4) Treasure those rare times when leaders are leading and people are volunteering.
Best of all is the Sunday School class or church or work crew where leaders have a clear vision and are blazing the path and the team is right behind them. That’s the church I want to pastor.
Strong, visionary leaders. Faithful, willing workers. An unbeatable combination.
Where do strong visionary leaders come from?
What is the source for faithful willing workers?
Answer to both: The call of God.
Our Lord Jesus said, “Pray ye the Lord of the harvest that He would thrust forth workers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:38).
What a fascinating idea—asking the Lord! What if our churches and denominations started doing this? What if we took that command at face value and stayed on our knees until the group had a consensus that X is God’s choice … to teach the 9th grade boys, to lead the worship service, to pastor our church.
The best worker in any enterprise is one whom God has called and His Spirit has sent. They are there, not for a paycheck (although that is often necessary) and not for recognition (although they would not mind a pat on the back occasionally), but because “the Lord sent me.”
Amos explained why he was up in the north preaching to a hostile audience. “I was no prophet,” he said, “nor the son of a prophet. I was a sheepherder and a tender of sycamore fruit. But the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said to me, Go, prophesy to my people Israel’ (Amos 7:14-15). He said, “The lion roars and you will fear. God calls and you will prophesy!” (3:8)
A God-called and Spirit-sent worker is the best kind, always.
Until the Lord raises up workers or leaders for a particular slot, until that time, you should have a holy vacancy.
A holy vacancy is merely an unfilled position for which you are waiting upon the Lord.
The church that cannot abide an unfilled vacancy will be continually in trouble. If the leadership caves in to the clamor of the multitude that “we want someone in this position—now!” nothing good will occur as a result.
This is why leaders should teach such principles to the Lord’s people, principles of patience and prayer (and more patience), of waiting upon the Lord while praying and fasting, and not yielding to the impatient among them.
This is why the leaders must be courageous. Sometimes he/she will have to stand up against the Lord’s people who demand that “something be done now!” To the clamoring impatient, the leader responds, “We are doing something. We’re asking God and waiting upon Him. I hope you are doing this also.”
Seven times the Lord and Moses and Israel told Joshua, who was about to replace Moses as God’s leader, “be strong and courageous.” (That would be Deuteronomy 31:6,7,22 and Joshua 1:6,7,9,18.)
It all comes down to the leadership.
