Home Children's Ministry Leaders Children's Ministry How To's 10 Leadership Lessons That Will Make You Invaluable to Your Church

10 Leadership Lessons That Will Make You Invaluable to Your Church

1. Be a Backstage Leader.

Front stage is what people see. Backstage are the areas of your life that they don’t see.

“Who you are is more important that what you do. If you will be who you are supposed to be, you will do what you are supposed to do.”

A children’s ministry leader becomes invaluable by being bigger backstage than frontstage. How many leaders have imploded and lost their influence because they didn’t take care of the backstage. How do you take care of backstage?

Walk with Jesus.

“And He appointed twelve that they might be with Him, and that He might send them to preach.” Mark 3:14

Don’t’ get so busy working for Jesus that you don’t have time to spend with Jesus.

“When you pray, go into your room – to the secret place, close the door and pray to your Father who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Matthew 6:6

Out of backstage prayer comes frontstage power and blessings.

Guard your heart.

“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” Proverbs 4:23

Number 1 job! Guard against bitterness, anger, pride, jealousy, and resentment.

Run from sin.

“And because of their unbelief, He couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place His hands on a few sick people and heal them.” Mark 6:5

Sin will hurt your life as a believer and your ministry. What is backstage eventually will come out on frontstage.

2. Bear Fruit.

Reach people for Christ. When the children’s ministry begins to grow and reach families, you will become invaluable to your church.

“When you reach a child you change a life…when you reach the parents you change the entire family.”

God can work through the kids to reach the entire family.

“Throughout the years, society offers the church just a certain number of entrance ramps into the „non-church? world. At times, it’s been sports. Then it was marriage enrichment. Today, I believe the single remaining common interest or entrance point for non-churched people into the life of the church is children. No matter how lost a guy is, he still usually loves his son. And no matter how off track a woman is, she still has a soft place in her heart for her kids. This means we have a wide-open door to almost every family in every community worldwide when we love and serve their kids.” Bill Hybels

Top 2 reasons people pick a church.

? How friendly are you?

? What do you have for my kids?

You have the opportunity to be a major growth factor for your church and become invaluable.

3. Bring challenges…nd solutions.

“Average leaders bring up challenges. Invaluable leaders bring up challenges and solutions.”

Become known as someone who is a fixer.

“You will become invaluable for the solutions you bring forward, not for the problems you bring up.”

4. Protect the unity of the church.

One way to become invaluable is to protect the unity of your church. Unity is so important for a church.

“How good and pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity.” Psalm 133:1

“This is how everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35

Have integrity, loyalty, and honor. Church leadership needs to know you have their back. No side conversations. Direct communication. Don’t talk to someone who is not part of the problem or solution.

5. Be an encourager.

65% of people who serve say they have never been thanked. Encourage people for who they are, not just for what they do.

6. Be a self-starter.

“Years ago I stopped worrying about how to grow our church and instead focused on growing me. As I grew me, our church grew.” Rick Warren

“If had 6 hours to chop down a tree, I would spend the first 4 sharpening my axe.” Abraham Lincoln

Ultimately your leadership and usefulness in your church comes from the person you spend the most time with…yourself.

Be a self-motivator

Outward motivation will only take you so far. I am reminded of what David said when he saw Goliath. As everyone else cowered in fear, David proclaimed, “Is there not a cause?” That came from within. Someone who is self-motivated has a sense of God’s calling on his or her life. They have an extraordinary purpose.

Encourage yourself

If you are depending on other people’s praise to keep you encouraged, you will be sorely disappointed. Think you’re having a bad day as a leader? Check out what David faced as a leader in I Samuel 30.

“And David was greatly distressed: for the people spoke of stoning him, because the souls of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons, and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.”

Learn to encourage yourself. Get alone with God and let Him fill you up. Control yourself

“Training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age.” Titus 2:12

You must control your emotions…your sinful desires, your attitude, etc. You can’t control someone saying something mean to you…but you can control your response. You can’t control someone mistreating you…but you can control how you treat them. You can’t stop someone from being rude to you…but you can control how you act toward them. Be nice to people when they are rude to you. Not because they are nice, but because you are nice.

Grow yourself spiritually

You must walk with God for yourself…no one else can do it for you. Only you can determine your spiritual depth.

Discipline yourself.

“All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.” I Corinthians 9:25

No one will pick up the Bible and read it for you…it’s up to you.

No one will study a leadership book for you…it’s up to you.

No one will set the alarm for you to get up and go to work on time…it’s up to you.

No one will exercise and eat right for you…it’s up to you.

Be like Jeremiah…your leadership comes from a God-birthed fire that burns deep inside you. He said…

“But if I say I’ll never mention the Lord or speak in His name, His word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! I can’t do it!” Jeremiah 20:9

7. Be a servant leader.

Be a servant, lead by serving. You’re never more like Jesus than when you are serving. He came to serve not to be served. Be interested more than interesting. The measure of how valuable you are is not how many people are serving you. It’s how many people you are serving.

8. Reproduce yourself.

Invest yourself into others. Put other people into the spotlight. Help people discover their gifts and talents and shine. Work yourself out of a job. You can do it faster by yourself up front, but will go farther when you teach someone else how to do it as well.

9. Finish strong

Finish the course God has for you.

“I have fought a good fight, I have kept the faith, I have finished my course.” 2 Timothy

When you go the distance, you become invaluable.

“Greatness in ministry is not measured in years, but in decades.”

10. Stay humble.

If you think you are humble, you are not. If you think you are invaluable, you are not. Have confidence in God, not yourself.