Leadership within the church can be difficult, especially for those whom God has gifted in abundance. Many leaders have skills and gifts - some even have specific anointing for their ministry - and though these things are given by God, there is the ability to simply use them for what we think is the best furtherance of the Kingdom.

The problem here is that WE are dong the thinking and making the judgment call on what needs to be done next. Don't get me wrong - most leaders are particularly smart and see an abundance of things that need to be accomplished or could be done. Many of these decisions are backed by passionate adherence to the Word of God and the desire to see his name glorified in this earth. But I think when we rely on our own wisdom to make decisions about what one thing is more important than the next, or what we are to do today or tomorrow, we are in essence saying that we understand God's plan in all these areas and we can execute it swiftly and surely by using our gifts and skills.

I believe that this is nothing more than heresy and conceit, veiled in the mask of righteous striving for the Kingdom.

Yes, I realize that this is a strong statement.
Yes, I understand that I might offend people, some of them my friends (if I actually post this, you'll know that my passion for this truth outweighed my fear of hurting my friends - and that's saying a lot).
And yes, I am well aware that I myself have for years fallen into this trap, and may do so again.

I'm not a perfect leader - hallelujah! But I'm not supposed to be. The thing is, I'm supposed to be a servant. I'm supposed to understand that we have a King - a master, a boss - who is the only One who should be making a plan. I have never once, when seeking to be obedient to His plans, ever seen Him err. Many times I do not understand, or it feels like it's all moving too slow for my liking, but I have never seen it be fruitless or man-glorifying. Can you imagine the self-protection in simply following God as the one leader? There's no way anyone could say, "Bakes, that was a brilliant decision!" because my one response would only ever be able to be, "That was totally NOT mine!"

I have read far too many books on church leadership not to be disheartened by the fact that so many of them speak of success and growth in far too worldly terms. I believe success in leadership is to follow the only true leader. I believe Godly leadership may simply be defined as this:


Is there fear in thinking about attempting to execute ministry in this way? Absolutely, especially for anyone who answers to a boss on this earth, because there is just a chance that God may not want you to do anything for some time! Or that the move He requires you make will not be popular. But there is too much burnout in the church. There are too many leaders doing things that they freely admit keep them from the ministry to which God has specifically called them.

Frankly, I'm willing to take the risk of following Jesus for everything. God give me strength, wisdom and courage, and an open ear to hear Your every move.