How God Develops Leaders
COKE BOTTLE ILLUSTRATION
by
The lesson of the Coke bottle at its simplest is that no matter what the label on the container, it is the contents of the container that spill out. In much the same way, no matter the label that is placed on us, it is out of the overflow of our hearts that our mouths speak (Luke
We also need to recognize that the world around us does not naturally fill us with good things. These are things that come from the Holy Spirit dwelling within us (John
Another application that can be made is with 2 bottles – 1 small and 1 large – pointing out that as the level of our influence increases, our “capacity for spillage” also increases.
If churches are concerned about future leaders, they would do well to nurture their children, for any strategy for developing spiritual leaders must take into account those emerging leaders currently in their preteens. It is a church’s folly to consign its young people to a youth building across the parking lot so their loud music doesn’t disturb the adults’ worship. Wise churches will explore leadership opportunities for their teenagers rather than waiting until they are adults to begin finding avenues for them to lead (page 32, Spiritual Leadership).
What is the condition of your heart toward God? Draw a picture of your heart’s condition toward God. Take a clean sheet and, with colored markers, pencils or crayons, draw a picture of the spiritual condition of your heart. It can be expressed as a journey, a picture of a heart, whatever describes pictorially your relationship with God. Colors can give added meaning and insight. People can share these pictures with each other, or keep it individual. Encourage people to be creative.
What is the next step you need to take in your spiritual journey/walk?
A) 1 Samuel 16:6-11 (An idea for discussing this passage – you can play the “age”
game, where you find out who the oldest person is in your group and that person is now “the leader.” This game can also be played with comparing “heights”, and the tallest is the leader.)
1) How do you recognize a leader? (Or what not to look for.)
a. Physical appearance - verses 6-7
We look at the outside, God looks at the heart.
b. Age - opt for age over ability, verses 8-11. Is age a good qualifier or should it
be one of the top 2-3 qualifications?
We are not saying to put a novice in leadership.
c. Tradition - verses 6-7 (1 Samuel 9:1-2)
Just the same, because someone is of a certain age.
d.. Pecking order – who is available, verses 6-11.
The brothers were all available. It had to be one of them.
2) How did David look when he came before Samuel in v. 12-13? Was David ready to
be a leader?
No, but the potential was there. God saw it. We need to see as God sees.
Peter Senge, in his book The Fifth Discipline observed: “Most of the outstanding leaders I have worked with are neither tall nor especially handsome; they are often mediocre public speakers; they do not stand out in a crowd; they do not mesmerize an attending audience with their brilliance or eloquence. Rather, what distinguishes them is their clarity and persuasiveness of their ideas, the depth of their commitment, and their openness to continually learning more.” Peter Drucker observed: “There seems to be little correlation between a man’s effectiveness and his intelligence, his imagination or his knowledge.”
THINGS DON’T GET BETTER BY CHANCE, THEY GET BETTER BY CHANGE!!! -SUBWAY RESTAURANT
B) Jesus – Luke 2:52. The Balance – Mark 6:30-31
1) Increased in wisdom – intelligence/knowledge. How can you grow in intelligence?
Reading, seminars, tapes, mentor.
2) Increased in stature – physically. How can you develop physically? How do you
reduce stress?
Be physically fit, stop bad habits, establish good habits, exercise, rest,
time off.
3) Increased in favor with God – spiritually. How can you develop spiritually?
What am I watching/listening to?
Listen to God, devotions, thought life, serve.
4) Increased in favor with man – socially. How do you develop socially?
People skills, spend time with people, serve others, share wisdom, proper hygiene, skills development, listening skills (Luke
5) What are areas you/I can develop? What is your plan? Who will hold you
accountable?
What are events in your life where you can be a ministry? In other words, what has occurred in your life where you can help someone else? Have you experien
A TOP LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLE OF JESUS
Replenish yourself or Have a hunger & thirst for God
Matthew 5:6 - Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Have you ever been to the desert? What was it like?
a. Luke
Jeremiah 9:23-24 -
Psalms 63:1 –
Psalms 42:1-2 -
b. Prayer - heart of David - Psalms 51:1-2, 10
c. The sponge illustration - People need to see Jesus. [Put a dry sponge in water, squeeze it tight, and then have it open in the water. Pull it out and it is dripping. Squeeze a little (adversities in life) and more is dripping out. We drip something on people; is it the living water of Jesus? When the sponge gets dry, we need to put it back into the container of water to get replenished, so we can continue dripping on others the water of Jesus.)
d. Head knowledge is not heart knowledge.
e. Need to rest and relax, too. Mark
break and get a little rest.” For there was constant coming and going. They didn’t even have time to eat. (And they did not even have daytimers yet!!!)
