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Servant Leadership

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Waiting vs. Working

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Living in the tension that transforms leadership

There are many mind-blowing verses in the Bible, but this promise from Jesus grabs me by the throat every time I read it:

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12)

Wait—did Jesus really mean what He said? That we would do greater things than Him?

Since 2013, I’ve had the privilege of being part of The Message Trust. Our founder and now global leader, Andy Hawthorne, consistently reminds us that we are ordinary people in the hands of an extraordinary God. And when we recognise that and depend on Him, remarkable things can happen. Since joining The Message, I’ve witnessed God move incredibly, transforming lives in urban centres worldwide and restoring dignity to the poor and brokenhearted. Andy often points us to Ephesians 3:20, where we’re reminded that God can do “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.”

And yet, we still long for more. We long to see God’s name and renown honoured across the world, especially in marginalised, impoverished, and systemically broken urban communities.

This raises a profound question: How is this possible? Can we expect to do greater things than the Lord Jesus Christ?

Many leaders operate under the paradigm that success is proportional to effort. We naturally assume that productivity directly correlates with reward. This seems to be a fundamental law of leadership. But what if biblical leadership operates from a completely different paradigm?

It’s time to rethink our success-driven worldview, especially in approaching leadership as Christians. Scripture teaches that we are called to lead with exponential impact that is disproportionate to our efforts. Scripture doesn’t speak in terms of success, but in terms of fruitfulness. The source of fruitfulness isn’t our effort, but our reliance on the Holy Spirit. In this paradigm, the goal isn’t popularity or praise, but Spirit-inspired, God-exalting worship.

This approach to life and leadership is woven throughout the entire Bible. It starts in Genesis, with God’s command to Adam and Eve to be fruitful and increase in number (Gen. 1:28), and continues with His promise to Abraham that his descendants would be countless and a blessing to the world (Gen. 12:2–3). In Genesis 26:12, we see a physical example of this principle when the Lord blesses Isaac with a hundredfold harvest—an abundant result that went far beyond his effort.

This account of Isaac’s extraordinary harvest provides context for Jesus’ promise that those who receive the good seed of the gospel will produce “a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown” (Mark 4:20). Jesus wasn’t talking about personal prosperity, but about kingdom fruitfulness. The fruit is disproportionate to the effort because it comes from receiving and believing the Word!

“Every good seed that falls on good soil has great potential for multiplication.”
— Bekele Shanko

However, the path to this kind of impact can feel counterintuitive. Don’t get me wrong—the Bible clearly endorses hard work (e.g., Col. 3:23). But it also consistently calls us to depend on God. Throughout Scripture, we’re encouraged to wait on the Lord.

It’s in that sacred tension between working hard and waiting on God that true fruitfulness can happen.

That tension has challenged and shaped me as a leader. It’s why I’ve written Waiting vs. Working: A Christian Leader’s Tension, which explores what I’ve learned about leading from a posture of dependence rather than drive alone. This shift, done for His glory, can unlock fruit far beyond any human effort. I know, because I’ve seen it.

Maybe that’s what Jesus meant when He said we’d do even greater things.

Please click here to download your free copy of Waiting vs. Working, published by biblicalleadership.com. This is the first in a series of short leadership eBooks I’ll be releasing in the coming months.

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Grab a Towel: Luganda version launched in Uganda

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We are excited to announce the launch of the Luganda version of Grab a Towel, which took place in May 2025. The launch was held during a special training event for Anglican priests and lay readers, organised by The Message Uganda. In Luganda, Grab a Towel is translated as Weesibe Ekimyu, and we are grateful that the book is now accessible to a new audience in Uganda. The Luganda version will soon be available on this website.. Contact us for more information.

Godfrey E.N. Nsubuga was the chief translator for this project, and he submitted this review of Grab a Towel

I’m grateful to God for the opportunity to serve as the lead translator of Grab a Towel, a book by Tim Tucker, from English into Luganda. This translation journey allowed me to deeply engage with the content of the book. As a result, my longstanding knowledge and experience, as a Bible school teacher and church leader in various capacities for over 35 years, were profoundly challenged, paragraph by paragraph.

