5 Ongoing Essentials Missional Leaders Need

Leadership within the Church is so much more than just tasks and jobs getting done. Biblical leadership does get things done and serve the Family, but effectiveness as leaders is so much more about character, their hearts, 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 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 any of these 5 essentials.

Get started here…

5 Ongoing Essentials Missional Leaders Need

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…

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Join us on Facebook and take part in the discussion!

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Also, please subscribe and leave an honest review for The Everyday Disciple Podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.


Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Free Download of the Big 3 For Episode #359

Coaching with Caesar and Tina in discipleship and missional living.

Discipleship and Missional Resources

Missio Publishing – Get the Gospel Primer and More.

 

Transcript
Caesar:

Without regularly going after the hearts of your leaders, you're accidentally treating people like stop gaps for a problem, or you're treating them like widgets in a factory.

Caesar:

And what happens is you're just reinforcing a worldly, do equals be mentality.

Caesar:

In other words, you're valuable to me or this organization because of what you accomplish.

Caesar:

Not based on who you are or whose they are.

Caesar:

Do you feel the difference?

Caesar:

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.

Caesar:

And then they will start to feel like, oh, the way to gain your approval.

Caesar:

And acceptance and ongoing trust to have this title or role is to make sure I get my.

Caesar:

Not based on who they are.

Announcer:

Welcome to the Everyday Disciple podcast, where you learn how to live with greater intentionality and an integrated faith that naturally fits into every area of life.

Announcer:

In other words, discipleship as a lifestyle, this is the stuff your parents, pastors in seminary.

Announcer:

Probably forgot to tell you.

Announcer:

And now here's your host Caesar Kalinowski.

Caesar:

All right, here we go back together again.

Caesar:

I sure hope that if you just celebrated Thanksgiving, like we all did here in the U S I hope yours was amazing.

Caesar:

I have to just gloat on all that God does here.

Caesar:

Uh, and team K during these types of events and holidays, it is such a fun extended time together.

Caesar:

Not only extended with who all gets sort of drafted into K for Thanksgiving or other holidays, but for us, this almost encapsulated about three days, it started sometime in the afternoon on Wednesday.

Caesar:

Some folks spent the night.

Caesar:

Others did not.

Caesar:

Some came back in the morning for Thanksgiving.

Caesar:

We started out with a nice brunch and then kind of special snacks and beverages throughout the day.

Caesar:

Then culminating in that giant family meal and then popcorn and movies and stuff like that at night, sometimes.

Caesar:

I spent the night again or others did, and yeah, we just kind of blended the whole thing into one big giving of thanks and sharing each other's lives that cool and deep way.

Caesar:

So I know not everybody goes through that.

Caesar:

We certainly didn't growing up.

Caesar:

It was more like, okay, here's the meal.

Caesar:

Let's get it done.

Caesar:

Let's get it cleaned up.

Caesar:

And everybody went back to their corners, but, uh, that's not the life that God's given us here in team.

Caesar:

K.

Caesar:

And we're grateful for that and thankful.

Caesar:

And for anyone who was a part of this Thanksgiving this year with team K and you happened to hear this, know that you are loved, and we're so grateful that you are part of our family.

Caesar:

Can I ask you a favor?

Caesar:

Would you take a moment right now to share this podcast with someone,?

Caesar:

A friend or someone you're involved with in ministry or someone you think this would be a blessing too, cause maybe you know them or have conversations with them about Missional living and growing in the gospel and discipleship is a lifestyle.

Caesar:

Would you take that seriously enough to love them well and love back on us by sharing out the.

Caesar:

What'd you do that today?

Caesar:

Just drop them a text or share the page from Everyday Disciple dot com to your Facebook page and let them know whatever you do just to help us get the word out and pay it forward would really be appreciated.

Caesar:

I also want to invite you to check out the Everyday Disciple Podcast, sort of swag and merchandise.

Caesar:

I don't even know the term swag.

Caesar:

It just kind of means.

Caesar:

Shirts and cups and mugs and anything to do with a brand or a group of people, whatever.

Caesar:

That's what swag is.

Caesar:

So we've got some pretty amazing swag and merchandise, every kind of shirt and hoodie and ball cap and kids, things, and mugs and cups and travel things.

Caesar:

And it's, there's a lot.

Caesar:

This might be a perfect, cool gift for someone, you know, that enjoys the podcast.

Caesar:

No one else is going to get them that Everyday Disciple.

Caesar:

Shirt or mug or whatever.

Caesar:

We've got new

Caesar:

designs coming out, different things just to stay fun.

Caesar:

I hope you'll at least check that out and consider blessing someone with a Everyday Disciple, something, a swag or something that reminds them of the show.

Caesar:

Easy to find all this and get your orders in.

Caesar:

There's plenty of time before the holidays go to Everyday Disciple dot com forward slash swag.

Caesar:

That's just s w a G Everyday Disciple dot com forward slash swag.

Caesar:

I'm pretty excited about a new t-shirt that is instead of having the full-blown logo, it just says every day on it.

Caesar:

And it just kind of reminds me that this is how I want to live every day.

Caesar:

And maybe even some folks will ask me, Hey, what's every day.

Caesar:

And then I get to say, well, my identity and how we choose to live.

Caesar:

So I hope you'll check that out.

Caesar:

Maybe you'll find something special for yourself or someone else that you lovetoday on the podcast, we're going to be talking about leadership and leadership, especially within the church.

Caesar:

God's family is so much more than just tasks and jobs.

Caesar:

Getting done.

Caesar:

Biblical leadership.does Get things done in serve within the family of God in specific ways.

Caesar:

But 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:

See, here's the thing though.

Caesar:

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 our leaders, you'll actually attract great leaders.

Caesar:

The word gets out that this is a church or organization that is committed to supporting and training leaders.

Caesar:

And you know, what strong leaders want to be a part of that.

Caesar:

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:

So right now I'm going to share what I'm going to suggest 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.

Caesar:

These five things from you or your organization.

Caesar:

So I want you to listen to these five ongoing essentials with sort of a, both and ear.

Caesar:

Am I getting this?

Caesar:

And if not, boy, it sounds like I need this.

Caesar:

Where do I get this?

Caesar:

How can I get this?

Caesar:

Or are the leaders that are in my world or in our church, or that I have some effect on or responsibility for?

Caesar:

Are they getting these five ongoing essentials?.

Caesar:

So here we go.

Caesar:

Here's the first one 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:

They really need that.

Caesar:

They need you to be going after their hearts.

Caesar:

Just like if you're a leader, you need someone who's regularly connecting deeply at a heart level.

Caesar:

You know, spending time with those leaders, not just talking shop and problems, but building trust and building your actual relationship.

Caesar:

You're showing them that, Hey, our relationship is important.

Caesar:

to meAnd 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:

This is so key building relationships of trust so that you can then regularly go after the hearts of their leaders.

Caesar:

And again, don't miss it.

Caesar:

Just, how's your heart and connection to leading this person's a problem or whatever, but 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 of these things, not just their leadership stuff.

Caesar:

Now, without this, without regularly going after the hearts of your leaders.

Caesar:

your accidentally treating people like stop gaps for a problem, or you're treating them like widgets in a factory.

Caesar:

And what happens is you're just reinforcing a worldly, do equals be mentality.

Caesar:

In other words, you're valuable to me or this organization because of what you accomplish, not based on who.

Caesar:

You are or who they are.

Caesar:

Do you feel the difference?

Caesar:

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.

Caesar:

You will sort of turn them into a, do to be widget.

Caesar:

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.

Caesar:

Not based on who they are.

Caesar:

That's huge.

Caesar:

Here's the second essential is every leader, especially missional leaders.

Caesar:

Are going to need gospel centered accountability.

Caesar:

And this is probably going to happen in some form of a triad or what we call a DNA group for us.

Caesar:

DNA stands for discipleship, nurture accountability, and for your leaders, you want them in that type of triad.

