Tag: discipleship

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Following Before Leading: Redefining Success in Christian Leadership

Reflections on Eugene Peterson’s Follow the Leader series

What does it mean to be a successful Christian leader? Is success measured by the number of people attending our churches, the ministries we establish, the positions we hold, or the influence we develop? Or is there a deeper measurement that challenges our understanding of leadership altogether?

As I listened to Eugene Peterson’s Follow the Leader series, I found myself wrestling with these questions. Peterson examines the leadership of Jesus in its historical context, contrasting his approach with influential figures such as Herod, Caiaphas, and Josephus. Through these comparisons, he challenges the assumptions we often bring into Christian leadership, particularly our understanding of power, success, relationships, and personal ambition.

One of the greatest insights I gained from this series is that Jesus did not simply provide a model for becoming an effective leader. He invited us to become faithful followers.

This distinction challenges not only how I approach ministry but also how I understand my calling, my ambitions, and the importance of remaining faithful wherever God has placed me.

The challenge of following before leading

Early in the third part of his series, Peterson emphasizes a distinction that caught my attention: Jesus said, “Follow me,” not “lead like me.”

Peterson explains that following is often more difficult than leading because it requires greater attention and moral energy. This challenges the tendency to focus on developing leadership abilities without giving equal attention to our relationship with Jesus.

Leadership requires skills, knowledge, experience, and preparation. However, Christian leadership must begin with something deeper: a life of prayer, obedience, and dependence upon Christ.

Before I can lead others faithfully, I must examine whether I am faithfully following Jesus myself.

This insight brought me back to my experience as a new believer in high school. At the time, I had a strong desire to become a leader on my campus and establish a Christian club. My passion for ministry was present, but my preparation was still developing.

I wanted to lead, yet I lacked the biblical knowledge and training necessary for the responsibility I desired. I also had not fully recognized the importance of receiving guidance from the leaders God had placed in my life.

Nevertheless, that Christian club had value. We served our campus, built community, and sought to demonstrate what it meant to follow Jesus.

Looking back, I recognize that even though my preaching and teaching abilities were limited, following Jesus involved more than standing in front of people and delivering a message. It involved obedience, service, relationships, and learning to live according to his example.

That experience helped me recognize that our desire to lead must never become more important than our commitment to follow.

Prayer before personal ambition

One of the ways Peterson’s teaching challenges my current approach to leadership is by encouraging me to reflect on prayer more often than goal setting.

I enjoy establishing goals, developing plans, and pursuing opportunities. These activities have value, particularly when we are responsible for leading others. However, they also present an important spiritual question.

Am I submitting my plans to Jesus, or am I simply asking him to bless the direction I have already chosen?

Peterson emphasizes that prayer is essential to following Jesus. In the third part of his series, he discusses how prayer forms us into followers from the inside out.

This means that following Jesus is not merely about outward activities. We can participate in ministry, develop leadership abilities, and accomplish organizational goals while neglecting the spiritual formation necessary to sustain faithful discipleship.

Prayer invites us to examine our motives and surrender our direction to Christ.

As I continue developing as a minister, I want to become increasingly intentional about seeking God’s direction rather than relying exclusively on my abilities, expectations, or understanding of what should happen next.

The challenge is not to stop planning. It is to allow my plans to be influenced by Jesus.

When success becomes a distraction

Another aspect of Peterson’s teaching that challenged me was his discussion of success and failure.

Throughout his series, Peterson contrasts Jesus with influential leaders of the first century. Herod demonstrated considerable political and organizational influence, while Caiaphas exercised authority within the religious establishment.

Yet Jesus did not organize his ministry around the conventional measurements of success represented by these leaders.

In the second part of the series, Peterson explains that Jesus’ life can appear unsuccessful when evaluated according to society’s expectations. He also observes that faithful individuals can become invisible because their lives do not conform to what society values.

This challenges how we understand success within contemporary Christianity.

Our Christian communities exist in a culture shaped by music, entertainment, celebrity, social media, and numerical exposure. As individuals gain influence, they may experience increasing pressure to maintain their recognition and status.

The danger arises when preserving influence becomes more important than faithfully following Jesus.

This is especially challenging for me because I desire to serve in a pastoral ministry position in the future.

As an ordained minister currently serving without a pastoral staff position, I have wrestled with the relationship between my calling, my credentials, and the opportunities I hope to pursue.

