Focus on the Structure, not Each Brick

2010 leadership requires the maturity of an expert builder. Many leaders attempt to build God’s kingdom but become mired in molding the bricks rather than building the actual structure. They become excited about each brick, but often lose their focus on the bigger picture thus displaying their immaturity in leadership.

Paul was a leader of leaders and called himself an ‘expert or master builder’ (1 Cor. 3:10). He mentored and molded individual believers, but his leadership focus was on the house, not the brick. As a leader of leaders, he let many others mold the bricks, while he focused on joining the bricks together into a kingdom structure.

He said ‘in Him (Jesus) the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord’ (Eph. 2:21). He knew that a single brick was not a kingdom structure. He knew that a bunch of single bricks scattered around the foundation was not a kingdom structure.

It was the assembling and joining of the bricks to each other that rose to become a kingdom structure. Paul had a great ability to join the bricks together using the mortar of the Spirit of God to guide him as a master builder. A leader of leaders may mold some individual bricks, but as a ‘master builder’ the 2010 leader must stay focused aligning and joining the bricks together to rise into the kingdom that the Lord desires.

Neglecting the Five-fold Ministry in Your Foundation

2010 leaders must be built for the long term. It starts with a strong foundation laid through discipline, training, and trials of life with men and women of character imparting into that life.

We are in a season of building solid foundations and repairing faulty foundations in business and ministry. Eph. 2:19-22 says the church is ‘built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus as the chief cornerstone’. Every church and ministry foundation should have the apostolic and prophetic ministries along with the central focus of Jesus Christ as their foundation for ministry.

According to Eph. 4:9-14 there are 5 key ministries involved in building the church: apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher. The two most overlooked in the modern church are the apostolic and prophetic ministries. Apostles are leaders with the big picture in mind and focused on the ‘kingdom’ perspective of the church. Prophets speak to specific situations revealing a divine strategy or warning of a curve in the road ahead.

Unfortunately much of the church and business does not recognize apostles and prophets, thereby ignoring the importance of the foundation to the long term durability of the structure. They are building a structure designed to crumble.

I encourage you to inspect your leadership foundation. Is it built for the long term? Is it intact or does it need some crack repair? Do sections of your spiritual foundation need to be reconstructed? Do you have a ‘Christ’s kingdom’ perspective or is it more about ‘your kingdom’? Can you see and predict the curves in the road ahead?

But Praise God!!! If you find some cracks all is not lost! The Lord will use it for good as you begin the repair. Seek out the apostolic and prophetic ministry to help with the repair. His Word says that ‘we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose’ (Rom. 8:28) and so repair the cracks will work out for your good. God desires to mend, restore, and repair His people and His church.

Solid Foundations

Most ministries and churches bring pastoral, evangelistic and teaching into their building process, but few bring the apostolic and prophetic into it. They have cracked and crumbling foundations needing repair.

2010 leadership requires solid foundations. In recent years many businesses in the U.S. collapsed due to the economic downturn. Some of those were niche businesses, that is, their success was built upon the foundation of selling one or two specific luxury products to people with lots of discretionary income.

As the economy declined, the number of people with discretionary income and the amount of discretionary income declined reducing demand for those products. People no longer would purchase items they did not absolutely need. Building upon one or two luxury products was not a solid business foundation. They didn’t have a long term strategy and couldn’t see the curve in the economic road ahead. Their economic success was build on a faulty foundation; one that supported them in good times, but would fail in bad times. It was built upon making money quickly rather than steadily.

Churches and ministries often make the same mistake, going for quick rather than durable. Some build on a single truth rather than the whole truth of the gospel. This often happens because they do not incorporate all 5 ministries into the process of building: pastor, prophet, evangelist, teacher and apostle.

Most ministries and churches bring pastoral, evangelistic and teaching into their building process, but few bring the apostolic and prophetic into it. They have cracked and crumbling foundations needing repair. They may look good in the short term, but will suffer in the long term. The entire structure is at risk because of faulty foundations.

Read Eph. 2:19-22 and 4:9-16 I will elaborate on that scripture in the next post.

Mature Leaders Never Stop Growing

Mature leaders never stop growing.

In my earlier days of leadership in business and government I believed that I would ‘arrive’ at the destination called ‘leader’. That is, I would become something that no longer needed further growth or refinement.

I learned very quickly as I observed some much older than I who thought themselves having ‘arrived’. They stopped learning. They stopped listening. They stopped being transparent. They stopped being accountable and they presented themselves in a way that was arrogant and self-centered.

They thought they had ‘arrived’ at this place called mature leadership, but began to lose the very thing they had gained. They slowly lost the trust of those who followed. The lost the authority which had been given. They lost the confidence of those who led them. They lost the responsibility to which they had been called. They still had gifts to be very good leaders, but had stopped learning and growing, thus stifling their leadership.

If this can happen in business and government, it can happen in the church.

As greatly challenging and difficult as things were for the early church leaders, they never stopped growing in all things that were spiritual and into the fullness of Christ. They never thought themselves to have ‘arrived’, but thought themselves always being changed and molded.

Check your heart today. Are you willing to continue learning and maturing or do you think you have ‘arrived’ at maturity?

Maturity of Soul in 2010

This transformation to maturity is not a zip-zap, overnight experience! It is a willful submission to the Lord’s powerful fire of grace over time, irrespective of circumstances, and in the midst of trials and troubles.

2010 leaders will walk in a maturity of soul that will bring forth splendor and awesome qualities in the church across the world.

Every leader, regardless of position, culture, or level of responsibility will need great maturity in these last days. They will need the power of God’s grace to have changed their perspectives, their beliefs, their very heart and soul. That transformation will bring them into alignment with their perfectly righteous spirit-man where the Father’s image is deeply seated.

This transformation to maturity is not a zip-zap, overnight experience! It is a willful submission to the Lord’s powerful fire of grace over time, irrespective of circumstances, and in the midst of trials and troubles.

A leader who truly desires to become mature in the things of God will not pull back as God’s grace removes the junk from their heart and brings forth the gold and silver of His Spirit. It is submission to the process of transformation that defines, in large measure, the level of maturity and stability a leader will lead.

In Mark 8:35 Jesus said ‘whoever lose his life for me and for the gospel will save it.’ This defines the depth to which the leader is transformed to gain the life of Christ. What is the depth to which you are willing to submit to God’s process of grace? Your answer defines the maturity of your leadership.