Right from the start, I was struck by the words of Pastor Anthony Liebenberg, who, in his endorsement at the beginning of the book, offered this caution to readers: “Get ready for adjustment after adjustment, because that’s what this book is all about. Grab a towel and enjoy the journey.”

The author presents Christian leadership through what can only be described as an “upside-down” approach—radically different from traditional concepts and practices. First and foremost, he emphasises that you are not truly a leader unless you are first a servant. Moreover, this leader must not only be rooted in Christ, but must also fully embody Christlikeness—inside and out.

A Christ-centred servant leader, according to the book, should consistently work with a heart focused on raising others up, ultimately phasing themselves out to make room for new, Christlike leaders they have mentored. The essence of this model is a leader who is always willing to “give away power” to those they have groomed, mentored, and discipled—to see them not only reach their level of leadership, but surpass it.

This message deeply challenged me. I found myself sitting down with my fellow ministry associates to reflect on our own efforts. We had to confront the reality: if, after several years, we have not yet raised up capable servant leaders to take over from us, we are doing too little. We have since adjusted our discipleship process in our church to ensure that our followers are empowered to reach their God-given potential as servant leaders as quickly and effectively as possible.

At the heart of Grab a Towel is the powerful idea that all the activities, programs, and projects of a ministry or church must revolve around a passion for people, not the other way around. Too often, ministries can become so focused on programs and activities that they lose sight of the people they are meant to serve. This leads to a “people for programs” model, instead of “programs for people.” In other words, everything we do should prioritise people, not treat them as appendages to our church or ministry calendar.

I’m deeply thankful to the author, Tim Tucker, for writing Grab a Towel. I truly believe this book will create ripple effects wherever it is read and used for training.

Godfrey E.N.Nsubuga is a trained journalist, theologian and teacher. For the last 30 years, he has written course books for the ministries of Education for Uganda, Zambia, Rwanda and Kenya. He has taught in several Bible Colleges in Uganda and currently he is managing Nissi Publishers (U) Ltd.

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A Table of Empowerment: Lessons from Nehemiah

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Many Christian leaders look to the biblical character Nehemiah for inspiration. His story—rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem amidst life-threatening opposition—is well known. With unwavering faith, he completed a seemingly impossible task because he believed deeply in the call God had placed on his life.

But beyond the big, dramatic moments of his leadership, there’s a more intimate and often overlooked scene that has shaped my approach to leadership. It’s found in Nehemiah 5:17–18:

“Furthermore, a hundred and fifty Jews and officials ate at my table, as well as those who came to us from the surrounding nations. Each day one ox, six choice sheep and some poultry were prepared for me, and every ten days an abundant supply of wine of all kinds. In spite of all this, I never demanded the food allotted to the governor, because the demands were heavy on these people.”

To my mind, this is servant leadership at its finest.

Not only did Nehemiah reject the privileges normally afforded to someone in his position, but he also used his personal resources to provide for his leadership team. Can you imagine being a fly on the wall at that daily barbecue? No wonder his team served alongside him with such loyalty and sacrifice.

A Leader Who Empowers

Nehemiah understood that the secret of great leadership is to serve and empower others to fulfill the calling God has placed on their lives. By setting a generous table, he wasn’t just feeding people—he was multiplying his impact through the leaders around him.

That’s my dream, too.

As the African Development Director for The Message Trust, I’ve felt called to empower and equip emerging African leaders. In my context, that means laying a table of resources, opportunities, and support—a place where others can thrive and grow.

A Table for the Continent

Recently, we took a significant step toward that vision by hosting our first Africa Leaders Summit in Cape Town, South Africa. We gathered over 20 leaders from 11 African countries—each one passionate about reaching their communities with the hope of Jesus.

Our goals were simple but powerful:

  • Foster unity
  • Learn from one another
  • Launch an African Leaders Network to strengthen our shared mission

Our desire is to reach the least, last, and lost with the Good News of Jesus—and to see them flourish in both faith and life. This summit was just the beginning.

Worship, Wisdom, and a Shared Vision

Some of my favorite moments from the summit were during worship and prayer. We praised God in unity while expressing our diversity in language, culture, and style. It was a beautiful glimpse of the Church in all its richness.

Another highlight was simply listening—hearing how God is moving in different regions of the continent. The depth of insight and quality of conversation was truly inspiring.

