Keys to Effective Leadership

The Heart of God Series

by Marnie Carlson
The Harvest Is Ripe
Sharing the Father’s Heart for Lost People
by Todd Kelly
Concern for the Heart of God
Treasuring What Matters to Him
by Jeff Lampos
Their Stronghold in Time of Trouble
God’s Heart of Protection Against the Wicked
by Bill Mills
The Problem of Mercy
How God Creates a Heart of Worship
Hope for Hurting People
In the Shelter of His Presence
Delighting in Each Other
The Power of Joy and Satisfaction in Marriage
God’s Will
Found Out or Found In?
Healing Wounded Relationships
Through the Way of the Cross
Keys to Effective Leadership
Developing Your Followership Skills
The Battle Is the Lord’s!
Praise, Worship and Spiritual Warfare
by Craig Parro
A Lasting Legacy
Investing Our Lives in People
by Roger Peer
Transformation: God’s Ongoing Grace
Our Role in His Process Within Us
 KEYS TO
EFFECTIVE
LEADERSHIP

Developing Your
Followership Skills

BILL MILLS
Leadership Resources International
Palos Heights, Illinois
Third Printing—2010

! LEADERSHIP RESOURCES INTERNATIONAL 2004

12575 Ridgeland Avenue, Palos Heights, IL 60463
800-980-2226

ISBN: 978-1-939707-13-0

This book, or portions thereof, may not be

reproduced without written permission from
LEADERSHIP RESOURCES.

Unless otherwise indicated Scripture quotations are taken from

the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by
Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
 THIS MINISTRY IS DEDICATED TO

The Glory of God

The Honor of His Word
The Building Up of the Body of Christ

The Heart of God series is also dedicated to our co-

worker Tom Hill, who for the past thirty years has
brought the Father’s heart of serving and encourage-
ment to all of us on the staff of Leadership Resources
International.
To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice,
and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When he has brought out all his own, he goes before
them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

John 10:3-4
D o you want to be a leader? If you do, there is plenty of
help available. Bookstore shelves are lined with excellent
books, some from a Christian perspective, that have even made
it to the best-seller lists in the trade industry. Seminars hosted
by successful models of leadership abound. Principles, meth-
ods, and formulas are out there for anyone who dreams of suc-
cess as a leader. Unfortunately, there is not much help available
for those in our churches who want to learn to follow, and if we
want to be fruitful in ministry, learning how to follow is far
more important than learning how to lead.
During a recent teaching time at a church in California,
the pastor asked if I would make myself available for anyone
who might like to talk with me personally. Since I am a
teacher rather than a counselor, and I believe that local pastors
and leaders are best equipped to counsel their people, I was
reluctant to meet with anyone concerning a personal or minis-
try situation. But I did agree to spend some time with Tom,
who was praying about joining the leadership team in his
church.

7
The Heart of God Series

Tom was a relatively young man with a growing family.

He had a heart for God and a desire to serve in his church in
any way that might be helpful. He had done some teaching
and had helped organize some events, and he greatly enjoyed
contributing to the ministry. Tom was also being mentored by
one of the older men in the church and was growing as a disci-
ple of the Lord Jesus. Now the pastor and the elders had asked
him to serve on the elder board, and Tom was overwhelmed
with the magnitude of that position and level of responsibil-
ity. He was not at all sure he was qualified and questioned
whether he was ready for such a position. He was aware of his
weaknesses and inadequacies and rather unsure about any
strength he might bring to the ministry, but he definitely
wanted to be a leader.

So, You Want to Be a Leader . . .

If you are a leader in any capacity of ministry, you may have
felt the same way Tom felt that afternoon as we visited to-
gether: torn between his dreams and his weaknesses. I hope
you have. I feel that way at least once every day—and I wish
that were an overstatement. You may be a pastor or a youth
leader. You may be an executive with a mission agency. God
may have placed you on the board of your church or called
you to serve as an elder or deacon. Maybe you lead a women’s
or men’s ministry. In whatever role you serve, I know that you
have taken on that responsibility as a significant stewardship
before the Lord.

8
 Keys to Effective Leadership

Your desire to serve the Lord with a whole heart and to

make a genuine contribution to God’s people has undoubt-
edly led to much prayer, introspection, and evaluation of your
qualifications. Perhaps, like Tom and me, you have brought a
sense of inadequacy or even unworthiness to your position. It
may be that you are overwhelmed in the face of your call. But
that is the only place to begin a fruitful ministry that brings
glory to the Lord because, truthfully, we are “in over our
heads” serving the Lord every day, and no ministry takes
place within our “comfort zones.”
As Tom and I talked, I asked if he felt that he met the qual-
ifications of an elder or a deacon that the Apostle Paul lists in
1 Timothy 3 and Titus 2. Tom is a genuinely humble man, and
he was quick to point out his shortcomings. But it became
clear as we talked that he was a man of character and integrity
who desired to honor the Lord and to serve His people. He did
desire the role of elder in his church, which is one of the basic
qualifications (1 Timothy 3:1), and was grateful for the confi-
dence of his pastor and elders.
Given those realities, I told Tom that he needed to focus
now on developing his “followership skills.” My statement
took Tom by surprise since for several years he had dreamed
of a position of leadership in his church. In addition to the
mentoring of one of the elders, he had read several books on
“leadership” and had given himself to mastering the princi-
ples taught by the latest experts in that field. When I sug-
gested to Tom that his primary identity must be that of a

9
The Heart of God Series

follower rather than a leader, he seemed confused. In his

mind, he was ready for the “next step” in serving his church,
and what I was encouraging him to consider now struck him
as a step backward rather than forward. In the remainder of
this booklet, I want to share with you what I taught Tom over
several conversations.

