A leader has the task of having to work with different types of people with different ideas, values and attitudes to work. Your task will be to harness their best qualities and be able to achieve the best with them.
6. A leader can have hard-working workers. Hard-working workers are indeed a blessing to every leader.
The hardworking workers are always the workhorses of the ministry. These are they who ensure that the ministry survives. The work of ministry involves a lot of hard work and there are always people who take on the burden of the work. They bestow much labour and exert much effort to accomplish ministry tasks.
Greet Mary, who bestowed MUCH LABOUR on us.
Romans 16:6
This is what Paul meant when he spoke of Mary who worked so hard when he visited. God sees all the hard work that everyone puts into the ministry and He will reward it.
There is nothing wrong with noticing those who work hard in your organisation. Even God notices hard work! In His letter to the Ephesian church, the Lord made special mention of the labours and the hard work of the church.
I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil… And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Revelation 2:2-3
7. A leader may have couples who work together in the organisation. In a church, a pastor may have couples who work together in the full-time ministry.
Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus:
Romans 16:3
It is a special privilege for a man of God to have both husband and wife working together to help him.
It is a special blessing for couples to both find a place in the house of God. Couples in ministry have a more synchronized lifestyle that may enhance their relationship. What a blessing it is for the whole family to work together in full-time ministry.
Many full-time ministers take Mondays as their day off. However, in the secular world, Monday is the first and most important day of the week. This difference in schedules can attempt to draw a wedge between couples who do not work together in the ministry. In addition, a spouse who does not work in the ministry often despises the one in full-time ministry. Those not in full time ministries think their spouses are wasting their time by working for a church. Those outside full time ministries do not respect the ministry and therefore they do not respect people who work full-time in it. These people also do not understand what could make someone busy in the church. Because the secular spouse despises full-time ministry he often sends the full-time spouse on domestic errands. Sadly, such people see the spouse in full-time ministry as unemployed.
It must be noted that there are also disadvantages of couples working in the same place, but the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
8. A leader may have workers who are women and cannot stop quarrelling.
Women are most precious workers who love the Lord with all their heart and with all their feelings. However, one of the side effects of ladies working together is female bickering and quarrelling. Paul found himself in the middle of female quarrelling and had to dedicate part of his church letter to solving a problem between two ladies.
I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord
Philippians 4:2
Some of these quarrels and cold war may be inevitable when women work together. God wants women to work for Him and they have a valuable contribution to make! As we mature in the love of God, the Euodias-Syntyche syndrome will surely manifest! But the love of God will smoothen out all these things!
9. A leader may have full-time innovators, also called apostles.
Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me. Romans 16:7
The work of the apostle is to create something that did not exist. There are some workers who can make something out of nothing. You can send them on a mission and they will bulldoze their way through all obstacles, accomplishing and creating as they go along.
In every ministry, there are people whose contribution is of special note. In every organisation, there are workers who stand out because of their contributions to the organisation. There are people who bestow much service on the organisation in general. Every leader prays for such! They are a blessing to many people. The impact of these people in church is seen well when they die. Although most church members’ deaths would go unnoticed, the whole church feels the loss of the Phebes of the ministry. Phebe, without using the pulpit, touched the lives of many people. A leader does not forget the different people who serve him through the years.
theaol@ymail.com
By Dag Heward-Mills