Support the Movement

Please pray for the continued development of our Africa Leaders Network. If you’d like more information or want to get involved, feel free to reach out.

I’ll close with a powerful quote from one of our summit delegates:

“Meeting people from diverse backgrounds and different countries was truly enriching. It provided a unique opportunity to learn from one another’s experiences, cultures, and perspectives. These interactions not only broadened my understanding of global issues but also fostered meaningful connections that I hope will grow into lasting partnerships.”

The first Message Africa Leaders Summit, with delegates representing South Africa, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Nigeria, Togo, Gabon, Ghana, DRC, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Kenya and UK.

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Leading with Exponential Impact

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Leading with Exponential Impact was the workshop I presented at the recent Exponential Global Conference* in Orlando, Florida. Exponential gathers 6,000 church planters, church leaders and ministry leaders from across the U.S., together with a scattering of participants from other countries (like me). The theme for this year’s conference was Good, Great, Greater, based upon Jesus’ words in John 14:12:

‘Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.‘

The plenary sessions applied the theme to leadership, church planting and urban mission. A couple of hundred workshops helped delegates explore various aspects of the theme. I attended diverse workshops relating to spiritual growth, developing diverse teams and event management. One of the highlights for me was being part of the ministry team that prayed for hundreds of people on the final morning, commissioning them for greater impact in their lives and ministry.

In my workshop, I built upon the Effortless theme (which I’ve previously written about on this blog – click here for the articles) and considered our biblical mandate to lead with exponential impact, meaning fruitfulness beyond our efforts. The mainstream view of leadership suggests that rewards are directly proportional to our efforts. However, as Christ-centered servant leaders, I believe the Bible teaches us to expect greater fruit, not in the form of personal rewards, but in the impact we have for the Kingdom.

For this to happen, we need to have a paradigm shift in how we lead. In my workshop, I proposed that this shift has three key elements, as illustrated in the image below.


I will unpack each of these shifts in upcoming articles. However, to pique your interest, you can view my slides from the presentation by clicking the download link below.

Effortless workshop slidesDownload

The worship, the opportunity to engage with passionate believers, and the pursuit of the Holy Spirit made this conference an incredibly valuable experience. My biggest takeaway can be summed up by this quote from Andrew Murray:

‘God’s children, in the first place, require a revival – a new revelation by the Holy Spirit of what is the hope of their calling, of what God does indeed expect from them, and of the life of power and consecration, of joy and fruitfulness, which God has prepared for them in Christ.’**

*For more information on Exponential, please see https://exponential.org/

**Leona Choy, Andrew Murray, the Authorised Biography.

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Qualified to Comfort

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If you were asked, ‘What kind of leadership do we need in the 21st century?’ I wonder what your answer would be. More specifically, how can we, as Christ-centered servant leaders, have the greatest missional impact in this historical moment of uncertainty, strife, and anxiety?

This verse has been at the forefront of my mind over the past few months:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

It strikes me that this verse helps define servant leadership.

Christ-like servant leaders are equipped to comfort others because they have received the comfort of a loving heavenly Father. However, providing comfort doesn’t sound like the kind of gung-ho leadership that’s so highly valued in the 21st century. It wouldn’t make the front cover of the leadership guru books we find in mainstream bookstores, which often seem to need an expletive to become a best-seller.

And yet, in a world full of pain, we serve people best by comforting them in their trouble with the comfort that we have received from God.

Paul isn’t talking about mere sympathy—a pat on the back and telling people to hang in there because it will be alright in the end. We are not to deal in platitudes or greeting card slogans. Rather, this kind of comfort is an inner strengthening through wise counsel and deep encouragement. It is faith-fueled and hope-filled, coming from a place of deep empathy. It is committed to walking alongside someone as they navigate their painful experiences.

When we provide this kind of comfort, we are engaging in Trinitarian ministry. The word Paul repeatedly uses in this passage is paraklesis. Translated here as comfort, it is the same word used to describe the Holy Spirit as our Helper in John 14:16 and of Jesus as our Advocate in 1 John 2:1. The Father, the Holy Spirit, and the Son are our comfort, help, and advocate. As servant leaders, we extend this ministry to others. We are comforters, helpers and advocates to those going through difficulties.