At times, it can be tempting to view a position as validation of my ministerial identity. Yet Peterson’s teaching challenges me to examine whether I am pursuing opportunities primarily to serve others or to become somebody in the eyes of others.

A pastoral position can provide meaningful opportunities to lead, teach, disciple, and develop ministries. However, it should not determine the value of my present service or become the ultimate measurement of my faithfulness.

I am learning that being faithful where God has placed me matters just as much as preparing for wherever he may lead me next.

This gives me a desire to continue praying and trusting his direction, even when the outcome of my ministry pursuits remains unknown.

The difference between ambition and energy

One of the most helpful distinctions Peterson makes is between ambition and energy.

In the first part of his series, he discusses how ambition can become connected to personal importance, recognition, and achieving our own goals. He contrasts this with the energy, obedience, and discipline necessary for faithful service.

This distinction is particularly meaningful when pursuing leadership opportunities.

It is possible to work diligently, develop skills, establish goals, and pursue opportunities without allowing personal ambition to become the driving force behind our decisions.

The question is what motivates our pursuit.

Do I want to lead because I desire recognition, or because I see an opportunity to serve? Am I pursuing a particular position because it will make me feel successful, or because I believe I can faithfully contribute to the ministry God has entrusted to me?

These are questions I want to continue asking throughout my ministerial journey.

My desire is not to lose the energy and passion I have for ministry. Rather, I want those qualities to be shaped by prayer, obedience, and a willingness to follow Jesus wherever he leads.

A PERSONAL REFLECTION

The goal is not to abandon our passion for leadership, but to surrender the ambition that places ourselves at the center of it.

Building a church culture centered on followership

Peterson’s philosophy also raises an important question about the culture we establish within our churches.

What would happen if Christ-centered leaders prioritized faithful followership over recognition, status, and conventional measurements of success?

I believe this approach could transform how we understand discipleship, prayer, and servant-hearted leadership.

1. Discipleship would become more relational

Peterson explains that Jesus used stories to invite people into relationships and personal encounters.

Rather than organizing his ministry around buildings, crowds, or prominent individuals, Jesus invested in people and invited them to participate in the life of God’s kingdom.

This challenges churches to examine how they measure their effectiveness.

Attendance, volunteer participation, and numerical growth can provide valuable information. However, these measurements do not tell the complete story of what God is doing in people’s lives.

A church may have impressive attendance while struggling to develop meaningful relationships and mature disciples. Conversely, a smaller congregation may be making a significant spiritual impact through personal mentorship, service, and discipleship.

If we implement Peterson’s philosophy, I believe our churches can develop a deeper commitment to knowing people rather than merely counting them.

The goal is not simply to attract individuals into a building. It is to help people encounter Jesus and become faithful followers of him.

2. Prayer would shape our leadership culture

A second outcome would be a greater dependence on prayer.

Following Jesus requires more than developing strategies and implementing programs. It requires leaders who continually seek his direction.

This dependence should not remain confined to the church building or formal ministry activities. It should influence how we live, work, serve our communities, and interact with others wherever God has placed us.

A prayerful leadership culture would encourage us to examine our decisions, surrender our expectations, and remain attentive to God’s direction amid uncertain circumstances.

We can still establish goals and develop organizational plans. However, we must recognize that our plans are ultimately subject to God’s purposes.

Prayer reminds us that we are followers before we are leaders.

3. Servant-hearted leadership would replace the pursuit of status

A third outcome would be a leadership culture that emphasizes service rather than personal recognition.

When leaders understand the difference between ambition and energy, ministry opportunities become responsibilities to steward rather than positions through which to establish personal importance.

This could influence how churches develop leaders, empower volunteers, and distribute ministry responsibilities.

Instead of concentrating attention on prominent individuals, churches could cultivate environments where people are equipped to serve according to their gifts, abilities, and spiritual maturity.

Leadership development would involve more than teaching organizational skills. It would include helping people develop their character, examine their motives, and grow in their relationship with Jesus.

Ultimately, this approach would encourage the Body of Christ to pursue opportunities with a servant’s heart.

Following the Master wherever he leads

Peterson’s Follow the Leader series has challenged me to reconsider what it means to pursue leadership faithfully.

I still desire to grow as a minister, develop my abilities, pursue future opportunities, and serve in pastoral ministry. However, I increasingly recognize that none of these aspirations should become more important than following Jesus.

My calling is not validated by a position, and my faithfulness cannot be measured exclusively by visible accomplishments.

I want to remain faithful where God has placed me while continuing to prepare for wherever he may guide me.

