Addressing Leadership Pitfalls in Africa (Leading)

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“Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow” (Heb 13:7).

Want to hear the verse in context? Hebrews 13:7 What is this about?

Leading people isn’t an exact science never mind what the consultant told you in the 3 day crash course. Click image to enlarge.

John C Maxwell sums up the measure of leadership as “influence – nothing more, nothing less” (Maxwell 1998:IX). So, one could therefore surmise that the absence of influence would indicate weak leadership and negative influence would imply deficient leadership. Turning our gaze to leaders in Africa both absence and negative influence come sharply into focus and maybe more so as we centre our thoughts upon the church.

Yet the church is an organisation that must have leaders; God purposed and commissioned it so (Tit 1:5). According to Alexander Strauch (1995) biblical shepherds are to lead the church, teach and preach the Word, protect the church from false teachers, exhort and admonish the saints in sound doctrine, visit the sick, pray and judge doctrinal issues. Yet in so many of these spheres we can see major shortcomings and insufficiencies amongst those so tasked.

Churches in South Africa face a leadership crisis. This is evidenced by the high rate of church splits, internal strife, lack of meaningful ministry engagement and numerical decline. Time after time the axiom “so go the shepherds, so go the flock” is proved true. Capable men are in short supply and local churches lurch like rudderless ships out of want for competent captains. “Effective Leadership is the need of the hour, and for the church under mandate to evangelize the world, it is an indispensable requirement-indeed an urgent agenda” (MacArthur 1995:282).

The church cries out for qualified, committed shepherds. The Psalmist, painting a beautiful picture of the LORD as our shepherd, acclaims that God “leadeth [him] beside the still waters” (Ps 23:2b). Hebrew shepherds led the flock, walking in front of them, guiding them to green pastures. As under-shepherds of the church we’re, in like manner, to “Feed the flock … taking the oversight thereof … being ensamples to the flock” (1 Pt 5:2 – 3).

Christian leadership is a gifting, a calling and a humble service. “A church can call you to be a pastor because pastor is a title. The call does not make you a leader. Leader is not a title but a role. You only become a leader by functioning as one.” (Smith 1986:22) As we seek to function as overseers of the Great Shepherd’s (Heb 13:20) flock we do so relying on His power, his mandate and His strength praying that Paul’s words to Timothy may be true of us: “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine” (1Ti 5:17).

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