7 Secrets of Leaders Who Last

7 SECRETS OF LEADERS WHO LAST
Avoiding the Traps of Ministry

Under Christs control, the whole Body is nourished and grows as God wants it to
grow. Col 2:19 (GN)
How great is the Lord!
35:27 (GN)
He is pleased with the success of His servant.
Psalm
THE COMMON TRAPS OF LEADERSHIP

1. THE LEADER ________________________________________
(Moses) The Lord said Speak to the rock and water will gush out of it. In
this way you will bring water out. . (But) Moses struck the rock twice
Numbers 20:8+11 (GN)
Result: So the Lord reprimanded Moses Because you did not have enough
faith you will not lead them into the land that I promised to give them.
Numbers 20:12 (GN)
ANTIDOTE:
He who loves wisdom loves his own best interest and will be a success. Prov.
19:8 (LB)
If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed, but skill
will bring success. Eccl. 10:10
2. THE LEADER ________________________________________
(Amaziah) He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not whole
heartedly.
2 Chron. 25:2
(LB) He did what was right, but sometimes he resented it.
(GN) Reluctantly
(Hezekiah) was successful, because everything he did he did in a spirit of
complete loyalty and devotion to his God. 2 Chron. 31:21 (GN)
ANTIDOTE:
As long as he sought the Lord, God gave Uzziah success. 2 Chron. 26:5b
Ask the Lord to bless your plans, and you will be successful in carrying them
out.
Prov. 16:3 (GN)
3. THE LEADER ________________________________________
(Rehoboam) If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and
give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.
But
Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him (vs. 7-9) 1 Kings 12:4-11
Result: They all deserted him, except for the tribe of Judah. V. 17 (LB)
ANTIDOTE:
Get all the advice you can, and you will succeed; without it you will fail.
Prov. 15:22 (GN)
Pay attention to what you are taught, and you will be successful. Prov. 16:20
(GN)
Get good advice and you will succeed; dont go charging into battle without a
plan. Prov. 20:18 (GN)
4. THE LEADER ________________________________________
(David) Everyone in Israel and Judah loved David because he was such a
successful leader in every battle David was more successful than any of
Sauls other officers. As a result David became very famous. 1 Sam. 18:16,
30 (GN)
In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with
the army. But David remained in Jerusalem. 2 Sam. 11:1
(Solomon) As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods,
and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord 1 Kings 11:4
ANTIDOTE:
Do you know a hard-working man? He shall be successful and stand before
kings!
Prov. 22:29 (LB)
ii
Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for
you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will
do equally well."
Eccl. 11:6
5. THE LEADER ________________________________________
(Hezekiah) So the Lord was with him and Hezekiah was successful in
everything he did. 2 Kings 18:7 (GN)
Hezekiah was too proud to show gratitude for what the Lord had done for him
and Judah and Jerusalem suffered for it God let Hezekiah go his own way in
order to test his character. 2 Chron. 32:25, 31 (GN)
ANTIDOTE:
Hezekiah trusted in the Lord He was faithful to the Lord, and never
disobeyed him, but carefully kept all the commands that the Lord had given
Moses. So the Lord was with him and he was successful in everything he did.
