Leadership in Ministry, Part I: Christian living vs. Christian leading

NOTE:  This post is part of a blog training series on leadership development, originally authored for CTI Music Ministries.     Read the series introduction | view the whole series

“If the purpose of ministry is to convince people to live the kind of life Jesus invites us to live, how can the church be built on people who give up living the kind of life Jesus invites us to live?” – John Ortberg

Over the last several weeks, we have come to appreciate the fact that that our actions and attitudes have the potential to influence someone towards Christ-likeness or away from it. We’ve discovered that our leadership is defined by what we do with this influence, and we’ve cited the Great Commission as our scriptural mandate for Christian leadership.

I think it is important at this stage to back up a bit and underscore the fact that this commission into Christian leadership was the last instruction Jesus gave his disciples. The mandate to “go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life” wasn’t given until this way of life we were to train others in had been fully demonstrated.

Before we can live out the great commission, we must strive to live out the greatest commandment. We need to love the Lord with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind, and love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:29-31.) Living the kind of life Jesus invites us to live is a prerequisite to training others in it.

We must be disciples before we can make disciples of all nations. If we’re not being guided first by the greatest commandment, we can do great damage while trying to live out the great commission.

Christian living means being continually formed in the image of Christ. Christian leading means intentionally using our influence to spur others on towards being formed in the image of Christ… to help others achieve this same goal that we ourselves are daily striving for.

Isn’t that exactly what your current ministry is all about?

If so, doesn’t that mean that your current ministry is itself an exercise in Christian leadership, regardless of whether or not you’ve been given the title of “leader”? (more on that next week.)

The greatest myth that the world reinforces about leadership is that you have to be at the top to lead. Scripture tells us that Christ led from the bottom – he left the highest place and “made himself nothing.” Christ led in meekness.

This kind of thinking is upside-down to a world that equates leadership with power (see our common cultural assumptions about leadership in our post from week 1.) Leading from the bottom doesn’t result in much earthly recognition or reward, so it’s not very gratifying to those who hunger for this kind of approval. It takes a lot of persistence to stick to a path of personal life choices based on doing nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility considering others better than ourselves. The world will not affirm this path, so we must seek our encouragement from a source that is not of the world.

If you’ve been diligent with our weekly assignments so far, you’ve been asking God to help you identify those moments when your tendency is to serve yourself, and to help you cultivate an awareness of the impact you have on others and a passion to serve them above your own interests. Such a prayer focus is critical for ministry leadership, because it is only through prayerful communion with God that we receive the encouragement we need to live and lead this way.

Among the greatest scriptural exhortations given to “ordinary” men and women are Paul’s words in Colossians 3, written not to the leaders, but to the husbands, fathers, wives, children, and slaves in the church at Colosse: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” (Colossians 3:23-24.)

We must take this exhortation to heart if we are to receive any encouragement in our leadership in ministry. Remember that it is the Lord Christ you are serving. It is Him that you are working for. You may not receive the approval of men. You don’t need it. You will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. Keep your focus on serving Him, for He is the only one who can truly say the words “Well done, good and faithful servant” to you.

Learning to receive this approval from our Father, rather than from men, is also essential preparation for future positional ministry leadership. If our course is not firmly rooted in the approval of the One in whose name we lead, we will be easily swayed by the glamour of the world’s approval.

If you’re not ready to work as for the Lord, not for men, then positional ministry leadership is a dangerous place for you to be.


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Week 5 reflection questions:

1. Do you put more emphasis on the great commission than the greatest commandment?

2. We’ve said that Christian living means being continually formed in the image of Christ, and Christian leading means intentionally using our influence to spur others on towards being formed in the image of Christ. This is a great definition of your current ministry, which makes you a leader right now.

• a.  Does this concept scare you, or excite you?
• b.  Does this realization have any impact on how you view the significance of your present ministry?

3. The founder of Christian leadership led from the bottom, in meekness. This doesn’t make sense to the world, but it is the path we are called to as ministry leaders. As you approach a season in which you may be called upon to be a positional ministry leader, what personal preparations do you need to make in order to align yourself more with Christ’s leadership model and less with what the world says about leadership?

4. Are you someone who thrives on the approval of men? What can you do to take the exhortation of Colossians 3 to heart and firmly root yourself in the approval of the One in whose name you lead?


This week’s definition:
CHRISTIAN LIVING = being continually formed in the image of Christ.

This week’s quote:
“If the purpose of ministry is to convince people to live the kind of life Jesus invites us to live, how can the church be built on people who give up living the kind of life Jesus invites us to live?” – John Ortberg

This week’s assignment:
Are you living the kind of life Jesus invites you to live, or have you given up that pursuit? Are you being continually formed in His image?

Get back to the basics this week. Evaluate your decisions in the light of the greatest commandment instead of the great commission, and make it your focus to work for the Lord, not for men. These will be essential disciplines for your continual development towards positional ministry leadership. They will also help you develop the frame of mind you’ll need for next week’s post.