We Are Sheep
The long tradition of the scriptures is filled with examples of
people greatly used by God, and yet their primary identity was
that of a follower rather than a leader. These include the Apos-
tles Paul and Peter, Abraham, King David, Moses, and even the
Lord Jesus. If by God’s grace we can see ourselves through the
Father’s eyes like they did, we will share in the fruit of their
labors, and God will glorify Himself in us as He did in them.
Jesus made it clear how He sees us in His teaching about
sheep and shepherds: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does
not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another
way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the
door is the shepherd of the sheep” (John 10:1-2).
We can recognize a true shepherd from the way he comes
to his sheep: a genuine shepherd will enter by the gate. Any-
one who seeks to come in any other way is immediately rec-
ognized as an impostor. He is not a true shepherd; he is a thief
or a robber. Jesus, the Son of God, came in the way prepared
by the prophets in order to redeem God’s people and lead
them to their Father. He came to bring His sheep home.

10
 Keys to Effective Leadership

Does your heart rejoice when God refers to you as a

sheep? Do you see that reference as a strong affirmation of
your potential as a leader and one who has great skills to offer
the Chief Shepherd as He builds His Church? If you do, you
don’t understand sheep. Sheep are not noble creatures. They
are not bold or strong; they are not aggressive or visionary. In
fact, sheep are rather dumb. They are vulnerable and need
their shepherd’s protection from their enemies, or they will be
destroyed. Sheep need to be led to food and water. It seems
that they cannot even find their daily sustenance by them-
selves. They depend on their shepherd for their very survival.
Why did God use the illustration of a sheep in describing
His people? Are we really that helpless? Don’t at least some
of us rise above that miserable example? Aren’t there at least
a few of us who achieve the status of lions or eagles—or
maybe of a great stallion that thunders across the plain as he
leads his herd to higher ground? No, among even the finest of
our leaders there are no lions, eagles, or horses. We are all
sheep. That picture defines how we relate to God and to the
people He has entrusted to us.

Sheep Listen for Their Shepherd’s Voice

Sheep do have one quality that sets them apart from every
other animal. God has given them an amazing ability to listen
and to follow: “To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear
his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them
out” (John 10:3).

11
The Heart of God Series

Once the gate of the sheepfold is opened, the sheep begin

to listen for the voice of their shepherd. When he calls their
names, they begin to follow wherever he leads them. How is it
that sheep have this amazing gift of “listening?” Have they
been to special training schools to cultivate their listening
skills? Have they attended professional seminars where lis-
tening experts have equipped them for this remarkable abil-
ity? Of course not. They listen because they are sheep. It is in
their nature to listen because God has equipped them with
ears to hear the voice of their shepherd.
After the shepherd calls the name of his sheep, he leads
them out. If you are an “under shepherd” of God’s sheep, one
who serves God’s people under the authority of your chief
Shepherd, the Lord Jesus, this statement must resonate in
your heart! You have been praying that you might lead your
sheep out—out of their fears, out of the places where they
have settled in this world, out of their tendency to feed on
lesser things than the pastures of God’s abundance.
In order for us as under shepherds to “lead our people
out,” we need to see ourselves as members of the flock, with
all of the same characteristics and vulnerabilities as the rest of
our sheep. The only way we will be able to lead at all is if we
learn to listen to the voice of our Shepherd.

Sheep Hear Their Shepherd’s Voice

The reason the shepherd is able to lead his sheep out is that
they are willing to follow him. They are free to follow be-

12
 Keys to Effective Leadership

cause they know his voice: “When he has brought out all his
own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they
know his voice” (John 10:4).
There is a connection between listening and hearing, and
that connection leads to responsiveness. We cannot hear
without listening, but listening does not guarantee that we
will hear. The shepherd teaches his sheep to hear his voice and
gives them that ability to hear as a gift.
Remember that in the parable of the sower the seed fell on
four kinds of soil: One was hard, another was rocky, still an-
other was thorny, and one was good soil that produced an
abundant crop (Mark 4:1-20). Jesus described the difference
between the good soil and the other three this way: “But those
that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the
word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and
a hundredfold” (Mark 4:20).
People whose hearts are characterized as good soil “hear
the word and accept it.” There is a “hearing” that stimulates a
responsive heart. A key summary verse in the parable also
shows us why the ability to hear the shepherd’s voice is a gift
from Him: “And he said, ‘He who has ears to hear, let him
hear.’” (Mark 4:9).
Not everyone has ears to hear God. The ability to hear His
voice and respond to Him is a gift of the Holy Spirit. If we
have received that gift from our Shepherd, He has entrusted
us with a great stewardship. The writer to the Hebrews re-
minds us of that very truth in reference to Israel’s rebellious

13
The Heart of God Series

past: “As it is said, ‘Today, if you hear his voice,do not harden
your hearts as in the rebellion’” (Hebrews 3:15). If anyone
hears God’s voice, that person has a responsibility to respond
with a heart of obedience.