2 Kings 18:5-7 (GN)
In everything you do, put God first, and He will direct you and crown your
efforts with success. Prov. 3:6 (LB)
6. THE LEADER ________________________________________
(Uzziah) His fame spread everywhere, and he became very powerful because
he received help from God. But when King Uzziah became strong, he grew
arrogant, and that led to his downfall. 2 Chron. 26:15-16 (GN)
ANTIDOTE:
(David) My success at which so many stand amazed is because You are my
mighty protector. All day long Ill praise and honor You, O God, for all that You
have done for me. Ps. 71:7-8 (LB)
Not because we think we can do anything of lasting value by ourselves. Our
only power and success comes from God. 2 Cor. 3:5 (LB)
God brings down the proud and saves the humble. Job 22:29 (GN)
iii
7. THE LEADER ________________________________________

(Moses) Moses heard all the people complaining He was distressed and he
said to the Lord Why have You given me the responsibility for all these
people? I didnt create them or bring them to birth! Why should You ask me to
act like a nurse and carry them in my arms like babies all the way to the land
You promised? They keep whining I cant be responsible for all these people
by myself; its too much for me! have pity on me and kill me, so that I wont
have to endure Your cruelty any longer. Numbers 11:10-15 (GN)
ANTIDOTE:
The Lord said to Moses, Assemble seventy respected men who are recognized
as leaders of the people I will take some of the Spirit I have given you and
give it to them. Then they can help you bear the responsibility for these people
and you will not have to bear it alone. Numbers 11:16-17 (GN)
Then Jethro said, You are not doing this right. You will wear yourself out and
these people as well. This is too much for you to do alone choose some
capable men and appoint them as leaders of the people; leaders of thousands,
hundreds, fifties, and tens. Exodus 18:17-18, 21 (GN)
iv

Avoiding the Traps of Ministry
Colossians 2:19 (Good News) "Under Christ's control the whole body is nourished
and grows as God wants it to grow." Underline "God wants it to grow". God wants
His body to grow. All living things grow. In fact, it's unnatural for something to not
grow. My kids are cute as kids but if they never grow up to be adults, that would be
tragedy. It wouldn't be cute any more. All living things grow.
Because the church is a body, not a business, an organism, not an organization, it's
alive. So it is to grow. And because you have a ministry that is a part of that body,
your ministry is intended to grow. I don't know if Ive ever be more excited about
the future of our church as we get ready to move on to the "promised land" 1993 is
going to be one incredible year. It is not going to be boring. We're anticipating, as
we move onto the and that in the next year, we're going to grow at least 2000 more
people. That means your ministry is going to need to grow to keep in step with the
body itself. We're going to need more teachers, more ushers, more people serving
in the 61 now different ministries of Saddleback church.
Why is it that some ministries plateau and why is it that some ministries stop
growing? In 1969, there was a famous book written called The Ten Largest Sunday
Schools in America. But today only three of those churches would be in the top
100. In 1975, there was a book written called The Ten Fastest Growing Churches in
America. Today, only one of them would be in the top 100. What happened?
What happened is, they refused to change.
growing.
And they stopped developing and
A lot of ministries begin with a bang and they explode with new growth. Often
when a youth ministry starts or a singles ministry starts a music ministry starts it
doesn't matter but they start with a bang and they grow to 100, 200, maybe 300
people. But after the initial growth, they plateau. I have seen this, not hundreds,
but thousands of times as I've talked to over 12,000 pastors in the last eight years
that have come through the Saddleback seminar. I've seen this happen with
women's ministries, men's ministries, small group ministries, children, singles, on
and on that they initially grow have an initial spurt. They grow to 100, 200, 300
then they plateau.
That's like churches. Ninety-five percent of all the churches in America have less
than 300 people attending. So tonight I want to talk to you about one of the
reasons why ministries plateau and that is the issues of leadership. There are many
other issues that cause ministries to plateau like when you get out of space. You
will fill to the space you've got and then you'll stop. But that's something that
maybe you can't control. But I want to talk to you about the factors you can control
in your ministry and why they tend to plateau. Tonight we're going to look at seven
traps of leadership. The purpose of this is to help you understand the dynamic of
what causes ministries to stop growing and take the steps to prevent it from
happening in your ministry.
Psalm 35:27 "How great is the Lord. He is ..." angry? bored? "with the success of
His servants." No. It says, "He is pleased." Circle "pleased" and write under that
"God wants me to succeed in ministry." God wants me to succeed in ministry. He
is pleased with the success of His servants. And God wants me and God wants
you to succeed as a leader. So He has given us some examples of errors to avoid
so we can avoid them in our ministry. Seven common traps of leadership. These
are areas that Satan is most likely to use to keep your ministry from becoming all
that God wants it to be.
Fortunately God put six books in the Bible abut leadership 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2
Kings and 1 & 2 Chronicles. They're there to teach us about leadership. God gives
us the warts and all in the stories about all the different kings of Israel. We're to
learn from these kings the good things and the bad things the lessons of
leadership.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
leader
leader
leader
leader
leader
leader
leader
stops growing.
stops caring.
becomes insensitive to people.
gets distracted.
becomes complacent (or self satisfied).
becomes arrogant.
fails to delegate.
