Please hit "WEBCASTS"
Episode Eleven
Conclusion of Leadership
In Episode Ten of this series on leadership entitled LEAD the WAY, I talked about the negative examples of Ineffective Leadership, and an Inadequate Leadership, after which I suggested a new paradigm of Leadership, which I call Impactful Leadership. In this final Episode Eleven, I will conclude the Leadership Series entitled LEAD the WAY, where I will talk in greater details of the Impactful Leadership and its constituent elements, followed by an evaluation of the four types of Finishers or leaders who have ended their tenure of leadership.
Let us begin.
Conclusion
“ If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.” (Rom. 12:8 NLT; emphasis added)
“To aspire to leadership is an honorable ambition.” (1 Tim.3:1 NEB)
“ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)
Impactful Biblical Leadership Model
Figure. 1 The Impactful Biblical Leadership Model
Leadership profoundly affects the church. Throughout Scripture, leadership is not just a biblical concept in the church, but also a godly practice. It is both prescribed (it’s a noble task, it needs to be done, the call to raise up leaders) and described (stories of how leaders have functioned well and poorly). Many lead poorly because they have a bad theological basis of leadership. They do not have a real sense of where God is calling them to lead. The biblical and the theological values of leadership will be constant since God’s Word and his mission are unchanging. The contextual value of leadership, however, will vary from one place to another. God knows what leadership qualities work in each setting to bring about kingdom change within a community.
The Impactful Biblical Leadership model is tethered to a biblical foundation, ensuring that the leader’s decisions are biblical. The three facets of servant, shepherd, and steward provide sound and solid paradigm with sufficient flexibility to adapt to the particular cultural expressions over place and time. The voice of the Holy Spirit is earnestly sought, ensuring that the leader’s directions are underpinned by divine guidance and not human ingenuity. In striving to be an effective leader in the church, the IBL model could be a framework that is coherent, strong, sustainable, and balanced in bringing out the best in a biblical leader.
To be faithful to our calling and to “finish well and finish strong” is the goal of all servant leaders. The metaphor of running a race and finishing it well is very popular in Scripture. It is often used as an analogy for the Christian ministry.
But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. (Acts 20:24)
“Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:24-27).
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful” (2 Tim. 4:7).
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith” (Heb. 12:1-2)
At the same time we recognise there are obstacles and ambushes along the way. Our “enemy” does not want us to finish strong and well because that would only bring glory to God. Starting well is easy because of excitement, passion, and joy. However, finishing well is not as easy as it seems.
It is easy to begin the race of life but hard to finish. The one thing necessary for life is staying power, and that is what so many people lack. It was suggested to a certain very famous man that his biography should be written while he was still alive. He absolutely refused to give permission, and his reason was: “I have seen so many men fall out at the last lap.” It is easy to wreck a noble life or a fine record by some closing foolishness. (William Barclay)
In the end, what counts is not how a servant leader begins, but how he or she finishes. As Bill Hybels points out, “The question is not whether we’ll leave. The question is how well we’ll leave when it’s finally our turn to go.” The bottom line of Christian leadership is, “Will a servant leader finish well and finish strong?”
In a race it is more important to finish well rather than start well and finish badly. “Finishing is better than starting. Patience is better than pride” (Eccles. 7:8). The Olympic creed reads, “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.”
What does it mean to finish well and strong? Being called by God and being gifted and strong in leadership does not guarantee finishing well and strong. “Finishing strong does not mean finishing unblemished. Finishing strong does not mean finishing perfect” (Steve Farrar). The late Dr. Lilian Lim, President of the Asia Baptist Graduate Theological Seminary (ABGTS) from 2005 to 2009 is an excellent example of someone who has finished well though she did not complete all the work she had envisioned to do.
Different types of finishers in the Bible
Who are the finishers in the Bible? Robert Clinton in his book The Mantle of the Mentor looks at 49 leaders in the Bible and classifies them according to four categories.
prophetically denounced, and overthrown. They are: Abimelech, Samson, Absalom, Ahab, Josiah, John the Baptist, and James. Some were good leaders but most were bad.
2 Finished poorly–going downhill in the latter part of their lives. Gideon, Eli, Saul,
and Solomon. All gifted and strong, but not all finished well.
3 Finished so-and-so–could have done better although they did walk with God like David, Jehoshaphat, and Hezekiah.
4 Finished well–walking with God personally at the end of their lives, strong in faith, and close to God: Abraham, Job, Joseph, Joshua, Caleb, Samuel, Jeremiah, Elijah, Daniel, John, Peter, and Paul.
Closing Remarks
I heard a story about a preacher who imagines there is a museum in heaven. All those admitted to heaven are given a tour of the heavenly museum. Items displayed at the museum would include the staff of Moses, staff of Aaron that blossomed, inkpot of Martin Luther who threw it at the devil, John Wesley's saddle which he sat on the horse to preach the word, Praying Hyde's knee patches, Spurgeon's Bible, Billy Graham's airline tickets and many others. However, there are two conspicuous items missing: a towel and a basin. The preacher is very surprised and asks the angel, “Why are the ‘Towel’ and ‘Basin’, which are significant in the life of Christ and true believers, missing? The angel replied with a smile, “Because they are still in use on earth!”
Indeed, the towel and basin leadership is still needed in today's turbulent (economically, politically, and religiously), chaotic, broken, and rapidly changing world.
The concept of servant leadership is still as relevant as before. God is still calling for more servant leaders to serve others.
In this final Episode Eleven, I conclude the Leadership Series entitled LEAD the WAY, where I talked about four types of Finishers or leaders who have ended their tenure of leadership. To help us review what we have heard from this podcast, I invite you to reflect on the following questions.
With that, we have come to the end of this podcast on the Leadership Series entitled LEAD the WAY. Let me wish all of you success as you embark on a journey of great possibilities, and if the opportunity arises for a leadership role and responsibility, may you find this podcast helpful in shaping your understanding of leadership. I want to thank the Organizer, Global Reachout, for giving me this opportunity to share with the listeners. Good-bye, and have a great day!
Discussion Questions
1. Describe an effective/impactful leader in one sentence.
2. Discuss the different types of finishers in the Bible.
3. What concrete steps would you take if God has called you to “lead the way” to be an
impactful leader?