As much as leaders are concerned with attacks from the outside, most leaders who fall do so because of implosion. The weight of responsibilities is too much for a weak foundation or weak character. If your competence outpaces your character, collapse is almost certain. If you grow in your role but your integrity shrinks, you won’t be able to handle the weight of the role. If you become more skilled as a leader but don’t grow in your sanctification as a Christian, you are setting yourself up for a fall. 

A real danger is that our roles make us better. 

If you are thrust into a leadership role, you are going to be developed because the work does the work of developing you. The relationships and the opportunities will increase your skill. Which means if you don’t work on your character, if you don’t allow God to grow your faith, to keep you humble, to give you wisdom then you are likely to become more skilled and less sanctified. We must care more about the work of God in us than the work of God through us. 

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Conviction is the fruit, but the roots beneath the surface that produced the fruit of conviction are clarity and courage.

When the king asked what Nehemiah wanted, Nehemiah asked to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall. He was clear on the time he would be gone, the authority he needed in writing from the king, and the resources required. Nehemiah excelled at clarity. 

Nehemiah was also courageous. Notice what he wrote about his time before the king: “…Then I was terrified, but…” (Nehemiah 2:2-3, NLT). Courage does not mean not being afraid. Courage is pushing forward in the midst of your fear. Nehemiah replaced his fear of the earthly king with fear, or awe, for His Heavenly King. He prayed to his King and kept going.  

Some leaders have clarity, knowing exactly what needs to happen, but they lack the courage to take action. Some leaders have lots of courage and are willing to move, but lack clarity of direction. Without clarity and courage, you don’t get the fruit of conviction.

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If you equate painful with difficult, you can fool yourself into thinking a decision or conversation can be delayed. In reality, the decision is only painful. The decision is not difficult and you don’t really need more time. 

Difficult decisions of course take more time, as you want more time in prayer and receiving wisdom from others. But don’t deceive yourself into thinking a painful decision is always difficult. If it is simple and painful, you lose credibility waiting, and people are often harmed as you wait. 

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When Nehemiah was leading God’s people to rebuild the wall to protect and repopulate Jerusalem, enemies tried to dissuade Nehemiah with criticism (Nehemiah 4:1-3). They mocked the people as feeble and poor, their tools as being rubbish and charred, and their work as something a fox could knock down by merely walking on top of the wall. The enemies said that God’s people believed they could rebuild the wall in a day. If you look at the criticism, there is no truth within it. The people were not poor and feeble; they were God’s people. They never claimed they could finish the wall in a day or by making sacrifices. If Nehemiah believed there had to be some truth in the criticism, perhaps he would have stopped and considered if there was something he needed to change. 

But Nehemiah kept going, kept building (Nehemiah 4:6). See, not only is the cliché untrue, but the cliché can be really unhelpful to leaders if they believe it, as the belief in a false cliché could cause leaders to slow down or stop the great work altogether. 

Yes, sometimes there is truth within criticism. Obviously, there is always truth within wise and godly rebukes, and sometimes there is truth even within critiques. But not always. So don’t let that cliché enslave you as a leader or steer you from giving your all to what you are building.

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When a tree topples, cleanup happens in a few days and grass is often planted where the tree was. When a leader topples, the damage is much more far-reaching and the cleanup takes a lot longer.

Storms plus unhealthy roots lead to disaster. Leaders, storms are going to come. We lead in a broken world. There will be challenges and challenging seasons. So, it is the roots we must be concerned with.

Two trees in the same field can respond very differently to a storm. The one with healthy roots endures while the one with unhealthy roots doesn’t. While both trees looked similar before the storm, the storm revealed what was already true about the roots of the trees. J.C. Ryle said it plainly: “Men fall in private long before they fall in public.” Focus on the roots, on your integrity and your walk with God, more than the storm. To endure, focus on the roots, not on the storms.

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Leaders, we need some time off to rest and receive from God. One advantage of being a Christian leader is that you are not only pouring yourself out in service to others, but you can receive wisdom and power and strength from your Heavenly Father. Take time to receive from Him so that you are healthy. Those you lead benefit from you being healthy. And take time to remind yourself that you are not in charge by taking some time to rest and not work. Some have said the most spiritual thing you can do is take a nap, because you are trusting that God is working while you are napping. You are releasing control to Him and not depending on yourself. 