I want to start with the first one. It's far the most important one. Take the outline
home; teach it to your ministry. Set down with your group and say, "These are the
things that will keep us from being all that God wants us to be."
1. THE LEADER STOPS GROWING.
By far the single greatest reason that a ministry stops growing is the leader stops
growing. Growing ministries require growing leaders. The moment you stop
growing, you stop leading. All leaders are learners because there is no growth
without change and there is no change without being flexible.
When a leader stops growing, he becomes inflexible. A good example of this is the
story of Moses. Exodus 17. The first time Moses had a water problem, God said, "I
want you to go and strike the rock and water will come out." So he did that. Later
on, as they were crossing the wilderness, God said, "This time we're going to do it
differently. This time instead of striking the rock, I want you to speak to the rock.
Number 20:8-11 "The Lord said, `Speak to the rock and water will gush out of it. In
this way, you will bring water out.' But Moses struck the rock twice."
What did he do here? He said, "Lord, we've never done it that way before. We've
always struck the rock. Now You're saying speak to it. I don't want to do it in a new
way. I want to do it the old way. I want to do it in the way that worked the first
time."
Have you ever felt this? To simply repeat the past? What's he's saying is, "I want to
lead the way I used to lead, the way I've always led."
The fact is, our world is changing 1993 is not going to be 1992. Not only is the
world changing but the pace of change is increasing rapidly. Greater and greater.
The attitudes and skills that brought you to this point in your ministry are not going
to take you to the future. New problems require new solutions. New situations
require new attitudes. New difficulties and new opportunities require new skills and
new attitudes. What brought you this far and made you a success that's why
success kills churches.
The root behind resistance to change is fear. I don't want to change because I'm
afraid of loss. I've done it this way and I feel comfortable with it. Therefore what
am I going to lose if I do ministry in a new way? The root is the fear of change.
That means that an unwillingness to change is a lack of faith. That's what God
says. Numbers 20:12 "So the Lord reprimanded Moses, Because you did not have
enough faith..." Don't have enough faith? But all he did was strike the rock
instead of speak to it.
It requires faith to change. When you are resistant to change that is an indication
of a lack of faith, saying, "I really don't think God will take care of me in the future.
I better hold on to the security of the way I've always done it."
The result here is this: "The Lord reprimanded Moses, `Because you did not have
enough faith, you will not lead them into the land I promised to give them.'" Circle
the phrase "You will not lead them." This shows how important flexibility is. God
says Moses lost the right to lead because he was inflexible. He lost the right to lead
because he refused to change. He was left behind. The dream that God gave him
"You're going to lead the people into the Promised Land", 40 years waiting for it, 40
years leading them out God says, "You didn't pass the final exam. You're unwilling
and unfit to lead." This was the sin that kept him out of the Promised Land.
I don't want to get left out of what God is going to do in the future. So I must stay
open to change. Flexible, willing to grow, willing to become all that God wants me
to be.
The point I want to make is: Whenever you find yourself resisting a new way of
doing something, or defending the status quo, or opposing a change that God's told
you to do, or striving simply to repeat the past because it worked last year in your
ministry, watch out. You're about to lose your place of leadership. That's a strong
word.
What's the key to overcoming this trap of leadership? The antidote is never stop
developing. Never stop developing your skills, your character, your perspective,
your vision, your heart, your dependence upon God. Never stop developing. Read
books, read magazines, read the Bible, get with Christian friends, listen to tapes,
take seminars, come to SALT, take the CLASS classes. Never stop developing.
Proverbs 19:8 "He who loves wisdom loves his own best interest and will become a
success." God says if you want to be a success, you never stop learning. You
always keep growing. You never think you've learned it all.
The moment I think I've got it all together as pastor of Saddleback, I'm dead in the
water. The moment you think you've learned all there is to know about your
ministry, all there is to know about being a leader you're dead in the water.
