A “Letter” to (New) Leaders

Photo by: Álvaro Serrano

As I close out my time with UWCCF, I wanted to spend some time writing to the next generation of leaders, to both encourage and exhort them as they take up a significant role in ministry. I hope that this “letter” is helpful to those who are new to leadership in ministry!

Gospel Identity

Before even thinking about leadership in ministry, your identity must be founded in Jesus and the redemptive work done on the cross. Without this foundation, you’re bound to crumble when the hard times come. So build your house on the rock, that is, on Christ and His Word (Matt. 7:24–27). And from that foundation, there will well up inside you a great joy which comes from knowing that your inheritance is from Jesus because “He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons.” Your new identity in Christ is the basis for leadership and that enables you to then be “ministers of reconciliation” and “ambassadors for Christ.”

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:17–21, ESV)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:3–14, ESV)

Servanthood & Leadership: Counting the Cost

It seems that nowadays, the term “servant leader” has gotten more popular, even in secular circles (they of course fail to mention Jesus in it all). For Christians, we of course look to Jesus who is the ultimate example of a servant leader (e.g., Jesus washes His disciples’ feet in John 13:1–20). This contrasts with the “traditional” leadership model: one that commands his/her subordinates from the top-down. As a servant leader, you lead by being an example and serving others (hence, the name).

So then, humility in servant leadership is a key quality (in fact, the elders of a local church should be described as being “clothed with humility” (1 Pet. 5:1–11)), as is also being a good example to others, so that you can exhort others to follow your lead (e.g., Paul calls the Philippian church to join in imitating him (Phil. 3:17); 1 Pet. 5:3).

I do however have a potentially hot take: Christians tend to overemphasize the “servant” part of “servant leadership”, to the detriment of forgetting the fact that it is still leadership. I don’t mean to gloss over the fact that servanthood is important in servant leadership; that should be already clear (especially if we’re drawing upon Jesus as the prime example). Yes of course, I love the passion that people bring into leadership: their eagerness to serve. I do want to however, highlight the weightiness of leadership.

Leadership is costly! As a leader, you have a responsibility over others, to lead them (the way a shepherd leads his sheep to green pastures). One thing that was drilled into me early on in my leadership experience is that volunteering is not the same as leading. As a leader, you are held to a standard, and you are the one that people will go to. So then, it’s foolish to brush aside the cost of leadership, which includes your time, resources, and relationships.

As Jesus was becoming popular because of all His miracles, there arose many people who wanted to join in and be part of the crowd. Jesus however, gravely warned them, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:57–62), and, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

You can’t lead nonchalantly/casually! For me, this meant that I had to soberly evaluate myself every single time I stepped up for leadership (and not just walk into leadership with auto-pilot mode on, just because I have experience from the past).

In particular, the time cost is a very important thing to think through. For example: “How much time do I spend every week on this? How would I be feeling energy-wise after spending that time?” Spending a lengthy time on ministry things is very draining, spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and even physically. Even long after an event, my mind could still be stewing over things, or spiral out of control over exciting ideas, chewing up more of my time and mental capacity. I would highly recommend people not spread themselves too thin because of this. Just do one thing, and do it very well! Whatever you do sign up for, you have to be present for, not 80%, nor 90%, but 100% of the time. There can’t be one foot in and one foot out of the door in leadership!

There can also be costs in resources and relationships. For example, you could spend money on others to demonstrate generosity (servant leadership) — not that you need spend money to be an effective leader; you can use the resources you already have (e.g., opening up your home for a Bible study, sharing your knowledge and experience gained from mentors). Above all these examples, I do think that you should steward your resources accordingly. Being a leader also means that you are intentionally rubbing shoulders with people you might not normally spend time with. Your relationships with others have to be intentional! On the other hand, you might be alienated by non-Christian friends for being “too Christian” — it could cost your friendships. Whatever price you decide to pay with regard to resources and relationships, people will notice it, and it plays a role in your leadership!

More Scripture references, regarding following Jesus (and counting the cost in leadership):

• Matt. 16:24–25
• Matt. 6:24
• Luke 14:25–33

Spiritual Gifts & Talents

I do think that knowing your giftings and talents is very helpful to discern the kind of ministry you want to be involved in. Different people have different talents/gifts, yet they’re all meant to build up the body of Christ.

