Would Your Team Say You’re a ‘Humble Leader’?

Would Your Team Say You’re a ‘Humble Leader’?

Derwin Gray says U.S. pastors have much to learn about leadership from their fellow global church planters

Derwin Gray

1

Lately, I’ve been asking myself: What kind of leader does God want me to be?

Sometimes it seems that the image of the American evangelical pastor is one of a CEO instead of a shepherd of people. I certainly understand the importance of vision casting, systems and processes and organization. However when I study the gospels, I can’t help but say that Jesus was more of a shepherd than a CEO. Jesus just didn’t preach to people. He discipled 12 men and ate with sinners. He touched the unclean and had the sweat of other people on his hands. Looking at Jesus’ ministry and how He lived His life compels and convicts me to be a leader who loves and serves people like Jesus, the Great Shepherd.

Humble Shepherds

Having spoken on the church leader conference circuit since 2008, I’ve had the privilege of meeting and at times hanging out with a spectrum of church leaders. And I have to say that some of my favorite leaders to be with and learn from are those who are planting and leading churches and ministries outside of the United States.

When I meet pastors from places like India and countries in Africa, I don’t meet CEO-types with swagger. Instead,  these men and women are usually humble shepherds with deep scars. One friend I deeply admire  is Dr. Célestin Musekura. He is the president and founder of African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries (ALARM, Inc.). He specializes in communal forgiveness, servant leadership and justice administration. Through ALARM, he has planted hundreds of churches in Rwanda and Sudan, and he has trained thousands of leaders in justice and reconciliation, including government officials.

He has experienced the things he teaches about firsthand. For three days, he was tortured by rebels in Rwanda for three days. He and members of his team regularly face physical, emotional and mental attacks. Dr. Musekura is the type of shepherd we American pastors need to learn from. There’s a huge difference between growing a homogenous megachurch in a thriving American suburb versus building churches made up of people who hacked each other’s relatives to death during the Rwandan genocide. In our American churches, we need to look closely at our brothers and sisters around the world and learn from their leadership styles and servant hearts.

What do people in God’s kingdom look like?

In Matthew 5:1–9, Jesus describes what humanity looks like at its best––what “Kingdom-of-God” people look like in real life. If God’s people are to look like Kingdom people, then we need leaders who, like Dr. Musekura and others, embody the Kingdom of God. I want to be this kind of leader, what I call “the blessed leader.”

1. Blessed leaders are clothed in humility. The more they’re in awe of Jesus, the less impressed they are with ourselves. Blessed leaders make much of Jesus, not themselves, because they realize their spiritual poverty has been met by the unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph. 3:8). Blessed leaders let their people know that they themselves need Jesus just as much as their congregation.

Blessed leaders point to Jesus and others when success occurs. But, when failure comes, they accept it and take responsibility.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:3).

2. Blessed leaders are close to the flocks that God has called them to shepherd; they hurt when God’s people hurt. Blessed leaders minister grace to God’s people beyond the pulpit. A heart that lacks empathy and compassion is not the heart of a shepherd. Jesus preached to big crowds, but He discipled 12 men and touched the wounds of hurting people.

Pastor, if you’re not touching the bleeding wounds of hurting people, you are not shepherding people.

One of the aspects of Transformation Church that I’m so excited about is our pastoral care ministry. For us, pastoral care means that pastor/elders have trained small group leaders to care for the congregation. It means that we have more than 50 people in the congregation trained in soul care who walk alongside hurting people. Pastoral care also means that I, along with several other pastor/elders, counsel hurting people and that we have partnerships with mental health professionals. People are hurting, and the local church must be a hospital for the hurting.

We need shepherds who mourn for their hurting congregations.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted (Matt 5:4).

This article is part of a new series, “A New Kind of Leader,” focusing on the Beatitudes and leadership on Derwin Gray’s blog. Follow his blog here.

The upcoming EX East 2015 conference will feature several international church and ministry leaders (Oscar Muriu, Ajai Lall, Mario Vega and more) during the conference’s 10 main sessions.