Our qualification for this ministry is not based on our title or academic credentials. We are equipped for this ministry through our experience. Everyone who has received the comfort of the loving and compassionate Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is equipped to extend that comfort to others.

This is the counter-cultural nature of biblical leadership. It is the original pay-it-forward model of leadership. We pass on to others what we have received, igniting a movement of compassionate support that equips people to flourish in faith and life. This is how the mission of God will expand in the world: through this kind of servant leadership in action.

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We Need New Leaders!

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Earlier this year I was asked to contribute an article to the Lausanne Movement as they prepare for their global congress in South Korea later this year. It was a privilege to have my article published in July.

The Lausanne Movement has been at the cutting edge of global missions since the 1970s. Their website states,

With a rich history spanning over five decades, the Lausanne Movement has been at the forefront of global mission through fostering Christian collaboration, platforming missional strategy, and equipping leaders and influencers to fulfil the Great Commission.

I have greatly admired the Lausanne Movement – though largely as a consumer of their content rather than an active participant. It was, therefore, an incredible privilege to be invited to attend the African and Middle East regional conference in Ethiopia in November 2023. I’m really looking forward to participating in the fourth global congress in September 2024.

Michael Oh, the Global Executive Director of the Lausanne Movement says:

Lausanne 4 is a multi-year, global, polycentric process facilitated by the platform of Lausanne, towards catalytic collaboration of the global church, for the discipling of all nations and the shaping of the world in 2050.

I feel this is a compelling vision and one that requires a high commitment to partnership and collaboration. The movement’s fourfold vision is to see ‘the gospel for every person, disciple-making churches for every people and place, Christ-like leaders for every church and sector, and kingdom impact in every sphere of society‘. It is encouraging that Christ-like leadership lies at the heart of Lausanne’s vision. So, although my article is just one contribution to a larger body of work that has been developed over many years, it was wonderful to have the opportunity to encourage everyone within the Lausanne movement to grab a towel and follow Christ’s example.

It was also great to have my article translated into multiple languages. Well, hopefully I’ve whet your appetite. Please click here to read the article: We Need New Leaders: Responding the cry of the 21st Century.

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Leadership Insights from Jossy Chacko’s Book: Madness

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I was leaving the auditorium feeling inspired. I was at the Exponential conference in Orlando and had just heard Jossy Chacko speak. He shared about a movement of transformational leaders that are planting churches all across India and beyond. While reflecting on what had been shared, some volunteers thrust a book into my hand. It was Jossy’s autobiography – Madness. I’ve just finished reading the book and loved reading about his journey. As he shares about his faith, his move to Australia, establishing the ministry of Empart, and his vision to plant thousands upon thousands of churches, he weaves leadership lessons that have equipped him to grow such a fruitful ministry.

Whenever I finish a book, I go through it and copy out quotes and sections that have made an impression on me. As I reviewed Madness, I was struck by the alignment between what Jossy was sharing and the eight hallmarks of Christ-centred servant leadership that are the foundation of Grab a Towel. Therefore, I thought it a great opportunity to recap these hallmarks and emphasise them through relevant quotes from Jossy’s book.

Grab a Towel Hallmark 1: Christ-centred servant leaders increasingly display the character of Christ.

Jossy writes, “Leaders don’t fail because of lack of information, they fail because they lack character.”

Jossy Chacko, 2008:127

Grab a Towel Hallmark 2: Christ-centred servant leaders have a Gospel-focused vision that continues God’s work on earth.

Jossy writes, “Cast a big enough vision. A big-enough vision is one that makes you wonder, ‘is this too big?!’ It’s one that keeps you awake at night and energised during the day. A big-enough vision has ample space for others to join you and it requires ongoing miracles to continue.”

Jossy Chacko, 2008:92

Grab a Towel Hallmark 3: Christ-centred servant leaders are faithful stewards of the Gospel and their gifts in their generation.

Jossy writes, “Faithfulness involves multiplying what you have been given. Faithfulness and fruitfulness are two sides of the same coin. In God’s eyes, you cannot be faithful without being fruitful.”

Jossy Chacko 2008:65

Grab a Towel Hallmark 4: Christ-centred servant leaders catalyse other leaders through growing in maturity.

