By Dr. John David Smith, President of BMA Global

If it were as simple as distilling down the Great Commission to specific skill sets, certainly those would include actively sharing our faith, intentionally discipling believers, developing new leaders, and planting churches. This writer commonly calls these skills the “GC Skills”–the Great Commission skills. Granted, the GC does not explicitly say to plant churches; however, the entire New Testament screams to us that when the GC is fulfilled it results in new churches being planted. Almost every NT book is written to someone who is planting a new church or to a new church that serves as the environment where followers of Christ are trained to share their faith, disciple, and develop leaders to plant more churches. 

This short essay considers the GC skill of leadership development. Jesus spent 90% of his ministry pouring his life into 12 men who would eventually turn the world upside down. The sequence that Jesus used in fulfilling the very mission that he has left for us to continue began with leadership development. As BMA Global looks to leadership development for the future, the following principles will be foundational.

Leadership development will be attitudinal. Our attitude is controlled by those things to which we are committed. If we are willing to deny ourselves and put forth the effort, we can see some great movement through leadership development. All too often, existing leaders do not see the importance of leadership development to the point where they are willing to pay the price for the return on investment. Many current leaders are too busy establishing their own legacy to think of the overarching legacy; therefore, they are indifferent or even jealous of emerging leaders around them. We need to let God change our attitude toward leadership development. 

Leadership development will be intentional. Jesus walked right up to certain men and said, “Follow me.” Barnabas mentored Saul/Paul and then they transitioned for Paul to be the leader. Paul heard the recommendations of the believers in Lystra and Iconium and said to Timothy, “Join my missionary team.” There is a lot of built-in language in Christian culture today that reflects passivity. “I do not have that spiritual gift,” “I will let my testimony speak for itself,” “That is the professional minister’s role, not mine.” Intentionality always requires us to be convinced of the need, deny ourselves, and a commitment to not stop despite the difficulties that will come.  

Leadership development will be relational, not institutional. Church, seminaries, and other institutions will never take the place of a vibrant, personal, daily, caring relationship in a leadership context. It is not impossible for these institutions to be relational, although the examples of such seem to be the exception rather than the norm.  It is impossible to develop leaders in mass or from a distance. We must walk alongside each other in the agony of bad decisions and missteps, as well as in the joy of progress and achievement. 

Leadership development will be experiential. Emerging leaders advance best when they are being mentored by a mature leader and given many on-the-job opportunities. In the U.S. we have outsourced our leadership training to churches and educational institutions that, for the most part, have a great lack of experiential contexts. In churches, the quick application at the end of the sermon or lesson is different from living those biblical truths in a real-life situation. Likewise, educational institutions, at times, offer an ad hoc internship at the end of a course. The student has stored four years of knowledge, and now they are told to go apply it in this two-week internship. This is not realistic.  

We conclude these thoughts by adding a partial list of basic principles of leadership:

• Leadership is getting things done through others, not merely getting things done.
• Leadership development is an attitude and act of faith as I trust God, and not myself, to do remarkable things in those emerging leaders. 
• Leadership development sees my greatest accomplishments in others and not in myself. 
• Leadership development is first a relationship of trust, then comes all the equipping and educating.
• Trust comes through the vulnerability of the leader, not mere transparency. Transparency says I will allow you to see what I want you to see; vulnerability says I will allow you to see the real picture and how Christ has changed me.
• Leadership development should be only 20% information (teaching), 30% coaching (accountability and encouragement), and 50% on-the-job-training. 
• Learn and respect the cultural way of developing leaders, then use their way as it aligns with scripture.
• If your ministry is totally dependent on the money you raise and the decisions you make, most likely you are developing entitled believers instead of engaged leaders.
• If the emerging leaders around you have no voice in formulating the compelling vision for ministry, it will be your vision…not theirs.
• When it is time, the same Holy Spirit that taught, protected, and helped you overcome your enormous weaknesses as a leader will do the same for the emerging leaders around you. Empower and release them!