Functioning as a Leadership Team Where We are Different

(This article may be dangerous to your health)

By Dr. Gregory Wiens

Last week I wrote about the need for a variety of gifts functioning in leadership of a church based upon Ephesians 4. This passage is very critical and insightful for those of us thinking about how to develop leadership teams in the church. However, it can be very limiting if we attempt to ensure that we have exactly these five gifts and no more or no less in leadership.

Paul wrote to leaders in different places but didn’t instruct each of them that these particular gifts must be present in leadership, why not? If these five gifts are to be in every church and in every situation, why didn’t Paul speak to church leaders in all churches about these same five gifts? My understanding from scripture is that God brings the necessary gifts together for the health of His church (1 Corinthians 12-14, Romans 12, & Ephesians 4).

The exact formulation of gifts may vary somewhat but we need more than just Shepherds and Teachers in leadership if we are going to intersect with lost people in the world and build them into disciples. To achieve this, a great deal of insight and patience is required. It is a challenge to build a team of highly gifted leaders; each operating out of their varied giftedness. If each is in their “A game” and functioning at a high level, eventually there will be tension of increasing nature.

This is because the apostolically gifted individual always wants to start new ministries to reach lost people who haven’t been reached yet. This often flies right in the face of the Shepherd who is attempting to nurture and protect those who already exist in the body. Tension in leadership will inevitably happen especially when there are limited resources (time or money). But this is good tension.

In the CEO model of leadership; which prevailed in many of our churches during the previous decade or two; this tension was settled by the Senior Pastor making the decision that ended the tension. The input from the other gifted leaders depended on the personality and gifts of the Senior Pastor. However, many gifted younger leaders see their roles differently than being junior vice presidents underneath the CEO. This is where the word “Team” comes in.

A team is a group in which each person leads in their area of giftedness. A football team for instance, learns quickly that you need a quarterback; but this role is useless if the lineman doesn’t lead in his own venue. Every weekend this fall we can see football teams where if the linemen don’t control their area of responsibility (lead appropriately), the quarterback will be destroyed, sometimes knocked out of the game. Every player is a leader at some point. Even a guard (lineman) sometimes leads the play when they “pull” and move down the line to lead the runner (apologies given to you non-football readers!). A great quarterback knows very well, that he may call the plays, but the leader is a different person at different points of the game.

This same principle can apply to a church leadership team. Each can and should lead in their own giftedness. This is different than each having a silo, which doesn’t impact others. Rather, these are passions and gifts that speak into all of the areas of the church. The apostolic gift should speak into all ministries, as should the shepherd gift and so on. The question is to know which gifting needs to lead at what time. This takes considerable sensitivity and grace.

I am not suggesting there should be no leader. I clearly see the need to have a captain, quarterback or leader on a team. However, if a leader is functioning well in a team, he is letting others lead in the areas where they are more gifted and where the team needs their gifts. In this capacity, the quarterback clearly understands whose gifting is needed and he ensures that person gets the ball. Then the rest of the team gets out of the way. They will block or do whatever is needed to ensure the team gets the win.

The leader of this team needs great maturity, security and sensitivity. It is much more difficult to lead such a team than to lead a team as a CEO where everyone gives you input, but you make the decision. The impact is much greater for the Kingdom of God when a team that has four or five gifted people, each operating out of their strengths. When this happens, each player knows what he or she brings to the table and are free to fully engage in his or her passion.

I have found the difficulty in allowing a team to function accordingly is honest communication. Each member needs to be able to bring their best to the team and communicate with others on the team in a manner that is completely transparent. This kind of communication only happens when there is a safe culture, which respects differences and values significant impact over harmony.

This is where positive tension comes in. There will be differences and these must be hashed out in a safe place and in a safe way. I recently reviewed the book, Pour Your Heart Into Starbucks, by Howard Shultz (in the “Leaders that Last” newsletter). In his book, Howard Shultz shares how Starbuck reached its zenith using this principle. Both its leadership team and its Board operated this way. There were no votes, they fought and fought; communicated nonstop until there was a consensus. The results are obvious.

This worked because each player was totally sold out to the mission AND to being a part of a team to accomplish it. Let me suggest that this leadership team concept won’t work in every church all of the time. But let me also suggest that, as younger leaders come on the scene, it must become more prevalent to keep them engaged. I believe the Kingdom of God will win as a result.