Growing up as a millennial, I was constantly inundated with a very particular Christian leadership training message: No matter who you are, you are supposed to be a leader.
“Leadership” was (and still is) a buzz word. I constantly heard mentors, teachers, and pastors calling people to leadership. They would say, “You know, everyone can be a leader!”
Christian leadership training has become as much a buzz word as [secular] leadership training. Just Google “Christian leadership” or “Christian leadership training,” and you will discover a seemingly unending supply of books, resources, training materials, and organizations dedicated to creating Christian leaders.
It’s everywhere we look: Christian Leadership Training.
But if we stop to consider for a moment, we might realize that fixating on making everyone leaders is not as Biblical as we thought and could even be having unintended consequences.
When our primary focus is making everyone into leaders, the message of Christian leadership training can easily become: Leaders are good and everyone else is, well . . . not.
As a kid who was socially awkward and shy, I heard the not-so-subtle communication that leadership was the best and everyone else could either become a leader or be meaningless.
Of course, the message of the New Testament is not that leaders are the most important and everyone else can join or be useless.
The message of the New Testament is that leadership and Christian leadership training is just ONE of the many roles to steward in the body of Christ.
In 1 Corinthians 12:4-6, 11, we learn, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God . . . All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as He wills” (ESV).
Whoa!
The New Testament makes it clear that only SOME are given the gift of leadership.
If we consider that the spiritual gifts mentioned in the New Testament (see especially Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12) are somewhat evenly distributed among God’s people, only a small fraction (probably around 8%) are leaders. Everyone else has different gifts, skills, and talents!
Now that’s a message for everyone! No wonder Jesus barely ever spoke directly about leadership!
One of the only times Jesus mentions the word “leader” in Scripture — here’s what He has to say about Christian leadership training:
“But Jesus called them to Him and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.’” – Matthew 20:25-28, ESV
It sure doesn’t sound like Jesus wants us all to seek to be leaders! Jesus wants us to seek to be servants!
Jesus uses a word very similar to “servant” in Matthew 9:35-38 where He says, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” I don’t think it is an accident that Jesus used the word “laborer” here.
Laborership – An Alternative to Christian Leadership Training
I think Jesus used the word “Laborership” because He knew the importance of ALL Christians from the least to the greatest. The word “laborer” doesn’t rule anyone out. Everyone can be a laborer. Laborers are ordinary people. They are the kind who work hard to get the job done. Leaders can be laborers, AND so can the shy, awkward, and less social among us.
By using this simple word “laborers” or “workers,” Jesus is pointing to the every-day type of people He chose to be His disciples! Later in the New Testament, these regular, diversly gifted followers of Jesus are referred to as the priesthood of all believers in 1 Peter 2:9: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (ESV).
Not everyone needs Christian leadership training!
Of course there will ALWAYS be a need for strong Christian leaders. But we need not insist that EVERY Christian become a leader. I suspect that the real message at the heart of what the Christian leadership movement intends is “influence” rather than “leadership.”
As Christians, we are all called to impact the world, to use whatever amount of influence we have to reveal Christ to people! AND we can affirm and bless people to be who God created them to be by making it clear that there are a variety of ways to do this using all the unique gifts and talents among believers. There are many roles to play in the body of Christ—of which leader is one!
Want to see what Kingdom Laborership looks like in real life? These stories of ordinary people living as Kingdom Laborers are a great place to start.
What might Christian Laborership training look like?
Since 1986, Forge has been passionately pursuing Jesus’ mission to raise up More Kingdom Laborers (not just Christian leadership training)—people who love God, love others, and advance the Kingdom every day, everywhere.
If you want to discover more about what role God has given you in the Body of Christ, here is a good starting point to explore ways you can advance God’s Kingdom and find the best resources to train you for a life on purpose: