The Necessity of Leadership in the Smaller Congregation
BY GLENN DAMAN
What is leadership? The question is more than just idle speculation about the philosophy of overseeing people and running an organization. It addresses the fundamental responsibility and task assigned to those who accept the call to pastor a small church. Those who enter the ministry face constant pressure regarding the responsibility of leading the church in fulfilling the great commandment and Great Commission. To do so, the pastor must be deeply grounded in biblical truth. He must be immersed in the Scriptures within his* own life, filtering every action, attitude, and decision he makes through the grid of God’s character as revealed in the written Word. Once immersed in the Scriptures himself, he must carefully and clearly articulate that knowledge to the congregation. This communication goes beyond the formal instruction that occurs in the Sunday morning sermon. It must be an ongoing process where the pastor continually challenges the people to filter their ministries and plans through the pages of Scripture. When the pastor talks with ministry leaders, he needs to help these individuals understand their role and the role of their ministry as it relates to the redemptive plan of God revealed in the Bible.
The task of leadership, however, involves more than just the communication of biblical truth. Leadership encompasses the totality of the pastoral role. Without these skills, the pastor, no matter how good a preacher, will soon find himself engulfed in problems and criticism. The congregations of smaller churches need more than just a good, biblical scholar. They need someone who can work beside them, helping them to expand the ministry and influence of the church within the community. They need someone who can guide them as they walk through the minefield of change and growth. They need someone who can rally people together to work toward common goals and objectives. They need a shepherd who can bring renewal and healing when the congregation meanders into the wastelands of spiritual and organizational apathy. They need someone who can bring conflicting parties together to not only resolve their differences, but also learn to love and respect one another. The congregation needs a leader who can provide loving pastoral care in times of crisis. This is the high calling of a pastor. It is exhausting and demanding, while bringing joy and refreshing. It is painful but rewarding, discouraging yet exciting. At times it seems beyond our abilities and wisdom, but remains necessary.
DEFINING LEADERSHIP
Most often, leadership within the church is defined from an organizational standpoint. For many, leadership involves guiding the organization to achieve its corporate goals, usually expressed in terms of numerical growth, program development, and fiscal plans. According to this approach, leadership is measured by the achievements accomplished and the goals attained. A leader is one who sets the vision and direction for the church. While this may fit the large church model, in the smaller church this approach often leaves the pastor frustrated and discouraged, questioning his own leadership abilities. The reason for this is the smaller church operates differently and approaches leadership from a different perspective. In the smaller church, the focus is not on management and structures, but on relational development; not on programs that minister to the masses, but on personal interaction that strengthens the individual. Can the pastor of a smaller church be a strong leader while not developing new and exciting programs? To answer this question we need to rethink the biblical concept of leadership.
Biblical leadership is much more than organizational leadership. It is spiritual rather than organizational. Biblical leadership is the ability to influence the congregation so individually and corporately they are growing in discipleship and influencing others for Christ. Within Scripture, the focus is not on the organizational achievements accomplished by the church, but the spiritual transformation realized in the lives of people.
Paul, in writing to Timothy about pastoral leadership, placed the emphasis on spiritual transformation by employing terminology charged with transformational meaning. He wrote, “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction” (2 Timothy 4:2).** These are not organizational terms (in fact, one finds very few organizational terms in the New Testament); they are transformational terms. Consequently, the ultimate test and focus of leadership are not organizational qualities but spiritually transforming qualities. Paul further emphasized this when he couched the requirements of church leadership in character qualities. To transform people, one must first be transformed. It is the transformational goal that dictates the organizational structure and function of the church and its leadership.
To be transformational, leadership must also be contextual and intentional. It is intentional in that the pastor is not to sit back and be a passive leader who does not strive to influence the congregation spiritually and organizationally. Because the goal is to change people and change the congregation, the pastor must carefully think through what needs to be changed and why the change must take place. The pastor needs to guide the congregation in determining how to effectively implement the change so the congregation and individual grow in their relationship with Christ. To be intentional, the pastor must understand the context of his congregation. Contextualized leadership understands and leads the people based on where they are spiritually and organizationally. The pastor must be a student of his people, understanding their culture, their expectations within the church, their perspective of God and the ministry. Then he must lead by that understanding.