I still take a day off each week, and the best practice for me is to receive from God through what scholars call general and special revelation: general revelation being creation and special revelation being Scripture. My most fruitful and enjoyable days off combine some time in His creation and some time in His Word. 

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Here is what I have learned. Character first, but go with chemistry second. Two reasons: (1) The collective competence of the team can raise the competence of the person. (2) But the collective chemistry of the team does not raise the person’s chemistry. The opposite is true. One person not fully bought into the mission and values of the team can actually lower the collective chemistry of the team. The team can help fill in competence gaps. The team suffers from chemistry gaps. Character first. Chemistry second.

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If you become obsessed with making people happy, you won’t be an effective leader. You will be enslaved by what people think, and you won’t think about what is best to serve the people you or your organization are positioned to serve. If you want to be a leader, you can’t be a people-pleaser, though your role is to serve people. And if you want to be a people-pleaser, you can’t be a leader. The difference between a leader and a people-pleaser comes down to motivation. A leader is motivated by a burden to serve others. A people-pleaser is motivated by applause.

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Many people only think of the direction of leading downward, of influencing people you are responsible for. But that is only one aspect of leadership. Most important is self-leadership, because if you can’t lead yourself, you can’t lead anyone else. Leading upward is influencing your leaders. Lateral leadership is influencing your peers. 

Here’s what I’ve found after years of these conversations: one of the best indicators that someone is ready to lead more is if they are an effective lateral leader. Because lateral leadership is the hardest kind of leadership. There’s no paycheck to leverage. No reporting lines to reference. The people who excel at lateral leadership excel at coordination with people they don’t have positional authority over. They are able to influence others by their credible character, the strength of their vision, their commitment, their ability to communicate and execute, and their servant’s posture toward others. Someone who excels in those attributes is a good candidate for a position where they will need to lead a team or lead downward. 

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His challenge has resonated with me for years. Yes, there are decisions that rest on a biblical conviction and not on what is considered to be best practice. For example, if it were ever decided that “best practice is to not teach the Scripture in worship services,” that counsel should be fiercely ignored. But when the best practices are (a) related to strategy, (b) in no violation of biblical principles, and (c) grounded in research, a wise leader will pay attention.

Here are four research-informed best practices church leaders commonly ignore.

1. Integrating teenagers into the whole church

The research behind Kara Powell’s book, Sticky Faith, found that pulling teenagers out from the overall life of the church hurt their faith and the likelihood that they would be connected to church after high school graduation. If a teenager’s only experience with church is the youth group, they are much more likely to graduate from church when they graduate from the youth group. Helping students serve in the church where they are surrounded by adults who encourage them is best for the students, and high school students hearing the same sermon as their parents helps the parents discuss the message with their teenagers.

Best practice: Integrating teenagers into the whole church

Commonly ignored by only having teenagers separated from adults

2. Prioritizing groups

Ed Stetzer and I wrote Transformational Groups based on research about spiritual formation and groups, which showed that people connected to a small group show significantly higher marks in Bible engagement, serving, prayer, and generosity. Groups must not be viewed as an optional add-on, but as essential for discipleship and care. As a church grows, scaling groups is immensely challenging, but it is also extremely important.

Best practice: Prioritizing groups to help people experience biblical community

Commonly ignored by viewing groups as one of many programs on a calendar

3. Launching a church with multiple services

This point is likely in the casual observation bucket more than a research-based bucket, but I still believe it is a best practice. Craig Groeschel challenged churches many years ago to launch with two services because doing so allows people to attend one service and serve one service. We want to make worshiping and serving as easy as possible for people, and multiple services help accomplish that goal.

Best practice: Launching a church or campus with two services

Commonly ignored by launching with one service

4. Being ready to help those in a trial

The research behind the book, Transformational Discipleship, which I wrote with Michael Kelly and Philip Nation, revealed that seasons of spiritual transformation often occur in the midst of suffering and trials. A trial puts someone in a teachable posture, and when God’s truth and grace are applied in the midst of that season by a trustworthy leader, God often uses the trial to develop a more mature faith. We don’t send trials, but we can be prepared to meet people with prayer, shepherding, and care in the midst of their trials.

Best practice: Having clear pathways for those who are hurting to receive care (special groups, recovery classes, ways to access receiving prayer, etc.)

Commonly ignored by not considering how to serve those who are in pain

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