This requires prayer, obedience, humility, and a willingness to examine my motives continually.

As Christian leaders, we must remember that our responsibility is not simply to become more influential. It is to allow Jesus to shape how we exercise whatever influence he has entrusted to us.

Before we ask how we can become better leaders, perhaps we should begin with a more important question:

How are we becoming better followers of Jesus?

This reflection is based on Eugene Peterson’s three-part Follow the Leader series, particularly his discussions of followership, relational leadership, prayer, success, and the distinction between ambition and energy.

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When Worship Confronts the Heart: Sin, Idolatry, and Surrender

Worship has a way of revealing what is happening within the human heart.

When we think about sin, words such as shame, guilt, condemnation, and separation often come to mind. Scripture certainly takes sin seriously. Yet for the believer, awareness of sin should not simply drive us into shame. Instead, through Christ, conviction can become an invitation to repentance, restoration, and deeper worship.

This raises an important question for the church: Can we truly understand worship without confronting the reality of sin?

Worship Requires an Awareness of God’s Holiness

One of the most powerful biblical pictures of worship appears in Isaiah 6. Isaiah encounters the holiness and majesty of God and immediately becomes aware of his own condition:

“Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips.” — Isaiah 6:5

Isaiah’s response demonstrates something important about worship. The closer he becomes to the revelation of God’s holiness, the more aware he becomes of his own need for cleansing.

John Oswalt emphasizes this relationship between sin and worship by arguing that genuine worship requires an awareness of our uncleanness before a holy God. Worship is not merely celebration. It is also confrontation.

We encounter God as He is, and that encounter reveals areas of our lives that need to be surrendered to Him.

Yet Isaiah’s story does not end with his uncleanness.

God provides cleansing.

That distinction matters tremendously for the church. Conviction points us toward restoration, while condemnation leaves us believing there is no way forward.

Healthy Christian worship should therefore create room for both realities: the seriousness of sin and the transforming grace of God.

What Would a Culture of Surrender Look Like?

This challenges us to consider how our churches address sin within worship.

Do our worship gatherings provide opportunities for people to examine their hearts before God? Do we teach believers how to distinguish conviction from condemnation? Do we allow moments of reverence, repentance, prayer, and surrender alongside moments of celebration?

Sometimes surrender can even become physically expressed.

A believer may kneel.

Someone may bow at an altar.

Another person may quietly pray while members of the congregation surround them in prayer.

These actions are not what make repentance genuine. Nevertheless, physical expressions can communicate an inward reality: “Lord, I surrender myself to You.”

There is something beautiful about this within the gathered church. Repentance does not necessarily happen in isolation. A believer can encounter God personally while simultaneously being surrounded by a community that prays, encourages, and walks alongside them.

Worship therefore becomes both personal and communal.

Idolatry Is Still a Worship Problem

Sin is not the only issue that confronts our worship. Scripture repeatedly warns God’s people about idolatry.

When reading the accounts surrounding Jeremiah and Ezekiel, we encounter a people whose worship had become corrupted by competing allegiances. Idolatry was not merely an unfortunate spiritual habit. It represented misplaced worship.

Although our modern idols may look different, the underlying problem remains.

Timothy Keller famously described counterfeit gods as things that become so central to our identity and security that losing them can make life feel almost unbearable.

That definition should cause us to examine ourselves.

Our idols may not be statues.

They may be careers.

Relationships.

Money.

Recognition.

Education.

Influence.

Political causes.

Even our talents and opportunities can become dangerous when they begin providing the identity, security, or significance that ultimately belongs to God.

The question is therefore not merely, “What am I pursuing?”

A deeper question is:

“Why am I pursuing it?”

When Good Things Become Ultimate Things

This became particularly challenging for me because Ecclesiastes has also shaped my thinking about ambition and purpose.

Ecclesiastes repeatedly confronts humanity’s attempt to find ultimate meaning through earthly pursuits. Wealth, accomplishment, pleasure, wisdom, and labor cannot carry the weight of ultimate significance apart from God. They become a chasing after the wind.

That does not mean ambition, education, ministry, relationships, careers, or personal development are inherently wrong.

The issue is what place they occupy within our hearts.

I have increasingly found myself asking:

Do I trust my own gifting and abilities, or do I trust the God who gave them to me?

There is an important difference.

God can provide opportunities, abilities, relationships, and influence that genuinely glorify Him. Yet even gifts from God can become idols when the gift becomes more important than the Giver.