To be effective, the pastor of a smaller church must understand the dynamics not only of the smaller church, but also of the leadership within the congregation. The smaller church functions differently, and it understands leadership differently from its larger church counterpart. Leadership is not forcing a certain model on the people, but learning to guide them from their perspective.
THE NECESSITY OF LEADERSHIP
Leadership is critical to the health and well-being of the congregation. While Christ is the final and ultimate leader of the church, He has assigned the care of the congregation to individuals who are to be “shepherds of God’s flock.” Without godly leadership, the church will flounder in spiritual compromise and confusion.
1. Godly leadership is necessary because of the dangers of spiritual compromise.
In Ezekiel 34, God pronounced judgment on the leadership of Israel because of their failure to properly care for and protect the people of God. Because the people were leaderless, they were scattered (verse 5). When the people of God do not have a leader, they become easy prey for false teachers who lead them into spiritual compromise (verse 8). A congregation needs a leader who will care for them by faithfully proclaiming God’s message. The church needs a pastor who understands and communicates God’s Word—one who points them to Christ and assists them in attaining the fullness of Christ.
2. Godly leadership is necessary because of the need for biblical teaching.
Without biblical instruction, people lose the moral restraints that govern their lives. One of the most misquoted verses on leadership is found in Proverbs 29:18. This verse has often been misinterpreted to refer to the importance of corporate and individual vision and direction. However, a closer examination reveals that the emphasis is on the necessity of divine revelation and biblical truth.
Without the moral instruction of God’s Word, the people abandon themselves into sin, much as Israel did at Mount Sinai (Exodus 32:25). Consequently, whenever Paul addressed leaders, he stressed the importance of providing clear, biblical instruction to the people as foundational for their responsibilities (1 Timothy 3:2; 4:13; 2 Timothy 4:2). Furthermore, in addressing the need for leadership, Paul placed the responsibility not on organizational function, but on biblical instruction (Ephesians 4:11,12). This is even more critical within the present age as people are inundated with information.
The rise of mass media and the Internet has not lead to a clarification of truth, but a further dilution of knowledge as misinformation is disseminated with more fervor and rapidity than truth. People assume because it is found on the Internet or because it is mentioned in mass media it is true. The result is that biblical truth is eroded by “demythologization, contextualization, and redefinition” by revisionists who reinterpret the Scriptures according to popular culture. To counter this trend, the church needs strong leaders who not only teach biblical truth, but who can also engage and respond to modern trends regarding biblical interpretation.
The need for leaders who can teach biblical truth is heightened by the religious and moral decline within the secular community. Not only do people no longer adhere to Christian values and beliefs, but they also are ignorant of those values, having misconceptions about biblical morality and ethical standards. When people enter our church, we cannot assume they have even a rudimentary understanding of the fundamental beliefs of Christianity.
3. Leadership is necessary because of the need for guidance within the church.
While the information age has brought fresh ideas to the church, the church is often inundated with a wide diversity of ideas, programs, and strategies. Without careful thought, the church can become fragmented organizationally and divided within the congregation as different people pursue different goals.
The task of leadership is to keep people working together to achieve common goals. Without such guidance, the smaller church can easily be spread too thin as it tries to accomplish a multiplicity of tasks. It can also become driven, not by a God-directed goal, but by the latest ministry fad. An examination of effective leaders in the Old Testament (men such as Moses, David, and Nehemiah, and women such as Deborah and Esther) reveals they had a clear understanding of God’s direction and possessed an ability to keep the people working toward common ends. While the smaller-church pastor is not to dictate the direction of the church, he is to be the facilitator to help the church understand God’s will for them and then keep the people on track to accomplish that end.
