GIFTS
OF MINISTRY
(see
Romans 12.4 - 8)
Brian
Favell
Part
6-
LEADING
As
with some other motivational gifts, we can be led right up the garden about
Leading if we let ourselves absorb conventional ideas about leaders.
If we think of a leader as a dynamic personality, an inspiring speaker, a
glutton for work, a human dynamo....... then we are on the wrong track!
Business
and industry have been finding out the truth of this the hard way.
They are full of men and women who have been promoted one step too far;
people whose drive and initiative in a particular job has been wholly admirable
and who have therefore been promoted to the boss's job.
They were so good at directing their own work that they were a natural
choice for directing other people - but they flop because their talent is ONLY
for directing their own work: they are not leaders.
There
is only one quality essential to a Leader: the gift of leadership.
A one-man-band - the sort of man who not only can but DOES do everything
- is not a Leader; he is more likely to be a Servant. The man who cannot trust
anyone else to do a job properly is not a Leader; he has not learned to
delegate. A real Leader may
not be able to do anything really well himself, but he DOES know exactly what
has to be done and why...... and he knows exactly the right person to do it!
So
if we are looking for a Leader and we must not expect to find him among the
pushers, the go-getters, the gluttons for work and the one-man-bands.........
then where WILL we find him?
Answer:
standing at the side and patiently waiting to be called and used. Probably
disguised as a Servant.
Because
according to Christ's way of doing things, he who would lead his fellows must be
their servant. That's the lesson
that he tried to drive home by washing his friends' feet.
Indeed
there is a real danger of confusing Servants and Leaders. Neither actively seek power and glory: both know
themselves to be called to serve. But
there are important differences. A
Servant is happiest with short-term projects and immediate answers. "The
light in the vestry's giving trouble? No
problem: I'll come and fix it right away!"
A
Leader, on the other hand, has the sort of vision that sees the whole picture
rather than just the bit of it that is the immediate problem. His response to the failing light might be,
"Right: I know just the man to fix that; I'll have word with him. But we won't waste too much time on it - we're due to
rewire the while building in six weeks' time."
And
suppose the Servant found the whole light fitting must be replaced, he'd just go
out and buy another and say, "Don't bother about the bill: I'll pay and
we'll sort it out later." The
Leader confronted by the same situation would say, "Just make a
temporary job - we're buying a batch of new fittings for the rewiring
job. No point in paying over the
odds for a single fitting now."
In
one sentence, the Leader has the ability to co-ordinate the actions of others
for the achievement of a common goal. This
holds good for any task and in any situation, but in the matter of building
God's Kingdom a Leader has the vision to see a task from God's viewpoint: to see
the overall picture and the relationship of its various parts
And as I have said, he can see the long term picture, not just the
immediate need. His drive is
to organise others, not to do everything himself: he not only knows how to
delegate but knows no other way of doing things.
It is as natural and right for him to match up tasks with the abilities
of other people as it is for most of us to take our coats off and try to do them
ourselves.
The
fact that he sees things in the long term does not mean he lets them drag on:
quite the opposite. He knows
which particular time slot a particular task must be fitted into if the whole
pattern is not to be upset. He
knows the resources at hand: he knows what he can do and others must do, and he
would regard it as a personal failure if the task were done badly or too late.
He
will not just barge into a situation and try to take it over, even when he is
nearly out of his mind with frustration at the way things are NOT being done -
he has too much respect for patterns of authority.
Hence as I said earlier, he is likely to be found standing on the
sidelines waiting to be called. Nevertheless
if he happens to be in a group where there is no structure of authority, his
will be the voice making the quiet suggestion that, when adopted, will set
things moving the right way.
Where
others experience the joy of creation as something solid grows under their
hands, the Leader finds it in their accurate fitting together of all the parts
of a project, in proper matching of task with ability and in the enjoyment
others have in the finished work. For
the sake of that joy (and in the knowledge that he is doing God's work) he will
endure criticism and abuse from others - even his workers - who can only see
part of the picture. And when a
task is completed he will not (if he can by any means avoid it) be on the
platform having his back slapped, hearing the speeches and drinking in the
praise; he will be back on the sidelines quietly waiting for the next
task.........
AS
ALWAYS, there are problems. Others
may see his ability to delegate as merely an ability to dodge work.
His faithfulness to the overall vision that he sees may lead others to
feel he is neglecting their insights and even their complaints.
The things that are blindingly obvious to him are often not so to others,
and if he sees no need to explain then those others may feel misused or
exploited.
His
drive for speed and efficiency in the tasks he has delegated may seem
inconsiderate - even unrealistic - to those who are doing them. Even when they see that he is doing a good job those
who work with him will curse him from time to time, while he will have lots of
opportunity to practice Jesus' command to 'bless those that curse you'!
His pleasure in the completed work will be greater than theirs, just as
the director of a play (if he is a good one) will get more pleasure out of it
than any actor; consequently he must do all he can to help them gain
satisfaction from what they are doing.
The
dangers that a Leader is exposed to are pretty obvious: first of course pride;
pride in the power he wields and pride in his achievements, as if they were all
his own work and not God working through him.