Christian surrender therefore involves more than abandoning obviously sinful behavior. Sometimes surrender means placing our greatest dreams before God and saying:

“Lord, even this belongs to You.”

Worship Reorders the Heart

Perhaps this is one of the greatest purposes of worship.

Worship reminds us who God is.

And when we understand who God is, we begin to understand everything else differently.

Our sins are confronted by His holiness.

Our shame encounters His grace.

Our idols are exposed by His worthiness.

Our ambitions become surrendered to His purposes.

Our gifts become instruments for His glory rather than monuments to ourselves.

True worship does not simply produce an emotional experience on Sunday morning. True worship continually reorders the heart around God.

That leaves me with several questions worth continuing to explore:

How can churches teach and model repentance without creating cultures of condemnation?

How can our worship gatherings cultivate reverence and surrender alongside joy and celebration?

How can Christians recognize when something good has quietly become an idol?

And perhaps the most personal question:

If God removed the things I depend upon for identity, significance, and security, would God Himself still be enough?

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Leading Like Jesus: Five Leadership Lessons from the Gospel of Luke

When we read the Gospel of Luke, we primarily encounter Jesus as our Lord and Savior: the Son of God who came to seek and save the lost. Yet as we follow His ministry, we also discover something about the way Jesus led people.

Jesus had a mission. He developed disciples. He gave others responsibility. He confronted issues of character and commitment. And when the pressure surrounding His mission intensified, He remained dependent upon the Father.

Reading Luke through the lens of leadership challenged me to think beyond leadership as simply having a title or position. Jesus demonstrates a form of leadership centered on mission, development, empowerment, character, and spiritual dependence.

Here are five leadership principles that stood out to me.

1. Stay Faithful to the Mission When Rejection Comes

Luke 4:18–29

Early in His ministry, Jesus entered the synagogue in Nazareth and read from the prophet Isaiah. He announced that the Scripture was being fulfilled in their hearing.

Yet the response eventually became hostile.

The people questioned Jesus because they knew Him as Joseph’s son. As the encounter continued, their skepticism turned into anger and rejection.

Still, rejection did not redefine Jesus’ mission.

That presents an important challenge for leaders: How much does the approval of others determine whether we believe we are successful?

Leadership inevitably brings different opinions. Some people will understand the mission, while others may question it. There will even be moments when rejection makes us question ourselves.

Jesus reminds us that faithfulness cannot ultimately be built upon approval. Christian leaders must continually return to what God has called them to accomplish.

That doesn’t mean leaders should refuse correction or ignore wise counsel. Rather, it means opposition by itself does not determine whether the mission is worth pursuing.

Our foundation must remain deeper than applause.

2. Develop People Intentionally

Luke 6:12–19

One of the most interesting things about Jesus’ leadership is the size of the group He chose to develop closely.

Jesus ministered to crowds, but He invested deeply in a smaller group of disciples. Before selecting the Twelve, Luke tells us that Jesus spent the night in prayer.

Jesus was intentional about who He would develop.

This challenged my thinking about mentorship. Leaders sometimes feel responsible for personally developing everyone around them. Depending on the size of the organization, that can quickly become unrealistic.

Jesus demonstrates another approach: invest deeply in people who can eventually influence others.

I see this principle even while working with students. When managing a group of more than fifteen students, every student brings different personalities, perspectives, attitudes, and needs. Trying to personally lead every student at exactly the same depth can become overwhelming.

But what happens when a leader begins developing a smaller group of student leaders?

Those students can begin influencing the culture around them.

Leadership development then becomes multiplication.

3. Give People Responsibility and the Authority to Carry It Out

Luke 9:1–10

Jesus didn’t keep His disciples beside Him forever.

Eventually, He sent them.

Luke records that Jesus gathered the Twelve, gave them power and authority, provided instructions, and sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and heal the sick. Later, they returned and reported what they had done.

Notice the progression:

Jesus called them.

Jesus developed them.

Jesus empowered them.

Jesus sent them.

Jesus received their report.

Jesus understood something every leader eventually has to learn: the mission becomes limited when everything depends upon one person.

Healthy leadership requires delegation, but biblical delegation involves more than handing someone a task.

People need preparation.

They need responsibility.

They need appropriate authority.

They need opportunities to practice.

And they need feedback afterward.

Churches sometimes become so focused on filling volunteer positions that we forget the importance of developing the person filling the position.

