What is Your Portion in 2010?

Leaders must have a perspective of the whole building, knowing that their portion of the larger is critical to stability of the whole. They must know there is a bigger cause, not just their own portion.

2010 leaders must be mature, having solid spiritual foundations and well-constructed framing for the challenges ahead. It is so interesting that several times in scripture Paul the Apostle used the analogy of building a house to illustrate how individual believers and the church are constructed into a holy dwelling.

If you build a house in the U.S. you must have a blue print of the whole house. Beginning with the foundation, the general contractor oversees construction of each part. In Ephesians 2:19-22 we see the picture of the church being constructed into a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. We are being constructed individually and the church is being constructed corporately. Jesus is the cornerstone; the apostolic and prophetic are foundations; and God the Father oversees the construction. The building is rising!

A mature leader, to be effective in this building process, must himself be solid, stable, and a wise builder. The 2010 leader must also be well constructed! He or she must have a perspective of the whole building, knowing that their portion of the larger is critical to stability of the whole. They must know there is a bigger cause, not just their own portion. Yet, just as in building a physical house, they must know not to build that portion which is not theirs. They may be good framers, but poor electricians. They must not risk stability to other portions.

As we move ahead in 2010 ask yourself as a leader; what is my portion? Am I mature and solid in my foundations so I can effectively build my portion?

Leadership in 2010 Requires Ability to Influence Less Committed People

Although not yet a Christian, my parental upbringing had instilled some character and common sense into me, causing me to realize that my squad could be in a big mess if we went to war. So, all I asked of those young men was; “know your job, obey orders, and stay sober when on ‘alert’ status."

Leadership in the new decade will require ramped-up character and discerning--walking in maturity of all things spiritual and natural. I call this the new 2010 Leadership. This leadership requires an ability to influence people who may not be the most talented or even the most committed followers. While talent and commitment are praiseworthy assets, don’t automatically discard people who seem to be marginal to your organization.

Many years ago I was thrust into a leadership position at the age of 20. I had been in the U.S. Army about a year when I was given the responsibility to serve as a ‘buck sergeant’ for a squad of 4 men. Now, leading 4 guys should not be that tough and could offer a good learning experience for future leadership opportunity, right?? However, those 4 guys included an alcoholic, a heroin addict, and a heavy hash smoker.

Our mission, in what is now Germany, was to be the first line of defense if the former USSR decided to over run Western Europe. We operated an armored vehicle armed with a radar controlled 20mm gun that fired up to 3000 rounds per minute at an enemy’s slow flying aircraft or ground troops.

Although not yet a Christian, my parental upbringing had instilled some character and common sense into me, causing me to realize that my squad could be in a big mess if we went to war. So, all I asked of those young men was; “know your job, obey orders, and stay sober when on ‘alert’ status. Do that and I’ll stay out of your off-duty life.” Those young guys responded admirably, and, although the heroin addict was carted off to rehab against his will, the rest served well and were actually combat ready when our unit was called to ‘alert’. We could actually fight!

I say all that, not to endorse those men’s lifestyle choices, but to show that even screwed up people making wrong choices can and will submit to leadership. As Christian leaders, we have more tools, alternatives, and a greater cause to lead even marginal followers. Plus, we have the Holy Spirit working in their lives and in our lives toward a Kingdom cause.

Mature Leaders Need to Skip the Drive Through

Many leaders in business and ministry are immature because they live on ‘milk’. They subsist on that which they can consume quickly with little effort.

They want the ‘drive through’ university of spiritual education, taking in only that which can be consumed and digested quickly. They prefer the quick devotional to committed study time. They pursue the 1-hour worship service over hours of God’s glory in worship. They desire the anonymity of internet relationships rather than the nitty gritty of face-to-face life. And they seek the absence of accountability to God or man. Such people are not mature, are babies in Christ, and not ready for prime time leadership of the ‘last days’.

I believe we are in an apostolic and prophetic era of the church where solid foundations are critical to building people, yet even many leaders have broken foundations.

The apostles and prophets are now rebuilding foundations in business and the church to develop leaders. Paul says in Ephesians 2:20 that God’s household (His church) is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus as the chief cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.

For over a decade there has been a spiritual shift bringing to prominence the apostolic and prophetic gifts and callings to bear on the church. It is not restricted to the church but is emerging in start-up business as well.

As emerging leaders receive, submit to, and embrace apostolic and prophetic foundation building we will see men and women transformed from milk drinkers to meat eaters. Praise God for what He is doing in these last days!

