A STRONG ORGANIZATION FOUNDED BY GOD
Philippine Missionary Fellowship, Inc. is a mission-organization
founded in 1957. It is now 46 years old. Members, workers,
leaders and sponsors have come and go but the mission of the Lord is continuously
growing and doing mightily in the sight of God. At present, there
are 260 workers in the mission field and 500 churches were established
in around 20 provinces nationwide. We can imagine how the Lord blessed
PMF with leaders who ran the organization with success. I believed that
PMF is truly a strong organization established not by the great men alone,
but the Lord.
The lack of potential leaders is not founded in
the Scriptures. This is merely a speculation. Some think
that PMF has no potential leaders who can lead the organization the way
it was led by the former leaders. While others think that they can never
run the mission due to lack of leadership training and skills.
J. Oswald Sanders, in his book “Spiritual Leadership”
told that 85% of spiritual leaders are made through the influence of others.
They became effective leaders because of the training and experience they
gained from the past and improve in the present. The body of Christ
is made up of great leaders that are gifted in every area of the ministry.
The Holy Spirit had given them so much talents and gifts that every one
will become useful and contributor to the growth and success in the body
of Christ. In reality, leadership crisis in a strong organization is the
product of leadership who carries the leadership whenever they leave.
They never lay any foundation to build great leaders for the future, nothing
more and nothing less. A legacy of a leader, according to Maxwell,
is “created only when a person puts his organization into the position
to do great things without him.”
SIMPLE TIPS IN PRODUCING LEADERS
Choose Potential Leaders Around You
“Choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of
the Spirit and Wisdom… They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the
Holy Spirit”(Acts 6:3,5).
Spirituality coupled with wisdom.
Selection of kingdom leaders must not be influenced by worldly wisdom,
wealth, or social status. The prime consideration is spirituality.
Selecting leaders apart from spiritual qualifications always leads to unspiritual
administration. Although spirituality gives wisdom for a leader but being
spiritual alone is not enough. Wisdom given by God acquired through
outpouring of the Holy Spirit or through education, according to Luke,
is a pre-requisite for successful leadership. John R. Mott, a world leader
in student circles, believed that “a leader is a man who knows the road,
who can keep ahead, and who pulls others after him.” Spiritual leaders
blend with natural and spiritual qualities. Even the natural qualities
are supernatural gifts, since all good things come from God.
Personal Integrity. Paul spoke of his
failures and success with openness that few of us are prepared to copy.
Even before his conversion he served God sincerely (2 Tim. 1:3) and with
great personal integrity. Later he wrote: “In Christ we speak before
God with sincerity” (2 Cor. 2:17). This quality of leadership was
part of God’s law for the Israelites (Deut. 18:13). God wants his
people to show a transparent character, open and innocent of deception.
A prominent businessman once replied to a question: “If I had to name the
one most important quality of a top manager, I would say personal integrity.”
Surely the spiritual leader must be sincere in promise, faithful in discharge
of duty, upright in finances, loyal in service, and honest in speech.”
Just as in sports a coach needs a team of good players
to win, an organization needs a team of good leaders to succeed.
Delegate “your” Responsibilities to Train Them
“The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses
entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others” (2
Tim. 2:2)
Another facet of leadership is the ability to recognize the special
abilities and limitation of others, combined with capacity to fit each
one into the job he or she will do the best. To succeed in getting
things done through others is the highest type of leadership. D.E.
Hoste said that “the capacity to appreciate gifts of widely varying kinds
of workers, is the main quality for oversight in a mission such as ours.”
Thoughtful delegation will save the leader the frustrating experience
of square pegs serving in round holes. Jethro told Moses in his advice,
“you and these people who come to you will surely wear yourselves out.
The work is too hard for you; you can not handle it alone.” (Exodus 18:18).
Several things will be taken in this advice: Moses was able to concentrate
on the biggest problems, the talents of many around him were discovered,
those gifted men who could have become his critics were now allies facing
common challenge. People’s problems were solved with efficiency and
most of all Moses laid the ground works of effective leadership after his
death. It is a big mistake for a good leader to assume more duties
than he can discharge. Leaders must multiply themselves by developing younger
leaders, giving them full play and adequate outlet for their abilities.