Sheep Follow Their Shepherd

Because God has given sheep the ability to listen and by lis-
tening they learn to discern their shepherd’s voice, they are
able to respond—to follow—when he calls their name: “‘A
stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for
they do not know the voice of strangers.’This figure of speech
Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he
was saying to them” (John 10:5-6).
Since sheep are trained to listen, hear, and respond to the
voice of their shepherd, they will not follow strangers. This
offers the sheep great protection. The sheep know that their
shepherd will lead them to places that are filled with the pro-
visions of his goodness. Strangers may lead them to places of
great vulnerability or even destruction.
There are many voices calling out to us and to our people
today. Some of these are the voices of strangers. Sheep need
our protection because those voices may bring strange ways,
goals, and dreams that are not consistent with our Shepherd’s
Word or His heart. Strange voices come from those who
would build themselves up at the expense of the sheep; true
shepherds lay down their lives for their sheep.

14
 Keys to Effective Leadership

Often the voices coming at us become a cacophony of

confusion rather than the clear voice of a shepherd who leads
us with truth and love. The voices of our feelings will betray
us; the voices of our culture will lead us away from the Shep-
herd, and the voices of our enemy will always lie to us about
our Shepherd and ourselves. In order to follow the Shepherd,
we need to learn to distinguish His voice from all other
voices.

Sheep Know Their Shepherd

There is a level of intimacy that develops between a shepherd
and his sheep. I believe this is one of the primary reasons that
our Lord used the picture of sheep and shepherds to describe
His relationship with us. The time they spend together, the
shepherd’s loving care, protection, and provision, and the re-
sponses of the sheep to the shepherd’s ministry all contribute
to the sheep’s knowledge of their shepherd: “I am the good
shepherd. I know my own and my own know me” (John
10:14).
If there is anything that we truly hunger for in our rela-
tionship with the Lord, it is intimacy: We want to know Him!
But knowing our Shepherd is the fruit of a process. It begins
with listening for His voice, then hearing Him when He calls
our name, and finally, following where He leads. The more
we listen, hear, and respond by following, the more we will
know our Shepherd. The intimacy for which we hunger in our
relationship with Him flows from that wonderful process.

15
The Heart of God Series

If we want to be leaders, we first must learn to follow.

Learning to follow our Shepherd is far more important than
learning to lead His people. In fact, this is the root of credibil-
ity and authority in ministry: people will follow someone who
is following the Shepherd. The Lord Jesus modeled this for us
in His own relationship with the Father.

Jesus Was a Follower

There is no question that Jesus was the greatest leader in all of
history. His teaching and His life, death, and resurrection
changed the world. Christ’s pattern of preparing His disciples
is the example for any of us who desire that God would use us
to help equip workers for His kingdom. But Jesus’ primary
identity was not grounded in His position as a leader; it was
rooted in His role as a follower. We find this incredible truth in
the same context of the shepherd and his sheep: “But Jesus
answered them, ‘My Father is working until now, and I am
working’” (John 5:17).
Jesus had just healed a lame man at the pool of Bethesda
on the Sabbath day. The Pharisees and teachers of the law
continually looked for opportunities to discredit Jesus before
the people and to persecute Him. His act of healing on the
Sabbath was a perfect opportunity because the law was clear
that no one could work on that day. But our Lord’s answer is
based on His relationship of response to His Father. Jesus
knew that His Father was always working to fulfill redemp-
tion and to build His Kingdom, and so He must be “always

16
 Keys to Effective Leadership

working,” too: “So Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to

you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what
he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that
the Son does likewise’” (John 5:19, emphasis added).
Christ opens more fully for the religious leaders and for us
the relationship He shares with the Father. The Father is
working, and the Son is watching. Whatever the Son sees the
Father do, He does also. Jesus makes it clear that He can serve
in no other way, for He came to do the Father’s will.
Now Jesus reveals why He can relate to the Father this
way in ministry. It is because the Father shows the Son what
He is doing: “For the Father loves the Son and shows him all
that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he
show him, so that you may marvel” (John 5:20). Two great as-
sumptions are revealed in this Scripture. The first is that the
Father would show the Son what He is doing. There was no
pressure on the part of our Lord to figure out what the Father
was doing. He was able to walk with the Father with incredi-
ble freedom and confidence because the Father revealed to
Jesus the work He was doing. Secondly, Christ knew that
what the Father was doing was what He ought to do also. It is
interesting that the text does not say: “The Father loves the
Son and shows the Son what the Son ought to do.” Jesus knew
that He was called to enter into what the Father was doing.
This is also true for you and me. We are made out of dust;
we have a very difficult time hearing, seeing and responding.
God is not depending on us to figure out what He wants us to

17
The Heart of God Series

do. He has given us His Word and His Spirit. God will show us
what He is doing, and enable us by His Holy Spirit to enter
into His eternal work.

The Father’s Initiative and the Son’s Response

As Jesus continued with this theme through the book of John,

He opened for us more fully how He saw the Father and how
He lived in relationship to Him: “So Jesus said to them,
‘When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know
that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but
speak just as the Father taught me’” (John 8:28).
Jesus had been teaching here about God as His Father and
how the Father had sent Him into this world. The religious
leaders were incredulous! How could this man call God His
Father and therefore make Himself equal with God? When
you lift Me up, you will know that I am the One I claim to be,
Jesus said. Then He described the Father as the initiator in His
life and ministry and Himself as the responsive one in the re-
lationship.
Nothing in Jesus’ teachings or works began with Him.
The Father was the “starting point” for all that Jesus said and
did. He did nothing in all of His life and ministry “on His
own.” The Father taught Him, and Christ spoke the Father’s
words: “And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me
alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him”
(John 8:29).

