Reflections on Leadership 2: Who's leading What?

As a leader in the body of Christ what are you leading? For so many years I was so confused about this question. My leadership time and effort was spent almost entirely on planning events and programs, hammering out logistics, making sure that meetings went smoothly and according to plan.

This might be the most important point in the effectiveness of a kingdom leader: your job is to lead people. The church of God is people. Your ministry is people. There is no other thing in the kingdom of God here on earth other than people. One quick survey of Jesus' life would reveal that. He never got into government like the Jews thought their Messiah would. He was never into dividing duties to his disciples for programs and events; he just called them together and said "go". He spent most of his time talking, teaching, healing, and loving people as he just so happened to pass by them.

I have seen so many leaders (myself definitely included) simply degenerate into an endless cycle of doing; running events and programs and "ministries". They end up thinking that their primary role is to do things with "excellence", which, while noble, completely negates their calling as a leader.

I often observe a particular question on voting day for campus Christian groups: why do you want to serve in leadership rather than off of it? Most candidates fumble this question because they simply do not perceive a difference. They do not realize that being on the exec, being given a positional leadership role, is a specific calling to lead people. Worse off, most fellowships will vote people in based on their ability to do "ministry", on their competence in organization and administration, rather than on someone's ability to build positive, God-abiding relationships. Many wonder why their fellowship doesn't make as much of a kingdom impact as they'd like, when it really boiled down to the leadership's inability to focus on what the kingdom really is, people, and to instill that focus in others.

Going back to "Who's Leading?", your job as a leader is to help your group follow and realize what God has in store for it, and you simply cannot do that without spending the bulk of your time deeply connecting to people. Leaders are called to be leaders, not just be harder workers.