Ecclesiastes 10:10 "If the ax is dull and the edge is unsharpened more strength is
needed but skill will bring success." This is one of my life verses. The Bible says
skill brings success. You may be dedicated but if you're not learning new skills it
won't work. You can't use a corn harvester on a wheat field. You can't use a cotton
picker in an apple orchard. You've got to use the skills that match the people you're
trying to minister to. So you always be learning new skills to take yourself to a new
level. When you come to SALT, you're sharpening your ax. That's what we're doing
here on a monthly basis, sharpening your ax. And you're never wasting your time
when you're sharpening your ax.
If you stop learning, you soon experience what's known as the Peter principle that
people tend to rise to their level of incompetence and then they get stuck there.
The guy who's a good shoe salesman gets appointed to manager and he's never
learned management skills and he's bored and ineffective and incompetent the rest
of his life because he never kept on developing.
If you don't watch out, your ministry will get too big for you and you become the
bottle neck. The leader must never stop growing. Never stop developing your
skills.
2. THE LEADER STOPS CARING
The leader stops having a passion for the ministry and the people in the ministry
and for the Lord. The example of this is the king called Amaziah in 2 Chronicles 25:2
"He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord but not wholeheartedly." That is one
of the most subtle traps in ministry. Go through the motions, serve the Lord but not
with your heart. Do it because you know it's the right thing to do but you're not
doing it with your whole heart. The Living Bible says "He did what was right but
sometimes he resented it." That's not the way to minister. The Good News says
"He did what was right but he did it reluctantly."

Why is it that people who are serving in ministry often stop caring about it? What
causes that loss of passion? What causes people to lose their motivation, to loss
the heart, the love that they once had?
I think there are three things that cause a loss of spiritual passion:
1. Familiarity with spiritual matters. In other words, you're around it so much
you become accustomed to the things of God and nothing seems like a miracle
anymore. You can hear so many answered prayers or you can see so many lives
changed, you forget that most of the people don't live this way. Most of the people
have no hope and have no joy and are barely making it in life. You forget that they
way you feel is not normal for most people. Most people feel hopeless. They don't
understand the hope.
2. A lack of balance. I want to urge you as the core of this church the people I
depend on, the people that you make the ministry happen in this church balance
your life. Take time to have fun.
One of the reasons why people burn out is they're always at meetings. That's why
we don't have Sunday night service. That's why we don't expect you to be at every
single meeting that goes on. Jesus did not say, "I've come that you might have
meetings." In most churches, we judge our spirituality by how many meetings we
attend. If you come on Sunday morning, you're a good Christian. If you come on
Sunday night, you're a great Christian. If you come to Midweek service, you're a
spiritual giant! What would happen if all of a sudden we cut out all the meetings,
what would be left of Christianity? Jesus said "I've come that you might have life,"
not meetings. When we open those buildings, there are going to be meetings every
night of the week going on in those buildings. But if you're there every night of the
week, I'm going to `shoot you'! I don't want you there every night of the week.
There's got to be something there for everybody but if you're going to have a good
home life you've got to be home at least four nights a week. At least. And if you're
not, then something's out of order in your life. You get out of balance and pretty
soon you get out of balance and you stop caring.
3. Compassion fatigue. I have to fight this constantly. Those of you who have
done counseling know what I'm talking about. There is a limit to the number of
people's problems you can handle. When I stand out on the patio and thousands of
people pass me every morning, if only five people a service tell me about a
personal problem, with four services, that's twenty problems I'm walking out the
door with. I can't handle that many problems and neither can you. Nobody can.
So you have to learn the antidote for not losing your heart. Look at Hezekiah
"Hezekiah was successful because in everything he did, he did it with a spirit of
complete loyalty to the Lord." Maintain your spiritual passion. If you don't maintain
your spiritual passion, your ministry is going to plateau. How do you maintain your
spiritual passion? Two ways:

1. Never forget your motive for serving. Never forget why you're doing
this. Not to make a big name, not because it's always fun, not because I'm not
getting paid for it. I'm doing this for Jesus' sake. That's why you're in ministry.
You owe your life to Jesus Christ and so do I. And out of gratitude for what He
did for me on the cross and my love for Christ and out of the knowledge that
one day I'm going to stand before Him and hear Him say, "Well done thou good
and faithful servant," that's what motivates me. You never forget your motive.