18
 Keys to Effective Leadership

Are we saying that the one leader we exalt as our model

above all others had no initiative of His own? That is an inter-
esting thought! Isn’t initiative one of the key qualities we look
for in a leader? We seek leaders with big dreams; we want
them to set high goals; we expect them to be aggressive and to
work hard to accomplish their goals and dreams.
A follower does not need dreams, goals, or initiative. A
follower gets those from someone else. What a follower
needs far more is the ability to see what the leader is doing and
a heart to respond to the leader’s initiative. That is what Jesus
is modeling for us here. He was a successful leader because
He followed the will of His Father. We will be successful
leaders also when we learn to follow the will of our Lord.
Our culture has created great vulnerabilities for us when
we study these truths. We have learned to equate leadership
with bold and aggressive personality traits, and we have
learned to equate “followership” with passivity. But Jesus de-
stroys those images in both His Word and His example. Jesus
is aggressive but not in His initiative; He is aggressive in His
response. When we walk with God in ministry, we are not
called to passivity, but to an aggressively responsive lifestyle.
God is at work everywhere around us. We enter into what He
is doing with a whole heart, and with every resource He has
entrusted to us.
Our Lord listened and watched to see what the Father was
doing, and the Father showed His Son what He was doing.
Jesus then responded aggressively, with a whole heart to all

19
The Heart of God Series

that the Father set before Him. Christ’s explanation for His
level of obedience is that He always does what pleases His
Father. Do we need leaders and shepherds like this in our
churches and missions? I think we would do well with fewer
human goals and dreams, fewer bold and aggressive person-
alities, and more listening, watching, and following. Perhaps
then we would be less trapped in what we are doing and more
caught up in what God is doing.

In Following We Learn the Father’s Heart

If God is gracious to us and allows our primary identity to
change from being a leader to a follower, we will be trans-
formed and three incredible things will happen in our lives
and ministries. The first is that God will build into us the heart
of His Son as we follow our Shepherd. We will become more
and more like Jesus, and then be able to bring His heart to
those God has entrusted to us.
Jesus summarized His life and ministry in a wonderful
way just before He went to the cross: “For I have not spoken
on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself
given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak”
(John 12:49).
Again Christ made it clear to His disciples, and to you and
me, that the Father was the initiator in all that took place. The
words that Jesus spoke didn’t come from Him; they came
from His Father. The Father sent Jesus into this world and told
Him what to say while He was here. Jesus faithfully fulfilled

20
 Keys to Effective Leadership

the Father’s will, doing and saying everything the Father set
before Him.
We see here an even more gripping statement than only
Jesus’revelation that the Father told Him what to say while on
this earth. The Father even told His Son how to say what He
told Him to say! The New International Version translates
verse 49 in this way: “For I did not speak of my own accord,
but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and
how to say it.” The Father revealed not only His words to His
Son, He also revealed His ways: Jesus said, “And I know that
his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say
as the Father has told me” (John 12:50).
In this scripture passage, the relationship between God’s
words, the Messenger’s faithfulness to God’s words and
ways, and God’s life being poured out to people is crystal
clear. Jesus served at His Father’s command in just that way.
He knew that a ministry of the Father’s words with the
Father’s heart brings the Father’s life to His people. This is
why ministries that are fruitful flow from faithfully teaching
and preaching the scriptures.

God’s Ways Reveal His Heart

The ways of a shepherd with his sheep are wonderful to be-
hold. The way he calls and leads, the tenderness with which
he cares and provides for them, and the manner in which he
protects and feeds them are beautiful in our eyes. God created
shepherds so that He could reveal Himself as a Shepherd, and

21
The Heart of God Series

now His children can understand who He is and what He is

like. In this way, God also shows us how He desires the lead-
ers that He raises up for His Church to give themselves to His
people.
King David told us this secret about Moses and his minis-
try in Psalm 103: “He made known his ways to Moses, his
acts to the people of Israel” (v. 7). God made His acts known
to Israel. They saw His wrath poured out on Egypt in the ten
plagues. They saw His power when He parted the Red Sea.
Israel heard the voice of God thunder from the mountain
when He gave the Ten Commandments. Jewish history is
filled with recorded deeds of their God.
Jesus taught us that the sheep know their shepherd. That
intimacy moves us to hunger for a deeper knowledge and a
fuller relationship with our Shepherd. If God’s heart is re-
vealed in His ways, and our people need to experience the
Father’s heart, then we must pursue Him for the knowledge of
His ways. That is precisely what Moses did.

