The Five Commandments of Christian Leadership Training

If Moses were to come down from a smoldering mountain with the Five Commandments of Christian leadership training, here is what he would bring to your church or ministry today:

• Thou Shalt Start with Vision: Leadership training–especially in a Christian context–starts and ends with a vision.  Each ministry is uniquely created to do something special in the Kingdom of God.  If you want effective leaders, they must know the vision and hold unswervingly to it.

• Thou Shalt Not Be CHEAP: Anything worth doing will cost you something.  When you begin to raise up leaders and provide training, do not settle for anything less than the best.  Invest in help from the outside if your current leadership is not ready to build teams and other leaders.  This is crucial.  John Maxwell is right when he says, “Everything rises and falls on leadership.”  Do not look for cheap solutions when it comes to Christian leadership training.

• Thou Shalt Focus on Service: Leadership is not about power and control.  Great leaders serve.  Serving the people we lead is not a ploy to curry sympathy.  It’s about removing obstacles and helping our followers become their best.  Leaders do not stop leading when they serve.  They are simply laying aside their rights for the good of the organization.  Serving others simply makes Christian leadership training practical.

• Thou Shalt Focus on People: Someone once said, “Any leader who does not have followers is someone who is out taking a walk.”  Leaders who know how to love and listen to people will never have a shortage of followers.  Any leadership training, especially from a Christian perspective, has to include listening skills.  You cannot help and lead anyone until you understand where they are coming from.

• Thou Shalt Start Young: If your christian leadership training does not have someone in high school at the table, you are making a huge mistake.  Good Christian leadership training instills a vision for creating a legacy of great leaders in the future.  How can we expect leaders to return to a foundation they know nothing about?  The Catholic Church is beginning to recognize this dilemma, and is initiating Christian leadership training programs to help.  For instance, Michael Adkins, academic dean at St. Agnes School, a K-12 school in St. Paul, Minnesota has graduates from his program come back from college to speak with his students.  Adkins says:

“It is powerful when somebody can come back to St. Agnes and can stand before our students and say, ‘I was captain of the football team at my college, and when there was lewd language in the locker room, I could stand up and say something about it.’”

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