Leadership Development Initiative

Living Doctrine

Living Doctrine

What is doctrine? Doctrine is defined as principles accepted as one belief system including standards or principles of law that establish precedents in living.

What was the doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets? The Torah or the Law of God.

Ephesians 2:19–22 ESV

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

What was the doctrine of Jesus Christ? The fulfillment of the intent of the doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets.

Matthew 5:17 ESV

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

As followers of Christ we are called to bring the doctrine of Christ to life.

1 Timothy 4:6 ESV

If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.

1 Timothy 6:3 ESV

If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness,

Christ provided for us a “Leadership Map”.

Hebrews 6:19–20 ESV

We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

In the church we have a lot of technology that could aide us in doing a lot of things to take the Gospel of Christ to the people. However, technology can never replace or be a substitute for good leadership.

Developing leaders is integral to the continued and future success and growth of Jubilee and the advancement of the Kingdom of God for generations to come.

Jubilee must develop leaders and every level to adequately serve the needs of our families to help them grow into strong and solid homes built on the Word of God.

Our goal is not just good Christian homes as some sort of Christian cultural cliche’. We want the doctrine of Christ and the Spirit of God to actually reside in every father, mother and child.

Successful leadership develop must incorporate accountability, engagement, and commitment; create agile and competent leaders; produce stronger ministry teams; and increase excellence by reducing gaps between knowledge and resources.

Jubilee must be intentional and strategic about developing leaders at every level. Senior leaders need to focus on leadership development not just grass roots functional execution. We need to increase competent and committed volunteers. But we must raise up senior leaders not just committed volunteers. Senior leaders who have the character and passion for Christ, can maintain the integrity, who can plan, organize, administrate, motivate, implement, execute and manage conflict resolution with the maturity of Christ and sound Biblical wisdom and judgement. We cannot just continue to wait and hope these kind of leaders just show up someday.

It took a Moses to make a Joshua, and Elijah to make an Elisha, and Jesus to make a Peter.

Jubilee strategic leadership development must incorporate clearly defined leadership attributes and competencies; include a self-development process; and demand Christ-like character, sound judgment, problem solving and adaptability as situational leadership demands.

Leadership Integration Diagram

Core Leadership Attributes include -

Leaders that possess the integrity and willingness to act in the absence of direct instruction.

Trusted leaders of character, competence, and commitment.

Leaders who clearly provide purpose, direction, motivation, and vision to their teams and subordinates while executing ministry objectives that support and are in line with the vision of the church.

Leaders are in alignment with and uphold the teachings, core values, vision of the church in accordance with Scriptural integrity.

Leaders who function within the establish practices, ordinances, and guidelines of the church.

Leadership development is deliberate, continuous, sequential, progressive and founded in Biblical values. Leadership development is achieved through life-long relational processes that involve the transfer of -

Knowledge

Skills Sets

Experiences

Even in the church, leaders should seek a level of “proficiency” or professionalism in excellence. Leaders should deal with others or with conflict in a mature, biblical way which exhibits what the world would call professionalism but we call Christlikeness. Leaders should always exhibit excellence that includes maturity, confidence, competence, humility, respect, integrity, and high ethical standards.

Tenets of quality leadership development include (but are not limited to) -

Commitment by all - Commitment represents intention and engagement from the individual and from supportive leaders. Quality leaders want to serve in an organization that values camaraderie and teamwork and improves the capabilities of others. Quality Christian leaders do not seek self promotion, accolades, or personal gain but the desire of Christ to grow in others and meet the needs of others to grow in Christ. There will always be diverse levels of leadership. Not all leaders will become senior leaders. This in no way lessens the definition of leadership or its expected qualities. There will always be diverse levels of commitment. But whatever the level of commitment it should nonetheless possess the qualities of consistency and integrity to ones word to that for which they have purposefully committed. Regardless of the level of leadership or commitment, accountability and courtesy remain intrinsic qualities to remain.

Purpose and intentionality - Development depends on having clear purpose for what, when and how to develop. It involves leading by example, seeing hidden potential and developing subordinates, creating a positive and safe environment to develop and grow, connecting to the vision, adapting to changes and challenges, critical and creative thinking, openness and transparency, and truly knowing subordinates and their families.

Self-Motivation and initiative - Development depends on a desire both to impart and receive. The mentor must have the commitment driven by selfless desire to see others reach their fullest potential. At the same time, the recipient must have the humility to receive and commitment to be present at every given opportunity and make the most of it and drawing on the knowledge, wisdom, understanding and skills of their mentors. Where there is little desire there is little development becomes evident.

Supportive conditions - Supportive and safe relationship s must be an essential part of the leadership culture and recognize when development occurs with a continual willingness to engage with others. This employs two key tenet: creating a safe and effective learning environment and building on family dynamics. Leadership development is most effective when objectives are not inhibited. Leadership development makes family and other life responsibilities force multiplies instead of obstacles to development.

Investment in People - Development occurs through both formal and informal opportunities. Receiving and integrating newcomers, developing purposeful and functional tasks and assignments, implementing individual and collective training, educational opportunities, transition and succession plans are just a few examples of where critical leadership development takes place and is encouraged.

Assessment and Feedback - Assessment and feedback are necessary to guide and gauge leadership development. This may involve verbal praise and admonishment, performance monitoring, evaluation reports, coaching and mentoring conversations and growth counseling processes to engage leaders collectively or as individuals. It may include formal and informal workshops, seminars, training sessions that include teams building and personal assessment methods. It may also include events or activity after action reviews. Effective leadership development must include, at certain points, methods of quantitative and qualitative assessment and feedback of leadership growth and effectiveness relating to key leadership characteristics and skill sets. this involves both self-assessment, assessment of peers, and willingness to receive assessment from followers and seek self-improvement or make necessary corrections.

Accountability - Accountability speaks to two levels: leaders held accountable for how well they have developed their subordinates and individuals held accountable for their own professional and spiritual development. Will and time applied to development are essential for success. “Must be present to win!” Absent leaders can’t lead. Leaders at all levels must understand their responsibility for developing other leaders and themselves and create conditions that provide the opportunities for teaching, training, and providing developmental opportunities.

A Leader, by virtue of assumed roles and responsibilities, inspires and influences other people to accomplish intended goals. Leaders must first be servants and must above all possess the qualities and characteristics of Christ. Leaders must be self-motivated, driven by the cause of Christ, bound by the precepts and principles of the Word of God, maintain the highest levels of integrity in all matters of life and be able to see potential in and motivate others. They must be willing to take initiative and meet the same standards they set for subordinates. Leaders must pursue actions, not be procrastinators, follow up and follow through on tasks and commitments, have focused thinking, shape decisions and have vision for the greater good of the organization and the Kingdom of God.

At Jubilee we want to build a leadership development model that aligns desired outcome of leadership development activities and personal practices to a common set of characteristics and values as outlined through Christ’s model of discipleship.

Competencies are skills and learnable behaviors and decision making processes that we expect leaders to acquire, demonstrate, and continue to enhance for ethical mission accomplishment. All the competencies and attributes together lead to trust between the leader and the led, trust lays the foundation for mission command and effective teamwork. Strong and healthy relationships with Christ and each other ensures the success.