Caesar:

So one leader with two other leaders, guys, with guys, gals with gals, hopefully you want them in with two other mature leaders who will speak truth to them.

Caesar:

Now you might be wondering, well, this sounds a little bit like what you were just saying in the first of the five essentials, 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:

And these are people you actually dolife with.

Caesar:

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 because that's what you're looking for is for these leaders to all have gospel centered accountability, regularly ongoing.

Caesar:

People who are asking them, how are you doing right now, living out of what you believe of the gospel and the, what the God of the gospel is saying to be true right now.

Caesar:

True of you.

Caesar:

True of a situation, both receiving this in relationship with a couple of other people.

Caesar:

So guys with guys, gals with gals and people that you're doing your day to day life.

Caesar:

Is important, but also bringing this level of gospel accountability to the other guys.

Caesar:

This is a key skill and growth in maturity that your leaders need.

Caesar:

So it's not just sort of cornering.

Caesar:

Pinning 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 and then the accountability to live out of truth to not do, to be everybody else that they're trying to lead.

Caesar:

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:

And a real key here in gospel centered accountability is helping your leaders grow in their gospel fluency.

Caesar:

Their ability to see and speak and model and enjoy the gospel in all of life.

Caesar:

So there again, they're not just treating people like widgets or stop gaps 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, without gospel centered accountability, ongoing accountability for your leaders, it can be easy for them to become stagnant

Caesar:

. And their own growth and maturity.

Caesar:

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, or someone that you see as your boss.

Caesar:

So even if you're regularly going after someone's heart, they also need that community-based life-on-life triad of other.

Caesar:

Guys with guys gals, with gals who are helping, making sure they're growing in their discipleship, the hearts are being nurtured and there's an accountability to live out of the truth of the gospel.

Caesar:

That is key.

Caesar:

And it's a two-way street.

Caesar:

I hope you're seeing.

Caesar:

Uh, number three is Missional leaders and really all leaders, but Missional leaders are gonna need ongoing training skills, development, and resources.

Caesar:

Almost no one was trained for the type of leadership that Missional Communities require.

Caesar:

Think about that.

Caesar:

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 in making disciples who make disciples in everyday life and live in discipleship as a lifestyle.

Caesar:

So your leaders are going to need ongoing training and development of their skills and new resources.

Caesar:

And here's the thing too.

Caesar:

They're going to need a clear vision of where this is all going and the expectations that you have for their engagement and all of this.

Caesar:

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.

Caesar:

And you just hope to God that they're availing themselves of everything they need right.

Caesar:

When they need it.

Caesar:

And there's another to be doing live face-to-face training, equipping, assessing, observing, watching, and all that.

Caesar:

And your leaders know that that's coming, that that's expected that this is good for them, and that they're helping to pass this on to others.

Caesar:

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:

Certainly not perfectly.

Caesar:

Certainly not every tool or every training, but do you have an ongoing training system to help develop their skills?

Caesar:

Give them access to those resources.

Caesar:

And do they know that this is key to if I want to lead here, if I'm going to stay involved in leadership, then leaders grow and I'm going to keep growing and I'm going to make sure that I'm availing myself and stewarding this opportunity well.

Caesar:

You want that to be really clear now it's where we're going and why you're being equipped.

Caesar:

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 so seriously in our community.

Caesar:

Now, number four, essential is every leader should have an apprentice.

Caesar:

Yeah, every leader needs to have an apprentice that they've identified who, you know, who is that person or the people that they're actively intentionally apprenticing.

Caesar:

And that person knows it and they know it and they're apprenticing them.

Caesar:

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 communities some day.

Caesar:

Has that been passed down so that anyone doing a job of leadership within a Missional Community knows that they are to be apprenticing.

Caesar:

They get to apprentice someone else.

Caesar:

That's going to take some pretty high level of intentionality.

Caesar:

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 coupleor maybe it's more than one, but at least one.

Caesar:

Great.

Caesar:

What are their, what's their name?

Caesar:

What is your plan as you apprentice them?

