Heart and Hands

There are many people who grasp at leadership positions but do not have the integrity of heart to sustain them. Richard Nixon was one such person. Highly intelligent and immensely ambitious, Nixon coveted the American presidency. However, once he obtained his prize, it became clear that he resented giving time to people. Generally only four people had direct access to him and he would often retreat to Camp David or other isolated offices to think and to be alone. Nixon generally distrusted people. Unfortunately his attitudes toward others often reflected what was in his own heart. Others have a good heart but have never developed the leadership skills necessary to lead people effectively. These are people who are well liked and even respected as individuals but who are often fired for poor performance in their jobs. I have often wondered why people who lack integrity are often the ones who gain office or leadership positions in churches. At times it is because they have more leadership skills than those around them who have more integrity! The people with integrity simply don’t spend the time or effort required to hone their leadership skills.

Scripture says of King David, “So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands” (Psalm 78:72). David had both integrity of heart and skillful hands. That is an unbeatable combination. When David’s heart was right, his skills as a leader were unbeatable. I regularly talk with pastors and church leaders who are discouraged. They know their church should be doing far more than it is or they grieve over the unwillingness of their people to grow spiritually, or to pray, or to witness, or to give or serve. Wise leaders know that if people are not following, then they are not leading. Astute leaders continually seek to develop their skills and insights so they can be more effective leaders. I encourage leaders to be constantly reading on leadership as well as the biographies of leaders. I also encourage leaders to strive to grow personally, especially in their walk with God. I know many people who once were eager to read and learn as leaders but eventually they grow complacent and they settle in to a weekly routine that no longer requires them to grow. The best leaders know they cannot give to their people what they do not have themselves, so they keep growing.

On January 25-26, 2010 Blackaby Ministries International is launching a brand new spiritual leadership conference at Englewood Baptist Church in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Check www.blackaby.org for details on how to register. We have gathered what God has taught us in years of working with leaders and churches and will be presenting it in an exciting brand new two-day format. We hope you can join us!

Please Pray!

I would appreciate your prayers on several leadership matters. First, I just spoke at Billy Graham’s Cove to a wonderful group of military chaplains. They need your prayers right now as they seek to minister to some extremely needy military personnel spread around the world. I’d also appreciate your prayers as my father and I will be speaking at a leadership conference in Geneva, Switzerland this month. Leaders from across Europe are gathering and we pray that we’ll share some truths that will encourage those in attendance. Third, pray for me and my father as we revise our book, Spiritual Leadership: Moving People on to God’s Agenda. We have been tremendously encouraged to see how many leaders have made use of this book! We’ll be updating it and adding a couple of chapters so we can address some issues not dealt with in the original edition. If you have any suggestions on how we could make the book better, let me know! Fourth, BMI is looking at developing a consulting ministry. We constantly have churches and ministry organizations ask for advice on how to deal with various issues. We are going to be developing some materials and processes so we can respond to more requests than we have been able to in the past. If your church could benefit from a BMI consultant walking with you as you seek to be on God’s agenda, let us know! Finally, please pray for the upcoming leadership conference on January 25-26. We pray God will use that time to encourage many churches and ministries to be on God’s agenda in these crucial days.

Posted by Richard Blackaby at 9:23 am