Jossy writes, “The level to which God can use you is directly proportional to the level of your surrender to him.”

and

“Don’t let the little things you don’t know hold you back from the big things you know to be true… To live a lifestyle of significance is to give yourself away… Our challenge is to discover and align all that we are and all that we have to that which God has already prepared.”

Jossy Chacko, 2008:55,113

Grab a Towel Hallmark 5: Christ-centred servant leaders put people before programmes, projects and profit.

Jossy writes, “Most of the time we are so self-focused that we miss the things that God put around us… To be less self-aware and more others-aware is to become like Jesus.”

and

“Invest in people not projects. It is easy to become too invested in a project close to your heart. Instead, invest in the people leading the projects.”

Jossy Chacko 2008:80, 221

Grab a Towel Hallmark 6: Christ-centred servant leaders empower others to fulfil their potential.

Jossy writes, “I came to believe that the quality and success of missionaries should not be determined by how long they stayed on the field, but by how briefly they stayed, and how strategic they were in developing national leaders and sustainable infrastructure… Missionaries and outside workers must be like a scaffolding: once the building is done, it must be removed and relocated to the next site.”

and

“As a leader, my job is to create an atmosphere where good ideas can flourish.”

Jossy Chacko 2008:96, 185

Grab a Towel Hallmark 7: Christ-centred servant leaders are motivated by compassionate love for others.

Jossy writes, “It is not either just about preaching nor is it just about meeting a need; we need to do both social and spiritual transformation. Jesus never separated the Good Commandment and the Great Commission; to him these were two sides of the same coin.”

and

“Christ-like compassion compels us to care for the lost and the needy, giving people the answer to both problems.”

Jossy Chacko 2009:121, 122

Grab a Towel Hallmark 8: Christ-centred servant leaders have the steely resolve to persevere.

Jossy writes, “I strongly believe that a person’s leadership capacity is determined by their capacity to bear pain” (Chacko 2008:204).

and

“Let struggle refine you. Character is rarely developed in comfort; it is tested and refined by struggles. Hardship and trials are the most fertile ground for character formation and leadership development” (Chacko 2008:41).

Jossy Chacko 2008:204, 41

I hope you have been inspired by this sample of quotes. Leaders like Jossy raise the bar as they themselves seek to follow the example of Jesus. Find out more about Jossy Chacko here: https://jossychacko.org/.

All quotes are taken from the 2008 edition of Madness.

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Effortless Part 2: Working While Waiting

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In the first article of this series, I introduced the effortless paradigm. This is the sweet spot of effective leadership, where God’s abundant blessing ensures that the fruit of our labours is exponentially disproportionate to the effort. This is a counter-cultural approach to leadership because it causes us to recognise that leadership is not about me.

Rather, fruitful leadership is proportionate to our dependence on God. However, that does not mean we are idle. We are called to partner with God and play the part he is calling us to play within his cosmic mandate. Therefore, I concluded the first article by proposing that the key to having an exponential impact through our life and leadership is learning to live in the biblical paradoxes of waiting and working; striving and surrender; struggle and security. We start by considering how Christian leadership requires both waiting on God while working for God.

I remember the night with absolute clarity. I lay in my bed somewhat panic-stricken. Anxiety was crippling my mind as I came to terms with the long-term impact of the diagnosis I’d received. Although not life-threatening, chronic fatigue syndrome meant I was facing an uncertain future. I had been quite severely debilitated and in pain for some months. As a 19-year-old young man, hard-wired to be an activist-achiever, I struggled to understand God’s purpose in allowing me to have a prolonged illness when I should be entering the prime of life. In my confusion, I cried out to God.

It’s always hard to describe the deepest spiritual encounters with God. Sometimes words are insufficient and I’ve always found it almost impossible to explain how God met with me on my bed of illness and anxiety that night. It literally felt like a blanket of love was placed around me to comfort me. And I experienced absolute peace that God was in control. He assured me that this was part of his plan and purpose for me. Through this encounter, he transformed my perspective. I realised that God’s love for me was not conditional on what I could do for him. Even if I spent the rest of my life unable to do things for him (e.g., run the youth group, lead the sports ministry I’d started, even attend church), that didn’t change how he felt about me.

