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Sermon Illustrations: Leadership

A man who became disillusioned with the Apostolic Church backslid and then came back to the Lord said, "Apostles are not people at the top holding you down; they are people at the bottom holding you up" Derek Prince.

A father had applied to enrol his son at a private school and as a result was sent a questionnaire. One of the questions was: "Is your son a leader or a follower?" He thought about it and said he was a follower. Shortly afterwards he received a notice saying that his son was one of 200 students accepted that year. It also said, "You may be interested to know that enrolled this year were 199 leaders and 1 follower."

General Eisenhower used to use a simple piece of string to demonstrate the art of leadership. He'd place the string on a table and say, "Pull it and it will follow wherever you wish. Push it and it will go nowhere at all."

There are five levels of strength: (a) our spiritual ceiling; (b) our emotional ceiling; (c) our mental ceiling; (d) our social ceiling; (e) our physical ceiling. You will rise to the level of your lowest ceiling. Kong Hee

Discernment of leaders: Every time a particular general was saluted, he saluted them in return, and said, "And the same to you too." After a while, one of the privates asked why he kept saying that. "I was a private once, and I know what you're thinking."

Five cannibals were employed by a pastor. Four weeks later the pastor says he is happy with their work, but the cleaner is missing. The cannibals deny all knowledge of the disappearance. After he leaves, one cannibal admits that he has eaten the cleaner. "Idiot!" says one of the others. "For four weeks we have been eating elders, deacons, pastors, and home group leaders so no one would notice, and you have to go and eat the cleaner." How effective are you? Would you be missed?

The only reason they put leaders up front, is so they can see clearly enough to shoot at you.

Definition of a camel: A horse designed by a committee.

A good shepherd doesn't shoot the sheep. Frank Eames

When leaders make a mistake, they say, "I was wrong"; when followers make a mistake, they say, "It wasn't my fault.' A leader works harder than a follower and has more time; a follower is always too busy to do what is necessary. A leader goes through a problem; a follower goes around it and never gets past it. A leader makes and keeps commitments; a follower makes and forgets promises. A leader says, "I'm good, but not as good as I ought to be"; a follower says, "I'm not as bad as a lot of other people". Leaders listen; followers just wait until it's their turn to talk. Leaders respect those who are in authority over them and try to learn something from them; followers resent those who are superior to them and try to find chinks in their armour. Leaders feel responsible for more than their job; followers say, "I only work here". A leader says, "There ought to be a better way to do this"; followers say, "That's the way it's always been done here."¹

A man in a hot air balloon realised he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a man below. He descended a bit more and shouted, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago but I don't know where I am." The man below replied, "You are in a hot air balloon, hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You are between 40 and 41 degrees north and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude." "You are obviously a technical person," said the balloonist. "I am," replied the man, "but how did you know?" "Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I am still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help to me at all." The man below responded, "You must be in management." "I am," replied the balloonist, "but how did you know?" "Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are or where you are going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise which you have no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it's my fault."

When one of the presidents of the US stated publicly that he didn't like broccoli, there was a big blockade of broccoli growers outside the Whitehouse. Reason? Because they knew that when the President said he didn't like broccoli, sales would fall all over the country.

A professor stood before his philosophy class with a very large empty jar and began to fill it with golf balls. "Is the jar full?" he asked. "Yes," replied the students. He poured a box of small pebbles into the jar, and they rolled into the cracks. "Is the jar full?" "Yes." He poured a box of sand into the jar. "Is the jar full?" "Yes." He then poured two cans of ginger beer into the jar. "The jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things - God, family, children, friends, health - things that if all else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, house, car. The sand is everything else - the small stuff. If you put the sand in first, there's no room for the pebbles or golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you'll never have room for the important things. Pay attention to the important things - there will always be time to clean the house, and do the yard. Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand." A student raised his hand: "What does the ginger beer represent?" "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of ginger beers." As a leader, is the church one of the big things in your life?

1500 pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout, or contention in their churches. 50% of pastors' marriages will end in divorce. 70% of pastors constantly fight depression. 80% of pastors and 84% of their spouses feel unqualified and discouraged in their role as pastors. 50% are so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other way of making a living. Almost 40% polled said they have had an extra-marital affair since beginning their ministry. 80% of seminary and Bible school graduates who enter the ministry will leave the ministry within the first five years. 90% of pastors said their seminary or Bible school training did only a fair to poor job preparing them for ministry. 85% said their greatest problem is that they are sick and tired of dealing with problem people … 90% said the hardest thing about ministry is dealing with uncooperative people.²

From John Wesley's diary: Sunday morning, May 5, preached in St. Ann's, was asked not to come back anymore. Sunday p.m., May 5, preached at St. John's, deacons said "Get out and stay out". Sunday a.m., May 12, preached at St. Jude's, can't go back there either. Sunday p.m., May 12, preached at St. George's, kicked out again. Sunday a.m., May 19, preached at St. somebody else's, deacons called a special meeting and said I couldn't return. Sunday p.m., May 19, preached on the street, kicked off the street. Sunday a.m., May 26, preached in meadow, chased out of meadow as a bull was turned loose during the services. Sunday a.m., June 2, preached out at the edge of town, kicked off the highway. Sunday p.m., June 2, afternoon service, preached in a pasture, 10,000 people came to hear me.³

A good coach knows how to move his players to win the game. A good player knows how to listen to his coach. The pastor is the coach surrounded by all his star players.

