God’s ultimate purpose in all things revolves around His Son:

having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth – in Him. (Eph. 1:9-10, NKJV)

The Son of God, Himself, is the final and complete revelation of God (Heb. 1:1-2). He fully reveals the Father (John 1:18; 16:15; 17:10, 26; Col. 1:19). In Him “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3). Everything is “under His feet” (1 Cor. 15:27). All things were created through Him and for Him, and all things are held together by Him (Col. 1:16-17). In everything, He has the preeminence (Col. 1:18).

Accordingly, the biblical model of leader development revolves specifically around the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Healthy leader development must be entirely Christ-centered, Christ-focused, Christ-absorbed. The Son of God is all in all! Continue Reading »

In our last Letter, we looked at the goal of leader development – we must build healthy leaders. There are five key attributes of a healthy leader:

• Christ.
• Community.
• Character.
• Calling.
• Competencies.

Thus, a healthy Christian leader is a man or woman who knows God, was formed and lives in supportive and accountable community, has strong character, knows the purpose of God and presents it with credibility, clarity and passion, and has the necessary gifts, skills and knowledge to lead the people in the accomplishment of this purpose – and is continually growing in all five areas.

Whether or not one embraces our particular “5C Model,” everyone agrees that we must build the whole person. Certainly, no one seems to be arguing that we should build Christian leaders who don’t know God, or who don’t have character, and so forth!

But how can we build the whole person? It’s very easy to say that we need to do this. How can we actually build union with Christ, relational capacity, integrity, vision and practical ministry capacities in an emerging or existing leader? Continue Reading »

An effective leader possesses a blend of three special elements:

1. Vision. In Christian circles, we could also call this “Calling.”
2. Character.
3. Competence.

All three elements are found in the description of King David in Psalm 78:

He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens; from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance. And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them. (Ps. 78:70-72)

Verses 70-71 reveal David’s calling:

He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens; from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people

Verse 72a shows his character:

David shepherded them with integrity of heart

Verse 72b describes David’s competencies:

with skillful hands he led them.

Just as a stool has three legs, there are three foundations of effective leadership. All three must be present and in balance for the leader to succeed. The three foundations are calling, character and competencies. Continue Reading »