Tag: leadership

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Uncategorized Educational Journey

Leading Through Criticism and Love: Lessons from Billy Graham

Leadership is often tested in two very different situations: how we respond when people criticize us and how we respond when people need us. While reading Harold Myra and Marshall Shelley’s The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham, these two areas stood out to me because they connect directly with what I am learning in my present leadership roles.

Billy Graham’s example reminds me that leadership is not simply about having influence. It is about developing the character necessary to handle that influence well.

Learning to Love Harsh Critics

One statement from the book especially challenged me:

“When criticism is a threat, a leader becomes defensive, but when it is viewed as a natural occurrence and a challenge, it can become a source of constructive energy.”

Criticism is unavoidable in leadership. The question is not whether people will criticize us, but what we will allow criticism to produce within us.

Throughout my ministerial journey, I have experienced criticism concerning my abilities, leadership, calling, and even character. I have learned that criticism does not have to determine my identity, but it can contribute to my development.

There have been people who did not believe I could go further in my calling. Instead of allowing those opinions to stop me, I have used them as motivation to pursue God more deeply and allow Him to have the final say concerning where He wants me to go.

Criticism concerning character requires an even different response. Rather than immediately becoming defensive, I have learned the importance of having conversations, listening to the concerns of others, and evaluating whether there are areas in my life that genuinely need improvement.

That does not mean every criticism is correct.

It means I want to be secure enough that criticism does not control me while remaining humble enough to learn when there is truth within it.

A growing leader should be able to take criticism seriously without taking every criticism personally.

Leading Through Love

Another lesson that resonated with me was Graham’s emphasis on leading through love. Myra and Shelley write:

“Sometimes love is shown by a thoughtful word, by willingness to help an employee in trouble or by refusal to retaliate when attacked; other times love is shown by simply showing up.”

This challenged me to think about leadership beyond positions, titles, and responsibilities.

Sometimes leadership is simply showing up.

In my current role working for a nonprofit youth organization, I have opportunities to mentor young people, but leadership also happens behind the scenes. I try to help with administrative responsibilities, complete smaller tasks that need attention, and assist my team when deadlines are approaching.

These actions may seem insignificant, but service can influence culture.

As I continued helping in these areas, my manager eventually began implementing rotations that encouraged other staff members to contribute in similar ways. What began as simply trying to help became an opportunity to influence how our team serves one another.

That experience reminded me that leadership culture is not shaped only through instructions. Sometimes culture is shaped through example.

Leadership Without Recognition

There is also an important distinction between serving others and using service as a way of gaining recognition.

Christian leadership cannot simply ask, What will make me look like a good leader?

Instead, we should ask, How can I genuinely help the people God has placed around me?

Jesus modeled leadership through service. Leadership rooted in love does not always need acknowledgment. Sometimes it means completing the unnoticed task, encouraging someone who is struggling, helping a coworker, mentoring a young person, or simply being present when someone needs support.

Our actions can communicate love before our leadership position ever does.

Becoming the Leader God Is Forming

These two lessons from Billy Graham complement each other.

Criticism develops something within the leader, while love expresses something through the leader.

Criticism can develop humility, self-awareness, perseverance, and maturity. Love then allows those qualities to become visible through service toward others.

I am continuing to learn that leadership development is not merely about becoming more influential. It is about becoming the kind of person who can steward influence faithfully.

I want to become a leader who can receive criticism without immediately becoming defensive, evaluate myself honestly, continue pursuing God’s calling despite opposition, and serve people without needing recognition.

Ultimately, leadership is not only about where we lead people.

It is also about who we are becoming while we lead them.

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Educational Journey Uncategorized

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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Ministry Journey Uncategorized

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