Marc Estes

 

If there was ever a time where we need clear and concise guidelines for counseling those in need, it is now. There are a variety of societal factors that have greatly increased the number of those in need  and having some guidelines for godly counsel is a must. Yet many attempt to direct people with the best intention, but lead  them toward a distorted solution which only further complicates their situation rather than helping them toward the road to victory.

There are simple, but important principles that every leader should understand and embrace when involved in giving others counsel of any sort. We have been given the incredible privilege and responsibility to direct people toward the ‘God solution’ for their situation, and using proven Biblical guidelines will greatly increase the effectiveness of your counsel. 

I have been often asked, “What do you do with your leaders and your church to help them in counseling?” I put together a document for your review and use on my resource page. It is called, “Counseling Guidelines for the Local Church.” Take a look at it and pass it on to your leaders!

 

One of the greatest needs and challenges of the modern day church is that activation of people into their God-given purpose. The needs are immense but the laborers are few. For many church has become a place where they, “Come to get,” not “Come to give.”  This trend is one that  must be reversed if we are to become all that God has destined us to become.

I Found this  in a church bulletin. It was entitled, A Eulogy for Someone Else: “Our church is deeply saddened by the passing of an irreplaceable member, Someone Else. For all of these years he did far more than any other church member. Whenever leadership was mentioned, Someone Else was looked to for inspiration and achievement. Whenever there was a job to do, a class to teach, or a meeting to attend, everybody always turned to Someone Else. It was common knowledge that Someone Else was among the largest contributors to the church. Whenever there was a financial need, everyone just assumed that Someone Else would make up the difference. Although we are grieved by the loss of Someone Else, his death comes as no big surprise. He was far too overworked and continually stretched too thinly. In fact, we may have contributed to his death by expecting too much out of Someone Else. He left a wonderful example to follow, but it appears there is nobody willing to fill the shoes of Someone Else. I shudder to think what will now happen to our church since we can no longer depend on Someone Else.”

With the decrease of finances  coupled with the increase of needs, along with the desire to grow, maybe we should be considering how we might launch the Lay Ministry Revolution.  After all, it is the New Testament pattern. Scripture shows  us that the development of church leaders and ministry was not dependent on whether there was enough staff dollars available to hire the next position. The challenge will be whether you are able to raise up a generation that is ready and prepared for the colossal, yet exciting task at hand.

• Let me encourage you to take some time and consider the following:
• Think through how you might structure your area of ministry.
• Identify the positions that you are believing to be fulfilled.
• Develop a ministry description for each area.
• Begin praying and ask God to put people in your path to fill this important roles…
• THEN go take your city for Christ!

Creating and casting vision are the easiest components to developing vision. Implementation of vision is often overlooked and if attempted, usually Here are some important vision caring principles that cannot be overlooked by the leader… (see more below)

 

A.    Vision must stretch the leader, before it stretches the people.

1. If you can’t embrace, your leaders never will. It is not what you confess, but what you possess that moves a team into their God-given destiny.                                  
2. God’s vision will always exceed your vision, gifts, talents and abilities. If you can logically get your mind around it with ease, it probably isn’t God.

 

B.    Vision is built through people

1. People are the purpose for the vision and not a vehicle to the vision.  The reason we exist is people.
2. Every person matters to God therefore they matter to us.

 

C.    Vision requires investing your time in the right group of people.

1. One of the greatest challenges of a pastoral leader is the compassion we feel to those that are hurting. We tend to gravitate to those that need us most.  I understand that Jesus left the 99 to go after the one, but when it came to accumulative  time spent, he spent more time with twelve men than all humanity combined!
2. We must strategically devote the majority of our time on those that will build the vision.
3. Pareto’s 80/20 Principle-  Focus of priorities =productivity

•  
  •         -20% of our time produces 80% of the results
  •         -20% of the people take 80% of our time.
  •         -20% of our sermon content produce 80% of the impact
  •         -20% of the people give 80% of the money
  •         -20% of the people at a picnic eat 80% of the food.