Hezekiah was successful because in everything he did he did it in a spirit of
complete loyalty and devotion to God.
2. Never stop praying. 2 Chronicles 26:5 is about Uzziah, another king, "As
long as he sought the Lord, God gave Uzziah success." Underline the "as long
as he sought the Lord." As long as I seek the Lord, God will bless my ministry.
As long as you seek the Lord, God will bless your ministry. Never stop praying.
"Ask the Lord to bless your plans and you will be successful in carrying them
out." Do you pray about your ministry or do you just do it? You ought to pray
about your ministry. Ask God to bless it.
In the book of Revelation, there's the story about the church at Ephesus. God says
"I've got one thing against you. You've lost your first love." They had stopped
caring. And when they lost their first love, God said to do three things. This, by the
way, is the way to restore a lost love in a marriage. If someone says, "I don't love
my husband/wife anymore," tell them to do these exact three things: Remember,
repent and return and do the things you did first.
Remember. Remember the way it used to be when you were in love with Jesus.
What you need to do when you've lost your passion for ministry, you stop caring,
you need to stop and say, "What was it like when I first came to Christ?" Can I
remember that joy, that excitement, that thrill, that freshness, that newness? Can I
remember that? Think on it.
Repent. Turn your mind around. Metanoia. Reverse your mind. Look at your
ministry in a different way.
Do the things you did first. In a marriage, when you want to restore love, you
start acting the way you used to act when you were in love. Buy flowers, buy
candy, be nice, be polite. Act your way into a feeling. Even if you don't feel it. It's
easier to act your way into a feeling than it is to feel your way into an action. If you
act loving, those feelings will come back. So return and do the things you did at
first. What did I do when I had a passion for the Lord? I had a quiet time. I got
together with other Christians. I was fellowshipping with the Lord. I did the things
that brought me joy.
A leader stops caring the antidote is maintain your spiritual passion.
3. THE LEADER BECOMES INSENSITIVE TO OTHER PEOPLE.

The guy who is a model for this is a guy named Rehoboam. Rehoboam had such a
poor understanding of people. He was a real klutz. He was Solomon's son. He was
so unsympathetic. He only thought of himself. When he became king, he brought
some advisers in and said, "What do you think I ought to do?" and the old men said,
"Love the people, serve the people, honor the people. Put the people's interests
ahead of your own and they will honor you." Then some other punks came along
and said, "No. Be hard on them. Say you thought my father was hard? I'm going
to be twice as hard. You watch what I'm going to do. We're going to raise the
taxes, make it tougher. You're going to serve me." (How to win friends and
influence people ?!?) In 1 Kings 12:4-11 is the whole story. Rehoboam said, They
said to Rehoboam, Ìf you will be a servant to these people and serve them and
give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.' But Rehoboam
rejected the advice the elders gave him. v. 17 They all deserted him except for the
tribe of Judah." That's where the kingdom, which had been united under David and
under Solomon, split. It split because the leader was insensitive to the people. And
the tribes split. Deserted him.
Proverbs 28:13 "A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful
but if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance." If you've hurt
people in your ministry, if you've bruised people by being insensitive to them, you
need to go to them and confess it.
What's the antidote to becoming insensitive to people in your ministry? The
antidote is never stop listening to others. Learn to listen to people. Encourage the
people in your ministry and the people you're serving to talk to you. Let them tell
you about your problems and their troubles and their fears and their aspirations and
their dreams and their hurts and the things that are personal to them. Stay open
and look for other perspectives in your ministry. Don't just try to see it your way.
Be sensitive to people.
"Get all the advice you can and you will succeed. Without it you will fail." If you
want to succeed, you're going to need advice. "Pay attention to what you're taught
and you'll be successful." "Get good advice and you will succeed. Don't go
charging into battle without a plan."
When you contrast Rehoboam with David (2 Samuel 9:1) after all of David's
victories he didn't just say, "I'm just going to set back and let everybody serve me."
He said, "Is there anybody still left in the house of Saul that I could show kindness
to for Jonathan's sake?" and he found a young man by the name of Mephibosheth, a
relative, and said, let me show kindness to this guy the exact opposite of his
grandson showing sensitivity to people.
