certainly is, again, is in the life of Paul, Paul, throughout his  missionary journeys was seeking to do this very thing. If the Church of the you  know, first century was to grow, Paul was going to very intentionally going to  need to develop leaders, right? So, because he would, he would move around,  he would he would, you know, he would go to Corinth or Ephesus or, or, you  know, wherever he would be, you know. And and, certainly, his work was  teaching and preaching the gospel there. I mean, obviously, you know, he was  there to, you know, win souls for Christ. But the, the other part of what Paul did  was when he would go on these trips was then building up the local leadership,  right? Because he knew that once he left, if there were no leaders, the church  would not be able to sustain it would, it would, it would, it would shrink, it would  just kind of go away. So throughout Paul's life, we just see this, this kind of like  this two fold thing of like, planting the gospel, developing leaders, go to the next 

city, plant the gospel, develop, you know, recruit and develop leaders. And so  one of the ways we're one of the places we see this, like explicitly stated in II  Timothy 2:2, and these are his instructions to Timothy, he says, and the things  you have heard me say, in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable  people who will also be qualified to teach others. And what we really see here is  kind of the, like a ladder effect that Paul has in, in developing new leaders.  Okay. So Paul, it starts with him. He says the things, you know that you've heard me say, so it's Paul. And then the tier under that is Timothy. Right. Okay, here  we go. So I knew I had a slide for here. Sorry about that. So here's the power of  multiplication, okay, is Paul who received the gospel from Jesus right on the  road to Damascus, Paul receives, you know, this this gospel message, and then he's gonna go out and preach it, he will be the instrument of the Gentiles. But it's not going to be just Paul, there's going to be a lot more people who are going to  need to get involved in this. Okay, so Paul says, I've entrusted. You heard me  say, in your presence in the presence of many other witnesses. So Paul takes  the gospel. And then he shares it with Timothy, and with a bunch of others, right. But it doesn't end there. He says, Now, Timothy, your job is to entrust this gospel now to reliable people. Okay, so it doesn't just end with Timothy. He's saying,  Timothy, just as I received this from Christ and gave it to you, you now receive it. And now you pass it on and pass it on to who to reliable people, we're going to  talk more about the reliable piece in a minute. But you now pass it on to other  people, now they are able to teach the gospel, okay, they're now like, in the  place of, you know, leadership, they're, they're preaching, sharing the gospel.  Okay, and then they will then also be able to, they will be qualified, then to teach it to others. So there's this kind of imagine, like a, maybe like a pyramid like  expanding. So it starts with Paul, it goes to Timothy and then others. And then it  goes to, you know, they teach a bunch of reliable people. And then that goes out to others, you know, just expands exponentially. So you can think of like, if it was just Paul, and Paul was like, I got a call. And here's what I'm going to do, I'm  going to go preach the gospel. And Paul preaches to this person, and that was  it. And he preached it to this person, they preach it to this person, and he  preached it to this person to be like one plus one, plus one, plus one, plus one.  So Paul would be getting somewhere he'd be doing what God wanted him to do. But it would be kind of a slow growing sort of thing. What Paul does, is he, he  invests in a couple of people. So he invests, let's say, in three people, and he  says, each of them, now you invest in three people. Okay? So it goes from Paul  to three, and then it goes from those three now to 9 people. And those people  were told now, you're gonna then invest in three more, and now it goes to 27  people. So in just like four levels of movement, it's gone from one to 27 instead  of from one to four. So that's the that's kind of the idea that we have here that  that Paul presents. Now, is this an original idea? with Paul? Absolutely not.  Where else do we see this in the New Testament? Who else has this 