 

D.    Vision moves only as fast as people are willing to embrace it.

1. We must learn to identify where leaders are at in the process and be willing to take the time to coach them through the process until they own the vision. Remember people are your most precious commodity.  If no one is following, you are not leading, just on a walk.
2. There are various stages of vision receptivity. A person’s receptivity can be affected by a variety of factors; personality, maturity, gifting, communication, level of position, and how it affects them personally.
3. Levels of receptivity:

•  
  • Communication – Vision is communicated.
  •  Interpretation – People interpret, their perception.
  • Assessment – They analyze vision and its affect.
  • Response – Can be negative, positive or neutral.
  • Revelation – They get it. They get on or off board.
  • Embrace – Those that stay get excited.
  • Ownership- Once it is owned, you are successful.

 

E.    Vision will inevitably produce change

1. People love vision, but don’t like the affects of it.  Vision will always confront complacency and familiarity.              
2. Expect change, encourage change, welcome change.
3. Change is healthy, necessary. Get used to it, it is God’s way of keeping us focused on Him and His purposes.

 

F.    Vision requires faith

1. Every vision from God is beyond our natural ability to reach it. We must create a culture of faith and expectation. The greatest killer to vision is doubt and disbelief.
2. Hebrews 11:6, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.”
3. George Muller, “Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible… Faith begins where mans power ends.”
4. The level of faith in the leadership determines the level of vision fulfillment. We must create a culture of bigness and expectation.
5. David Schwartz says, “Where success in vision is concerned, people are not mearsured in inches, pounds, college degrees or family pedigree; they are measured in by the size of their thinking. How big we think determines the size of our accomplishments!”

 

G.    Vision is spelled H.A.R.D.W.O.R.K

1. Most people want to accomplish great things, but are simply unwilling to pay the price to accomplish them.  We want $1000 results on $1 of effort.  
2. “You reap what you sow. if you sow sparingly, you will reap sparingly…” Law of divine retribution.
3. Most people who have accomplished great things did it through dedication and hardwork first, and talent second. 
4.  Nehemiah. 4:6, “and the entire wall was joined up to have its height, for the people had a mind to work.”
5. Vision will take more of your time, more energy, more sacrifice. But why are we here

 

H.    Vision stretches people beyond their level of comfort

1. Lets just recognize that vision is getting people to do what they don’t want to do so they can become what they are supposed to become.
2. What size tank (church vision) do you create for your leaders?  It is perfectly alright to stretch people. God actually did this frequently. From Genesis to Revelation, God’s people were stretched.

 

I.     Vision will require the increased giving of precious resources

1. Vision is spelled, M.O.N.E.Y.”
2. In every account in the Bible where God was ready to do something significant, he put it on the hearts of the people to sacrificially give of their precious resources to accomplish the goal.
3. Don’t apologize for asking for resources. If it is God’s vision, He will put it on their hearts to give.
4. You can’t build something supernaturally that doesn’t cost you something naturally. That is God’s economy.  Forces people to align life with His.

I am often asked, “With all that is on your plate, how do you manage your time?” That my friend is the million dollar question for all leaders. Time is critical part of our success. You can buy it, you don’t earn it, you get back what you have lost. We all have the same amount of it. Time is something we all will be held accountable for.  What we do with what we have been given will determine our success.

 Forbes magazine researched the subject of success and failure and found that the number one factor for success or failure was time management. What is true in the business community can also be true among Christians and their spiritual maturity. Christian stewardship requires the effective management of one’s time. It is only when we truly understand that we have a limited time on earth that we’ll live each day to the fullest. 

Life is complex. Ministry can be more complex. There are consistent demands on our lives that come from every angle. We must learn to be strategic, proactive and efficient with our time management.  Ever feel like Joshua? Ask God to stop the sun to get a little extra done?  If that is you, here are some practical thoughts that will either  encourage you or challenge you. These are some tips I have learned along the way:

        A.    Establish an Annual plan

                1.    Choose an annual time for goal setting and reflection

                2.    Review previous year’s goals.

                3.    Establish new goals for personal areas and ministry areas

                4.    Transfer all items into your prayer list and project list

        B.    Prioritize Annual Priorities

                1.    Set important family dates, events and vacation

                 2.  Set all Church even dates and meetings

                3.    Set meetings with departments and leaders

                4.    Set preparation time for all meetings

                5.    Enter all meetings and events into calendar for the entire year.

                6.    Contact all leaders with dates.

        C.    Develop a Weekly Plan

                1.    Set time every week for planning out week

                2.    Review existing meetings and insure enough time for planning

                3.    Review task list and move any priorities into time slots.

                4.    Review project list and move any projects into schedule.

        D.    Develop Daily Habits

                1.    Start every day with reviewing and planning your day.

                2.    Consolidate emails and phone calls into am and pm slot.

                3.    Avoid time robbers.

                4.    Use task list and leader list to catalogue thoughts.

                5.    Transfer any projects not done into future time slots.

                6.    Don’t revert back to old habits.

Many leaders live in maintenance mode, it is shown by their fruit. The main goal is keep from losing ground rather than trying to make progress. That is the lowest level of leadership when it comes to the development of people and fulfillment of vision. Here are the five stages that exist from maintenance and multiplication:

1.    Stage 1: The Scramble Stage

About 20 percent of all leaders live on the lowest level of the development process. They are not doing anything to develop people in their organization, and as a result, their attrition rate is off the charts. They can’t seem to keep anyone they recruit. That’s why we say they’re in the scramble stage – they spend most of their time scrambling to find people to replace the ones they lose.

2.    Stage 2: The Survival Stage

The next stage in the development ladder is survival mode. In it, leaders do nothing to develop their people, but they do manage to keep the people they have. About 50 percent of all leaders function this way. Their organization is average, the leaders are dissatisfied, and no one is developing personal potential. No one really benefits from this approach to leadership. Everyone merely survives from day to day without much promise or hope for the future.

3.    Stage 3: The Siphon Stage

About 10 percent of all leaders work at developing their people into better leaders, but they neglect to build their relationship with their people. As a result, their potential leaders leave the organization to pursue other opportunities. In other words, they are siphoned off from the organization. That often leads to frustration on the part of the leader because other people benefit from their effort, and they must devote a lot of time to looking for replacements.

4.    Stage 4: The Synergy Stage

When leaders build strong relationships, develop people to become good leaders, empower them to reach their potential and are able to keep them in the organization, something wonderful happens. It is often called synergy, meaning that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts because the parts interact well together and create energy, progress, and momentum. A church on the synergy level has great morale and high leadership satisfaction. Everyone benefits. Only about 19 percent of all leaders reach this level, but those who do are often considered the very best there are.

5.    Stage 5: The Significance Stage

Many people who reach the synergy level never try to go any farther because they don’t realize they can take one more step in the development process and that is to the significance level. Leaders on that level develop and reproduce leaders who stay in the organization, work to reach their potential, and in turn reproduce themselves in other leaders. And this is where influence really multiplies. Only about 1 percent of all leaders make it to this level, but the ones who do are able to tap into almost limitless growth and influences potential. A handful of leaders continually functioning on the significance level can make an impact on the world for generations to come!

One of the greatest challenges I face as a leader is getting people to step outside their comfort zone to grow. Most all of them have the desire to grow, but are just unwilling to move beyond the boundaries of familiarity and comfort. However, if any of us are ever going to grow to new levels of leadership and influence, we will need to identify areas of weakness and develop a strategy to stretch beyond them.

Let’s just recognize that leadership is getting people to do what they don’t want to do so they can become what they are supposed to become.

We must ask ourselves, “is it God’s will that they stay that way?” If the answer is, “no,” then we have to ask ourselves, “what role do I play in challenging them to get out of their comfort zone?”

People are like sharks, they grow into the environment in which they’re placed. You take a baby shark and put it into a small aquarium and it will stay small. You put it into the endless ocean and it will grow huge. People who are not stretched beyond their comfort will remain small in the potential.

What size tank (your ministry area) do you create for your leaders?  It is perfectly alright to stretch people. God actually did this frequently. From Genesis to Revelation, God’s people were stretched.

 Don’t apologize for asking them to build the church… Jesus never did, neither should we!

 

Whether you are a pastor, small group leader, worship leader or busineww owner, you understand that vision plays a key role in accomplishing God’s purposes. Moving those you lead to completely embrace vision can be a challenge if we don’t understand the process of receptivity.

There are various stages of vision receptivity. A person’s receptivity can be affected by a variety of factors; personality, maturity, gifting, communication, level of position, and how it affects them personally.  If you have been leading any length of time, you understand that casting the vision is the easiest part of vision development. Moving people from where they currently are to where you desire them to be is where the fun begins.

We must learn to identify where leaders are at in the process and be willing to take the time to coach them through the process until they own the vision. Remember people are your most precious commodity.  If no one is following, you are not leading, just on a walk.