4. LEADERS GET DISTRACTED

They start off on the right track but they lose their vision, they lose their mission,
they get involved and instead of saying as Paul said, "This one thing I do..." they
say "These forty things I dabble in." When you get distracted from your purpose in
life, you're going to be tempted. It's going to happen.
Example of David: "Everyone in Israel and Judah loved David because he was a
successful leader. In every battle David was more successful than any of Saul's
other officers. As a result David became very famous." Warning! Red light! Notice
what happened in 2 Samuel 11:1 "In the spring, when kings go off to war, David
sent Joab out with the army, but David remained in Jerusalem." He's not being
where the kings should be, out on the front lines. He's getting distracted. "David
remained in Jerusalem" and he lost touch with people on the front lines. And that
was his downfall. Because in 2 Samuel 11:2 it mentions a lady named Bathsheba.
Instead of being out there on the front line, serving, ministering, working, he's at
home saying, I'm just going to relax. He got distracted. And he encountered
Bathsheba.
David's son had the same problem. "As Solomon grew old his wives turned his
heart after other gods and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord." He got
bored and he allowed other things to distract him from what God called him to do.
There are a lot of things that can distract you in ministry. They're good but they're
not the best. Personal problems can distract you. Health can distract you. Other
interests can distract you. Finances can distract you. Recreation can distract you.
Things that you think are fun and good and wonderful can distract you. Satan
doesn't care if you go off and sin, as long as you don't do what God wants you to
do. He'll distract you.
One day Jesus was walking down the street and looked at three would be followers
and said, "You guys come follow Me." One guy says, "I can't follow You, Lord. I've
just bought a piece of land." What's the logic of that? The land is going to stay
there. There's nothing going to happen to it. Next guy says, "I just got married."
He had a better reason. Third guy says, "I have to go bury my father." The issue,
when you read the Greek there, wasn't that his father had died because his father
had been dead for a while. He just said I've got to go home and spend some time.
The point is business, marriage, family are all distractions and part of life. But you
need to be aware when they're keeping you from what God wants you to do. I am a
firm believer in family. You ought to know by now, I've done a series every year in
the history of this church on family. I believe in the family and I believe in marriage.
But the Bible did not say, "Upon this rock I will build my family." He did not say,
"Go into all the world and build a family." I believe in the family so I have a right to
talk this way about it. That's why I said you need at least four nights at home with
your family. But you need to keep it all in perspective.
Don't leave saying, "Rick said put the church before the family." I'm not saying
that. But I am saying it's not the sum total of your life. Jesus said "Seek first the
kingdom of God." The kingdom of God is what we're to seek first in our lives. I
didn't say that. Jesus said it.
So the leader gets distracted. The antidote is to stay focused. Never forget your
mission. Proverbs 22 "Do you know a hard working man? He shall be successful
and stand before kings." Ecclesiastes 11 talks about being focused "Sow your seed
in the morning and in the evening let not your hands be idol for you don't know
which will succeed. Whether this or that or whether both will do equally well." The
Bible says "No man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is good for
the kingdom of God." Stay focused. Don't get distracted.
5. THE LEADER BECOMES COMPLACENT.
This is related but it's a little bit different. Self satisfied. He becomes complacent
and self satisfied. 2 Kings 18:7 gives the example of Hezekiah "So the Lord was
with him and Hezekiah was successful in everything he did." How would you like to
have that said about you? That's quite an epitaph. That's in the Bible. That's not
hype, PR release. This is God saying this in the Bible Hezekiah was successful in
everything he did.
There's a warning there. 2 Chronicles 32 says "Hezekiah was too proud to show
gratitude for what the Lord had done for him and Judah and Jerusalem suffered for
it. God let Hezekiah go his own way in order to test his character. [Isn't that an
incredible verse?] God let Hezekiah go his own way in order to test his character.
I have a file at home I call Warnings. It's well known guys who flamed out in
ministry. I go back and read it every month or so just to scare myself to death. Just
to put the fear of God in me. Leaders all over America are dropping like flies. Why?
