Leading Inside Out

In a culture full of celebrity preachers, comparisons and competition, what should biblical leadership look like in the local church? Having charisma and competency has trumped character in far too many ministries. In following Jesus, it is first “who” you know, not “what” you know you. Being driven by being “successful” more than being faithful has caused untold casualties. There is no perfect pastor, nor does anyone have the ability to leap over small buildings in a single bound. Remember, God is omni-everything and you are omni-nothing. That is why in John 15:5 Jesus said “without Me you can do nothing.”

In God’s vision to Ezekiel, He commands him on what he should say to the people. Then He reminds the prophet of this truth in Ezek. 3:7 (HCSB): “But the house of Israel will not want to listen to you because they do not want to listen to Me.” The truth will not always be well received, but do not succumb to thinking that you are the only one teaching and speaking the truth. Also, if you are not careful, your message can be the correct message but be delivered in the wrong way. Yes, we are always to speak the truth, but we are to speak that truth in love. The Colson Center states it well, “Outrage is not a strategy!”

In How to Lead and Still Have a Life, H. Dale Burke says: “Therefore, any wise approach to leadership must begin with the heart of the leader. Life is always lived from the inside out.” Solomon said it this way: “Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.” Paul challenges us in II Cor. 10: 5: “taking every thought captive to obey Christ.” Leadership is first a matter of the heart. If we begin thinking wrong, before too long, we will begin believing wrong. If we begin believing wrong, it will not be long before we are acting wrong. Character and spirituality are far more important than charisma and competency.

The inner life of the leader is summarized by H. Dale Burke with four V’s: voice, vision, values, and he states, “these three elements need to be lived out in the context of the vital relationships in your life.” You are called to protect and promote the vital relationships around you by loving God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. How is your relationship with Him? Then we are told to love our neighbors as ourselves. How are your relationships with those around you that God has called you to lead? What needs to be done to improve and restore those relationships?

Begin with making sure you are hearing God’s voice and direction in your leadership. You must decide who will be the loudest voice in your life. How will you make sure you are hearing His voice and being directed by His instructions? Every time you read God’s Word He is speaking to you, so start there. Make sure you are practicing silence, solitude and slowing down in His presence. Silence is not passive but rather it is proactive listening. God often speaks His loudest when we are our quietest. H. Dale Burke suggests, “Don’t expect Him to shout above the noise of your busy world. Learn to be quiet with Him.”

Then focus on values, core values. That is not what you are going to do but how you plan on doing it. These are the deep convictions from God’s Word and direction in your life that are non-negotiable. These core values are what caused the three Hebrew children to declare that they would never bow down to his golden image, even if God did not deliver them. Core values are consistent (they rarely change), passionate (they generate emotion and energy), biblical (they are rooted in Scripture) and distinctive (they reflect God’s unique assignment for you). They direct you in knowing what should never change and what should.

H. Dale Burke says this about core values: “These are your guidelines on how you do business. You base them on your convictions (which, in turn, are based on the truth of God’s Word) and adhere to them regardless of whether they help or hurt you.” In What Are Ministry Values?, Steve Ogne wrote: “Firmly rooted values protect the church from every strong opinion or dominant personality that tries to shape the church. Strong values keep the church from being taken off course by every fad or new program that comes along.” 

Now you need a clear and compelling vision by knowing where you are headed and what you believe to be God’s preferred future for you and your ministry. Vision is not where you want to be in three to five years but instead, where does God want you to be in three to five years. H. Dale Burke says: “And (the vision) is anchored in eternal principles that are just as true and relevant today as they were 100 years or 1,000 years ago.” Here is a big part of a God-vision — becoming more and more like Jesus every day. Inside-out leadership demands that we are being conformed and transformed by the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Leading inside out demands that we are hearing God’s voice, have established unchanging core values, are being led by a clear vision of where God desires us to be and they are all functioning in healthy vital relationships. H. Dale Burke defines a compelling vision for this as “The divine portrait of me, the servant-leader, transformed into the person the Master wants me to be.” What does God want you and your ministry to look like when you cross the finish line? To be able to say as the apostle Paul did in II Tim. 4:7, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” Leading inside out!