Moses Was a Follower

Moses was the greatest leader in Israel’s history. God used

him to deliver His people from slavery in Egypt to the free-
dom of the Promised Land. But Moses did not seek this posi-
tion of leadership. In fact, Moses was so overwhelmed with
his weaknesses and inadequacies that he resisted God’s call
on his life. In fact, God’s anger burned against him when he

22
 Keys to Effective Leadership

said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else” (Exodus

4:13).
We find hope in our God who fulfills all that He purposes,
and He was not threatened by Moses’ lack of heart. God
promised His presence and His provision for all that Moses
needed, and Moses followed Him. There were many disap-
pointments and much confusion along the way, but God’s
mercies enabled Moses to endure. After the incident of the
golden calf (Exodus 32), God told Moses that He would no
longer go with His people because of their hardened hearts.
Moses pleaded for God to forgive His children, and then he
pleaded for greater intimacy with his God: “Now therefore, if
I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your
ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight.
Consider too that this nation is your people” (Exodus 33:13).
David told us that God revealed His ways to Moses. This
passage from the book of Exodus was surely in David’s mind
as he wrote. Moses had just experienced intimacy with God
for forty days on the mountain as God was writing the charac-
ter of His heart on those tablets of stone and giving us the Ten
Commandments. Moses had just spent time with God in the
“tent of meeting” (Exodus 33:7-11). But Moses was not satis-
fied. He wanted more of God!

God’s Glory and His Face

Moses knew that he would find “more of God” in knowing
His ways. Moses’ prayer was, “Show me your ways, that I

23
The Heart of God Series

may know you.” After God told Moses that He was pleased
with him and knew him by name (Exodus 33:17), Moses
made the boldest request in history: “Please show me your
glory” (Exodus 33:18).
Moses’ passion for intimacy with God now transcended
all human bounds. He had been on the mountain. He had com-
muned with God. Now Moses wanted nothing less than to see
the face of God: “And he said, ‘I will make all my goodness
pass before you and will proclaim before you my name “The
LORD.” And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious,
and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,’ he
said, ‘you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and
live’” (Exodus 33:19-20).
No one can see God’s face because God is invisible. And
if we were able to see Him, we would be immediately con-
sumed by His holiness. God could not permit Moses to see
His face. But God humbled Himself and allowed Moses to see
His glory: “And the LORD said, ‘Behold, there is a place by
me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory
passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover
you with my hand until I have passed by’” (Exodus
33:21-22).
When Moses hungered to see God’s face, God revealed
His heart to His servant. Who God is and what He is like be-
came the vision that Moses saw as he stood in the cleft of the
rock. The wonder of God’s goodness, the beauty of His

24
 Keys to Effective Leadership

Name, and the fullness of His compassion filled Moses’ eyes

and heart as God put His glory on display before him.
The people God has entrusted to us in ministry need the
things that come only from His heart. They need to know His
awesome Name because it is the “strong tower” to which we
run for shelter and protection. They need to know His mercy
and compassion in a world where they experience more pain
than anyone can bear. They need to know the goodness of the
Lord because the enemy of their souls slanders the character
of God day after day.
Leadership abilities can be learned and can be very help-
ful tools as we serve God’s people. We must be free to use any
skills we gain in this world that will enhance the building up
of our churches. But God’s people are sheep. Sheep do not
need to be managed and organized as much as they need to be
shepherded. They need to be led, cared for, protected, and fed.
Some things about shepherding can be taught, but the most
important things are built into us as we seek God’s face and
He opens His heart to us. His ways reveal His heart, and we
know the heart of God as we seek His face and then follow
Him.

Paul Was a Follower

When we think of great leaders in the New Testament church,
the first one that comes to mind is the Apostle Paul. We can
see him out there leading the charge for the gospel, organizing
churches, training leaders, and giving direction for ministry.

25
The Heart of God Series

Paul saw himself, however, not primarily as a leader but as a

follower. When we read his letters, we see often that familiar
reference to himself as “a servant.” Paul served, following the
direction of his Lord: “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by
command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope” (1
Timothy 1:1).
The great apostle served at the pleasure of his master, the
Lord Jesus. Paul, who had once given his energies to destroy-
ing the church, now loved Jesus so passionately that his great
desire was to lay down his life for the church. Just as with Mo-
ses, Paul’s love was fueled as he sought the face of his Lord:
“that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and
may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death”
(Philippians 3:10).
The ministry of the Apostle Paul in relationship to the
Lord Jesus Christ is an amazing reflection of the ministry of
Jesus in relationship to His Father. Here, Christ is the one who
provides the initiative and direction for Paul, and Paul fol-
lows. Even at Paul’s conversion on the Damascus road, Jesus
said to Paul: “But rise and enter the city, and you will be told
what you are to do” (Acts 9:6). This statement characterized
the rest of Paul’s days.
The Lord’s direction and Paul’s heart to follow His lead-
ing were the pattern of his ministry. The Holy Spirit directed
the leaders in the church at Antioch to send out Paul and Bar-
nabas (Acts 13:1-3), and God gave him the vision that called
him to Macedonia (Acts 16:6-10). The Spirit “compelled”

26
 Keys to Effective Leadership

him to go to Jerusalem (Acts 20:22-23). Toward the end of his

life and ministry, Jesus “stood by him and said, ‘Take cour-
age, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusa-
lem, so you must testify also in Rome’” (Acts 23:11).
The Apostle Paul followed Jesus throughout his ministry,
as the Lord directed him from day to day. Paul’s ministry was
all about the acts of the Holy Spirit through him. God did
through Paul far more than he could ever have dreamed, and
so it will be for you and me when we exchange our image of a
leader for the glorious role of a follower!
As Paul followed Christ, his heart became more like the
heart of his Lord. We can see that in the fruit of his ministry
among the elders at Ephesus. Paul had spent three years there,
teaching, encouraging, and discipling the leaders. Near the
end of his ministry, as he was on the way to Jerusalem and
then on to Rome, where he would give his life for the gospel,
Paul called the elders at Ephesus to meet him at Miletus. This
was his message to them: “And when they came to him, he
said to them: ‘You yourselves know how I lived among you
the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving
the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that
happened to me through the plots of the Jews’” (Acts
20:18-19).
Paul talked about how he had lived among them. He de-
scribed his heart of service, humility, and tears. He told the el-
ders who loved him so much that he was compelled by the
Spirit to go to Jerusalem, knowing that prison and hardships

