‘Leadership’ is one of the eleven competencies that Acts 29 considers essential when assessing church planters. You can explore the Competencies further on the Acts 29 Competencies page.
CORE IDEA
Church planting can be one of the greatest tests of a person’s leadership qualities. Planters will be tried in multiple ways during a church’s infancy and will need to show proficiency in a range of different areas. However, their character is of greater importance. Their nature should reflect their Lord and their example should be worthy of imitation. ‘Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account’ (Hebrews 13:17). Christian leaders must be careful to allow leadership theory and practice to emerge from good theology.
SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS
- Can you say there is a definite pattern in your life of having natural influence over other people that can be attested by others?
- Are you known for naturally using your initiative to start something or solve a problem while others willingly follow your lead?
- Have your thoughts on how you exercise your leadership focused mainly on preaching and teaching to the neglect of oversight responsibilities?
- Be honest, who do you find more attractive: naturally gifted leaders with character blemishes or moderately gifted leaders with impeccable character?
- In speaking about leadership development, Geiger and Peck write about conviction (passion that fuels the leader), culture (shared beliefs that drives the group) and constructs (processes and systems that develop leaders). Would you say you pay little or no attention to any of these three because you lack proficiency in them?
