Series One: Developing Courageous Churchmen

There is no disputing the fact that the church needs good, biblically-qualified leadership. A sound philosophy of ministry will always give attention to the need for leaders. Christ, as the Head of the church (Eph 1:22; 4:15), mediates His rule in the church through those called to spiritually lead (1 Thess 5:13–14; Heb 13:7, 17).

Why does the church so often lack a strong force of men who know the truth and who will not compromise—“Men of Grace and Granite,” as I like to call them! You’re the shepherd. You’ve been trained. You are carrying the torch of ministry. You have the tools. You’re striving to be faithful, but you can’t seem to inspire that same courageous passion in the men around you.

Following are a few common reasons why it can be difficult to consistently raise up men in the church who will carry spiritual responsibility and be faithful.

1. The struggle with sin
   1. Men are dead in trespasses and sin (Eph 2:1–3).
   2. Men lack personal holiness (Eph 5:1).
   3. Men do not trust God in times of testing.
   4. Men have neglected the spiritual nurturing of their families.
   5. Men have not maintained a clear testimony for Christ in the world.
   6. Men have not given their lives in service to the body of Christ. Paul speaks of training men in the same breath that he speaks about the “hardship” of ministry (2 Tim 2:2–3).
2. Great content without shepherding
   1. You can’t train others with merely a syllabus!
   2. Many pastors try to train leaders by opening a fire hose of information with little or no hands-on work in the trenches applying what they know.
   3. Inadequate modeling of truth-in-practice.
   4. Preparing a world-class meal, but not eating and digesting it!
3. Great shepherding without content
   1. Some pastors find the relational part of discipleship very comfortable, but they take short cuts on the content.
   2. Men need biblical answers, not opinions!
4. Lack of courage and perseverance
   1. You start a leadership training regimen. You have a few enthusiastic recruits. You storm out of the gate, charging at full strength—but time demands, other burdens, unforeseen trials, etc. make it much more difficult.
   2. The tendency is to slow down, to become inconsistent, and repeatedly unprepared. A man begins to allow discouragement to get a foothold. Some of the men drop off. You’re down to two guys (sometimes just one), and you’ve lost your courage and passion.
5. Too much wasted effort
   1. Pastors often do not discriminate between the serious and the half-hearted, between those who truly strive and those merely coast.
   2. I want all the men in church, no matter what level of maturity, to be discipled.
   3. But if I’m going to train strong leaders, I need to spend a focused amount of time working with a small core who will become the unshakeable nucleus.
   4. It may start with just one man, but if he has the “raw materials,” it’s all we need.