I believe the primary role of every leader is to raise up more leaders.
Leadership is always a leveraged form of influence and it always works. That means when you seek to have intentional influence, you will–either for good or for bad–and in greater measure. Leadership is in short supply these days, no matter what sector of society you survey. This is just as true about spiritual leadership. It is imperative that we as Christ-centered leaders see our primary task as raising up more Christ-centered leaders.
The Apostle Paul penned three letters in the Bible that are aimed at two emerging leaders. The book of 2 Timothy is one of those letters. Timothy had been entrusted with the leadership of all of the house churches in Ephesus. Arguably, these were the people most dear to Paul. He spent more time in Ephesus than any other city on his missionary journeys. In this letter Paul is giving Timothy practical instruction on leadership.
In 2 Timothy 2:1-7 Paul places an emphasis on leader multiplication. In this brief passage there are three commands:
Be Strengthened-It will only be by the grace of Christ that Timothy will be able to multiply his life and multiply the leaders.
Entrust to Faithful Men-Paul is charging Timothy to make a deposit of instruction into the lives of those who are able and willing to pass it on to others. That deposit is the gospel itself in all of its fulness.
Share in the Suffering-The mission is not safe. We are deceived to ever think that it is. The mission includes spiritual warfare. Therefore it behooves us to see ourselves as soldiers. And soldiers suffer. This is the first of three metaphors Paul will use to give Timothy understanding about the nature of multiplying the leaders.
Paul then adds three attitudes that are critical to succeeding as a multiplier of leaders.
Devotion-Paul goes on to speak about the nature of soldiering. He states that a soldier’s sole desire is to please the one who enlisted him. In the 1st century there was no volunteer army. The king commissioned who served and who did not. A soldier commissioned is a soldier devoted to the king of his country. We can take that analogy to heart as we have been commissioned by the King of kings.
Discipline-Paul also uses an athletic analogy in this passage, which Paul famously does in several other letters he has penned in the New Testament. The only athlete who wears the victor’s wreath is the one who competes according to the rules. He disciplines himself or herself to do nothing less. There is a required discipline to seeing leaders multiplied towards Kingdom influence. There is a proper way to disciple. We ground them in core doctrine and we equip them well.
Dedication-Finally, Paul uses the farmer as the final analogy for what he has charged Timothy to do. A farmer has to plant and wait. Even when the crops begin to appear he must remain vigilant to nurture the shoots and protect them from ravenous insects or searing drought. That is dedication, all in hope of a future reward. We too must apply dedication, determined diligence, to the discipleship process that will multiply the leaders necessary for God’s kingdom to be expanded.
Our task is to multiply the leaders.
We must do so from a foundation of grace.
We must do so making a faithful deposit of the gospel to those who are qualified and ready.
We must do so knowing that we will suffer along the way.
It will require strict devotion, a focused discipline, and great dedication.
But the cause is great and the Master is worth our very best efforts–and He will cause the increase.
This is our leadership mandate.
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