Imagine someone responsible for displaying lyrics during worship. It may seem like a simple responsibility, but that person needs to understand the software, lyrics, timing, pace, and transitions. Without preparation, mistakes can distract the congregation from participating in worship.

Giving someone a position is not the same as developing them for the position.

Jesus didn’t simply need workers. He developed disciples who could participate in His mission.

4. Character Matters More Than Charisma

Luke 18:18–23

When a ruler approached Jesus asking about eternal life, Jesus eventually confronted something deeper than outward obedience.

“You still lack one thing.”

Jesus identified something that challenged the man’s commitment. His wealth had become a barrier he was unwilling to surrender.

The encounter reminds us that leadership development sometimes requires uncomfortable conversations.

Someone can be passionate and still need development.

Someone can be gifted and still need accountability.

Someone can desire influence without being prepared for the sacrifice accompanying it.

This is especially important in ministry.

It can be easy to desire opportunities to preach, stand on a platform, lead worship, hold a title, or receive recognition. But what happens when discipleship involves correction? What happens when leadership requires serving somewhere nobody notices? What happens when someone identifies an area of our character that needs to change?

Charisma can attract attention, but character sustains leadership.

Healthy leadership cultures therefore cannot merely identify people’s gifts. They must also create environments where people can be discipled, corrected, challenged, and developed.

5. Leadership Requires Dependence Upon God

Luke 22:39–46

Eventually, Luke brings us to one of the most vulnerable moments of Jesus’ ministry: Gethsemane.

Jesus knew what was approaching.

He experienced tremendous anguish. Yet rather than pretending the situation was easy, Jesus prayed.

His prayer included the words:

“Yet not my will, but yours be done.”

There is something deeply important here for Christian leadership.

Jesus does not model leadership as emotional invulnerability. He does not pretend pressure doesn’t exist. Instead, He brings His anguish before the Father and remains obedient to God’s purposes.

Leadership will bring moments of pressure.

There may be misunderstanding, disappointment, difficult decisions, rejection, or even betrayal. Those moments expose the limits of leadership techniques.

Sometimes we don’t need another strategy.

We need God’s strength.

Prayer therefore isn’t an accessory to Christian leadership. Dependence upon God must remain at its center.

A Pattern of Leadership in Luke

When I put these passages together, I noticed that they form something of a progression:

1.) Mission

2.) Development

3.) Empowerment

4.) Character

5.) Perseverance

Jesus knew the mission.

He selected people to develop.

He entrusted those people with responsibility and authority.

He confronted issues that could hinder genuine commitment.

And through suffering and pressure, He remained dependent upon the Father and faithful to His mission.

That gives us a powerful picture of leadership.

Leadership isn’t merely about starting something.

It’s about knowing the mission well enough to remain faithful when rejection comes.

It’s about developing people instead of doing everything ourselves.

It’s about trusting others with meaningful responsibility.

It’s about caring enough about people to confront character issues.

And ultimately, it’s about recognizing that we cannot fulfill God’s purposes through our own strength.

The Gospel of Luke reminds me that Jesus didn’t merely accomplish a mission.

He developed people who could participate in it.

Perhaps that is one of the greatest questions every Christian leader should ask:

Am I simply accomplishing the work in front of me, or am I developing people who can carry the mission forward?

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When Repentance Becomes Convenient: Rediscovering Confession as Worship

There is a significant difference between wanting God and wanting God to fix our circumstances.

While reading Biblical Worship: Theology for God’s Glory, I was challenged by the discussion of Israel’s pattern of crying out to God during times of distress. Israel repeatedly experienced the consequences of pursuing other gods, only to turn toward the Lord when those pursuits failed.

This raises an uncomfortable question for believers today:

Do we seek God because we desire Him, or because we desire what He can do for us?

A Conversion of Convenience

Benjamin K. Forrest describes one of Israel’s responses as a “conversion of convenience.” Israel acknowledged its sin and removed its idols, but the larger biblical pattern demonstrates how easily people can turn toward God because circumstances have become unbearable rather than because their hearts genuinely desire Him.

We can encounter the same temptation today.

Sometimes God becomes our last resort rather than our first pursuit.

Prayer becomes urgent when the diagnosis comes. We seek God when the relationship begins falling apart. We suddenly become interested in His direction when our own plans stop working. We ask for deliverance when consequences finally reach us.

There is nothing wrong with crying out to God during suffering. Scripture repeatedly invites us to do exactly that. The deeper question concerns the posture of our hearts.

Are we seeking deliverance from our circumstances, or are we surrendering ourselves to God?

