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PREFACE

We are in a time where the Christian leader is more out of touch with Scripture than at perhaps any other time in history.  The secular world is placing a tremendous amount of pressure on organizational leaders of all types to follow their leadership methods and to turn their backs on God’s methods. As Christian leaders, we are running the great risk of relying on the “wisdom” of the secular world instead of God’s wisdom.

Proverbs 2 is clear about the requirement God places on us to consider carefully the sources from whom we obtain our wisdom; it spells out the consequences we will face if we fail to follow His wisdom. Consider verses 12-15 from this chapter: “Discretion will protect you and understanding will guard you. Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who leave the straight path to walk in dark ways, who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.” Does the description of wicked, evil, devious, perverse words remind you of the secular or worldly messages we are receiving today?

Jesus told us we cannot serve both God and mammon.  In interpreting this guidance, mammon is not just a reference to money; it is a reference to operating in any way that is opposed to God’s way.  Jesus is simply saying we can not be focused on two directions at the same time.

Today, we are bombarded with messages attempting to take us away from living an integrated life as a Christian.  The messages seem to say it might be acceptable to live as a Christian on Sunday, yet if you want to survive, thrive and otherwise prosper you had better get with the program (read – doing things the worldly way) or you will be a loser and a failure. The world wants us to focus on the short-term, temporal things that bring us (and those who sell things) pleasure.  God clearly wants us to focus on long-term and Kingdom-building priorities that have an eternal impact. Jesus tells us not to store up treasures on earth. He commands us to store up treasures in heaven and to focus on these things, for the things we seek to store will drive our motives.  Jesus clearly wants our motives to be focused on Him and not on what the world values. Jesus’ rebuke of the Pharisees in Luke 16:15 is just as applicable to Christian leaders today – what the world honors is detestable to God.

A serious lack of Scriptural awareness is not new to God’s people. His Word contains several examples of this happening during the period the Bible was written. Consider if the following verses could be applicable to us today:

• Isaiah 1:4 speaks of an “sinful nation” who have “forsaken the Lord” and who “have turned their backs on (the Lord)”
• In Nehemiah 8, after the wall has been completed the people gathered to hear a reading from the Book of the Law of God.  Upon hearing the Law and considering their previous behavior of the past many years the people’s reaction was to weep, in part because they now knew how sinful they were.
• Hosea 4:6 says, “…my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge”.
• Proverbs 28:14 reads, “Blessed is the man who always fears the Lord, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble.”

Fearing the Lord is having deep awe, understanding and knowledge of who He is and what He requires of us. Jesus often called the Pharisees hypocrites; although they knew the “letter” of the Law, they put traditions and religious legalism ahead of following the Law. Outwardly, they might have given the impression that they ‘feared’ God, yet their motives and their heart were clearly aligned with those outward actions. This lack of Scriptural awareness earned them the sharpest rebuke given by Jesus.

In Henry and Richard Blackaby’s devotional, Discovering God’s Daily Agenda, they write, “The importance of God’s Word cannot be overstated. If you are to serve the Lord in any capacity, you must know Scripture thoroughly. You must study it, meditate on it and obey it completely.” This is not only great advice for today’s Christian leader, it is imperative that we behave this way and commit to honor God by doing our best to understand His priorities for the leadership roles He has given us.

We must pray that God would permit us to see what He sees. As we actually become more familiar with the Scriptures, we will begin to see what is important to God. As this knowledge and insight take hold, we will begin to see how God desires for us to change our motives, beliefs, thoughts and actions to be more aligned with His purposes, especially in the organizations we lead.

God has not called us into leadership positions to be part time Christians and part time leaders. He has called us because He desires to accomplish an important work through us as fully committed and empowered Christian leaders. In Romans 1:16 Paul says he is not ashamed of talking about Jesus. If we are part time Christians and full time leaders, we might tend to hold back in speaking about Him.

God has gifted us to do this combined work as Christians AND leaders and provided all we need to carry it out (see Ephesians 2:10). To enhance our Scriptural awareness, we must commit to understand His desires and His purposes and resolve to obey them. James 1:22 tells us to not just listen or read the Word, but to obey what it says. If we just listen without doing, we are just fooling ourselves.

Allow me to paraphrase Esther 4:14-15. For if you, the Christian leader, remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for God’s people will arise from another place, (for His purposes will prevail) but you and your family (and your organization) will perish. Have you been appointed to this leadership position for a time such as this?

