Leadership Training Breakfast #3; by John Menchaca
We met for the third installment of our All Saints leadership training on Tuesday morning to continue our study of 1 Timothy 3 and our Biblical instruction on church leadership. Our focus was Scripture and its teaching on "responsibility.”
Pastor Boyd walked us through the meaning of the following leadership continuum: Knowledge begets Understanding begets Wisdom begets Assuming Responsibility in God’s kingdom and church. One way to understand Paul’s qualifications for leaders is through this continuum. A leader is someone in whom this ongoing movement from knowledge to taking responsibility is evident. And, leaders seek to use this knowledge, understanding, and wisdom on behalf of the Body (even as they attempt to do the same thing in their own households, workplaces, and relationships). In Philippians 2 Paul reminds us that such “leadership” in the life of Christ Jesus manifested itself in that Jesus “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men….”
At our tables we discussed the necessity to shepherd others; to be responsible for oneself and one’s family; to serve others to free them up to handle other things; and, finally, that it is a joy and privilege to serve others. We learned that the principal attribute of a successful CEO (or any successful leader) is the ability to listen. This is important. Officers of the church are simply ministers, called by God to minister to the church body. All of us must use our knowledge, understanding and wisdom to teach others, to serve others and to disciple others (Matt. 28). We are being called by God to engage those inside AND outside the church. And to do that, we must hold true to the words of Paul in 1 Timothy 3.
Our fourth and final installment of our (formal) leadership training is on Tuesday, July 29th at 7:00 a.m.