1.”Come apart or you will come apart.” - Vance Haevner
2. John Maxwell - Life is demanding. People are demanding. The more you succeed, the more you lead, the more people will demand of you. Replenishing yourself requires your (intentional) attention. Faith walks out when fatigue walks in.
f. Leadership develops daily, not in a day. - The Law of Process
GROWTH PLAN
Go through this sheet and, as you are teaching the material, go back to the Plan. It is so important that we intentionally grow and also learn how God has worked in our lives (#1), what He is doing right now (#2), and where He is leading us (#3). Go through the whole growth plan with the audience. Have them begin to work on Section A and Sections D and E. Even if they select only one or two areas of their lives to work on, with writing a purpose statement (what they want to see happening in that particular area of their lives) and then 1 to 3 action steps that are attainable, understandable, measurable and able to put into their scheduled lives, that is a huge step in intentionally developing who they are. Make sure they find someone to hold them accountable to fulfill their growth plan.
1) Do I know who I am and where I am going?
2) How is my relationship with the Lord right now? Am I growing in Him or are
things dry/stale? Everything flows from your relationship with God.
3) What vision(s) and purpose(s) has put in me?
4) How will I get there, accomplishing what desires for me?
Utilize a Growth Life Plan. If you are not intentional about developing and growing you will not grow! Invest your surplus time wisely. Turn off the radio in the car. Keep a book nearby (page 226, Spiritual Leadership). Margaret Truman, the daughter of Harry Truman, could not recall a time she saw her father spending an idle moment without a book in his hand.
According to human development expert Brian Tracy, only three percent of all people are intentional enough to write out their goals. Yet,
C) Adversity - 2 Timothy 3:10-12. “Leaders are not people who escape failure, but people
who overcome adversity” (Henry Blackaby).
People’s life experiences can greatly affect the kind of leaders they become. Something as basic as birth order can have a profound impact on one’s leadership development. Oldest children are more likely to lead because they are generally given more responsibility by their parents. They often have a greater sense of affiliation with their parents than their younger siblings. Their superior size, strength, and knowledge compared to their brothers and sisters gives them confidence and enables them to begin exercising leadership in their homes at an early age. (Spiritual Leadership Interactive Study, p33, Henry Blackaby)
1) Joseph and Moses
Moses - Exodus 2:11-15;
a) What effect did the killing of the Egyptian have on Moses? (Exile for forty
years. Was he ready in the first third of h is life to lead the Israelites out of
b) What were exposed in Moses’ life by the five excuses?
1. Excuse #1 – Who am I? (3:11-12)
2. Excuse #2 - Who are you? (3:13-14)
3. Excuse #3 - What if they don’t listen. (4:1-9)
4. Excuse #4 - Not a good speaker. (4:10-12)
5. Excuse #5 - Find someone else. (4:13-14)
c) What was the bottom lime problem Moses had? He didn’t want to do the assignment – do God’s will.
d) When does faith step in as we humanly prepare for an assignment?
2) Abraham (God may begin in one generation what will come to fruition in succeeding generations)
a) Grow through failures (taking
b) Built spiritual landmarks (Genesis 12:7-9).
c) Experiencing God’s redemption – allows us to fail but He is right there to
redeem us. Learn from your mistakes. Character flaws left unattended can reappear in your own life and subsequent generations –
Abraham V Lying – (Genesis
Abraham V Isaac – (Genesis 26:7)
Abraham V Jacob – (Genesis 27:18-19)
d) Learn through experience about God’s character – (Genesis 15:1) After
receiving a resounding victory, Abraham learned that he could trust God as his shield.
e) Can’t take shortcuts – Hagar and Ishmael vs. Sarah and Isaac.
f) Demonstrated his faith – (Genesis 22:9-12)
g) Obeying God – giving Him everything, (Genesis 22:9-12,12-18)
h) Being a friend of God’s – (James
“Spiritual leadership develops as God matures people in their character