multiplying? way of leading? Yes, Sunday School answer. That's always right.  Jesus, yeah. Isn't this exactly what Jesus does? Jesus? He doesn't, he's not  interested again, in just preaching to the masses. He develops this group  around him very intentionally, certainly, Peter, James, and John, he pulled these  three just, you know, really, really close and discipling them. And then there's,  you know, just the regular, you know, the rest of I shouldn't say the regular, the  rest of the apostles. And then beyond that, there's like the 70, there's this larger  crowd. And so Jesus is investing in, in he takes three years to invest in just a  really small group of people, because he knows that they will then go out and  they will do the same thing and then they will multiply and then that group will  multiply and that group will multiply. So that's why it isn't just Jesus is like, the  mega pastor. Nothing against mega pastors. At all. I'm just saying this idea of  like the The perception of like the one person who can preach to the masses  and get it all done, you know, or, you know, that's not that's not the idea here at  all. It's always developing people intentionally and multiply. And so it's done in  small batches, right? You know, Paul doesn't have a leadership seminar with  500 people. And he's like, he invests very deeply, you know, like in Timothy, and, you know, Titus, you know, Epaphroditus, you know, does he invest very  intentionally in like, several people, just as the same way Jesus did. So there's  this power of multiplication. And so what I think what we really see is our best  bet, in expanding our leadership base and developing new leaders. And all that  is really what we saw Jesus do. And what we see Paul do in the New Testament, is to invest in a few people and invest deeply in them. And then, as time goes  on, challenge them to do the same. I mean, that's, I mean, it's a pretty simple  concept. It's, and I will say this, it's incredibly powerful. It's incredibly effective.  Initially, there are it's a very slow thing, right? So Jesus spends all three years,  really the emphasis was on the 12. So when he dies, there's not that big of a  following around him. But he has trained, we're not counting Judas, 11 disciple  makers. And as soon as Pentecost hits, and there is the power of the Holy Spirit, like on that first day, there's 3000. And now they're, they're spending time  discipling, the 3000s. And he keeps growing, and it keeps growing, and they  keep discipling. And it keeps moving on and on and on. And again, we see the  same thing, really, in Paul's ministry, but what do you think they were doing  when they were meeting daily, in the temple courts and in the houses, they're  doing this very thing, kind of the passing on and the gospel is going forward,  and, and all that. So anyway, your best bet is really to invest in a few people,  and work with them. And then like Jesus, and Paul, then when they're ready,  then you challenge them to repeat that process, you've just modeled for them,  what it looks like, and then they go and they do it. Okay. That's, that's the gist.  So let's talk about this, we'll get back to the reliable people. Because I think  there is some helpful ways to look at it, you know, because you definitely don't  want to put somebody who's ill equipped or not prepared to put them in a high 

level position, as you're expanding your leadership base. But at the same time,  you don't want to take you know, somebody who's incredibly gifted, and you  know, and have them doing something that kind of really doesn't require much  you want to, you want to put people in the right places, you know, you want to  have them serve in an appropriate level. So again, this would be from Harry  Reeder, in his book, The leadership dynamic, he puts leaders in kind of three  categories. So if I'm looking to work with leaders, I want to expand my  leadership base. Because I don't want it to just be me, I don't want to be the  choke point of ministry. I don't want it to all have to come through me I want this  thing to explode. I want it to expand, I want to eclipse I want to see this go well  beyond me, right? How, how do I do that? Okay, so let's look at three kinds of  leaders that you're going to be identifying and working with. One is proven  leaders. And these are the people you have on hand, who like, they are proven  like, they have character, they have confidence, competence, and confidence, I  guess. They're just gifted, it's like these are these are the people I can turn to.  These are like my A group, like, I know. This guy, or this, this girl, whatever. They know, I can give it to them, and they're gonna do a beautiful job with it, you  know, proven leaders. Now, obviously, depending on the size, you might have,  not too many of those. Or you might even feel like I don't have any. We'll talk  about that in a second. And how to get them. The level below that would be  people who are potential leaders. So maybe they've had like, a low level, like  responsibility, but they've done really well with it. Or you might know that this  person has leadership responsibility in their job and they're workplace and they  do very well with it and it's like this person, you know, I'm, I kind of know that  they're, you know, there's something there, there's definitely something there  and that might be able to be cultivated and developed. And then kind of the third tier that would be possible. And this might be, again, a kind of a, you know,  somebody has been volunteering and looking for somebody to kind of jump into  an opportunity, again, it's not going to be the hardest leadership position, but  they're just going to be requiring some basic coordination and organization. And, okay, you know, we're we don't need, you know, if this thing blows up, it's not  going to destroy the church, right? It's not, you know, it's significant, and that we  want to get it done. But, you know, if, if this didn't go, well, it wouldn't be the  worst thing, and it would be a good training opportunity. So who are some of our, our possible leaders, again, you might look at opportunities outside of church,  where there's a young person in your church is like the captain of their sports  team. And obviously, other people see leadership potential in them. And it's like,  hey, maybe that that could be something worked here that God has given them  something that apparently other people somewhere, see leadership in them. But may be not sure, like, where the character is? Or, or how willing they are? Or  the, you know, the those sorts of things. And so it's like, there could be  something there, but we're not quite sure, but it's worth investigating. Okay, so 

