Yes, You Are Designed to Lead
by Amanda Christopher
A few years ago, we recognized the need to begin developing leaders within the body at New City Church. We already had systems in place for training and equipping, but we knew then we needed to be more intentional. One of the results of that intentional focus is our Leadership Cohorts.
The cohorts are a 9-month discipleship and leadership training opportunity during which members read and study materials related to theology, mission, leadership and other topics. They are designed to provide a solid biblical, gospel-centered approach to leadership, not just within the church, but in all spheres of life. The hope is for members to finish the cohort with more clarity on how they are called to live as servant leaders and ministers of the gospel, and that they would be equipped to do so.
Around the same time the cohorts were beginning, New City staff and elders read a book called Designed to Lead by Eric Geiger and Kevin Peck. I want to share a portion of the introduction here, and I hope it will help you to see why it matters so much that the church develop leaders.
The Church is uniquely set apart to develop and deploy leaders for the glory of God and the advancement of the gospel. The Church is designed by God to create leaders for all spheres of life. Your church is designed to lead, designed to disciple leaders who are, by God’s grace, commanded to disciple people in all spheres of life. How can we make such a strong statement?
If we believe that apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:5), we must recognize that much of what is recognized as “leadership” will not stand the test of time. In the end, all that is done apart from Him will be proved to be rubble and worth absolutely nothing. No matter how convincing modern wisdom may seem, apart from the wisdom and activity of God, all human leadership activity will prove futile in the end. Leadership, apart from the work of God, cannot produce true flourishing or eternal results.
If we believe that God created the world and handed responsibility for watching over the garden to Adam and Eve, then human leadership must be understood as God-initiated. He purposed to use humanity to steward and cultivate (Gen. 1-2); His people were and are “at the center” of His plan. From the beginning, His people have been designed to lead.
If we believe that God has chosen to make His multifaceted wisdom known through the Church (Eph. 3:10), then the leaders that are developed through the Church are “at the center” of God’s design to represent Himself in all facets of life. Leaders who are motivated by His grace and shaped by His Word are leaders who invest their lives in what really matters.
If we believe, as William Temple stated, “The Church is the only society that exists for the benefit of those who are not its members,” then all of humanity benefits from the leaders who are created and formed in the Church. No organization carries such a holy mandate, thus the leaders developed in the Church and by the Church are leaders who are developed for the world. They are developed “in the center” and sent out to the world. The world is impacted and improved by the leaders the Church develops and deploys.
If we believe that ultimately only Jesus transforms, then only the message the Church carries can bring about true, everlasting change. Only the gospel, the message His people steward, can change the human heart. And the leaders that the Church develops administer the grace of God in its various forms (1 Pet. 4:10).
If we believe the command to make disciples (Matt. 28:19) is bigger and more beautiful than merely making converts and calling people to “make a decision,” then we understand the essential role of the Church in maturing people in Christ. The command to “make disciples” carries the connotation of forming believers who learn and develop over a lifetime. One result, then, of discipleship is believers who serve and influence others in all spheres of life. The Great Commission is Plan A; Jesus has no plan B. Discipleship, developing believers who grow over a lifetime, is His method. The full extent of discipleship is the development of disciples who are able to lead and develop others, not merely people who gather together for worship once a week.
Do you see it? Discipleship is leadership. Leadership in the image of God is discipleship. Later in the intro, we read this: “Whether you are called to lead in your home, in the marketplace, in God’s Church, or in your community—if you are called by God, then you are called to lead others to know and worship Jesus Christ.” There are no exceptions! If you are a follower of Jesus, you are a leader of people.
This matters. It is so important, not just for our own personal growth, but for the lost and dying world around us that so desperately needs Jesus. It’s our desire that men and women who go through our cohorts would grow in their understanding and application of Scripture and of the gospel, and would be equipped to lead others to live in light of it.
If you are interested in the cohorts and in growing in your leadership potential, please visit the link below to find out more about the cohorts. Applications will open in the spring and these pages will give an overview of the cohorts and the requirements of participants. We hope you will consider growing in your leadership with us.