For this to occur, the pastor must not only assist the congregation in determining God’s will, but he must also be able to enlist the people in working as a team. Ministry is a team effort. It requires that the pastor work as a team member with the board and congregation. The effective pastor is one who can enlist the people’s involvement and get them working together. Consequently, to be an effective leader, the pastor must be a team developer.
4. Leadership is needed because of the changes taking place.
The spiritual landscape of our culture is making incredible changes as God moves the church forward to the culmination of His prophetic history. The constant flux of society and culture necessitates constant change within the church. While the message of the church does not and cannot change, the process by which it communicates that message must constantly be changing. The church of today is not the church of the past, nor will it be the church of the future. The task of leadership is to prepare and move the church through these changes. Not only is change an organizational issue; it is also a spiritual issue. Spiritual growth can only come through change as God works in the process of removing the domination of sin and replacing it with the character of Christ.
Within the smaller church, change is often seen as an enemy rather than a friend. Consequently, the pastor must carefully guide the congregation through the minefield of division and dissension as he seeks to lead them to Christlikeness and spiritual transformation. The leader is one who carefully evaluates change. He determines which changes are necessary and why. He understands that not all changes are necessarily good, and that some are to be rejected. He recognizes the cost of all change and the painful process it brings.
5. Leadership is needed because of the misconceptions of leadership.
The smaller church approaches leadership differently than its larger counterpart. Tragically, many smaller-church pastors have approached their congregation with the leadership style adapted by pastors of larger churches. This approach, necessitated by the large organizational structure, approaches leadership from a business perspective where the emphasis is on programs, goals, and objectives. The smaller church, with its emphasis on relationships, approaches leadership from a family perspective where the focus is on relationships and family unity. Just as a large corporation functions differently than a small, family-owned and operated corner store, so the smaller church functions differently. To lead the smaller church, the pastor must see not only organizational connections, but also relational connections. When a pastor or leader tries to override these relational bonds, people will react negatively and forcefully. The smaller church is crying out for leaders—but not leaders who will run roughshod over relationships. They need leaders who will build the fellowship even as the congregation moves towards goals and program development.
6. Leadership is needed because of the need for revitalization.
People become discouraged, especially when faced with ongoing struggles and difficulties. The smaller church is no different. Because of the continual struggle to pay the pastor, staff programs, and evangelize the community, the small congregation can become spiritually disheartened if it fails to see growth. The smaller church needs leaders who not only raise the morale of the congregation, but also bring revitalization to the church. It needs leaders who bring encouragement to the people. The smaller church needs leaders who can guide it in renewal, bringing a new sense of God’s calling and purpose to its members. Without renewal, the church will eventually wither as it follows established patterns and traditions rather than the Great Commission. No matter how strong a church is, it needs to be continually revitalized to maintain its sense of calling.
7. Leadership is needed because of a crisis of leadership.
The smaller church is facing a crisis within its leadership. Too often pastors, fresh out of seminary, view the smaller church as a stepping-stone to bigger and better things. While they enjoy a time of ministry in the church, they often leave the congregation hurting when they leave to pursue a more dynamic and growing ministry.
To be effective, the pastor must first develop a biblical theology of leadership where he views the ministry, not through the eyes of one pursuing a career, but through the eyes of God who has called him to be an undershepherd of the congregation. The smaller church needs the same quality of leaders as the larger church. Size is not an indicator of importance and value in the sight of God. Instead, each person and each congregation has equal value before Christ.
Pastoral leadership is not just preaching on Sundays or even developing a program through the week. It involves maintaining a vital connection with God so He is accomplishing His purpose through the leader and the church.
Leadership is first and foremost spiritual care. It is introducing people to a vital relationship with God so they are radiant and faithful disciples of Christ. It is confronting the sinner, nurturing the weak, and challenging the mature to new heights of growth.
Glenn Daman, D.Min., is director of the Western Seminary Institute for Small Church Health, and the editor of Mikros, a newsletter for small church pastors. To receive a free E-mail version of Mikros contact: E-mail: daman@gorge.net.
*No gender bias is intended by the use of the masculine pronoun for pastor.
**Scripture references are from the New International Version.