At the Stockwell Orphanage the usual rule of walking is - little boys first. In this way the younger children cannot be overdriven or left behind, and moreover all the boys can see before them, whereas by the usual practice of putting the tall fellows first the view in front is shut out from all but the few who lead the way.⁴

When your car's in neutral, anybody can push it around. Wayne Cordeiro

You can measure the size of a ship by the size of the wake that it leaves behind.

80% of seminary and Bible school graduates who enter the ministry will leave the ministry within the first five years.⁵

1 out of every 10 ministers will actually retire as a minister in some form.⁶

Studies have shown that leaders fail because of poor delegation more than from any other cause.⁷

1500 pastors leave the ministry every month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout or conflict in their church; 34% of pastors' marriages end up in divorce; 80% of pastors and 84% of pastors' wives feel unqualified and discouraged; 50% of pastors would leave if they could make a living doing something else; 80% of seminary and Bible college graduates will leave ministry within the first 5 years; 80% of pastors believe their ministry affected their families negatively; 33% believed ministry was a hazard to their family; 5% felt themselves unable to meet the needs of the job; 90% felt inadequately trained to cope with the demands of ministry; 90% work more than 46 hours per week; 70% of pastors feel that they have lower self esteem now vs. when they started out in ministry; 40% of pastors reported having a serious conflict with a parishioner/congregant at least once a month; 70% do not have someone they consider a close friend - someone they can confide in; 37% of pastors confessed to having been involved in inappropriate sexual behaviour with someone in the church; 60% of pastors' wives hold full-time jobs or are involved in careers to meet family needs; 63% suffer marriage problems due to congregational difficulties; 81% suffer marriage problems due to insufficient time together; 94% of pastors felt under pressure to have the "ideal" family; 45% of pastors' wives have no close friends.⁸

A great deal more failure is the result of an excess of caution than of bold experimentation with new ideas. The frontiers of the Kingdom of God were never advanced by men and women of caution. J. Oswald Sanders

Henry Kaiser, who built a vast industrial empire in the early 1900s, had this to say about his business organisation: "I make progress by having people around me who are smarter than I am - and listening to them. And I assume that everyone is smarter about something than I am."⁹

Promoting others: In London, just four days before his [Nelson's] thirty-ninth birthday, his investiture as a Knight of the Bath by the king in person was the highlight of his return, and gave him the chance of a graceful and useful compliment to a colleague. 'You have lost your right arm!' the sharp-eyed king remarked. 'But not my right hand,' Nelson replied, 'as I have the honour of presenting Captain Berry', and with his left arm pushed his pleased and embarrassed junior forward.¹⁰

[Admiral] Nelson's dinners were well-known among the officers of his fleet: the food and drink were better than their own, and he was a host of unequalled charm. Whenever the weather was fine, the flag which signalled his invitations was hoisted and eagerly acknowledged by his guests. He did not care very much what he ate personally, he drank comparatively little, and he was often on a self-imposed, mainly vegetarian diet; but he liked to give pleasure, and his hospitality was part of his technique for keeping the fleet happy and efficient.¹¹

Before the Battle of Trafalgar: Observing one day off Cadiz that his signal lieutenant, John Pasco, looked annoyed, Nelson asked what was the matter. A ship had just left with mail for England and was already some distance off, under full sail. 'Nothing that need trouble your Lordship', Pasco replied. But Nelson insisted, and Pasco told him: the bosun who had loaded Victory's mailbags had forgotten to put in his own letter to his wife, and had found it in his pocket. 'Hoist a signal and bring her back,' the admiral said. 'Who knows that he may not fall in action tomorrow?' And the ship returned, and hove to while a boat was launched to carry the single letter. Stories like this went quickly around the fleet, and were gratefully remembered.¹²

In this respect [General] Grant was very much a modern general: he was deeply pained by casualties, and regretted having to order operations that he knew would result in great losses. Nor did he attempt to insulate himself from the men he was ordering into battle. Like the French general Phillipe Pétaine in 1916, and Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1944, he moved among them, giving them the one great gift of which he was capable: confidence that they would prevail.¹³

His great danger is intellectual sloth and the shut mind, neglecting to study and allowing his thoughts to continue in well-worn grooves. The danger is that new truths, new methods and the attempt to restate the faith in contemporary terms may merely annoy him. The Christian leader must be a Christian thinker or he fails in his task; and to be a Christian thinker is to be an adventurous thinker so long as life lasts.¹⁴ William Barclay (1907 - 1978)

People don't always have to have their way; they just need to have their way considered.

1 Anonymous as quoted in Watkins, G.F. G-Men: The Final Strategy p 99-1001
2 Email from Bill Bright (founder of Campus Crusade for Christ and the Global Pastors Network), gleaned from various sources such as Pastor to Pastor, Focus on the Family, Ministries Today, Charisma Magazine, TNT Ministries, and a few other respected ministries
3 Newman, Bill The Ten Laws Of Leadership p40-41
4 Spurgeon, Charles H. My Sermon Notes p 23
5 Cox, Rodney Leading from Your Strengths
6 Cox, Rodney Leading from Your Strengths
7 Ministry Advantage, Organising and Delegating p 45
8 Willow Magazine Vol 1, Issue 3, April 2008, p 1-2 citing statistics by George Barna, Victor Parachini & Fuller Institute
9 Ministry Advantage, Developing Leaders & Teams, p 18
10 Howarth, David & Howarth, Stephen Nelson: The Immortal Memory p 183
11 Howarth, David & Howarth, Stephen Nelson: The Immortal Memory p 290
12 Howarth, David & Howarth, Stephen Nelson: The Immortal Memory p 318
13 Mosier, John Grant p 103
14 Barclay, William The Daily Study Bible: The Letters to Timothy, Titus and Philemon p 101