Because of these kind of traps. So we have to be diligent and walk humbly before
the Lord and walk with integrity and not become self satisfied. Hezekiah was too
proud to show gratitude for what the Lord had done for him and Judah and
Jerusalem suffered for it." When you get complacent, the people in your ministry
suffer for it. When you get complacent in your home, your children suffer for it.
When you get complacent at your business, your business suffers for it.
Hezekiah is wealthy. He's fat, lazy. He's arrived. He's successful and secure. He
thought, "I'm just going to coast on my past successes. I got it made. I'm going to
coast. Who cares if I make a homerun? I'm just going to finish the game.
When you're coasting, you're always going downhill. Remember. Life's tough. And
when you're coasting, you're going downhill.
What's the antidote?
The antidote to becoming complacent and self satisfied in
ministry as a leader is never stop depending on the Lord. Stop coasting. Take some
risks in faith. Push the edge of the envelop (as they'd say in "Top Gun".) Attempt
something that cannot be explained in the power of the flesh. What am I going to
try in my ministry this next year that I know I'm bound to fail in unless God bails me
out? If you're not attempting any program, any idea, any event, that unless God
bails you out, you're bound to fail, you're not living by faith. God says, Go for it!
Don't be complacent. Depend on the Lord. Stick your neck out. How do you know
if you're depending on the Lord? You're trying something you know you can't do
without His help. Notice this. Hezekiah did return to the Lord. "Hezekiah trusted in
the Lord. He was faithful to the Lord and he never disobeyed Him. But he carefully
kept all the commands the Lord had given Moses so the Lord was with him and he
was successful in everything he did." Amazing.
Proverbs 3:6 "In everything you do, put God first and He will direct you and crown
your efforts with success." Put God first and He will direct you and crown your
efforts with success. Joshua 1:7-8 talks about meditating on the Word and obeying
it, obeying God's principles and then you'll be successful in your ministry.
6. THE LEADER BECOMES ARROGANT.
King Uzziah. It says "His fame spread everywhere and he became very powerful
because he received help from God but when King Uzziah became strong, he grew
arrogant and that led to his downfall." I've seen this again and again. When Uzziah
became arrogant and that led to his downfall. When you think you've got it all
together and it all depends on you, you don't need the Lord in your ministry, watch
out.
The antidote is remember the grace of God.
What is grace? Grace is the fact that God knows every stupid mistake you're going
to make in your ministry and He's still chosen you. Grace is the fact that God
knows every stupid mistake I'm going to make in the ministry and He's still let me
be pastor of this church. Thats grace. I'm a trophy of God's grace and so are you.
One of my wife's life messages is that God uses ordinary people. If God only used
perfect people what would get done? Zip! He uses imperfect people in spite of our
flaws and weaknesses and our fears and our apprehensions and even our mixed
motives sometimes (sometimes we can't even figure out ourselves). That's why the
Bible says never judge anybody else's motives. You can't figure out your own,
much less somebody else's. I don't know why I do a lot of what I do much less
figure out why you do what you do. Why should I try to figure out your motives?
The Bible says, Don't judge motives. It's arrogance.
Remember the grace of God. Jesus said, "You have not chosen Me but I have
chosen you to go forth and bear fruit." The army of God is not a voluntary army.
God enlisted you. He chose you. He wanted you and He called you. And He's
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equipped you. And what He's equipped you to do you need to ask Him to empower
you and anoint you to do on a regular basis. Never forget the grace of God.
David didn't. He said, "My success, at which so many stand amazed, is because
You are my mighty protector. All day long I'll praise and honor You, O God, for all
that You've done for me." David knew what side the bread was buttered on. He
knew that just about the time you think you've got it altogether, God kind of pulls
the rug a little bit shakes it, just so you remember where you stand.
2 Corinthians 3:5 (Living Bible) "Not because we think we can do anything of lasting
value by ourselves, our only power and success comes from God." It comes from
God. Let's admit it. "God brings down the proud and saves the humble." Job 22
7. THE LEADER FAILS TO DELEGATE
And as a result he/she gets discouraged. It happens over and over again. This is
probably the second greatest thing that happens next to the first one where we stop
growing. We fail to delegate. When a ministry plateaus it means it's reached the
limit of what you can do by yourself so you need to involve other people. You need
to move from being a doer to a delegator. We cannot run a church that has 18,000
names on its role with 1000 people. We can if those 1000 people are delegators.
