Vitality in Christian Leaders

Our vision at Verve Lead is to create thriving Christian leaders and flourishing communities. But why is the vitality of a leader so important? If the community itself is strong, it may thrive or at least survive even with a struggling leader. However in the long term, a community will only be as strong as its leader. 

In the book of Acts, Paul addressed the Ephesian Elders, telling them, “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock.”(20:28) The order was intentional: you cannot watch the flock if you haven’t first watched yourself. At this moment in Paul’s life, he understood that his time with his community was limited and that he would soon be sent to prison in Rome. He knew that he was not going to see the elders or his people again and this is why his words were so significant. This was his parting message. 

What is important to recognise from this verse is Paul’s emphasis on the individual leaders of his people. Of course, the primary focus was the good of his entire community, but Paul acknowledged that when leaders are not doing well, it impacts every other aspect of the community. He had experienced the flow and effect of when a leader falters and understood the teaching from the scriptures that if the shepherd is struck, it will scatter the sheep. 

Ezekiel 34:4-5 “The weak you have not strengthened… but with force and cruelty you have ruled them. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd.” God rebuked leaders and warned them of the outcome of their abusive and negligent leadership.

Similarly, Jesus warned that a leader’s lack of vision or health leads to collective disaster. “If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” Matthew 15:14

Verve Lead is founded on this understanding. If our vision is creating thriving Christian leaders and flourishing communities, it can only be achieved by an action-based mission. Our mission is to cultivate transformative leaders through quality mentoring. In many ways, this is similar to professional development, but in our Christian context, it is helping our leaders to be more like Jesus. 

Jesus was a servant leader, teaching and guiding and serving his community. However, there is sometimes a misconception about servant leaders; people often think that a great leader is meant to sacrifice everything for their people, to live in discomfort and pain, to starve, to give up everything so that others can thrive. But this is not what God wants for us. In fact, Jesus sacrificed everything, so that we don’t have to. A starving leader, an impoverished leader, an overworked leader will not be thinking clearly, will not be physically able and will eventually, fall leaving the community vulnerable. If we desire a flourishing community, we need to pay attention to the vitality of the leaders. 

To state our mission again: To cultivate transformative leaders through quality mentoring, thereby creating flourishing communities.

Reflection: 

Are the leaders I work with prioritising their well-being?

Who else is “in the room” with my client? Who is being impacted by my client’s health?

What is the measure of transformative leadership in my client?  

What’s Next: 

The Health of the Christian Leader assessment measures transformative leadership. This is a great tool for practitioners.

Take the assessment.