Title: Inadequate Models for Leadership
Purpose: To motivate the church to abandon worldly models of leadership
Intro: 1. Most common metaphor use of Biblical leaders is that of the shepherd
a. Many people adopt versions of distorted wordly models for leadership
b. Many are not even aware of them
2. We will look at several distorted models for leadership:
I. Hired Hand
A. Jesus talks about this distorted model in John 10:12-13
B. Motivation of the Hired Hand is all wrong - Doesn’t have heart of a shepherd
1. He has no sense of personal responsibility
a. They are not HIS sheep
b. When the days work is done, he collects what he came for & leaves
c. In the church, he will not go out of his way to care for them
2. He cares for himself more than he does the sheep
a. To him, the sheep are a means to an end. (Paycheck)
b. It is not worth it for him to put himself at any personal risk for them
c. In the church he will not stick his neck out for the sheep
- Will not deal with hurts
- Will not deal with conflict
- Will not face up to those harassing the flock
3. Doesn’t really know the sheep
a. Why should he? They are not his
b. As long as he gets what he came for - his pay
c. He sees only a flock, not individual sheep
d. His service is marginal at best, or it may stink
C. ILL: Speaking of service
1. Have you noticed that service at stores and restaurants not what used to be
2. Go to a store
- People act like they don’t care
- “May I help you?” now an exception rather than the rule
- If you have a question or complaint - “I don’t know, I just work here”
3. So it is with the Hired Hand - "I just work here"
4. He is not there for the sheep but for some other reason
D. A hired hand is not a shepherd
1. He may do okay work, but he is still a hired hand and will run when danger comes
2. “Pastor” moves in (We call them preachers in our fellowship, but often it
is the same thing with a different name)
a. Not chosen from “among” the flock, is a stranger, a "hireling"
b. He may bail on you when things get rough
3. The Biblical example is a shepherd shepherding the sheep among you
He knows his sheep intimately.
II. The Cowboy
A. People all over the world fascinated with the cowboy
1. Tough as nails, wild and free
2. When I little, I had boots and western shirt. Went to a Dude ranch
3. Fort Worth Stockyards popular. People dress up and go to Billy Bobs
B. Even with all the fascination, it is not a Biblical model for leadership
1. Some think cowboy and shepherd similar, but they used to hate each other
2. Fundamental difference between a cowboy and shepherd
a. Cowboys drive cattle --- Shepherds lead their sheep
b. Cows run from voice of cowboy --- Sheep follow voice of shepherds
c. Cowboys brand their cattle --- Shepherd knows his sheep by sight
d. Cowboys crack a whip & wear spurs --- Shepherds gently care for
e. Cowboys use a prod -- Shepherds use their voice
f. Cowboys rope their cattle --- A shepherd carries his sheep
g. Cowboys concerned about herd --- Shepherd cares for each sheep
3. May be easier to keep people in line with cowboy method, but it falls short
4. But compare to Psalm 23 - Does not say “the Lord is my cattleman”
C. History: Constantine to Theodosius - "Enforced" Christianity
1. Beginning of corruption in the church
2. Half converted pagans
3. Commander would march entire armies through the river
4. Never truly following Christ
5. That’s the cowboy way --- but that is not God’s way
D. Success in leadership is knowing the difference between cornering people, and getting them into your corner
1. Jesus is the Good Shepherd - Never FORCED anyone to follow him
2. People were drawn to him and he led them by example
III. Sheriff
A. Use to watch the Western, could always tell who sheriff was - Had a badge
B. That’s the substance of this distorted model
1. The sheriff flashes a badge and carries a gun
a. He is an enforcer of the law
b. He don’t take nothing from nobody!!
c. He’s the law, what he says goes
d. He doesn’t ask if you like it, just demands that you do what he says
2. Even with all the apparent strengths of this model, it is still inadequate
a. How effective is a Sheriff in enforcing peace nowadays?
b. He will not get a following, but compliance -- IF he is present
c. Problem - By design, a sheriff not a mentor, but an enforcer
d. If he can’t be at all places at once, then people will break the law
3. ILL: Heard about a person who flashed his badge in church
a. Elder got into a heated disagreement (non-doctrinal)
b. Finally said “DO you believe in authority of elders or not?”
c. What that meant was “Are you going to do what I say or not?”
4. (Mt 20:25-28) Jesus said this is not the model for leadership in the church
a. Jesus came as a servant (led by example)
b. Jesus did not flash a badge and coerce people to follow him
C. Jesus did not come as a boss, but as a leader.
1. Boss drives his men, the leader coaches them
2. Boss depends on authority, the leader on good will
3. Boss inspires fear, leader inspires enthusiasm
4. Boss says "I" & "you people", the leader says “we”
5. Boss fixes the blame for the breakdown, the leader fixes it
6. Boss knows how it is done, the leader shows how
7. Boss says Go, the leader says “lets go!”
D. Do you have a BOSS mentality (like a Sheriff) or a Servant-Leader mentality
1. A leader that has to flash a badge is not a leader at all
2. One who has to assert authority does not have much
3. A true leader leads the way as a humble servant, not a sheriff with badge
IV. Business Model
A. For years, people said that we had look to the business world
1. Modelled leadership after business world
2. Assumed if a person was successful in growing a business, he would be
successful in leading church
3. Business models are inadequate
B. 2 types of Business models in the church
1. Manager
a. Usually task or facilities oriented instead of people oriented
b. Usually have fiscal concerns, concerned about programs
c. Very well organized
d. Do good job managing (churches never go bankrupt)
e. However, do a poor job leading (how many people do we lose)
f. Management is fine for programs, but you don’t manage people, you lead people
2. CEO/Board of Trustees
a. About as opposite as opposite can get from shepherding model
b. This leadership takes place behind closed board room doors
c. Usually about making decisions, deciding policies, issuing edicts
d. Usually makes use of a pyramid (brought over from Catholic church)
- Can’t have TOO MANY chiefs and not enough Indians
- Too hard to make decisions when too many leaders
- However, with shepherds, the more sheep more shepherds
- May take longer to make decisions, but have better one with
more input from spiritually mature men
e. Being among the sheep is unimportant to a CEO
3. What usually happens with business mentality
a. The board hires a staff to do what they should be doing - Preacher
b. The elders are doing what the deacons should be doing
c. Deacons wonder what they should be doing (jr. elder?)
C. ILL:
1. Interview with elders
a. Wanted preacher to counsel, screen new members. etc.
b. They didn’t know most of the people in the church directory
2. That the elders expect preachers to do their ministry is even evident in the
way the invitation is done in the churches
a. Preacher receives the requests and prays for them
b. In Tulsa, it was the elders who stood up front
- They prayed for you and laid their hands on you
- So powerful to have these wise battle-worn warriors of the faith
place their strong-gentle hands on your & pray
D. The Business mentality is totally inadequate for Biblical leadership
1. The Biblical model is the Shepherds Among You
2. The place to learn about Biblical leadership is in the scriptures themselves.
3. So look to scripture, not to the Business World.
Concl:
1. We have seen that the Hired Hand, Cowboy, Sheriff, Business models are all inadequate
2. Not only are they inadequate, they are not Biblical
3. Each of these overlook an important concept - MENTORING
4. Now that these have been dispelled we can move on to the Biblical model -SHEPHERDING
5. Maybe you could be a leader
- May be disorganized, lousy manager, speech impediment, doesn’t matter
- We are going to look at the characteristics of a leader in the weeks ahead
6. Dispelling the distorted models will help you to clearly recognize leaders among us.