Now you might go through 1 Cor. 12:1–11 and think, “oh man, I don’t have the gift of tongues, or healing, or miracles, so it’s doomed.” (Aside: Now for the purposes of brevity, which this article definitely needs, and also seems to be the trend for many recent articles, I will skip over the cessationism vs. continuationism debate, and just stick to the Scripture I mention here.) I don’t think that is a thorough reading of Scripture here, as the passage also mentions other gifts/services/activities (all of the same Spirit) such as teaching (“utterance of wisdom/knowledge”) and discernment (“distinguishing between spirits”); and even from the passage found in Rom. 12:3–8, we have exhortation, contribution/generosity, zealous leadership, and cheerful acts of mercy. This is a pretty large list of gifts/talents that you could have, so I wouldn’t throw in the towel and just claim that you aren’t “gifted enough” to lead. I do think that there needs to be some creativity applied through your talents (and even from your experiences) to showcase these spiritual gifts. For example, one of my talents is cooking and hospitality (at least, that’s what others have said in recent years 😅), which provides me spaces and opportunities to speak and share the wisdom and experience I have (some could even argue that this is a form of “prophecy”, to “build up the church” as mentioned in 1 Cor. 14).

If you continue reading through 1 Corinthians, what we can say is that these variety of gifts/talents are meant to build up the body of believers (1 Cor. 12:12–31), and the basis of all of these is love. Love for one another, because of the love God has for us (1 Cor. 13).

So if there’s anything you take away, you should find out what you are talented in, and use that to build up others, all out of love for them. Not sure what you’re talents are? Ask others! Chances are, your close friends/mentors can point these out for you. It’s probably something that you’re already doing really well with (and not some mystical, esoteric thing, which is what most people think of when they hear the term “spiritual gifts”). When you know your talents and giftings, you can be a more effective leader!

Calling in Leadership

Of course, God’s calling trumps anything else when it comes to discerning whether or not you are to lead. Now I do think that for first-time leaders, this part gets really tricky. So buckle up, I’m about to cover many ideas in parallel before tying things together!

God’s Moral (Revealed) vs. Sovereign (Secret) Will

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29:29, ESV)

Simply put, God’s moral will is what He has revealed to us, namely, through the Scriptures. Whatever God commands, is what we ought to do! This contrasts with God’s sovereign/secret will. We cannot discern this! Only God knows this. However, we can look back in hindsight and discover His hidden will. This is because God is sovereign! One example of God’s sovereignty over all circumstances can be found in Genesis 50, where Joseph recalls the evil that his brothers have done to him. When his brothers sold Joseph off to slavery, it seemed absolutely evil in the moment (and it was evil)! Yet, God had planned it all to happen, “for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive” (Gen. 50:20)!

So then, in one sense, it really is a matter of God’s sovereign will. God appoints whomever He appoints for leadership (e.g., how Samuel is chosen to replace Eli’s sons as priest/prophet in 1 Sam. 1–3; how God chose David over Saul to be King in 1 Sam. 8–10, 15–16).

Calling & Assignment

Yet, what God has revealed to us through His Word is to “make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:18–20)! So we are to obey God in this manner.

Allen Parr makes the distinction between “calling” and “assignment” in this video, which I find quite helpful. In short, he says that calling doesn’t change, but assignments can change to fulfill your calling as your seasons of life change.

Don Whitney, in his famous book on Spiritual Disciplines, points out that serving is expected of all Christians, and that all Christians are gifted to serve.

So then, how exactly do we discern whether or not we are meant to step up to lead?

Burdens & Prayers

While I can’t discern God’s hidden will (it’s literally impossible…), I do know that Christians can align their human will with His revealed will, thus obeying His commands (and the general calling of making disciples). And the best way to do this is following what Jesus already laid out for us as an example: The Lord’s Prayer!

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10, ESV)

When we take time to meditate, pray, and desire for God’s will to be done, our will starts to align with His. We can then have greater confidence that our motivations for leading are sincere!

Another indicator that you are “called” to lead is your burden and passion! When you see the need for leaders, do you feel a burden for others? Do you see that the crowds are like sheep without a shepherd? When Jesus saw that the crowds of people were harassed and helpless, he had compassion on them (Matt. 9:35–38). Do you have that same reaction?

Another example is when David went to fight Goliath in 1 Samuel 17. When he saw that Goliath was “defying the armies of the living God”, he simply stood up and took him down, out of a passion for honouring God’s name!

If you have this burden and passion, and are continuous in prayer, it’s a good indicator that you should step up for leadership!

Qualifications: Equipping & Age

“God equips the called” is a phrase I’m hearing more often, and I wholeheartedly agree with that! I also want to “pushback” by saying, “God calls the equipped”. Let me explain.

God certainly equips the called, that is, as you step into leadership, you gain the experience while you work things out, so long as you are humble and constantly growing/learning. God does indeed honour the humble (Is. 66:2b, Matt. 23:12)! As you lead, you learn the specifics of what it takes to lead within your particular role, and that’s normal!