Therefore, we must understand the different stages of receptivity and acknowledge the importance of each phase. Learning to lead people through each stage and giving them the grace they need to digest change is a critical part of fulifilling the vision God has placed on your heart.

Levels of receptivity:

1. Communication – Vision is communicated.

2. Interpretation – People interpret, then develop their perception.

3. Assessment – People analyze vision and its affect.

4. Response – Their response can be negative, positive or neutral.

5. Revelation – The turning point! They get it. They get on or off board.

6. Embrace – Those that stay get excited.

7. Ownership- Once it is owned, you are successful, and can move forward.

Have you ever sat at a table in a restaurant where the legs were uneven? Did you find it a little irritating? Have you ever been around a leader that had great potential, yet they were unbalanced in a certain area of their life and they bothered you as well? Balance is a key component to all aspects of life. Balance is a key component to developing leaders.

As you look at developing leaders around you, there should be three foundational components that deserve equal attention:

1. HEAD development – Leaders with wisdom and knowledge.

2. HEART development – Leaders with character and integrity.

3. HAND development – Leaders with skill and experience.

 

HEAD Development

We need leaders today that understand and embrace sound doctrine and leadership principles. Our leadership development must include some strategy inwhich we direct those around us to grow in their knowledge of God and doctrine. You might consider a cool new equipping opportunity at PBC website.

HEART Development

Leadership is influence. Who we are ultimately shapes what those following us, ultimately become. In a time where there is an onslaught of fallen leaders and a society that exalts gifting over character, we must reverse the trend to develop leaders who lead by character.  Settle for nothing less than developing leaders with impeccable character.

HAND Development

Leaders must have knowledge and heart, but must also  have application. As you work to develop leaders around you, there must be environments in which they are allowed to apply that which they have learned. Experience is the best form of development as it gives you the opportunity to observe and evaluate the leader’s life in action. Allow them to try and allow them to fail. Encourage them, critique them and inspire them to succeed.

As you move forward in developing leaders around you, make it your aim to create leaders that are balanced in these three important areas.

One of the greatest challenges a church leader will face is how to sustain motivation in those who volunteer in ministry. It is God’s will that the church be built by every person finding their place of meaningful service. God has the plan in place, but we must do our part to create an environment that appreciates those who are willing to give their precious time and energy to building the church.

There are some general principles that you can apply to ensure that your ministry area is filled with people excited to serve on an ongoing basis.  Here are ten areas to consider and questions to ask yourself regarding your ability to motivate volunteers in your area of ministry:

A.   Build Relationships:

“Do those serving in my ministry area experience genuine community?”

In most cases, serving together should allow people to bond together. Those who have genuine relationships desire to spend time together, especially when they share common vision.

B.   Have Fun:

“Do those serving in my ministry area seem to be happy? Is the environment filled with fun and laughter regularly?

Having fun is a sure recipe for great volunteer satisfaction. Laughter and fun can be a great measuring rod to the health of your ministry area. People must realize that “Jesus is our joy and not our job.” If people seemed stressed out it might be time to re-evaluate what is taking place in your ministry area.

C.    Have Defined Roles:

“Does each volunteer have a clear understanding as to what is expected of them?

People are down on what they are not up on! One of the greatest ways to discourage a volunteer is to not have clear duties and responsibilities defined for them when they show up to serve. Volunteers want to know exactly what you expect from them. Have a defined description of every position and spend the time to discuss each point in detail.

D.   Proper Tools and Equipment:

“Does each volunteer have the proper tools and training necessary to be the best at what they do?”

It is discouraging to a volunteer to be asked to accomplish a task or work on a project but not have the proper training or adequate tools necessary to complete the job. Each volunteer should be adequately trained in every area they are asked to serve BEFORE releasing them to serve. In addition, make sure to have the right tools (computer, teaching materials, finances, people, etc) to complete the job.

E.    Encouragement and Appreciation

“Do I regularly encourage my volunteers publicly? Do I show them appreciation through practical and meaningful acts?

The most important two words you can ever say to a volunteer is, “thank you.” Encouragement and appreciation are the two components needed to keep volunteers to serve long term. People want to be appreciated for their sacrifice. You may also look for ways to honor them regularly. Take them out for a meal, invite them over to your home, bring them a latte’, or even present them with an award or certificate.