27
The Heart of God Series

awaited him. But he was a follower and could only go where

Jesus led: “But I do not account my life of any value nor as
precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the
ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the
gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24).
After Paul described his heart for the Lord and for the
church at Ephesus, he called them to serve as shepherds of the
flock of God: “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all
the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to
care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own
blood” (Acts 20:28).
Like Moses, when Paul sought God’s face, God revealed
His heart to him. As Paul followed Jesus, the Father built into
him the heart of His Son, and that heart was revealed in the
ways that Paul served. It was in the framework of that rela-
tionship and that model that Paul called the elders at Ephesus
to be shepherds. In the same way, we can shepherd the flock
of God only as we follow the Lord Jesus and know His heart,
which we see in His ways: “Be imitators of me, as I am of
Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). When we follow the ministry
model of the Lord Jesus and the Apostle Paul, God protects us
from being consumed with what we are doing and invites us
to become caught up in what He is doing.

Peter Was a Follower

As shepherds of God’s people, are you grateful that the Lord
chose Peter as one of His apostles? I am! We may have diffi-

28
 Keys to Effective Leadership

culty relating to the Apostle Paul, but we can all relate to Pe-
ter. This passionate, impulsive man who boasted of his
commitment to Christ and then fled when he feared for his life
reveals that God raises up leaders among real people, even
weak people who come to Him with a whole heart.
Peter saw the face of God in the mercy of Jesus and it
changed him forever. After Jesus had restored Peter and com-
missioned him, He told Peter that following Him would cost
him his life. But instead of responding to Jesus’ compassion-
ate ministry of healing, reconciliation, and restoration with a
heart of worship and thanksgiving, Peter looked at the Apos-
tle John and asked, “What about him?” (see John 21:15-21).
Christ’s response transformed Peter’s life: “If it is my will
that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow
me” (John 21:22).
Jesus gave Peter the grace to follow Him, and God built into
Peter the heart of a shepherd. Peter laid down his life for Christ’s
Church, and he gave his life for Christ in his death. Out of his re-
lationship with Jesus and his experience as a shepherd, Peter
gives this counsel: “So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow
elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a par-
taker in the glory that is going to be revealed” (1 Peter 5:1).
Peter comes to us as a fellow elder. He does not exalt him-
self above us; he humbles himself as one of us. He does not
command; he makes an appeal: “shepherd the flock of God
that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compul-
sion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful

29
The Heart of God Series

gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge,

but being examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:2-3).
This apostle who was a witness to Christ’s sufferings is
giving us a “how-to” manual on shepherding. He mentions no
organizational skills even though those would be helpful to
us. He describes no management techniques even though
those might be valuable, too. Rather, he talks of matters of the
heart because those are the keys to effective and fruitful min-
istry. In fact, Peter does not mention “leading” here. The call
is to be shepherds.
Do you see the ways of God in Peter’s call to you and me?
He models humility and speaks of contentment. He calls us to
serve and to be examples. Because Peter’s identity was rooted
in his call to follow, he learned the heart of his Lord and was
acquainted with His ways. If we want to be shepherds after
God’s heart, we will make those our priorities as well.

God Will Do More Than We Dream

The second thing that will happen in our lives and our minis-
tries as God graciously allows our identity to change from
that of a leader to a follower is that He will do in us and
through us more than we could ever dream. Two scriptures
from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians have transformed my life.
The first is: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that
we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

30
 Keys to Effective Leadership

We all live with a sense that God has prepared us to serve

Him in ministry. We know that God called us in Christ before
He created the heavens and the earth. “He chose us in Him be-
fore the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4). For gener-
ations before we were born, God was sovereignly choosing
our ancestors so that we would be just the persons He was de-
signing us to be. He weaved us in our mother’s womb. In all of
our days He has allowed difficult circumstances, overwhelm-
ing situations, failures, successes, joy and sorrow, evil, injus-
tice and painful relationships to shape us for His glory. We
know that God has been preparing us to be His servant.
But we do not tend to live moment by moment with the
knowledge that the God who has prepared us for ministry has
also prepared ministry for us! Long before we were born God
prepared works for us to do. Only by following Him can we
walk with Him in those eternal works. Otherwise we will be
caught up in our own works.
Another scripture that has completely turned my under-
standing of ministry around is Paul’s prayer for the church at
Ephesus: “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly
than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work
within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus
throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Ephe-
sians 3:20-21).
If we could meet with the senior class of a seminary or Bi-
ble school on the day of their graduation and ask each student
about their hopes and dreams, we would be amazed at how

31
The Heart of God Series

great and lofty they would be. For years they have sat under
wonderful teachers, they have read tremendous books and
heard from some of the finest missionaries and pastors in their
chapel services. Over the years of their schooling their hopes
have grown: “Someday I will be in the place where I can do
the great things I have been dreaming about.”
If we said to those beautiful and dedicated young people:
“If God would fulfill every dream you have ever had for
ministry, wouldn’t that be incredible?” Even though they
might tend to agree, the truth is this would not be wonderful,
it would be a terrible disaster! Do we want a God who is lim-
ited to our dreams? Of course not! We want to serve a God
who is able to do far more than we can ask or imagine. This
only happens when we become followers rather than lead-
ers. No matter how big our dreams are, they are always too
small.