Over the next couple of years, as I began to recover from the illness, I recognised that my activity for God needed to emanate from this revelation that God loved me unconditionally. My doing was not to earn his favour, rather it was an act of worshipful gratitude for his love and all he had done for me. It’s a lesson God has had to remind me of countless times since.

For so many leaders, our identity is wrapped up in our work and activity. We find our value and sense of worth in the work of leadership. The danger in this is that there is a very fine line between working for God out of love for him and working for God to earn his approval. When seeking to earn his approval, we will operate from our own efforts rather than dependence on the Holy Spirit. We may experience some short-term success but it is unlikely that we will see lasting fruit or experience exponential impact beyond our labour (see 1 Cor. 3:12–15).

Effortless leadership, on the other hand, starts from the position of obeying the biblical instruction to wait on God (given consistently to leaders throughout scripture e.g., Ex. 14:14, Ps. 37:9, Ps. 40:1, Hab. 2:3, Mt. 14:23, 2 Pet. 3:8–10). Our identity and sense of self-worth should not be wrapped up in our work and accomplishments. It is rather intrinsically connected to our position as sons and daughters of God (Rom. 8:15–17). The posture of waiting on God is consistently presented in scripture as the appropriate starting point for all effective and fruitful ministry. Waiting on God is essential to counteract the temptation to focus on success, numbers, profit or any other metrics related to our work for him.

However, the biblical counsel to wait on God does not call us to a life of disengagement from the world. Instead, waiting on God provides the impetus for our work, recognising there is a biblical mandate upon us to work hard for the cause of the Gospel. Jesus himself instructs us; “As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me” (John 9:4).

The nineteenth-century South African pastor and church statesman, Andrew Murray, oversaw a spiritual renewal which started in the small town of Wellington and went on to have a global impact. Murray worked tirelessly with incredible zeal and passion as a pastor and evangelist. Through his example and his writings, there has been exponential fruit far beyond his effort by which God continues to receive much glory. I feel that the secret to his fruitfulness was that he understood how to live in the tension between waiting and working. Among his many writings, he wrote two small devotional guides. The first was called, Waiting on God and the second, Working for God. In the introduction to the second volume, he harmonises the states of waiting and working by stating the following:

“Waiting on God has its value in that it makes us strong in work for God… as waiting on God lies at the root of all true working for God, so working for God must be the fruit of all true waiting on Him.” (Andrew Murray, Working for God, p. 1–2).[1]

The apostle Paul was another man of action. Following his dramatic conversion, he worked tirelessly to extend the Gospel around the world. However, he didn’t define his success by virtue of his hard work. Rather, he defined it as follows: “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them – yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me”. (1 Cor. 15:10).

Paul’s work for God flowed out of God’s work in him. Paul’s dependence on God’s grace came as he waited on God and discovered that God’s grace alone was sufficient for him (2 Cor. 12:9). However, that led him to work tirelessly, instructing us to do the same (e.g., 1 Cor. 15:58).

Waiting on God in order to work for God is the antidote to seeking salvation by merit. It is also the antidote for leaders whose self-worth is tied up in their productivity. By grace, God has chosen us for “good works which he has prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph. 2:10).

It’s not a choice between waiting or working. The Christian life is an inextricable combination of these two states of being: we wait and work; we work while waiting. Sometimes there are seasons where the emphasis is on waiting on God. There are other seasons of incredibly productive work. The temptation for leaders is to keep working without ever waiting. Therefore, in this area, I advise we need to afford ourselves extra accountability in order that we can see God work mightily through us, meaning that we’ll see our work is effortless in comparison to the exponential fruit harvested for the kingdom.

[1] See www.grabatowel.site/2023/07/26/working-while-waiting-leadership-gems-from-andrew-murray/ for more helpful quotes from these books.

