In our last Letter we looked at the traditional approach to building Christian leaders: the local church sends its emerging leaders to a specialized, independent, external entity (the “factory”) that takes responsibility for training them and then sending them back.
Malcolm Webber
An ancient African proverb says, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Similarly, it takes a spiritual community or family to build a leader.
Malcolm Webber
The leader needs to be connected with four kinds of community: his family, his local church, the various ministry teams of which he is a part, and the world.
Malcolm Webber
Community serves a twofold place in the life of the leader: The healthy leader is built in community. The healthy leader leads in community.
Malcolm Webber
The Christian life is personal union and fellowship with Jesus (John 17:3). Church life is knowing God together. Moreover, together – in the context of the community of believers – we can know God in His fullness.
Malcolm Webber
It should be noted that most Christian leaders – as imperfect people – will probably, at some point, exhibit some of the characteristics of abusive leadership that we have noted in previous Letters. Therefore, the godly leader, knowing that he is not above this tendency, should consciously and deliberately take the following steps to [...]
Malcolm Webber
Abusive leaders are not called so because they beat the people or yell at them or call them names. Servant leaders are not called so because they serve their followers breakfast in bed every morning.
Malcolm Webber
Servant leaders are secure in Christ. Consequently, their focus is not themselves but others. Abusive leaders, however, are insecure. Because of their insecurity, their agendas revolve around themselves. They are characterized by self-absorption, self-protection and self-interest.
Malcolm Webber
According to our definition of leadership (as found in SpiritBuilt Leadership #1: Leadership), there are three parts to leadership: The leader establishes the direction or the vision. He aligns the people in that direction. He motivates and inspires them to move in that direction and to fulfill the vision.
Malcolm Webber
According to our definition of leadership (as found in SpiritBuilt Leadership #1: Leadership), there are three parts to leadership: The leader establishes the direction or the vision. He aligns the people in that direction. He motivates and inspires them to move in that direction and to fulfill the vision.
Malcolm Webber