5 Ways Church Leaders Need to Be Cared For
Leadership within the Church is much more than just getting tasks and jobs done. Biblical leadership does get things done and serve the Family, but effectiveness as a leader is more about character, the condition of the heart, and a growing ability to speak and model the Gospel in all of life.
In this episode, Caesar gives you 5 ongoing essentials that every missional church leader needs in their life. Unfortunately, almost no one was trained for the type of leadership that missional communities require. Let’s be the ones that change that!
In This Episode You’ll Learn:
- Why the commitment to developing leaders attracts great leaders.
- What to do if YOU are not getting these 5 essentials as a leader.
- The importance of every leader having an apprentice.
- What happens if you’re missing this type of care.
From this episode:
“Treating people like “stop gaps” to our problems in an area of ministry only reinforces a DO=BE mentality and ultimately demoralizes people. Seeing and treating your leaders as divine Image-bearers and like members of your family puts you both in a humble position to receive the ongoing grace that our heavenly Father offers–regardless of our performance or less-than-perfect leadership record.”
Each week the Big 3 will give you immediate action steps to get you started.
Download today’s BIG 3 right now. Read and think over them again later. You might even want to share them with others…
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Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
Coaching with Caesar and Tina in discipleship and missional living.
Discipleship and Missional Resources
Missio Publishing – Get the Gospel Primer and More.
Transcript
Without regularly going after the hearts of your leaders, you're accidentally treating people like stopgaps for a problem, or you're treating them like widgets in a factory.
Caesar Kalinowski:And what happens is you're just reinforcing a worldly do equals be mentality.
Caesar Kalinowski:In other words, you're valuable to me or this organization because of what you accomplish.
Caesar Kalinowski:Not based on who you are or who they are.
Caesar Kalinowski:Do you feel the difference?
Caesar Kalinowski:And even though you might be the nicest person in the world and have great affection for this person, this leader, if you're not regularly investing in the relationship and intentionally going after their hearts, you will sort of turn them into a do to be widget.
Caesar Kalinowski:And then they will start to feel like, oh, the way to gain your approval and acceptance and ongoing trust to have this title or role is to make sure I get my stuff done, not based on who they are.
Caesar:Welcome to the Everyday Disciple podcast where you'll learn how to live with greater intentionality and an integrated faith that naturally fits into every area of life.
Caesar:In other words, discipleship as a lifestyle, this is the stuff your parents, pastors, and seminary professors.
Caesar:Probably forgot to tell you.
Caesar:And now here's your host Caesar Kalinowski Hey, how's it going today?
Caesar:Hope your week and your day is going awesome.
Caesar:Mine is, it's been a really busy last few days coming off the road.
Caesar:But you know, it is when you travel or vacation or whatever, you come back and you're busier than ever.
Caesar:And that's how it's been this week.
Caesar:There's been a lot of coaching and all, but you know what, right now I'm getting do my favorite thing and that's be with you and do another edition of the Everyday Disciple Podcast.
Caesar Kalinowski:Would you take a moment right now to share this podcast with someone?
Caesar Kalinowski:a friend, or someone you're involved with in ministry, or someone you think this would be a blessing to because maybe you know them or have conversations with them about missional living and growing in the gospel and discipleship as a lifestyle.
Caesar Kalinowski:Would you take this?
Caesar Kalinowski:Take that seriously enough to love them well and love back on us by sharing out the podcast.
Caesar Kalinowski:Would you do that today?
Caesar Kalinowski:Just drop them a text or share the page from everydaydisciple.
Caesar Kalinowski:com to your Facebook page and let them know.
Caesar Kalinowski:Whatever you do just to help us get the word out and pay it forward would really be appreciated.
Caesar Kalinowski:Today on the podcast, we're going to be talking about leadership and leadership, especially within the church, God's family is so much more than just tasks and jobs getting done.
Caesar Kalinowski:Biblical leadership does Get things done and serve within the family of God in specific ways.
Caesar Kalinowski:I just want you to hear this effectiveness as leaders is so much more about a person's character, about their hearts, their growing ability to speak and model the gospel in all of life, and in particular, their areas of leadership.
