Practicing Christian Leadership, Mentor's Guide, MG11

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P R A C T I C I N G C H R I S T I A N L E A D E R S H I P

“I Don’t Need Your Permission.”

During a rather heated discussion among the leaders of a local inner city church, the pastor claimed that he did not need the permission of his deacon board to go forward with his plan to expand the sanctuary. After all, they had called him to be the pastor, the by-laws said that he had the authority to establish and expand ministry in the church, and there were enough resources in the treasury to actually go forward with the building. While some of the deacons wanted further discussion of the wisdom of such a move, the pastor closed down debate. He announced that he believed the Lord wanted the church to proceed forward, and finished with the statement, “I really don’t need your permission on this. I am the pastor, and God has called me to lead.” What do you think about the style of the pastor’s leadership? In an effort to become more “contemporary” in their worship style with the youth service, the youth pastor has begun his new “Hip Hop Hallelujah” service. It is a worship service, but done completely in sync with the hip-hop culture which dominates the minds and hearts of the kids in the neighborhood. Although the service continues to expand and grow, attracting more of the lost kids around the community, some of the leaders are concerned with the flavor of the service. To them, it looks no different than an MTV program; the kids dress the same, they use all kinds of electronic instruments and turn-tables, and essentially is nothing more than worldliness with a little Jesus thrown in. As one of the deacons said about it, “Looking at what our youth pastor is doing, I just feel uneasy. It just don’t seem right.” What would you say to the deacon if he asked you about the hip-hop hallelujah service–is it right, is it wrong, does it matter what they’re doing? How so? “It Just Don’t Seem Right.”

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Only the Believing

(This is based on a true story) Recently, in a growing church, the pastor noticed that when he only made the Lord’s Supper available to those who believed, that many unbelievers felt judged and isolated during their communion service. After consulting with his other leaders, the pastor decided to open up communion to whoever was present for the service. Remarkably, this opened up the service greatly and, brought much added enthusiasm to the service. The pastor actually testified that there have been some unbelievers who have actually come to faith in Jesus