I also think that God “calls” the “equipped”, not in the sense that you need to know everything ahead of time (the specifics) in order to step up as a leader, but rather, the “equipped” are those who (and this wraps back to the first point I made) have their foundation built on Christ. A person who will lead effectively is one who is already rooted in God. In practice, they meditate on God’s Word (Ps. 1) and are constant in prayer (Luke 6:12, 1 Thes. 5:17). With consistent practice of these disciplines (and ultimately, having this “heart posture”), you “build your house” on a foundation that is beyond just your practical competencies; you build on Christ. Without this, it’s very easy to get tossed to and fro in the chaos.

One final point: Age is not a disqualifier! Throughout the Bible, God uses people of varying ages (in particular, He uses young people) to accomplish kingdom work! Some examples are King David (when he goes to fight Goliath, he was probably 16–19 years old), Timothy (he was in his late-teens/early-twenties when he joined Paul, and was already quite faithful), Samuel (God called him to be a prophet when he was 12), and Mary (who would have been roughly 15–16 when she bore Jesus)!

Qualities of a Godly Leader

The Bible has lots to say about the qualities of a godly leader! We know that God assesses the heart (1 Sam. 16:7). While not exhaustive, we can find a solid list by looking at the qualifications for an elder and deacon (1 Tim. 3:1–13, 1 Pet. 5:1–11):

• Above reproach
• Self-controlled
• Respectable
• Hospitable
• Gentle (and not violent)
• Not a drunkard
• Not quarrelsome
• Not a lover of money/not greedy for dishonest gain
• Not a recent convert
• Dignified
• Not double-tongued
• Not domineering
• Humble

We can also say the following about godly leaders:

• They seek God’s direction always (Prov. 16:3)
• They choose to do what is right always (James 4:17)
• They surround themselves with trustworthy mentors/counselors (Prov. 15:22)
• They prioritize their own spiritual growth (John 15:5)
• They are fully dedicated to their team and show up (Heb. 10:24–25)
• They seek solely to please God in all they do (Gal. 1:10)

That last point is extremely important, especially in a time where people would rather betray God by trying to please man! This is once again why, having a foundation built on Christ is so important!

A New Revolution

A few years ago, when UWCCF went through the COVID era and the post-COVID era, we had a sort of “leadership crisis”. During that time, we always felt like we were lacking leaders, and so what often happened was that upper-years were essentially conscripted to lead. During end-of-term leaders’ appreciation meals, people from various ministries always talked about how they lacked leaders, and felt burnt out. Hearing that really upset me.

Now in the past year, we’ve started to see the fruits of healthy leadership (by God’s grace). I was talking to Joel this past winter term, and he pointed out this “revolution” that was started only last year, where leaders are now feeling a lot more supported, people are willing and passionate about stepping up to lead, and upper-years don’t feel obligated to fill a role. I didn’t even realize the significance of this until I started to hear from a bunch of other leaders. All the leaders I’ve talked to have mentioned some mixture of feeling supported despite their nervousness, seeing fruit in their leadership by way of others growing in their faith, feeling glad that they stepped up to lead, or they just exude a massive amount of passion for leading others!

So then, what exactly brought about this “revolution”?

Mutual Ministry

When this all started, we wanted to address the issues of there being a lack of leaders and current leaders feeling burnt out. We talked to Pastor Will from Trinity Bible Chapel, and he mentioned the idea that there should be “mutual ministry”, after all, it’s biblical:

that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. (Romans 1:12, ESV)

With this in mind, we trained a new set of leaders on this principle. That is, even as they lead others, they should give opportunities for others to minister to the rest of the group. They don’t necessarily have to be a great speaker to lead the group. Rather, we worked according to the principle that everyone has some sort of talent/gift that they could use to encourage each other, and gave opportunities as they naturally arose.

By doing this, along with leading and investing into others, we would build the next generation of leaders. These small things show them that, 1) leading others isn’t as hard as it’s worked up to be, 2) leading others doesn’t require you to dive into the deep end; you’ll get the support that you need! They might not take up the same roles that you did, but this gives them a gentle nudge to seriously consider leading according to their talents/gifts!

How Exactly Do We “Pick” New Leaders?

Of course, it’s all up to who God “calls”, as shown in Hebrews 5:4–5:

And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you” (Hebrews 5:4–5, ESV)

And as mentioned before, there are good principles that we can work off of — whatever honours God and is the best for others. Namely:

• PRAY! We as leaders should be prayerful about who we are introducing to leadership! And for those who are discerning whether or not to step up, this is just as important for you!
• Don’t fall into the pitfall of using worldly standards/approaches (e.g., looking at experience, age; selecting leaders out of desperation)
• Rather, look at character qualities of the candidates. Are they already displaying godliness?

