In Search of Discerning Leaders

“One very common leadership mistake is to think that we can take a group of undiscerning individuals and expect them to show up in a leadership setting and all of a sudden become discerning!” (Ruth Haley Barton, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership) This quote is too sobering to be a “favorite,” but it is one that I think of frequently. Far too often, the most important decisions in a church or ministry are made by people that have great resumes but not great spiritual maturity. That’s a strong assertion, but I’ve heard it expressed in a variety of ways as I work with pastors and ministry leaders. What are the indicators of a problem?

• “We’ve never done it that way” is the most frequent response to new ideas.
• A lack of civility permeates conversations when difficult issues are raised.
• Decisions often reflect personal preferences rather than what is best for the church or ministry.
• Far more time is spent looking at cost-benefit analysis than seeking God’s guidance.

One or more of these bullet points is probably quite familiar. If so, you may not question my assertion about a lack of discernment. Instead, you’re wondering what you can do. The most important step is to change the ways that leaders are selected. Spiritual maturity should be much more important than resume traits or tenure in the organization. I realize that spiritual maturity is not easy to assess, but have the conversation. Be discerning about who will bring a spirit of discernment to your leadership team. Even if the selection process is flawed, or if you can’t remove less-than-ideal people that currently fill leadership roles, you’re not stuck. Think about the agenda for your typical leadership meeting. Is it packed with the business of the church or ministry? If it could be mistaken for a corporate meeting, except for a perfunctory prayer at the beginning and end, don’t be surprised at the lack of spiritual discernment in the middle. What would happen if you treated those meetings first as a platform for spiritual formation for your leaders, and second as place for making decisions? What if you lived by a covenant that called for Christ-like behavior among leaders? What if you stopped and prayed in the middle for any difficult issue? What if the big decisions were spread out over two or more meetings so that the team could prayerfully listen to God between sessions? What if … your leadership team truly became a discernment team?  It’s easy to receive my blogs by email. Just sign-up on Feedburner by clicking here.]]>