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Effortless: Leading with Exponential Impact

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This is the first in a series of four articles. I want to develop this theme into a book. Please send any feedback to [email protected]

We settled down as a family in great anticipation. It was 1984 and I was nine years old. The Sarajevo Winter Olympics were in full flow. As a British family there wasn’t much to cheer for. We didn’t have great skiers, bobsledders or speed skaters. However, we did have our sights on one gold medal; figure-skaters, Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean carried the hopes of a nation desperate for success as they took to the ice for their final routine. We held our collective breath for the next few minutes as Torvill and Dean glided around the rink with flawless synchronisation to the evocative tones of the song Boléro. Upon completion, the crowd showered flowers on the ice in appreciation of the perfection they displayed. The judges sealed the historic moment by rewarding them with the highest scores ever achieved by figure skaters. In our house, and across the nation, we marvelled at how effortless they made it seem.

The perception of effortlessness was only accomplished because they had put in years of hard work. When they received their gold medals they embodied a philosophy of the modern era: effort = rewards.

This philosophy has shaped the 10,000 hours mantra that became popular in the early 21st century through the writing of Michael Gladwell. Following his theory, former international table tennis player, Matthew Syed, writes.

“the path to excellence… is steep, gruelling, and arduous. It is inordinately lengthy, requiring a minimum of ten thousand hours of lung-busting effort to get to the summit.” (Syed, Bounce, 2010:168).

It is easy to see how this approach to life has been embraced by 21st Century Christian leaders. Schooled in the Protestant ethic of hard work and imbibed within the cultural climate of the constant pursuit of success, the goals of most Christian leaders don’t often appear much different from their unbelieving counterparts. It is not uncommon for this philosophy to also encroach on our ministry, believing that our results are determined by a combination of our giftedness and effort.

Superficially, it may appear there is nothing wrong with these ideals. Yet, I have some nagging questions. What if the results we are seeing in our lives are a fraction of what God has for us? What if we are merely leading a merry dance of performance-based Christianity, akin to secular ambition? What if the way we disciple people is leading them to greater dependence on themselves rather than the Holy Spirit? What if life in Christ is meant to be different from the simple equation of success being directly proportional to the amount of effort we put in?

I believe it’s time to rethink how we view the success-based (Western-influenced) worldview, particularly in relation to how we approach leadership. We need to have our minds renewed (Romans 12:2). I believe that we are called to lead with exponential impact that is disproportionate to our efforts. In fact, Scripture doesn’t use the language of success but of fruitfulness. The source of fruitfulness is not our effort, but reliance on the Holy Spirit. In this paradigm, the end goal is not popularity and plaudits, but Spirit-inspired, God-exalting worship.

I believe this approach to life and leadership emanates throughout the whole of the bible. The scene is set in Genesis. From the mandate to Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28), through to God’s promise to Abraham that his descendants would be countless, and a blessing to the whole world (Genesis 12:2-3). Then in Genesis 26:12, we see a physical example of the effortless principle in action where the Lord blesses Isaac and provides him with a life-changing hundredfold harvest. The language here provides the context for Jesus’ promise that those who receive the good seed of the Gospel will produce a crop… “some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown” (Mark 4:20). Jesus is clearly not talking about personal prosperity but about Kingdom fruitfulness. The fruit was disproportionate to the effort because it is based upon receiving and believing the Word! As Jesus went on to say in John 15:8, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

I describe this approach to leadership as the effortless paradigm. It’s not that there is no effort on our part. Rather, the fruit is disproportionate to our effort to the extent that, when observing what is happening, we have to admit that we played a minor role which, in reality, was effortless. The effortless paradigm is embodied in the beautiful promise of Isaiah 60:22, “The least of you will become a thousand and the smallest a mighty nation. I am the LORD; in its time I will do this swiftly.”

The effortless paradigm is a counter-cultural approach to life, ministry and leadership which starts with laying down our own selfish ambition and committing to a life of Gospel ambition. When we look at this objectively, who wouldn’t want to live effortlessly? When we operate in the success paradigm, it leads to the all-too-common results of exhaustion, frustration, anxiety, stress and burnout. But when we live a Spirit-empowered life that is dependent upon Christ, it enables us to have a sustained impact for the long haul.

I believe that this is what Jesus meant when he referred to the abundant life in John 10:10. It is also the kind of faith that Paul exhorts us to have as we trust in God who can do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine, because His power works within us (Ephesians 3:20).