what, what I have been kind of instructed to do in my ministry, and, and what I  try to keep in mind is in just working, identifying, you know, people at these  levels, and certainly I don't, not everybody in our church is a proven potential or  possible leaders. It's a smaller group of people, my proven leaders. You know,  they just get from me, like, how can I encourage you? How can I be a resource  for you, I just set them free. You know, they certainly report back and we  process things together, but there isn't a whole lot of coaching that I do with  them, other than trying to get them to develop other leaders, that's really kind of  where my focus is with them. You know, if they see if there's a potential or  possible leader, within their ministry, you know, helping that person come along.  Again, thinking about potential and possible leaders, what I try to do more is to  find, is there a slot that is suitable for them? Where they can kind of try their  leadership gifts? See, if what's there? Are they a responsible person? You know, do they lead with character? Can I trust them? You know, all those all those  sorts of things. I mean, that's so and I'm always trying to find, you know, think  about. So I keep my eyes open, when an event happens. And somebody will  say, oh, so and so did such a great job with this. And then I'll kind of make a  note of that. And like, oh, like they will, I heard they organized all this stuff. You  know, for like a big picnic. And they, they were given part of the responsibility of  like, the games, and they organized all the games, and they did a good job. And  they didn't just do it was done last year, they were very creative, and they got  everybody involved. And it's like, there might be something in there, and just  kind of making these mental notes and trying to find them a time to sit down with that person and talk to them, kind of find out a little bit more about where they  are at. Same if I hear again, about something that happens outside of church,  it's like, Oh, tell me more about that, you know, they led some initiative at their  company, or where they were elected to the President of the Student Council.  And it's like, oh, there's some leadership there. They're aspiring to do that.  That's a God thing, you know, that God put in them. So how do we use this  within the church? So I think just what I did kind of back when I was first, kind of  using this kind of classification, is I just made a spreadsheet up. And I just had  proven leaders, potential leaders, and possible leaders. And then I just started  filling it out, you know, where I saw people and, and that's one of those things  every once in a while, I go back, and I'll check that I've had people who I thought were potential or possible leaders do a spiritual gift assessment. And I wanted to see where leadership style on that was that was a dominant gift for them or was  something that was kind of really very down low and so maybe I didn't quite get  it right or it's like wow, leadership just jumped off the page. So really getting to  know your people again and Putting them in places that would be appropriate  for them to start to use and develop their gifts. Another thing, another  opportunity is what I often have people do is where again, we're not every  ministry needs this. But for bigger ministries, I will ask my proven leader who's in

charge of that, who is like second chair who is next to is the leader that you're  developing. Because if you decide, you know, God's calling you to do something else, or you know, you something happened or you got hit by a bus, whatever it  is, if you stepped aside tomorrow, who would be ready to lead. So we try to do a lot of like second chair apprenticing. And again, there's some small ministries,  you don't need that it's not really required. But for example, like in a small group  ministry, we have small group leaders, and so always thinking like, who, you  know, to our small group leaders, if you can't be there who steps in if your group  expands, and you're going to split into two groups, who's going to lead that  group, like, start working on that person now. So there's opportunities and stuff  like that, to get people there's opportunity, you know, to get to get, you know,  start building, I definitely stay in touch with our youth ministry, in about the  projects they do, and trips they go on, and devotions, and Bible studies, who's  leading it, who do they who's stepping up as a leader, and you know, all those  kinds of stuff. So, just kind of, again, keeping these these opportunities, always  in mind, always aware, following this model of like, you know, I have to pass this on, and not just to the next person, but I want to pass this on to the next person  so that they will continue to pass it on, and so forth. So my challenge for this, it's just a question for you to think about, who's being developed in the leadership  pipeline, is there anybody that you can think of direct I am specifically have my  eyes on, you know, Joe, or, you know, Sally, or whoever, that I am developing  them for this, you know, who are the you know, again, who is a proven leaders,  and who are the people that I can develop to get to that point. And so I think a  big thing, again, with this whole idea of leadership development and expanding  the leadership base, so much of it is just it's intentionality. It's looking,  discovering, giving opportunities, a lot of the things we talked about in the last  lecture, but I think when we lay it over this frame of II Timothy, you can kind of  see like, a biblically and also with Jesus, like how it actually plays out and how  incredibly effective it can be. And I think, honestly, between the modeling, and  the intentionality of leadership, identifying leadership pipeline kind of stuff, I think those are the two really biggest things. And if you could spend some time, you  know, really focusing on those two things, I get the modeling, and, and  discovering, identifying creating opportunities, I think you're gonna really see a  change in the vitality of the congregation, or the ministry that you're serving,  because all of a sudden, there's other people who are excited, God is working  not just through one now God's working through 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 And, and it just  kind of, you know, it really is just wonderful to see God at work in that way. So  the example I would use is, if you've ever seen like the statue of the Indian God,  it's like a human body. And there was like, you know, 20 arms coming out. As  you develop people, that's kind of the the effect it has. It's like, you're there. But  instead of just your two arms, you've got people proofing potential possible  leaders, doing all kinds of things and growing ministry, and, you know, getting 

onto God's agenda, doing all the right things. And I think you'll be very pleased  as you spend some time into this, to see that it's really worth it. It's not going to  be something you see a change in a week or in a month, but give it a year. Give  it some time, and you're gonna see that your investment was worthwhile and it  paid off. So let me pray. God right now I pray that each person will listen to this  God you're you've already put in their minds. Some some leaders that they need to develop. I pray, Lord, that just in the coming days in the coming weeks,  they're going to hear something and it's going to click and they're going to say I  need to talk about that. I need to see this part. God and you use them to equip,  develop, build, deploy God, leaders for your kingdom. And God as we do that, to see that this vitality and the power of return to your church. Lord, we pray this in  Your name, amen.