5 to win, and then finding out someone else’s idea actually worked. Becoming a team player means considering others more important than yourself. And God uses humble men in powerful ways. ����Grow Together (Romans 15:14). There are some lessons you can’t learn from a textbook. And unfortunately, you won’t ever learn them if you don’t try to do something great with a group of leaders. Don’t come to the end of your life and realize you are only 80% of the man you could have been simply because you refused to join up with a team and advance the kingdom of God. ����Love Others (Ephesians 4:2). I find that guys are easy to get along with as long as I don’t actually try to accomplish something with them. When we have to work together on a calling from God, then we learn to love people for their gifts and in spite of their shortcomings. And we learn that a biblical friendship is the most powerful force in the world.” A Practical Case for Building a Leadership Team Besides the biblical case, there are several practical reasons why you need a team. 1 Different skill sets. If you want to reach a broad range of men in the church, your team needs to reflect that. And to build an effective ministry, you’ll need men with different skills and interests. Not everyone is a Bible teacher. Some guys love sports or the outdoors. Some are married, but many are single or divorced. Some guys have a heart for the lost, or for missions or disaster response, or for businessmen or blue collar guys. Build a diverse group of men, and then think about this: Don’t build your leadership team around your ministry; build your ministry around the interests and skills of the leaders God calls to your team. 2 An example for other men. The leadership team is the place where you “practice what you preach.” As it says in No Man Left Behind, the men on the leadership team should become to each other what they want the men of the church to become. So you should study the Scriptures, pray, support each other spiritually and emotionally—in short, you should model Christian brotherhood. The men of the church will follow your example. 3 Avoiding burnout. Building an effective ministry to men is too important to leave in the hands of one or two guys. Pastors, pay attention that the super committed, passionate guy doesn’t try to do it all on his own. You need to recruit enough men that no man is so heavily burdened with ministry work that he’s not fulfilling his first responsibilities to his own walk, his family, and his employer. 4 A pipeline for allies. In addition, each leadership team member should be engaged in discipleship relationships with a few other men. He should be involved in a small group (a couples group is perfect) or mentoring another guy or two. Why? So that when he’s working on that next men’s activity, he has some brothers who are NOT on the leadership team to call on for help. Leadership Team: Roadblock or Accelerator continues on page 60 ▶
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