The core of leadership must be transformational. It should be about empower and equipping people, not seeing people as cogs to run a factory. That would be management.
Transformational leadership brings people together and provides a vision that so captivated their will and imagination that they want to be a part of the team, regardless of whether there is pay involved or not. Jesus accomplished that with the twelve.
Jesus’ disciples didn’t get a salary, but something caused them to leave everything and follow their leader.
Transformational leadership develops people and brings out the best of their innate qualities. And when a team is formed upon this foundation, synergy: “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” gains traction, and the sky is the limit.
In our first year in Australia, 1990-1991, I directed a team of 12 young people from all over the world, presented a vision of reaching into the high schools and universities all over Oz, using their artistic gifts combined with power of sharing the Gospel from behind the microphone and one on one.
As a result, amazing things happened. That year we conducted 118 large group assemblies in 91 schools, hosted 8 camps and taught 16 on-going “special religious education” classes in the public school system. SRE classes that had full permission and blessing form the Australian government to teach and proclaim the Gospel and advance Biblical Christian world view. (Imagine that!)
That year, thousands of young Aussies both saw and heard the Gospel presented in a relevant and powerful way. I received calls from youth pasters all over Australia, informing me that their youth groups were exploding with growth and experiencing revival: love and life change in action.
The students –anywhere from 200-500 in attendance on average– were riveted and what they saw and heard. You could literally hear a pin drop at key intervals throughout the presentation. When the assembly came to a close. teenagers flocked the front to ask questions and seek prayer.
Our team worked really hard. We had to drive all over Sydney, New South Wales and greater Australia that year. There were no 4 lane freeways. It often took an hour or more to go from one area of Sydney to another. We had to set up equipment and break it back down. The drama and pantomime performances, combined with powerful music accompaniment, testimonies and wrap-ups presenting the Gospel, were physically and spiritually taxing.
As the ministry leader, I kept drilling home to the team members “You GET to do this! This such a privilege!” None of us got paid, but survived and donations from friends back home, wherever we came from. But we served because we were sold on a “heavenly vision” for which we were willing to throw down and dedicate ourselves to, no strings attached. GRACE put you in the “I actually GET to do this!” mode.
The memory that lingers is coming home with the with an indescribable sense of joy and fulfillment that overshadowed our physical exhaustion and actually energized us, making us want to do it again.
It’s nice to know that everything we did that year, we did on the shoulders of giants who had gone before…
“I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.” Paul, Acts 26:19
“I worked harder than any of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” Paul, 1 Cor. 15:10
“Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Jesus, Matt. 11:29
PS. The name of our team, “Strike A Light” was tagged “Strike A Match” as we saw well over a dozen very happy married couples emerge from our four years of ministry. “Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you.” Matt. 6:33
Indeed!