A good example of this is Moses. Numbers 11 "The Lord said to Moses, Àssemble
seventy respected men who are recognized as leaders of the people and I will take
some of the Spirit I've given you and give it to them then they can help you bear
the responsibility for these people and you won't have to bear it alone.'" Why did
this happen? "Moses had heard all the people complaining. He was distressed and
he said to the Lord, `Why have You given me the responsibility for all these people.
I didn't create them or bring them to birth. Why should You ask me to act like a
nurse and carry them in my arms like babies all the way to the land that You
promised. They keep whining [Moses, it sounds like you're whining!] I cant be
responsible for all these people by myself. It's too much for me. Have pity on me
and kill me so I won't have to endure your cruelty any longer.'"
I can laugh at this because I've felt this way about 80% of the Mondays. After doing
four services and a four hour class on Sunday night I'm usually going, "God, just kill
me and get it over with. It's too much. I can't handle it."
God says "You're right". God never meant for you to handle it. The reason why
ministries grow to 60 and plateau or 100 and plateau or 300 and plateau is because
the leader fails to delegate.
The antidote is involve other people. You have to move, in your ministry as it
grows, from being a doer to a delegator, from being a minister to being a manager
of ministers. That's a ministry in itself, when you involve other people. D. L. Moody
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said it like this, "I'd rather put ten men to work than do the work of ten men." And
that would be easier for him. And God's pleased by it.
God wants all the body involved. Can you imagine the hand saying, "I'm the hand
of the body but I'm going to do the whole thing. I'll do digestion, breathing,
eating...." It can't do that. It can just do what the hand does the gripping part.
We're all needed. God doesn't intend for you to do it all. You will be the bottleneck
of your ministry if you don't spend a significant part of your time recruiting other
people to be involved and helping them learn how you do it.
"The Lord said to Moses, Àssemble seventy respected men who are recognized as
leaders of the people and I will take some of the Spirit I've given you and give it to
them then they can help you bear the responsibility for these people and you won't
have to bear it alone.'" That was one experience. Another time (Moses had to
learn this lesson twice.) "Then Jethro [his father in law -- the original management
consultant] said, `You are not doing this right. You will wear yourself out and those
people as well. There is too much for you to do. Choose some capable men and
appoint them as leaders of the people. Leaders of thousands, hundreds, fifties and
tens. This is the way we've set up our lay pastor thing. A lay pastor is a leader of
ten. A district pastor is a leader of 50 five groups of ten. A senior lay pastor is a
leader of 100. A leader of 1000 is a staff member on our staff. We're trying to do it
the way God says to do it. You need to break down the ministry.
Four steps, stages how God wants you to develop other ministers.
1. I minister.
2. I minister and you help me. You get somebody else to come alongside of
you to watch you do it.
3. You do it and I'll watch. You do it and I'll be here being your moral support,
my hands on your back holding you up, praying for you. If you get in a jam, I'll help
you. You can apply this to greeters, ushers, teachers, anything.
4. You do it on your own.
That's where you multiply your ministry. For your ministry to grow, you've got to
get to the multiplication stage, the famous 2 Timothy 2:2 "The things you've heard
of me among many ministers commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to train
others also." Pass it on.
These are seven traps I want us to close in pray for tonight that God will keep us
with a spirit of discernment, that as Saddleback grows, we as leaders will not be
bottlenecks and will not fall into these traps of trying to do it all ourselves, but
involving others and we will keep growing together.
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Prayer:
Father, thank You for Your word. It's so rich. These stories in the Old Testament
are not there by accident but You've put them there to teach us lessons.
Especially as we've looked at these different kings, we've seen these lessons of
leadership and the common traps. Help us not to be dumb and have to learn
from experience what doesn't work. Help us to be wise and learn from the
experience of others that you've put in Your word. We pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen
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7 Secrets of Leaders Who Last

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7 Secrets of Leaders Who Last

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7 SECRETS OF LEADERS WHO LAST

Avoiding the Traps of Ministry

He is pleased with the success of His servant.

THE COMMON TRAPS OF LEADERSHIP