Authentic repentance is more than wanting circumstances to change. It involves allowing God to change us.

Prayer Is an Act of Worship

This challenged me to reconsider prayer as more than simply presenting requests before God.

Prayer is worship.

If worship involves recognizing who God is and responding appropriately to Him, then our prayer lives reveal something about our understanding of God.

When God becomes someone we primarily approach during emergencies, our relationship with Him can slowly become transactional:

God, I have a problem. Please solve it.

But a life of worship develops another posture:

God, whether I am experiencing peace or difficulty, I belong to You. Lead me.

Developing a consistent life of prayer prepares us for the storms that eventually come. Instead of discovering God only when everything collapses, we learn to walk with Him before, during, and after the storm.

Crisis does not create our relationship with God; it reveals the relationship we have been cultivating.

Rediscovering Confession

Another aspect of worship that deserves greater attention is confession.

I was raised Catholic, so confession was familiar to me from an early age. My understanding of confession has changed significantly since then, but studying worship has caused me to reconsider something important: perhaps Christians from nonliturgical traditions can learn from traditions that intentionally create space for confession.

In many evangelical and Pentecostal settings, we commonly emphasize confessing our sins directly to God—and rightly so.

But Scripture also gives confession a communal dimension.

James 5:16 instructs believers to “confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”

That challenges an exclusively individualistic understanding of repentance.

There are sins that need to be brought before God privately. Yet there are also moments when healing requires trusted Christian community, pastoral care, accountability, prayer, and confession to another believer.

Sin thrives in secrecy.

Healthy Christian community brings what has been hidden into the light.

What Could Confession Look Like in the Church?

This does not necessarily mean standing before an entire congregation and publicly describing every sin we have committed.

Healthy confession requires wisdom, appropriate relationships, pastoral safeguards, and discernment.

But what would happen if our churches became places where Christians were less afraid to admit that they were struggling?

What if small groups became places where people could say, “I need prayer because I am struggling with this,” without immediately fearing rejection?

What if mature believers intentionally mentored younger believers through repentance and restoration?

What if pastors and ministry leaders modeled a Christianity in which spiritual maturity did not mean pretending to have no struggles?

Perhaps confession should become more visible within our understanding of discipleship.

The church should not become a place where sin is celebrated or minimized. Neither should it become a place where people become so afraid of judgment that they learn to hide their sin successfully.

The goal is restoration.

From Convenient Christianity to Genuine Discipleship

This brings me back to Israel.

A “conversion of convenience” seeks God when God becomes useful.

Discipleship seeks God because He is Lord.

That distinction forces me to examine my own spiritual life. I do not want prayer to become something I suddenly rediscover when circumstances become difficult. I want prayer, repentance, and confession to become ordinary rhythms of worship.

And perhaps our churches need the same examination.

Are we creating disciples who know how to ask God for help, or disciples who know how to surrender their lives to Him?

Are we creating communities where Christians hide their struggles, or communities where repentance leads toward healing and restoration?

Most importantly:

Do we want God’s intervention, or do we want God Himself?

True worship cannot merely be a conversion of convenience.

It is a life continually surrendered to the One who is worthy of our worship—in seasons of blessing, seasons of suffering, and everything in between.

Scripture for Reflection

James 5:16 — “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”

Further Reading

Forrest, Benjamin K., Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Vernon M. Whaley, David M. Wheeler, John W. Cartwright, and C. Randall Bradley. Biblical Worship: Theology for God’s Glory. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2021.

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Leadership Is More Than Starting Well: Lessons on Discernment, Rest, and Mentorship

Starting well is important, but finishing well reveals much about the leader we have become.

This was one of the strongest convictions I walked away with while studying the leadership of the Judean kings. Throughout their stories, a troubling pattern emerges: leaders can begin faithfully, experience success, and even leave a positive legacy, yet gradually lose their dependence on God.

Their stories caused me to think beyond leadership as a position. Leadership includes how we respond to correction, whose voices we allow to influence us, whether we know when to rest, and how intentionally we prepare those coming after us.

Starting Well Is Not Enough

One lesson I learned years ago through preaching and teaching is that introductions and conclusions deserve intentional attention. It is possible to capture people’s attention at the beginning of a message but fail to bring everything together at the end.

Leadership can work the same way.

King Asa began his reign with trust in God, but that trust deteriorated toward the end of his leadership. Fear influenced his decisions, he rejected prophetic correction, and the conclusion of his reign looked considerably different from its beginning.

