Developing Leaders

Some wise sage once said that it's better to lead leaders than to simply just lead. Obviously the reason is rooted in influence-if you are leading leaders, then your influence can affect multiple generations of followers, and you are coaching more than simply leading.

After trying to do that over the past 4+ years at my church, God has honored that effort. Lately I've been privileged to be surrounded by other leaders as I lead worship, which means that as I allow them to lead more and more, I'm able to step back and work on other areas of my ministry.

This past weekend I was the oldest person (31) on the worship team. The average age of the other 7 people was about 22. This has happened because of a number of reasons, but more importantly, it happened intentionally. God provided these talented leaders, and He simply asked me to be a good steward of their gifts and talents.

Out of these other 7, 5 are gifted and called as worship leaders. So I had (including me), 6 worship leaders on stage at the same time. No it wasn't a Hillsong re-enactment! But leading leaders presents a unique set of challenges. Here are a few things I ask myself, and maybe you might consider asking yourself as well, as we try to be a good steward of the gifts of the leaders around us:

1. Who is a leader around me? Identifying the person is the first step in intentional development.

2. At what or with whom are they currently showing leadership qualities? Find the sphere where their influence is growing and encourage it!

3. How can I help them own this part of their ministry and develop it? Creatively brainstorm how that person can grow and use those gifts to strengthen the body of Christ and allow them to own it.

One example of this at our ministry would be Danny's blog. Danny is a talented leader and musician, and we've developed a great friendship. My challenge is to keep Danny creative and growing, and we came up with this blog idea as a way to use his gift of teaching and also his talents in music and technology to build the body of Christ.

Some wouldn't like the idea of a guy creating music on his laptop and playing that as a part of a worship team, but Danny is bearing fruit with it, and inspiring others to do the same. It's amazing to be a part of a team that is creative and innovative for the glory of God!

So ask yourself today-am I leading leaders? If so, how can you develop them-remember that the end result is to equip the saints for the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:12), and to give all the glory to God.

-Andrew