Caesar Kalinowski:See, here's the thing though.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's, this is amazing to me, but I've seen it consistently over the years is that when you get and stay committed to developing your leaders, you'll actually attract great leaders.
Caesar Kalinowski:The word gets out that this is a church or organization that is committed to supporting and training leaders.
Caesar Kalinowski:And you know what?
Caesar Kalinowski:Strong leaders want to be a part of that.
Caesar Kalinowski:We found that the more serious we were about the ongoing development and care of our leaders, the more leaders we attracted, so to speak, or that surfaced.
Caesar Kalinowski:So right now, I'm going to share what I'm going to suggest.
Caesar Kalinowski:is five ongoing essentials in your life as a leader, things that you're going to need and or that you'll need to be sure that your leaders are getting these five things from you or your organization.
Caesar Kalinowski:So I want you to listen to these five ongoing essentials with sort of a both and ear.
Caesar Kalinowski:Am I getting this?
Caesar Kalinowski:And if not, boy, it sounds like I need this.
Caesar Kalinowski:Where do I get this?
Caesar Kalinowski:How can I get this?
Caesar Kalinowski:Or Are the leaders that are in my world, or in our church, or that I have some effect on, or responsibility for, are they getting these five ongoing essentials?
Caesar Kalinowski:So here we go.
Caesar Kalinowski:Here's the first one.
Caesar Kalinowski:They need you or someone to regularly go after their hearts in connection to their leading, to their self, like who they are, their marriage, their parenting.
Caesar Kalinowski:They really need that.
Caesar Kalinowski:They need you to be going after their hearts.
Caesar Kalinowski:Just like if you're a leader, you need someone who's regularly connecting deeply at a heart level.
Caesar Kalinowski:You know, spending time with those leaders, not just talking shop and problems, but building trust and building your actual relationship.
Caesar Kalinowski:You're showing them that, hey, our relationship is important to me.
Caesar Kalinowski:And that I care about you as a whole person, not just your church role, or whatever leadership tasks you've agreed to, or stuff you've signed up or volunteered for, or fill in the blank.
Caesar Kalinowski:This is so key.
Caesar Kalinowski:Building relationships of trust so that you can then regularly go after people.
Caesar Kalinowski:and again don't miss it how is your heart with leading relationship and the time to be able to build enough trust that you can check in on their marriages, their parenting, their own heart connected to all these things.
Caesar Kalinowski:Not just their leadership stuff.
Caesar Kalinowski:Now without this without regularly going after the hearts of your leaders, you're unqualified.
Caesar Kalinowski:Accidentally treating people like stopgaps for a problem, or you're treating them like widgets in a factory, and what happens is you're just reinforcing a worldly do equals be mentality.
Caesar Kalinowski:In other words, you're valuable to me or this organization because of what you accomplish, not based on who you are.
Caesar Kalinowski:You are or who they are.
Caesar Kalinowski:Do you feel the difference?
Caesar Kalinowski:And even though you might be the nicest person in the world and have a great affection for this person, this leader, if you're not regularly investing in the relationship and intentionally going after their hearts you will sort of turn them into a do to be widget and then they will start to feel like oh the way to gain your approval and acceptance and ongoing trust and to have this title or role is to make sure I get my stuff done, not based on who they are.
Caesar Kalinowski:That's huge.
Caesar Kalinowski:Here's the second essential is every leader, especially missional leaders.
Caesar Kalinowski:are going to need gospel centered accountability.
Caesar Kalinowski:And this is probably going to happen in some form of a triad or what we call a DNA group.
Caesar Kalinowski:For us, DNA stands for Discipleship, Nurture, Accountability.
Caesar Kalinowski:And for your leaders, you want them in that type of triad.
Caesar Kalinowski:So one leader with two other leaders, guys with guys, gals with girls.
Caesar Kalinowski:Hopefully you want them in with two other mature leaders who will speak truth to them.
Caesar Kalinowski:Now you might be wondering, well, this sounds a little bit like what you were just saying in the first of the five essentials.