That challenged me to consider something personally: How do I respond when someone corrects me?

I recently experienced correction from pastoral leadership concerning gestures and behaviors that needed greater explanation. Although the correction was delivered more forcefully than I would have preferred, I recognized that I still had a responsibility to listen. The issue was primarily methodological rather than a rejection of my character or calling.

Leadership requires enough humility to recognize that even small matters deserve consideration.

Perception can turn something seemingly insignificant into something much larger when understanding, accountability, and vulnerability are absent. Sometimes maturity means being willing to listen even when we disagree with someone’s delivery.

The danger is not simply receiving incorrect advice. Sometimes the greater danger is becoming too arrogant to believe we need advice at all.

Who Has Permission to Influence You?

That question became even clearer through my interaction with classmates.

One discussion centered on Rehoboam, whose leadership demonstrates the consequences of listening to the wrong voices. He rejected the wisdom of experienced counselors and instead followed advice that ultimately contributed to the division of the kingdom.

Yet the solution cannot simply be, “Listen to people.”

Leaders must develop discernment.

Seeking counsel is valuable, but Christian leadership requires bringing that counsel before the Lord. Not every voice deserves equal influence, regardless of how confident, familiar, or persuasive that voice may be.

This creates an important tension:

We must remain teachable without becoming directionless.

We need people who can challenge us, correct us, encourage us, and expose our blind spots. At the same time, our ultimate dependence cannot rest upon human voices. Faithfulness to God helps us navigate the noise surrounding leadership.

The stories of Rehoboam and Joash demonstrate this from different directions. Rehoboam rejected wise counsel. Joash flourished under the mentorship of Jehoiada but later departed from faithfulness after that influence was gone.

Together, their lives remind me that mentorship matters, but mentorship must also produce leaders capable of walking faithfully when the mentor is no longer present.

Mentorship Should Build Bridges Between Generations

Another discussion challenged me to think about leadership succession.

Eventually, every leader’s season ends. Someone else will carry the responsibility forward. Therefore, leadership cannot merely concern what I accomplish during my lifetime. I must also consider whom I am preparing to lead after me.

As someone passionate about discipleship, I believe this requires building intentional bridges between generations.

But I also believe mentorship can work in both directions.

Older and more experienced generations possess wisdom that younger leaders desperately need. They have practical experiences, theological journeys, successes, failures, and lessons that cannot simply be downloaded from the internet or learned from a textbook.

At the same time, younger generations possess knowledge and tools that can strengthen those who came before them.

Technology provides a simple example. Churches increasingly use digital systems for registration, communication, social media, events, and ministry administration. Someone who grew up using these tools may navigate them almost instinctively, while another faithful and experienced leader may struggle with them.

Neither generation needs to dismiss the other.

The younger generation can provide new tools while the older generation provides tested wisdom.

Healthy leadership culture creates room for both.

Mentorship, therefore, should not simply be understood as information traveling from old to young. It should become a bridge where wisdom travels forward and innovation travels backward.

Strong Leaders Also Know When to Stop

Leadership development, however, cannot only concern productivity.

King Amaziah’s story challenged me in another area: rest.

His life demonstrates what can happen when dependence upon God’s strength gives way to dependence upon our own. That principle forced me to evaluate the rhythm of my own life.

There are seasons when life simply does not slow down. Responsibilities continue. Work continues. Ministry continues. Relationships require attention. Education requires discipline.

I understand that tension personally. Between working two jobs, serving in ministry, preparing for marriage, and finishing my master’s degree, rest can easily feel like something that interrupts productivity rather than something necessary for healthy leadership.

I have had to rethink that assumption.

I am naturally productive, so even something as simple as taking a nap once made me feel guilty. It felt like wasted time. Over time, however, I have learned that small periods of rest help relieve pressure and allow me to return to my responsibilities with greater clarity.

I am also learning the importance of withdrawing weekly. Adjustments in my work schedule have created more flexibility and given me weekends back, creating an opportunity to establish a more intentional rhythm of rest.

Rest is not the abandonment of responsibility.

It is the recognition that I am not sustained solely by my own strength.

Leadership Begins With Leading Yourself

Perhaps this is where all these lessons intersect.

Leadership is not confined to what happens behind a pulpit, inside an organization, or underneath a title.

Leadership involves how I receive correction.

It involves whose voices I permit to shape me.

It involves whether I can distinguish wise counsel from distracting noise.

It involves whether I am developing people who can eventually lead without me.