Caesar:

See what's going on there.

Caesar:

See, there's a huge part of growth in our lives when we actually apprentice someone else, you know how it is, 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 get feedback and help nudge them along and go, well, let's try this again.

Caesar:

And you want to do it with positivity and encouragement and all that.

Caesar:

You are going to lead, uh, from a much greater strength and position of understanding this.

Caesar:

'cause you're apprenticing someone else in it.

Caesar:

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:

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.

Caesar:

And I won't waste their time and I'll be an encouragement and I'll help get them through rough spots.

Caesar:

And that person themselves, then the person doing the apprenticing, they grow.

Caesar:

In leaps and bounds as well.

Caesar:

That's what you're looking for now, without this, without all of your leaders, having an identified apprentice.

Caesar:

Well, that sort of puts a wrench into the ongoing growth in multiplication.

Caesar:

See healthy things, always grow and healthy leaders are growing and maturing as they teach.

Caesar:

Like I was just saying, you always learn a lot more by teaching others and helping them.

Caesar:

So if you want to.

Caesar:

On a slope of continuous growth and multiplication of your missional communities.

Caesar:

And let's say you're planting churches.

Caesar:

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.

Caesar:

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.

Caesar:

Or they'll be sent off just to re reproduce something that is not exactly what you want.

Caesar:

And it's more of like a task getting checked off or something like that.

Caesar:

That's not what you want.

Caesar:

So make sure that all of your leaders have identified apprentices.

Caesar:

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 of months, max.

Caesar:

Yeah.

Caesar:

You want them to know, Hey, who are you apprenticing in this area of your leadership?

Caesar:

It could be.

Caesar:

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, if we are planning and expecting growth in multiplication, will 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:

So that's why it's so important for every leader to have an apprentice.

Caesar:

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:

And there again, it might be yourself and like you're listening.

Caesar:

Both hand is regular coaching.

Caesar:

Yeah, your leaders, you, we all do.

Caesar:

We need someone checking in on our progress?

Caesar:

What challenges are you facing?

Caesar:

Are you using the training and the resources that you've been given or are you winging it?

Caesar:

Like, remember we talked about that or can we go back and revisit some of that cause maybe that's been a little while since you needed that skill or that language or that resource or tool let's review that together.

Caesar:

So that's what a coach does.

Caesar:

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 and your leaders also need to regularly benefit from the experience and wisdom of someone who's gone before them.

Caesar:

And who can say, Hey, I've been there.

Caesar:

Here's a different way of looking at that or here's how you might solve that.

Caesar:

Or here's how you could help that change or help those people grow.

Caesar:

So someone who's been there and done that, that's part of what a coach does and they can offer encouragement solutions, accountability.

Caesar:

Did that get addressed or did it get swept under the rug?

Caesar:

How's that going see without regular coaching leaders often fall into a rut of taking the path of least resistance.

Caesar:

They start to do what is easiest and what is expected of them, or if it's been brought up or when someone's going to check in, then maybe I will.

Caesar:

And they just start ticking off the task list without taking the necessary ownership and responsibility for others that you're looking for.

Caesar:

Yeah.

Caesar:

See, that makes sense.

Caesar:

Are you seeing some people in your own life where you go 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.

Caesar:

So at least, I guess it's better than nothing.

Caesar:

At least they're getting something done, but that's not what you're looking for.

Caesar:

That's part of why they need coaching, ongoing growth, maturity and multiplication.

Caesar:

Requires a healthy coaching each of your leader's life.

Caesar:

Now just the tip of my hand next week, here on the podcast, we'll be looking at how do I identify the right leaders?

Caesar:

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.

Caesar:

Well, and be great leaders who multiply themselves into the lives of others.

Caesar:

How do you know that?

Caesar:

We're going to talk about that next week.

Caesar:

And I have to say too, if you're interested in.

Caesar:

A full framework and getting the resources for discipleship and mission.

Caesar:

In your context, if you want to grow in your gospel fluency in everyday life and help your leaders and others in your community, do that.

Caesar:

That's what our coaching does.