Caesar Kalinowski:There's a difference between you checking in on their hearts as maybe a senior leader or someone who's senior checking in on your heart, and then a group of peers that you build trust with.
Caesar Kalinowski:And these are people you actually do life with.
Caesar Kalinowski:This is the stuff that happens in a DNA group or we call, you know, we call it that, but an accountability group that's gospel centered.
Caesar Kalinowski:Cause that's what you're looking for is for these leaders to all have gospel centered accountability, regularly ongoing.
Caesar Kalinowski:People who are asking them, how are you doing right now, living out of what you believe of the gospel?
Caesar Kalinowski:And what the God of the gospel is saying to be true right now, true of you, true of the situation.
Caesar Kalinowski:Both receiving this in relationship with a couple of other people, so guys with guys, gals with gals, and people that you're doing your day to day life with.
Caesar Kalinowski:is important, but also bringing this level of gospel accountability to the other guys.
Caesar Kalinowski:This is a key skill and growth in maturity that your leaders need.
Caesar Kalinowski:So it's not just sort of cornering them, penning them into the corner with an accountability group to make sure they're not sinning, but discipleship, ongoing development, nurture, caring for their hearts and the wounds that come up in life and certainly in leadership.
Caesar Kalinowski:And then the accountability to live out of Truth to not do, to be everybody else that they're trying to lead.
Caesar Kalinowski:But this ongoing back and forth relationship, it's not only good for them, but it's part of how they grow in their own maturity in leadership.
Caesar Kalinowski:And a real key here in gospel centered accountability is helping your leaders grow in their gospel flu.
Caesar Kalinowski:Their ability to see and speak and model and enjoy the gospel in all of life.
Caesar Kalinowski:So there again, they're not just treating people like widgets or stopgaps to a problem or the sum of their failures or whatever, but they're growing in how the gospel speaks into those people's identity and us as a family.
Caesar Kalinowski:Without gospel centered accountability, ongoing accountability for your leaders, it can be easy for them to become stagnant.
Caesar Kalinowski:in their own growth and maturity.
Caesar Kalinowski:And it's too easy to hide behind task related questions in a one to one check in from someone that you're not doing life with.
Caesar Kalinowski:Or someone that you see as your boss.
Caesar Kalinowski:So even if you're regularly going after someone's heart, they also need that community based, life on life triad of other people to Guys with guys, gals with gals, who are helping making sure they're growing in their discipleship, their hearts are being nurtured, and there's an accountability to live out of the truth of the gospel.
Caesar Kalinowski:That is key, and it's a two way street.
Caesar Kalinowski:I hope you're seeing that.
Caesar Kalinowski:Now number three is missional leaders, and really all leaders, but missional leaders are going to need ongoing training, skills development, and resources.
Caesar Kalinowski:Almost no one was trained for the type of leadership that missional communities require.
Caesar Kalinowski:Think about that.
Caesar Kalinowski:Uh, I haven't been to every seminary, but I've been to seminary and I know a lot of people who have in Bible college and, or they've been on church staffs for years and woefully unequipped for leading a family on mission, for leading people to in making disciples who make disciples in everyday life and live in discipleship as a lifestyle.
Caesar Kalinowski:So your leaders are going to need ongoing training and development of their skills and new resources.
Caesar Kalinowski:And here's the thing too, they're going to need a clear vision of where this is all going and the expectations that you have for their engagement in all of this.
Caesar Kalinowski:What I mean by that is It's it's one thing to offer a website somewhere with a lot of tools and tricks and videos on it And you just hope to god that they're availing themselves of everything they need right when they need it And there's another to be doing live face to face training equipping assessing Observing watching and all that and your leaders know that that's coming that that's expected Expected that this is good for them and that they're helping to pass this on to others, and that there's a clear expectation of their engagement in this resource, in the stewardship of all that you're trying to make available to them.
Caesar Kalinowski:Certainly not perfectly, certainly not every tool or every training, but do you have an ongoing training system to help develop their skills and.
Caesar Kalinowski:Give them access to those resources and do they know that this is key to if I want to lead here If I'm gonna stay involved in leadership Then leaders grow and I'm gonna keep growing and I'm gonna make sure that I'm availing myself and stewarding this opportunity well You want that to be really clear.
