The One Thing Leadership Requires Us To Do
By Rob Wiltshire
When you read through the gospels you notice that Jesus was deliberate at connecting with people. He was deliberate at connecting with His 12 disciples, and at the same time He was deliberate in His connecting with the people considered sinners and outside of the religious community of the time — the unchurched.
He expressed grace and mercy to the unchurched and was deliberate in spending time with them (Luke 19:1-10). He listened to them (Mark 5:33), helped them (Mark 1:40-45) and invited them to join Him on the journey (Luke 9:59-60).
Right before He ascends to heaven, Jesus has one last conversation with His disciples. In it He reminds them of what it is He has empowered them to do. Obviously, just like us He is asking them to do a lot. He wants them to strengthen the believers — the churched, while at the same time he wants them to be outward in their focus and deliberate in connecting with people outside of the church.
Matthew 28:19-20 CEV
19 Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, 20 and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world.
Notice the wording; “Go to the people…. And make them my disciples.”
In case you miss what Jesus is referring to, He is referring to evangelism.
Go to the people. How often does our evangelistic approach look like us waiting for people to come to us? How often does it look like us waiting for people to ask us questions? How often does it look like us waiting for them to come through the doors of our church?
Going is inconvenient. It means we have to be deliberate with people and make an effort with them, while at the same time getting out of our comfort zone. Going looks like being deliberate at spending time building a relationship with them, that shows them we really care.
As of late, this has been the challenge God has been giving me. “How often am I going; and who am I going to?”
Our vision as a church is: A Church Where the Unchurched Discover faith.
I love and I believe in that vision.
I believe this is exactly what Jesus is calling us to do. But in order for this to become a living reality, we as leaders need to be deliberate in going to people.
So, who are you spending time deliberately going to?
This is what I want you to do: Stop right now and consider who God is placing on your heart for you to “go to.”
Write down their name
Write down what “going to them” looks like? Coffee, phone calls, dinner, movies, etc.
Make a time to go to them — and keep going
Make a daily habit of praying for them
Once you have done this. Give a copy of what you have written to someone on the leadership team that will help keep you accountable.
Let’s be leaders who are actively working towards seeing our vision become a reality.
A Church Where the Unchurched Discover Faith