In Fall 2008, a survey of leadership development practices was conducted by our company (Bliss & Associates Inc) and approximately 600 Christian leaders and CEOs responded. Some of the key findings include:

1. While acknowledging the importance of leadership development to their organization’s success, many respondents seem to struggle with the attention they provide to leadership development efforts. Without planned leadership development, organizations might not be adequately prepared for the leadership challenges (vision setting, directional unity, motivation, focus, employee engagement, etc.) they will likely face in the months and years to come.
2. Succession planning – usually viewed as an absolute necessity at secular companies – seems to be something that many respondents in this survey do not adequately address.  It appears that these business leaders have not adequately thought through the potential problems someone would face if they were somehow incapacitated, not to mention the significant impact their incapacitation would have on many other lives.
3. There seems to be an expressed desire to learn how to create a succession plan.  An effective succession plan is really not that difficult or time consuming to create. What can be difficult is having an objective and quantifiable method to assess potential replacement candidates.
4. Many of the companies would be interested in learning more about how to develop leadership competencies as well as having an objective assessment of its leaders against those competencies.
5. Although a vast majority of leaders use the “informal feedback” approach to provide feedback to their executive team, they might benefit from taking more active and planned approaches to providing feedback that would help drive desired results. This has been validated by the respondents in their strong expression of desired training in providing performance feedback.
6. As indicated in the comments that respondents have provided, many are crying out for distinctively Christian tools, approaches and methods to help them run their organizations that go beyond the current offerings that seem to be available.

Throughout this book, I will reference some specific results from this survey. Although the results or implications were not necessarily the primary motivation for writing this book, they did call out the need for practical leadership development tools, methods and techniques that are aligned with God’s Word and can be utilized by today’s leaders.

This is not just another book on leadership; it is a book focused on key leadership lessons found in God’s Word along with how today’s leader can immediately apply some of those lessons in their organization. The Bible is loaded with verses that are applicable to leadership.

Leadership Lessons from THE BOOK provides an in-depth discussion of seven leadership lessons found in God’s Word. It is not meant to be an exhaustive all-inclusive list of leadership lessons or principles, merely those that are among the most important.  Each chapter addresses a lesson, and the chapters are formatted as follows:

• Scripture Passages Three or four verses highlighting the lesson
• Biblical Foundation An in-depth discussion of what the Bible says about that lesson
• Lessons Learned A summary of what the Bible says about that lesson
• Practical Application A discussion of that lesson relevant for today’s leader
• Self Assessment In some chapters, a brief self assessment is provided to help the reader gauge his/her proficiency of that lesson
• Practical Steps to Exhibit Provides a dozen or more steps that can be put into action by today’s leader.

We will explore some key leadership verses including:

• One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. At daybreak, he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles. (Luke 6:12-13, NLT)
• Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained. (Proverbs 29:18, NASB)
• You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses.  Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others. (II Timothy 2:2, NLT)
• Simply let your yes be yes and your no be no; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. (Matthew 5:37)
• You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them.  But among you it will be different. (Matthew 20:25-26, NLT)

Before beginning each chapter, I suggest that you pray and ask the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of your heart and mind so He can direct you to what He wants you to understand. This is a crucial step in ensuring that your mind and heart are ready to receive what the Holy Spirit wants you to learn. He is able to tell you things that are very specific to you and remind you of things that are beneficial for you.

Additionally, I suggest that as you read each chapter underline or highlight key points made in each of the sections. Alternatively you might want to have a pen and notebook or journal handy to record any insights you may discover. In the chapters that contain a Self Assessment section, take the time to complete the assessment. It will guide you in identifying some of the Practical Steps you might want to consider taking to enhance your skills and behaviors in that particular leadership lesson.          

When you arrive at the Practical Steps section at the end of each chapter, identify two or three steps that seem to be best for you or your organization during this season. With more than one hundred twenty practical steps listed in this book, wait until you complete the book to decide which steps you will implement; then review the list of items you have selected throughout each chapter. Select the two or three most impactful steps and develop a plan to accomplish those first.  Then move on to others as time permits and as you see the fruit from the initial steps.

As you finish the book and reflect on the topics discussed, you might want to share this with your leadership team. I invite you to review the material included in the back of the book for information about workshops and study guides available for that very purpose. My prayer for each reader of this book is two fold. For those who are currently a serious student of Scripture, I pray this book will provide encouragement to you to continue in your daily habits to immerse yourself in reading, absorbing, meditating and practicing the wisdom that God’s Word so richly provides on the topic of leadership. For those who discover they need a deeper awareness and knowledge of what God has said about His leadership model and expectations of a Christian leader, my prayer is that you would commit yourself to begin this serious, life-changing journey without delay or interruption. Additionally, my prayer for each reader is that they hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant” when each of you finally go home to be with the Lord.

Purchase Leadership Lessons From THE BOOK HERE.