Caesar Kalinowski:In other words, where we're going and why you're being equipped.
Caesar Kalinowski:So it's not just equipping for equipping sake, but also, Hey, there's an expectation that I'm going to be engaged in this and saying no to other things because I take this leadership.
Caesar Kalinowski:So seriously in our community.
Caesar Kalinowski:Now, number four essential is every leader should have an apprentice.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:Every leader needs to have an apprentice that they've identified.
Caesar Kalinowski:Who, you know, who is that person or the people that they're actively intentionally apprenticing?
Caesar Kalinowski:And that person knows it and they know it and they're apprenticing them, they're training them up with them knowing that there's an expectation that someday they're going to be moving out and they're going to be leading their own community someday.
Caesar Kalinowski:Has that been passed down so that anyone doing a job of leadership within a missional community knows that they are to be apprenticing, they get to apprentice someone else?
Caesar Kalinowski:That's going to take some time.
Caesar Kalinowski:Pretty high level of intentionality.
Caesar Kalinowski:So when you're checking in with people or on your training or ongoing development times, you're saying, okay, does everybody have an apprentice or someone they've identified or a couple, or maybe it's more than one, but at least one great, what are their, what's their name?
Caesar Kalinowski:What is your plan as you apprentice them?
Caesar Kalinowski:See what's going on there?
Caesar Kalinowski:See, there's a huge part of growth in our lives when we actually apprentice someone else.
Caesar Kalinowski:You know how it is.
Caesar Kalinowski:You can learn some stuff, but if you've got to teach it and then how that person does with it, you've got to give feedback and help nudge them along and go, well, let's try this again.
Caesar Kalinowski:And you want to do it with positivity and encouragement and all that.
Caesar Kalinowski:You are going to lead from a much greater strength and position of understanding this.
Caesar Kalinowski:because you're apprenticing someone else in it.
Caesar Kalinowski:Think about the difference between any other craftsman, let's say it's a blacksmith or someone who plays an instrument well or whatever.
Caesar Kalinowski:And then the person that goes further and says, I want to now know my craft or my skill so well and the nuances of it so well that I can actually communicate this to someone who's right on the beginning of this and I won't waste their time and I'll be an encouragement and I'll help get them through rough spots.
Caesar Kalinowski:And that person themselves, then the person doing the apprenticing, they grow in leaps and bounds as well.
Caesar Kalinowski:That's what you're looking for.
Caesar Kalinowski:Now, without this, without all of your leaders having an identified apprentice.
Caesar Kalinowski:Well, that sort of puts a wrench into the ongoing growth and multiplication.
Caesar Kalinowski:See, healthy things always grow and healthy leaders are growing and maturing as they teach.
Caesar Kalinowski:Like I was just saying, you always learn a lot more by teaching others and helping them.
Caesar Kalinowski:So if you want to be on a slope of continuous growth and multiplication of your missional communities and let's say you're planting churches and so every area of life and ministry both gathered and scattered needs to be reproduced in the lives of others who really get that well then you're going to have to make sure that your leaders are always apprenticing the next round of leaders or you'll start bumping up against the age old problem of like well we don't have anybody to lead these yet or They'll be sent off just to reproduce something that is not exactly what you want.
Caesar Kalinowski:And it's more of like a task getting checked off or something like that.
Caesar Kalinowski:That's not what you want.
Caesar Kalinowski:So make sure that all of your leaders have identified apprentices.
Caesar Kalinowski:Now, I'm not saying necessarily the day that they start to take ownership for an area, but I would say within weeks or a couple months max.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah.
Caesar Kalinowski:You want them to know, Hey, who are you apprenticing in this area of your leadership?
Caesar Kalinowski:It could be something.
Caesar Kalinowski:Like making meals or, uh, sorting out what the kids are doing while we get together while we're out serving or fill in the blank or whatever.
Caesar Kalinowski:If we are planning and expecting growth and multiplication, well, wouldn't it make sense that we have to steward that hope and that expectation from the father by ongoing development of who's next.