Your People Will Love You

The third thing that will happen if God is gracious to us and al-
lows our primary identity to shift from being a leader to a fol-
lower is that our people will love us. We looked earlier at the
Apostle Paul’s closing exhortation to the elders at Ephesus
when he called them to meet him on the island of Miletus. The
scene in Acts chapter 20 is one of the most precious and inti-
mate in all the scriptures. As he recounted his ministry among
them, he did not focus on his amazing accomplishments or or-
ganizational skills, but how he brought to them the heart of

32
 Keys to Effective Leadership

the Lord Jesus. He talked of humility, tears, intimacy, serving

and giving.
As he was about to leave, Luke records for us how Paul’s
brothers and sisters poured their affections on him as he was
trying to get to the ship: “And when he had said these things,
he knelt down and prayed with them all. And there was much
weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed
him, being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had
spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they ac-
companied him to the ship” (Acts 20:36-38).
The church at Ephesus was not the only place where we
see these relationships between Paul and his people. Look at
these words from Paul to the church at Thessalonica: “But we
were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of
her own children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we
were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but
also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us”
(1 Thessalonians 2:7-8).
These attitudes possess great power for you and me in the
hands of the Holy Spirit. Gentleness, coming like a nursing
mother, giving ourselves, being “affectionately desirous.”
Only God can make these shepherding attitudes genuine and
build them deeply into our spirits, otherwise they will be seen
as fleshly and manipulative. But if they pour from the depths
of our being and are characterized by transparent integrity,
God will move our people to love us as we have loved them.

33
The Heart of God Series

We can, then, quickly turn their love for us toward the Lord so
they can passionately love, serve and worship Him.
Our character will be revealed in this process. If we love
our people and give ourselves to them only to manipulate
them and enrich ourselves, we are not shepherds but gospel
peddlers for our own sake. Our goal in all things is the glory of
God and the advance of the gospel. The passions of our peo-
ple must be gripped for God if they would love and serve him.
We love them because God has raised us up to shepherd them
after His own heart. They love us because of the way we give
ourselves to them. But we do not seek that love for ourselves;
we want them to love Christ and His Kingdom.

The Ways of the Shepherd

King David followed hard after God and knew Him inti-
mately, and God was merciful to him. David, who grew up
caring for a flock of sheep, understood the Father’s ways and
became a man after God’s own heart. He reveals in his Shep-
herd’s psalm how he sees the Lord and what the ministry of a
shepherd looks like: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not
want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me
beside still waters” (Psalm 23:1-2).
Because God was the Shepherd of David’s life, David
had all that he needed. There was no lack in any area because
his heavenly Father provided everything through the riches
of His grace. The places of abundance, safety, and quietness
into which God led David left him with a spirit of content-

34
 Keys to Effective Leadership

ment in his Lord, and he expressed that contentment in wor-

ship.
Only someone who had fallen as David had could have
written: “He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righ-
teousness for his name’s sake” (Psalm 23:3). God picked Da-
vid up and filled his heart when he was empty. He directed
David into all that was right and good, for the sake of His
Name. The reputation of the shepherd is always at stake in the
way he cares for his sheep.
David was confident that in the darkest days of his life he
would not be alone: “Even though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4). In the
deepest valleys, filled with death’s shadows, David would not
be afraid. The knowledge of God’s presence was his greatest
protection, and even in the Father’s loving discipline there
would also be the Father’s comfort.
Even in the face of those who would destroy him, David re-
ceives such abundant blessing from God that his life over-
flows: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my
enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows”
(Psalm 23:5). As David muses more and more on the ministry
of the Shepherd, his heart fills even more with worship, and his
confidence grows as well. God poured over him the oil of His
Spirit, and all the Father’s blessing flowed in that anointing.
Many enemies—from fearful kings to David’s own
son—threatened his life and his kingdom. Often the circum-

35
The Heart of God Series

stances were so overwhelming that it seemed impossible to

get through them. Sometimes the pain was so great that he
wondered if he would ever be healed or experience wholeness
again. But God was faithful. His goodness and mercy became
David’s provisions all of his days, and then God shepherded
David to His eternal home, where His servant is enjoying His
presence forever: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow
me all the days of my life,and I shall dwell in the house of the
LORD forever” (Psalm 23:6).
When God calls us to walk with Him in shepherding His
people, the shepherd’s heart that we see in Psalm 23 is the
heart that He desires us to bring to them. Walking before one
another with the heart of our Shepherd removes a spirit of
competition among leaders. It enables us to rise above per-
sonal agendas, and it destroys political environments on min-
istry boards so that we can bring the life of our Father to our
people. The leaders in our churches and our missions organi-
zations may be brilliant, efficient, and very productive, but if
they do not follow their Shepherd, they will remain heartless.
Shepherding is nothing less than bringing the heart of
God to His people in a way that helps them to flourish and
grow for His glory. To do that, we need to listen, hear, follow,
and know Him so that He can reveal His heart to us and in that
process, build into us the heart of His Son, the great Shepherd
of the sheep.