Caesar:

That's what Tina and I help coach people to.

Caesar:

And I'd love to tell you more about it.

Caesar:

You can go over to Everyday Disciple dot com forward slash coach.

Caesar:

Everyday Disciple dot com forward slash coaching.

Caesar:

You can read more about the coaching and mentorship that we offer.

Caesar:

And then there's also a little small little form.

Caesar:

You can answer a few questions and we can set up a short zoom call you and I, maybe Tina will be on there with us as well.

Caesar:

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:

I would love to do that.

Caesar:

Okay.

Caesar:

So as always, I want to leave you with the big three takeaways from today.

Caesar:

Nothing else you don't want to miss these.

Caesar:

You can always get this as a printable PDF by going to Everyday Disciple dot com forward slash big three Everyday Disciple dot com forward slash big three.

Caesar:

So if you want to discuss these with someone else or just mow over them or pray over them again.

Caesar:

Well, that's how you can get that.

Caesar:

Here are the big three for this week.

Caesar:

First while most people can certainly lead in some way.

Caesar:

Not everyone is a mature leader.

Caesar:

Maturity in leadership takes time and it takes a great level of intentionality on their parts and on our parts, it's actually poor leadership on our part.

Caesar:

If we expect someone to just lead well without the ongoing application of these five essentials, they need someone to look after their hearts.

Caesar:

They need gospel centered accountability.

Caesar:

They need ongoing training and developmentand they need someone that they're apprenticing and they're going to need regular coaching.

Caesar:

Like I said, it's actually sort of poor leadership on our part.

Caesar:

If we expect someone to just lead like a rock star and we're not providing those five essentials, number two, treating people like stop gaps to our problems in some area of ministry only reinforces that do to be mentality and it ultimately demoralizes people.

Caesar:

So often we do that.

Caesar:

We sign people up just as a stop gap so.

Caesar:

Someone needs to take that job.

Caesar:

Someone needs to pick up a shovel and start digging over here, seeing and treating your leaders as divine image bears and like members of your family puts you both in a humble position to receive the ongoing grace that our heavenly father offers.

Caesar:

And he offers it regardless of our performance or a less than perfect leadership.

Caesar:

And number three, hurt feelings come when unspoken or unclear expectations go unmet.

Caesar:

Your leaders need to know one that you're committed to their ongoing development and heart level care and to what you expect from them.

Caesar:

When it comes to engaging the care and training provided, when both of these things become.

Caesar:

You will actually start to attract strong leaders who want to grow.

Caesar:

They want to be developed and they want to help others do the same.

Caesar:

Wow.

Caesar:

We all want more of that.

Caesar:

Don't we.

Caesar:

All right.

Caesar:

I hope this has been helpful and encouraging and giving you something to chew on today.

Caesar:

I know that many of you are thinking I can't disagree with any of those.

Caesar:

I don't have those five things being provided in my life.

Caesar:

And I'm a senior leader.

Caesar:

Well then please, please, please get ahold of us.

Caesar:

Let us help.

Caesar:

Let us provide some coaching and ongoing training and help you set up the systems you need.

Caesar:

All right.

Caesar:

Just go over to Everyday Disciple dot com forward slash coaching.

Caesar:

Let's get in touch and at least talk about it.

Caesar:

All right.

Caesar:

We're here for you.

Caesar:

We'd love to help.

Caesar:

Well, that's it for today.

Caesar:

That'll be the time we have next week.

Caesar:

Like I already kind of tipped my hand.

Caesar:

We're going to be talking about how to make sure you're developing the right leaders, how to identify them so that you're stewarding your time and theirs in the best possible way.

Caesar:

That'll almost be like part two today's time.

Caesar:

But a little bit different.

Caesar:

We'll just take it further.

Caesar:

All right.

Caesar:

I hope you'll join me for that.

Caesar:

I'll talk to you soon.

Announcer:

Thanks for joining us today.

Announcer:

For more information on this show and to get loads of free discipleship resources, visit Everyday Disciple dot com.