Caesar Kalinowski:So that's why it's so important for every leader to have an apprentice.
Caesar Kalinowski:Now, the fifth thing I'm going to give you, I think is really important and essential for the ongoing care and development of your leaders.
Caesar Kalinowski:And there again, it might be yourself, like you're listening, both hand is regular coaching.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah, your leaders, you, we all do.
Caesar Kalinowski:We need someone checking in on our progress.
Caesar Kalinowski:What challenges are you facing?
Caesar Kalinowski:Are you using the training and the resources that you've been given or are you winging it?
Caesar Kalinowski:Like remember we talked about that or can we go back and revisit some of that?
Caesar Kalinowski:Because maybe that's been a little while since you needed that skill or that language or that resource or tool.
Caesar Kalinowski:Let's review that together.
Caesar Kalinowski:So that's what a coach does.
Caesar Kalinowski:A coach makes sure that you're clear on what's next ahead of you and that you have the ongoing training, equipping and tools and they're being applied.
Caesar Kalinowski:And your leaders also need to regularly benefit from the experience and wisdom of someone who's gone before them, who can say, Hey, I've been there.
Caesar Kalinowski:Here's a different way of looking at that.
Caesar Kalinowski:Or here's how you might solve that.
Caesar Kalinowski:Or here's how you could help that change or help those people grow.
Caesar Kalinowski:So someone who's been there and done that.
Caesar Kalinowski:That's part of what a coach does and they can offer encouragement, solutions, accountability.
Caesar Kalinowski:Did that get addressed or did it get swept under the rug?
Caesar Kalinowski:How's that going?
Caesar Kalinowski:See, without regular coaching, leaders often fall into a rut of taking the path of least resistance.
Caesar Kalinowski:They start to do what is easiest and what is most effective.
Caesar Kalinowski:expected of them, or if it's been brought up and someone's going to check in, then maybe I will.
Caesar Kalinowski:And they just start ticking off the task list without taking the necessary ownership and responsibility for others that you're looking for.
Caesar Kalinowski:Yeah, see, does that make sense?
Caesar Kalinowski:Are you seeing some people in your own life where you go?
Caesar Kalinowski:Well, they're technically leading that area, but it really does feel like they're just taking the path of least resistance and checking off the bare minimum So at least I guess it's better than nothing.
Caesar Kalinowski:At least they're getting something done, but that's not what you're looking for That's part of why they need coaching.
Caesar Kalinowski:Ongoing growth maturity And multiplication requires a healthy coach in each of your leader's life.
Caesar Kalinowski:Now, just a tip of my hand next week here on the podcast, we'll be looking at how do I identify the right leaders?
Caesar Kalinowski:Are you finding, identifying the right people, meaning the people who will receive and steward all the types of things we're talking about here well, and be great leaders who multiply themselves into the lives of others.
Caesar Kalinowski:How do you know that?
Caesar Kalinowski:We're going to talk about that next week.
Caesar Kalinowski:And I have to say too, if you're interested in learning.
Caesar Kalinowski:a full framework and getting the resources for discipleship and mission in your context.
Caesar Kalinowski:If you want to grow in your gospel fluency in everyday life and help your leaders and others in your community do that, that's what our coaching does.
Caesar Kalinowski:That's what Tina and I help coach people to.
Caesar Kalinowski:And I'd love to tell you more about it.
Caesar Kalinowski:You can go over to everydaydisciple.
Caesar Kalinowski:com forward slash coaching.
Caesar Kalinowski:Everyday Disciple.
Caesar Kalinowski:com forward slash coaching.
Caesar Kalinowski:You can read more about the coaching and mentorship that we offer.
Caesar Kalinowski:And then there's also a little small little form.
Caesar Kalinowski:You can answer a few questions and we can set up a short Zoom call.
Caesar Kalinowski:You and I, maybe Tina will be on there with us as well.
Caesar Kalinowski:And we can explain more about what the coaching entails, get to know some of your context and your story better, and answer any questions you have.
Caesar Kalinowski:I would love to do that.