F.    Give Ownership

“Do I allow my volunteers to be a part of shaping their area of service? Do I give them the opportunity to share creative ideas and ways to improve their ministry area?

A common trait found in most every person is the desire to make a difference. Although many will serve simply out of the goodness of their heart, long-term there is the quest for significance. People, who feel like they own a part of a ministry, will give their life for it. Provide plenty of opportunity for your volunteers to assist you in shaping and molding their ministry areas. You never know, they just might do it better than you!

G. Emphasize The Big Picture

“Do my volunteers understand how significant their area of ministry plays in the church’s ability to fulfill its purpose and vision?”

When volunteers in the church-regardless of where they are serving-really understand how their service makes a significant contribution to the accomplishment of the church’s overall mission and vision-then they tend to be motivated to serve! To say it another way, volunteers who understand the big picture and their role in seeing that picture realized – those are the motivated volunteers!

 

H. Communicate

“Do I regularly communicate with my volunteers regarding ministry details, directions and decisions?”

Lack of communication will always result in a lack of motivation. Be sure to communicate clearly and regularly with volunteers regarding all aspects of your ministry area. 

I. Care

“Do I know enough about my volunteers to effectively care for any needs that may arise in their life?

It has been said, “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” One of the primary responsibilities of a Ministry Leader is to shepherd those entrusted into your care. We can never be too busy to get involved in the lives of those who have dedicated themselves to serve our ministry areas and us. Be sure and take the pulse of each of your volunteers in every area of their life.

J.  Pray

“Do I pray regularly for each volunteer by name?” “Do I pray regularly for each volunteer needed?

The most powerful tool you have to build and motivate your ministry team is prayer. Prayer moves the heart of God to move the hearts of men. More prayer for your volunteer team will always result in happier, healthier people.

Over the few decades I have had the wonderful privilege to travel abroad and speak in many churches. Regardless of the country I am visiting, the demonination of the church, the mission statement on the wall or the personality of the pastor, there are two predominant similarities. First they all have a vision to exponentially grow; second, most of them aren’t exponentially growing. 

Now I don’t claim to be a church growth expert, but do have the honor of working with some incredible leaders and part of a dynamic local church that has seen significant growth in the past decade.  We have made our share of mistakes, but have been passionate about developing strategies in which to reach and disciple more people.  Furthermore, I recognize that each church is radically different and that the implementation of certain strategies will apply differently to each church.  I also recognize that there are many ingredients that are necessary in building a healthy church that stretch far beyond what will be discussed in this one post. Yet there are certain principles that can be applied to every church regardless of their uniqeness.

Here is a simple chart I developed that will help each area of your church develop a strategy for growing their particular area of ministry. You can use this chart for each specific ministry area. There are five main pastoral areas that contribute to the growth of the church. These should be considered in developing a growth strategy for each ministry. They are  listed vertically in the left column.

Five Growth Areas

1. Connection Strategies - These are strategies that work to connect every new person to a meaningful relationship or ministry expression.  These are the entry points to the church and each ministry area. 

2. Serving Strategies -  These are strategies that intentionally engage people to places of meaninful service which builds the believer and in turn builds the church.

3. Community Strategies - These strategies foster the intentional development of Biblically based, purpose driven relationships within the context of small groups or ministry areas.

4. Reaching Strategies - These strates help to create a culture in which every person and every ministry has a passion to reach those who need Christ.

5. Leadership Development Strategies -  These strategies develop a process in which every leader reproduces themselves and provide future opportunities for others to lead resulting in the church muitplying.

Three Development Components

The top row represents the development of your action plan. These three areas are:

1. WHAT – Goals or changes to make - You will need to take some time to consider the goals and changes that need to  be made in each of the five areas.  The list may vary in priority depending on the type of ministry that you are analyzing. Make sure you set SMART Goals in this area. (SMART is an acrostic for goals that are; specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely).

2. HOW – Specifics to achieving your goals - You need to take the time to develop and action plan for each goal that is established. This is where most leaders fail. This takes time, energy and concentration and you must discipline yourself to fully develop this process.

3. WHO – People to include in the process - Once you have established the ‘What’ and the ‘How’ you can then define the ‘Who.” These are the people in which you will work with to implement your action plan.  For further information on developing leaders, see my five part post on “Developing a Leadership Pipeline.”

Once you have spent the time to develop this grid, you are well on your way in developing some ideas that will help your church to grow.  Happy building!