Discern Good from Evil Through God's Refinement

Today we have many in politics, media and in the church calling evil good and good evil. Leaders living on milk will not know the difference. Leaders living on the substance of God, will know the difference and not be swayed by what someone inside or outside the church calls good or evil. They will discern and decide.

Today’s organizational challenges require mature leaders who can discern good from evil. The corporate world calls it business ‘ethics’.

There was a time when leaders who had great technical skill, but little discerning could function in leadership positions in church and business. However, in the challenges now of these last days, we see a heightened demand for men and women with leadership character irrespective of their technical or academic skills and knowledge. Such leaders must be mature, not subsisting on organizational milk and religious pablum, but living on the bread of His life; the meat of God’s word, and the new wine of His Spirit.

Mature leaders must discern spiritual things, not relying upon natural data and knowledge to make decisions nor on human charisma to influence people. Hebrews 5:14 says, "But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."

Maturity emanates from submitting to training in the basic disciplines of life. Leaders who have disciplined themselves to live on God’s word, His bread, and His wine will have persevered through problems and become stronger from spiritual struggle. They arise to a level of maturity required in these last days. Through the problems and struggles, they have truly submitted to God’s refinement and provision, and come to discern good from evil.

Today we have many in politics, media and in the church calling evil good and good evil. Leaders living on milk will not know the difference. Leaders living on the substance of God, will know the difference and not be swayed by what someone inside or outside the church calls good or evil. They will discern and decide.

Don't Live on the Roller Coaster of Self-Condemnation

A leader who believes that his or her standing with God is based in behavior will live a roller coaster of self condemnation or self-righteous indignation. One week they are high on themselves. The next week they are down on themselves.

"Anyone who lives on milk, being an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness" (Hebrews 5:13). An elementary truth referenced here is the truth of where we get our right standing with God.

Surveys in the U.S. have revealed that over 50% of Christians believe they get their right standing or righteousness from their behavior, i.e. the good or bad things they do on a given day, in a given year and over a lifetime. A leader who believes that his or her standing with God is based in behavior will live a roller coaster of self condemnation or self-righteous indignation. One week they are high on themselves. The next week they are down on themselves. The people they lead see this dichotomy, even when it is subtle and masked in the workplace.

Leaders must truly understand and embrace the elementary truth found in 2 Cor. 5:21 where the writer said ‘We implore you on Christ’s behalf: be reconciled to God. God made Him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.’

Immature leaders do not understand nor embrace the truth that their right standing with the Father ONLY comes from their belief and adherence to Jesus as the One who has reconciled them to the Father, irrespective of yesterday, today, or tomorrow’s sin. Immature leaders, therefore, are unstable in their leadership, never knowing how the scales of good and bad actions have affected their relationship with the Father. They will work to do good after they have done bad. They will try to balance the scales of good and bad, keeping more good than bad, at least from their perspective.

The next post will bring forth the perspective of a mature leader who embraces righteousness ONLY in Christ.

Leadership is About Character, Not Gifting

Anyone who lives on milk, being an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5)

Leadership is for the mature.

If you’re juvenile when you begin your leadership journey, I can guarantee you’ll either grow up quickly or become a footnote to your work unit, your organization or your ministry. Much of leadership is about your character rather than your gifting.

While there are certain leadership gifts that can enhance your ability to influence people, if those gifts are not grounded in a mature heart they will be misused and people you lead will be abused.

Yes, the more gifted people are in influencing people, the greater the likelihood they will rely upon their gifts rather than their character to bring success. Such people often resist character development because they have experienced what they see as success with their gifting. They will say ‘that’s all old school stuff, times have changed. . .people want movers and shakers to follow and advance the cause. . .look at what I’ve been able to do!’ Such leaders are greatly deceived and will become a footnote in their sphere of influence if they do not submit to the process of maturing and developing character, both of which require humility in place of pride.

With this post I start a series on 2010 Leadership Maturity. As we enter a new year and a new decade, I have discerned a shift in the spirit realm that is affecting our church and I believe will affect many people in leadership among the nations. There will be a great demand placed upon living in the unshakable kingdom of God rather than the shakable kingdom of man.

Leaders can only live in the unshakable kingdom as they yield to the process of growing up and becoming mature in heart. The writer of Hebrews spoke to this issue in Hebrews 5:11-14:

"We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."

We start our journey on this subject with this ‘slap in the face’ to get our attention. Are you one who lives on milk? Are you consuming real solid food yet? Let’s look at this over the next few weeks.