When you stepped into the role of pastor, you immediately became a leader, whether you were prepared to be one or not. Not only are you responsible for guiding the day-to-day operations of your church and your staff toward the vision God has given you, but you are also charged with leading the sheep you’ve been given — no matter how few or how many they may be. There are four key components to leading well:
- Continue learning
- Be eager to engage
- Be quick to anticipate
- Make wise decisions
Of course there’s a handy acronym to help you remember these four tenets of leadership: Learn, Engage, Anticipate, Decide. Here’s more detail on each:
First, leaders are learners. Your church’s growth will never healthily outpace your personal growth. If you want to lead a growing congregation full of growing people, you have to decide to be a lifelong student of your calling. You need to commit to the reading plan outlined earlier and take the time to get yourself around other likeminded leaders. Keep going deeper in your knowledge of what it takes to partner with God in creating a healthy church so that your people have the best opportunity to become fully developing followers of Jesus. If you aren’t continually learning, you will put a self-imposed cap on your ability to shepherd your flock toward the pastures God intends for them.
– Nelson Searcy
Look for part 2 of this post next week.
P.S. These strategies can be found in my best-selling book, The Renegade Pastor: Abandoning Average in Your Life and Ministry. This book is a relevant, step-by-step resource for church leaders who are ready to step up in surrender to the pursuit of God’s best for his or her life and work. Click here to grab your copy from Amazon today!
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