When W.E. Sangster was appointed General Secretary of the Home
Mission Department of Methodist Church in Britain, he divided labor between
his subordinates, assigned each responsibility, and gave up all supervision.
He never regretted such trust. It was said of Sangster: “his greatest grasp
of leadership was knowing the importance of delegation and of choosing
assistants with care…” The result, many potential leaders knew his job
and the ministry will continue despite of his absence. The morale of leaders
under him was raised up to the same level that they can run the organization
with themselves.
Nehemiah raised the morale of his collegues. It is the important
part of leader’s work. He built up their faith by redirecting focus
away from the “impossible” toward the greatness of God. Through out
the record are such assurances as “the God of heaven will give us success”
(2:20) and “the Joy of the Lord is your strength” (8:10). Faith builds
faith. Pessimism dismantles faith. The spiritual leader’s primary
task is to build the faith of others through proper delegation of his work.
As Frank Buchman once said, “If you failed to train others to do your work
better than you did, you had failed.”
Delegation is the most effective way of training Christians for
the spiritual leadership.
Use Spiritual Gifts to Focus in the Ministry
“Any person can steer the ship but it takes a leader to chart the
course” (John Maxwell).
Most of Spiritual leaders have neglected the importance
of Scriptural giftedness in choosing their spiritual leaders. Most
of the time they select leaders according to the person’s ability and dedication
to service. That’s why they failed and oftentimes ineffective. Leaders
cannot be equipped to all aspects of God’s service. The ministry
is not electronic equipment, but a body with discernible parts. Scripture
speaks of this truth in Ephesians, which tells us that when Jesus ascended,
“He…gave some to be apostles…and some pastors and teachers;…” (4:11 NKJV).
Every person has a field of effectiveness. As much
as possible, focus your life and ministry on your own field in order to
become productive. Although some leaders can do things beyond their
gifts but their effectiveness in that area are limited. A person
gifted in church planting more often is ineffective in church administration,
and a person gifted in church administration is not very effective in teaching.
On the other side, although your foot can handle a paper that was drop
on the floor, but it is more easily for the hand to get it with success.
Success in the ministry greatly lies in the gifts and talents of the people
serving under it. If the leaders work according to their gifts two things
will happen, First, they will enjoy serving the ministry, as they serve
the Lord, and second, they will become effective.
No one is strong in every area of life. To
produce leaders, find people in your organization, whom God has equipped
to minister effectively in the important areas, develop them in your organization
through the art of delegation. For where you are weak others are strong!
SIMPLE ADVICE IN CHOOSING LEADERS
It is not easy to look for good and responsible
leaders. You can’t know the person by their words, because politicians
usually use this strategy. Read their words from the heart and you
will know them for God did not choose people out of other things aside
from the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). God is able to know who are worthy.
If there is no other way in your mind, you can consider the advice of A.W.
Tozer: “A true and safe leader is likely to be one who has no desire to
lead, but is forced into a position by inward pressure of the Holy Spirit
and the press of circumstances…The man who is ambitious to lead is disqualified
as a leader. The true leader will have no desire to Lord it over
God’s heritage, but will be humble, gentle, self-sacrificing and altogether
ready to follow when the spirit chooses another to lead.”
Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David, Joshua, Peter, Paul and other disciples
of Jesus are good leaders who never aspire to put into leadership but they
simply do their job faithfully and honestly.
Several years ago, the embassy in Beruit was
bombed and several people were injured. One marine was injured physically
and he was also blinded. The four-star general who was the commanding
officer of that area went into the hospital and commended this man for
suffering. A few days later, the commanding officer was advised that
it was the birthday of the young marine who had been blinded. The
general said, “cancel everything, I’m going over to the hospital.”
He got the four stars and he went over to the hospital and he sought out
the blind marine and said, “I understand it’s your birthday today.”
And he said, “Give me your hand.” And as he held up his hand, the
general put four stars in his hand and said, “these are for you young man,
HAPPY Birthday.” The young marine then asked for the hand of general
and gave back the four stars and said, “simper fie” which means “always
faithful.” This young marine was simply saying, “I do not deserve
anything extra. I was simply remaining faithful.”
The God’s wanted leaders have similar motto
that lived out in their lives. They steadfast for they are always
faithful to the Lord. They serve just to glorify the Lord!
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