Caesar Kalinowski:Okay, so as always, I want to leave you with the big three takeaways from today.
Caesar Kalinowski:Nothing else.
Caesar Kalinowski:You don't want to miss these.
Caesar Kalinowski:You can always get this as a printable PDF by going to everydaydisciple.
Caesar Kalinowski:com forward slash big three.
Caesar Kalinowski:Everyday Disciple.
Caesar Kalinowski:com forward slash big three.
Caesar Kalinowski:So if you want to discuss these with someone else or just mull over them or pray over them again, well, that's how you can get that.
Caesar Kalinowski:Here are the big three for this week.
Caesar Kalinowski:First, while most people can certainly lead in some way, not everyone is a mature leader.
Caesar Kalinowski:Maturity in leadership takes time, and it takes a great level of intentionality.
Caesar Kalinowski:on their parts and on our parts.
Caesar Kalinowski:It's actually poor leadership on our part if we expect someone to just lead well without the ongoing application of these five essentials.
Caesar Kalinowski:They need someone to look after their hearts, they need gospel centered accountability, they need ongoing training and development, and they need someone that they're apprenticing and they're going to need regular coaching.
Caesar Kalinowski:Like I said, it's actually sort of poor leadership on our part if we expect someone to just lead like a rock star and we're not providing those five essentials.
Caesar Kalinowski:Number two, treating people like stopgaps to our problems in some area of ministry only reinforces that do to be mentality and it ultimately demoralizes people.
Caesar Kalinowski:So often we do that.
Caesar Kalinowski:We sign people up just as a stopgap soul.
Caesar Kalinowski:Someone needs to take that job.
Caesar Kalinowski:Someone needs to pick up a shovel and start digging over here.
Caesar Kalinowski:Seeing and treating your leaders as divine image bearers and like members of your family put you both in a humble position to receive the ongoing grace that our Heavenly Father offers and he offers it regardless of our performance or less than perfect leadership record.
Caesar Kalinowski:And number three, hurt feelings come when unspoken or unclear expectations go unmet.
Caesar Kalinowski:Your leaders need to know, one, that you're committed to their ongoing development and heart level care.
Caesar Kalinowski:And two, what you expect from them when it comes to engaging the care and training provided.
Caesar Kalinowski:When both of these things become clear, you will actually start to attract strong leaders who want to grow.
Caesar Kalinowski:They want to be developed and they want to help others do the same.
Caesar Kalinowski:Thank you.
Caesar Kalinowski:Wow, we all want more of that, don't we?
Caesar Kalinowski:Alright, I hope this has been helpful and encouraging and giving you something to chew on today.
Caesar Kalinowski:I know that many of you are thinking, I can't disagree with any of those.
Caesar Kalinowski:I don't have those five things being provided in my life and I'm a senior leader.
Caesar Kalinowski:Well, then please, please, please get a hold of us.
Caesar Kalinowski:Let us help.
Caesar Kalinowski:Let us provide some coaching and ongoing training and help you set up the systems you need for that.
Caesar Kalinowski:Alright, just go over to everydaydisciple.
Caesar Kalinowski:com forward slash coaching.
Caesar Kalinowski:Let's get in touch and at least talk about it.
Caesar Kalinowski:All right, we're here for you.
Caesar Kalinowski:We'd love to help.
Caesar Kalinowski:Well, that's it for today.
Caesar Kalinowski:That'll be the time we have next week.
Caesar Kalinowski:Like I already kind of tipped my hand, we're going to be talking about how to make sure you're developing the right leaders, how to identify them stewarding your time and theirs in the best possible way.
Caesar Kalinowski:That'll almost be like part two today's topic.
Caesar Kalinowski:But a little bit different.
Caesar Kalinowski:We'll just take it further.
Caesar Kalinowski:All right.
Caesar Kalinowski:I hope you'll join me for that.
Caesar Kalinowski:I'll talk to you soon
Heath Hollensbe:Thanks for joining us today for more information on this show and to get loads of free discipleship resources visit everyday disciple Calm and remember you really can live with the spiritual freedom and relational peace that Jesus promised every day