***

36
 Keys to Effective Leadership

Questions for Interaction and Application

We encourage you to use this booklet as a four-week personal
devotional tool or as material for a class or small group. These
questions and reflections will help you in that process.

Week One

1. Have you desired a ministry of leadership in your church?

What prompted you to desire a position of serving in that
way?

2. I mentioned Tom’s sense of inadequacy as he considered

this opportunity. I talked also of my own sense of unwor-
thiness. Have you struggled in the same way? Why is this a
battle point for us?

3. Does the phrase “followership skills” take you by surprise

as it did Tom? Why does this concept give us so much dif-
ficulty?

4. How do you respond to the idea of your primary identity in

relationship to the Lord as that of a sheep? Do you wel-
come it or strive against it?

Reflections
Ask God to give you the grace to see yourself through His
eyes, and to increase in your heart the value of your relation-

37
The Heart of God Series

ship with Him as sheep and Shepherd. Tell Him that you want
to learn to follow Him, and of your desire to lay down any im-
ages of “leadership” that are in contrast to the role of a ser-
vant. Pray that in your unworthiness, God might make you
sufficient through Christ for all that He desires you to do.

Week Two

1. What are the primary characteristics of a sheep in relation-

ship to the shepherd? Why does God desire to build those
into you and me?

2. When you consider the various characteristics of a sheep,

which most clearly portray your relationship with your
Shepherd? Where do you need to grow the most?

3. When you consider how a sheep listens for the voice of its
shepherd, and that God desires you to hear His voice, what
are the things in your life that most keep you from listening
and hearing?

4. What do you think it means for a sheep to know the shep-

herd? How is that expressed in your relationship with
Christ?
Reflections
Confess to the Lord those attitudes and practices in your life
that keep you from listening for His voice. Talk to Him about

38
 Keys to Effective Leadership

the things that hinder you from hearing. Tell Him freely about
the times when you went your own way because you didn’t
want to take the time to wait, to listen and to hear where He
wanted you to go. Ask God to give you the heart of a sheep
that is dependent upon its shepherd for direction, provision
and protection. Pray that even in your humility, God would
draw you into deeper relationship and intimacy with Him.

Week Three

1. How do you respond to the thought of Jesus as a follower

rather than a leader? Does that diminish Him in your eyes?

2. What were the characteristics of Jesus’ relationship with

His Father as He followed Him? Can you see yourself liv-
ing with confidence that God will “show you what He is
doing” as He did with His Son, or are you fearful you
might miss what He wants you to do?

3. How do these characteristics differ from our images of

leadership? Can a person actually “lead” without initia-
tive, vision, goals, and dreams?

4. What qualities do we see in Moses, Paul and Peter that are

similar to those we see in the Lord Jesus? What progress
do you see as God is developing those in your heart?

39
The Heart of God Series

Reflections
Pray that God would make the place of a “follower” more sig-
nificant in your heart than the position of a “leader.” Tell Him
once again about the attitudes that need to grow or be changed
as you transition in your vision of yourself from a leader to a
follower. List out again the qualities that you see in the Lord
Jesus, Moses, Paul, and Peter that you are asking God to build
into your heart. Ask the Father to be faithful to His process of
bringing you to maturity in Christ as you follow Him.

Week Four

1. What do you think motivated Moses to ask God to show

him His ways? What do God’s ways look like, and why is it
so important for us to know them?

2. How were “the ways of God” revealed in Peter’s ministry?

How were they seen in Paul’s life and ministry?

3. Why is it so important to our relationships in ministry that

we respond to one another with our Father’s heart? What
changes when we come to each other in this way? What
happens if we don’t?

4. If it is true that God builds into us the heart of His Son as

we follow Him, how do our priorities in ministry change as
a result? What qualities could be more important for a

40
 Keys to Effective Leadership

leader than organizational skills, efficiency and productiv-

ity?
Reflections
As Moses did, ask God to “show you His ways so that you
may know Him.” Tell Him that you want your knowledge of
Him to go far beyond seeing His works. You want to know
those attitudes, values, passions and motives that reflect the
beauty of His heart. Pray that your relationships in your fam-
ily and your ministry would be the fruit of following hard
after God until He has made your heart like the heart of His
Son. Worship Him for His mercy and His grace that make this
transformation possible, and for the great power of the Holy
Spirit in you that makes it a reality!

41
 Leadership Resources
International

L eadership Resources is a ministry of encouraging and

equipping pastors and church leaders around the world. We
provide Bible conferences, leadership training and materials
designed to assist churches in the work of preparing their peo-
ple for ministry. Our conferences in the area of discipleship,
ministry, family, relationships and Inductive Bible Study are
available to churches and mission organizations throughout
the world.
Our great desire is that our marriages, families and
churches would reflect our Father’s heart, so that He might
use us to fill the earth with His glory.
The books and booklets we produce are designed for per-
sonal use, one–to–one discipleship, Sunday School classes,
home Bible studies and family ministries. Some of our studies
are also published in Spanish and Chinese.
For more information about our Bible conferences or ma-
terials, contact:
Leadership Resources
12575 South Ridgeland Avenue
Palos Heights, IL 60463
(800) 980–2226
www.leadershipresources.org