Two years after joining the pastoral team of the Maadi Community Church (MCC), Cairo, the senior pastor, David Petrescue, pulled me aside and surprised me with this question… “How do you do it?” “How is it that you are able to ‘see’ leadership potential in ‘ordinary’ lay members of our church?”

God called me and my wife to MCC for the express purpose of developing an expanding network of small groups that would inspire the deepening of relational intimacy within the life of the church family.

Essential to this work was recruitment and training… the empowerment of lay leaders. An essential requirement of every small group was a pair of trained leaders to serve as small group pastor and trainee-successor.

In our eight-years at MCC, eleven hundred and eighty-four believers had undergone in-house developed, small groups pastors training (146 training groups). It was during the seven-weeks of training that trainees were easily observed as to their suitability for this special calling.

What did I look for in trainees? I looked for those who would willingly, heartfully, and humbly offer themselves to God in sacrificial service.

In the Book of Mark, Jesus says, “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (10:43-45 NIV).

Friends, great leadership is about humble service, not ‘I say, you do’ dictators!

The combination of right Character + Conduct + Commitment + Competence is what shapes ordinary people into great leaders!

Character is who you ARE!

A Christ-like character pursues holiness by living with a ‘zero-sin’ tolerance.  Paul said, “God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives” (1 Thess. 4:7).

A Christlike character has a ‘heart’ for God and people. Jesus says, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind… and you must Love your neighbour as yourself. This is the greatest commandment” (Mat. 22:37-39). Friends, Christ-like character is the barometer of godly love!

In First Timothy, Paul informed his pastor-successor, Timothy, the criteria of church leadership. NOTE: Of the fifteen qualities listed by Paul, only one deals with something a leader does (i.e., teach). All the other attributes deal with their character… who they ARE (3:2-7).

Conduct follows character…

Paul said to the church at Philippi, “Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ” (1:27).

Paul said to Timothy, “… set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Tim. 4:12). Character determines conduct!

Commitment follows character and conduct…

The general level of commitment to Christ today by church adherents, worldwide, is pitiful and pathetic. Only 20% are doing 80% of the real work!

James said that faith without commitment is dead faith (cf. 2:14).

Jesus said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be My follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow Me” (Lk. 9:23).

Paul said, “Dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him” (Rom. 12:1).

Competence follows character, conduct, and commitment…

Jesus says that we are to remain faithful to His teaching (the word of God). We are to JUST DO IT! (Jn. 8:31). How can we just do it? Friends, we are to ‘be’ filled with the Holy Spirit. Jesus says, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be My witnesses, telling people about Me everywhere” (Acts 1:8). The Holy Spirit is our competence!

And so, the characteristics of a great leader are Christ-like Character + Conduct + Commitment + Competence. This spells ‘Countability’for godly service!

Are you engaged in the Church, serving the Lord to the best of your ability, according to your Holy Spirit-endowed gifting? If you are, do you see yourself as God sees you… a developing great leader! In the Church, great leaders are made up of ordinary weak people who are willing, life-long learners… proving their faith through practical service to God.

Here’s something worth remembering: Concerning his weaknesses, God said to Paul, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). Friends, your weakness does not disqualify you from greatness in God’s service… your refusal to be willing to serve does. Question: Is God ‘counting’ on you?

Bill