This should be our testimony to the world; that the fruitfulness of our lives is not dependent on how smart we are or how much effort we have had to put in. Rather, the fruit is disproportionate to our effort and therefore, by comparison, it is effortless because all fruitfulness is a gift of God’s grace and declares his glory. Richard Foster put it like this,

“…one of the clearest signs of the grace of God upon us is when the results of our labour are far in excess of the amount of work we do” (Foster 1992:183).

So, what am I advocating then? Is the Christian life a spectator sport where we sit and observe God at work while we laze around? Not at all! In the next few articles, I want to explore three paradoxes of effortless leadership which are tensions that we live with as those on mission with Jesus. It is in the seeming paradoxes of waiting and working; striving and surrender; struggle and security that we find the sweet spot for Kingdom fruitfulness.

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Are you listening?

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Communication is a massive challenge for leaders. Always has been, always will be. One of the biggest issues many of us face is truly listening to people rather than simply waiting for a long enough pause for us to be able to spew out our opinions (and if a pause doesn’t come, we just butt in regardless). But something else is causing me concern about how we’re communicating in the technical age.

Every morning I listen to a talk-show radio station as I do the school-run. It used to be a phone-in station… you know the kind, people calling in to chat about the hot-topics. However, the trend now seems to be moving from phoning in to sending in voice-notes. I understand that this is an efficient form of communication. But the result is that I find myself listening to serial monologues of varied opinions rather than genuine conversation. The listener sends in their opinion, then, after listening to a few of these mini speeches, the DJ responds with their own monologue – always having the final word on the matter.

It seems like genuine conversation is dying a rapid death. The result is that there is less meaningful engagement and next to no accountability for one’s opinion. We already know this is true of social media. Are we in danger of devaluing all human interaction into this form of monologue? In my day to day work, I very rarely pick up the phone and make a call to chat through an issue with a colleague. We are more likely to trade voice notes in order to make arrangements or “discuss” an idea. Even in friendships, whole conversations can be recorded monologues rather than the ebb and flow of beautiful, robust, interactive conversation. And yes, it’s been compounded by lockdown, social distancing and mask-wearing.

I’ve been reflecting on this for some time, and then this quote came on my twitter-feed recently and punched me in the gut:

Opinion is really the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding. The highest form of knowledge is Empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos, and live in another’s world.

Bill Bullard

That’s what I sense is missing from so much of our human interaction… empathy. The danger of serial monologues is that it re-enforces us in our different opinions rather than leading us on a road to greater understanding and empathy with someone who, for various reasons, may be different to us. The final destination of this pathway is that we dehumanise people. My friend and colleague, Ben Jack, writes:

Dehumanisation is the rejection of empathy, the destruction of compassion, the superiority of self, the physical, emotional or spiritual killing of another”

Hectic! The reality is, we can’t empathise with someone unless we take the time to listen to them. This particularly needs to apply to those of us who aspire to be servant leaders. We can’t serve our team if we are not seeking to converse with them in a way that ignites empathy within us.

Empathy and understanding always begins with listening. Listening is a vital component of building trust which is essential if we are to foster a supportive and loving environment in which people can flourish. This is not simply listening to people in order to hear their complaints, and then carrying on with business as usual. It is attentive, active and intentional.

Attentive listening means being willing to take time out from your busy schedule and spend time with an individual in order to hear their heart, understand their passion, and engage deeply with them. Attentive listening includes listening to what someone is saying in meetings, presentations and informal conversations. Attentive listening requires a commitment to single-tasking; focusing on the moment and eliminating other distractions [yes – I’m preaching to myself here – check out this post I’ve written previously!]

Active listening means engaging with people on subjects that are of interest to them. It involves asking good questions and not always seeking to interrupt with your own opinion. It means delving more deeply, being willing to debate issues or matters, and recognising that we, as leaders, can learn from the other person’s perspective.

Intentional listening means that, as you engage with someone, you are also considering how to respond to the information you are receiving. It means prayerfully reflecting on what someone has shared with you with the intention of considering how you can further develop and empower them to fulfil their potential.

It is impossible to serve others unless we have empathy. We cannot experience empathy unless we are truly listening. So, it stands to reason, we need to listen in order that we can serve and in order that we can lead with empathy.

So here’s a challenge for today. Instead of sending a voice-note to someone, why not pick up the phone or walk over to someone’s desk, and start a good old-fashioned conversation.

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