This means that you should be somewhat familiar with the candidates — not that you have to be best friends in order to select them, nor should you be picking leaders based off of popularity/friendship. But, you should be able to evaluate the following, using the acronym “FITS”:

• Faithfulness: Are they already faithful with the small things they have in front of them (Luke 16:10)?
• Integrity: Do they walk with integrity no matter the setting and friends they’re around (including how they interact with others online) (Prov. 11:3, 1 Pet. 2:12)?
• Teachable: How do they receive feedback/correction/criticism? Are they humble in receiving it, or does their pride flare up (Prov. 12:1, Prov. 8:32–33)?
• Spiritual: Is God the centre of their life? Do they make their decisions to honour and glorify God? Are they known to be “full of the Spirit and of wisdom” (Acts 6:1–4)?

Advice, Praxis & Regrets

Finally (I know, it’s a long article, you’re almost there), I just want to include a “rapid-fire” section sharing advice on leadership and ministry along with my major regrets.

1. Pray!! I’ve repeated this throughout the article, and I cannot stress this enough, pray about your leadership and ministry, whether it’s for new leaders, or for your current ministry team, just pray! One of my great regrets is not praying enough. How frequently we pray is indicative of how reliant we are on God for all things.
2. Evangelize!! Just because you lead something and it takes a good chunk of your time doesn’t mean you get a “free pass” on evangelism. The idea that, “evangelism is not for me” or, “I’m just not gifted with evangelism”, just shows the level of rebellion you are in. Jesus calls us to evangelize (The Great Commission), so it’s expected of all Christians to do so, regardless of how smooth of a talker or how extroverted you may or may not be. This is another one of my other greatest regrets. I wished that I didn’t spend as much time in the weeds of my leadership role, running background things, and instead, spent it with people, especially with those who haven’t heard of the gospel at all! Take every opportunity you have, as this is of infinite weight!
   “If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.” — Charles Spurgeon
3. Delegate. Sometimes, you just have to draw boundaries and say “it’s not my responsibility.” Not in a condescending way, of course. Rather, look to delegate what is not supposed to be your responsibility. It’s another way of getting more people involved in ministry, and can even solve systemic issues (by creating new systems)!
4. Make covenants (i.e., serious commitments). This also applies to other things like constitutions and vision/mission statements. The point of these is that you can refer back to them as a backbone, and in turn, it helps you refocus on what’s most important, and what cannot ever be compromised on. This also helps bring clarity to your role, and thus can be a tool for discerning whether things should be delegated to others.
5. Do ministry together. Doing things on your own gets tiring. Ministry wears you out, so do it together! I always make an effort to at least group leaders into a pair, so they can encourage each and help each other! It’s also very helpful in practical situations (e.g., if one leader cannot make it because of an illness).
6. Put the “para” back in “parachurch ministry”. This is particularly for parachurch ministries. “Para” essentially means “beside”. That is, parachurch ministries should partner alongside churches, as a way to reach those who are hard to reach in traditional settings (typically through a church), and connect people to a local church.
7. Enjoy Jesus! Don’t do ministry unto itself (for the sake of doing things). Rather, do it because you love Jesus. And don’t lose your joy for God in the midst of the chaos.

Conclusion

I know that this was a lot to take in, but I hope that this has given you some great things to think about in order to do leadership (and ultimately ministry) well. I hope that this was an encouragement for those who are considering leadership!

As always, there’s probably something that I didn’t cover, and I always have some stories and experiences to share. So don’t be afraid to reach out, I would love to chat with you!

Resources

• Don Whitney’s Spiritual Disciplines book. There’s more details on serving and evangelism as a “discipline”. It’s also a very well known, “classic” read!
• Banning Liebscher’s Rooted book. Okay, this book is from the founder of Jesus Culture, and as much as I probably have to say about that, I’m not going to. Rather, this book was one of the first few Christian books I picked up during my book investment phase (which frankly, still continues on to this day 😅). This book goes over the life of King David, and analyzes what made him the (mostly) solid King he came to be. Thankfully, this book is a very easy read, so I highly recommend it for first time leaders! But in essence, you must stay rooted in God so that you can lead well!
• Paul David Tripp’s LEAD book. Unfortunately, I haven’t read this book (my bookmark is still at chapter 1…). But I’ve seen it recommended here and there. And knowing Tripp, he connects everything to the gospel! In fact, the premise of this book is, “12 gospel principles for leadership in the church”. You’re bound to find some gold there.
• David Mathis’s Jesus Is Better Than Working for Jesus article. Like I said, don’t lose sight of Jesus in ministry! It’s so easy to do so. And this article was a great reminder of that.

Acknowledgement

It’s been many years since I first started out in leadership in ministry. And I myself was very nervous and unsure at the time. But I’m super thankful for you, Gilman, for investing in me during my very formative years of high school, especially when I was without a pastor for a long time. You really taught me so many lessons and convictions to hold in leadership. You helped redirect my passion back to God’s Word, whenever I had some wild idea. Thank you for being such a wonderful mentor, and fellow brother in Christ.