The Making of a Biblical Leader: 10 Principles for Leading Others Wellნიმუში

A Leader Is: An Ambassador for Christ

Sean McDowell

What makes a leader effective? I believe the key is to identify a problem, discover a workable solution, and motivate people to execute work toward solving it.

That’s what a good leader does, and Jesus was the ultimate leader. He recognized the problem of sin, which broke our relationship with God. He came up with a workable solution, which was to offer His own life as a sacrifice. Then through the power of the Holy Spirit and discipleship, He executed a plan that has since influenced more people than any other leader in the history of the world.

That’s what made—and still makes—Jesus the ultimate leader.

So how can we model our ministry after Jesus’ example? We live in a culture where people are hurting and want to be heard. In our distracted age, paying attention to someone wholeheartedly is a powerful act of love. Healing takes place when you look someone in the eyes and ask, “How are you doing?,” and then you simply listen without having an agenda.

As Christians, sometimes this is hard for us to do, isn’t it? This doesn’t come naturally to us. And it’s easy for us to get anxious about offering answers without really listening to people. How wonderful it would be if people, when they were hurting or broken, would think, I need to talk to a Christian because a Christian will listen to me. When we listen, we show love and care.

All of us—no matter what our role—are ambassadors for Christ.

Ultimately, whatever means you use, you want to model what ministry looks like, then give people opportunities to get plugged in. A lot of people aren’t sure of what to do. By taking the time to practice what you preach, you give them an opportunity to see what ministry looks like. And you’ll see that people are responsive and are willing to get plugged in.

That’s the point of Ephesians 4:12, which talks about pastor-teachers “equipping…the saints for the work of ministry” (NKJV). In too many churches, pastors aren’t equipping the lay people, who are essential to the life of the church. As you preach what you practice, others will be built up and strengthened so that they, in turn, can equip still others.

Our job as leaders is to love the next generation and pass on the faith to them in the same way it was passed on to us. Our job is to be faithful in what we practice and in what we preach.

That’s what counts. Our job is to watch for opportunities and to act upon them. And the rest we can leave up to God.