And it involves whether I can stop working long enough to remember that God’s kingdom does not depend entirely upon my productivity.

The Judean kings repeatedly demonstrate that yesterday’s faithfulness does not guarantee tomorrow’s faithfulness. Leaders must continually cultivate dependence upon God.

That changes the question from simply, “How do I become successful?”

A better question becomes:

“Who am I becoming while I lead?”

I want to become a leader who listens without surrendering discernment, receives correction without allowing pride to dominate, rests without guilt, learns from those ahead of me, contributes to those who have gone before me, and intentionally prepares those who will come after me.

Starting well matters.

But ultimately, I want to lead in such a way that when the conclusion is written, faithfulness is still part of the story.

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Dilemma | The Father’s House Live Oak | Amancio Rosas | September 14 2021 Summary

In this sermon, I speak directly to an urgent dilemma facing the church: growth or death. We all understand that growth is necessary in life, whether in our marriages, careers, businesses, or health, but too often we forget that the same is true of the church. A healthy church cannot remain stagnant. When anything becomes stagnant, it begins to die. So I call the congregation to take spiritual inventory and ask: are we becoming more effective in God’s mission, or are we drifting into comfort and unfinished obedience?

I begin by clarifying that the church belongs to God, not to personalities, preferences, or even traditions. We are one Body under one King, and the Body of Christ functions with structure and responsibility. Scripture shows two clear evidences in the church: leadership offices and congregational responsibility. Leaders, pastors, deacons, and ministry heads, are accountable to God, and according to James, leaders are judged more strictly. That truth should sober every leader. Our actions carry weight, influence, and consequences, especially in a culture where many have lost trust because of leaders who fall.

From there, I walk through leadership’s responsibility using Ephesians 4:12: leaders are called to equip God’s people for works of service so the Body may be built up. That means leadership must do more than preach, we must delegate, prepare, train, and develop people. Without structure, without a plan, and without intentional discipleship pathways, we are not fulfilling our assignment. I also share personally how taking ministry seriously includes recognizing the burden of calling: it’s not something I “do,” it’s who I am before God, and it impacts others who are watching and following.

Then I shift to the responsibility of believers. Every Christian has a role. From 1 Peter 4:10, I emphasize that each person has received a gift and is called to use it to serve others. From 2 Corinthians 5:20, I remind the church that we are Christ’s ambassadors, representatives of heaven, called to help the world be reconciled to God. From Ephesians 2:10, I affirm that we are God’s handiwork created for good works. I confront a common imbalance: sometimes we focus so much on personal devotion, Bible reading and prayer, that we forget service is also a spiritual discipline and a core part of spiritual maturity.

I then press into the mission of the church through Matthew 28:19–20. “Go,” “make disciples,” and “teach” are action words. We are not called to sit still and remain comfortable. Faith that produces no obedience becomes dead and powerless. Jesus also said the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few, which exposes a common problem: we gather well, but we often fail to engage the harvest field. In today’s culture, church attendance is no longer automatic. People carry skepticism, pain, and baggage, so we must learn to reach them intentionally through real relationships, not by treating people like projects. Our workplaces, schools, and daily relationships are ministry fields.

From there, I take the church to Revelation 3:1–3, where Jesus speaks to the church in Sardis: “You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.” This passage becomes a mirror. Reputation is not the same as spiritual health. Jesus calls the church to wake up, strengthen what remains, repent, and finish what is unfinished. I compare stagnation to a hospital monitor: when things go flat and stagnant, it’s a dangerous sign. Sometimes the church needs a spiritual wake-up call, an honest confrontation, so life can return.

I also address real challenges: burnout, lack of structure, and fear of change. Many churches struggle because ministry is carried by a few people without sustainable systems, which leads to exhaustion and hesitation to step into new opportunities. I make the point that wisdom includes knowing capacity, creating healthy rhythms of rest, and developing processes that protect people while still advancing the mission. The goal is not to work people into the ground, the goal is to build a healthy, equipped Body that can serve consistently without collapsing.

I close with urgency and hope. God’s work is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58), but we must give ourselves to His mission with wisdom and perseverance. I warn against a self-focused faith that neglects God’s house and God’s mission, echoing the prophetic confrontation that God’s people can become busy building their own lives while leaving God’s work unfinished. This sermon is ultimately a call back to covenant responsibility: to build disciples, equip the saints, serve with our gifts, and reach the lost. We are not spectators, we are family. And God is calling His church to grow