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In the last issue of eNCDine (August 2004) we started to look at
the impact of leadership on church health and growth and how to match
leaders with congregations. What spiritual gift mix should the pastor
have? What kind of spiritual gifting of a pastor matches churches with
higher and lower scores? What are the suitable spiritual gifts of a pastor
in a church with a higher score for empowering leadership? What does the
international NCD database tell us about these matters?
Of the three biblical passages dealing with spiritual gifts, one
text deals specifically with the gifts of leaders in relation to the
qualitative growth of the church. Paul elaborates on believers as Christ’s
body: "Christ has given each of us special abilities... Some of us have
been given special ability as apostles; to others he has given the gift of
inspired preaching; some have special ability in winning people to Christ;
still others have a gift for caring for God’s people as a shepherd does
his sheep, leading and teaching them in the ways of God. Why is it that he
gives us these special abilities to do certain things best? It is that
God’s people will be equipped to do better work for him, building up the
church, the body of Christ, to a position of strength and maturity;
until finally we all... become full-grown in the Lord... become more and
more in every way like Christ who is the head of his body, the church.
Under his direction the whole body is fitted together perfectly, and each
part in its own special way helps the other parts, so that the whole
body is healthy and growing and full of love." (Eph 4:7,11; LBE;
italics supplied)
This picture of church always amazes me. The miracle of Christ’s
body is in harmonious functioning of all diverse parts according to their
call and giftedness from God. Moreover, like gas is needed for the car to
run, certain gifts are needed so that the whole body will be activated and
grow to be more like Jesus. Some argue that local churches cannot exist
without a pastor. As we will see the main criterion is not just having
a pastor but having one who fulfills a particular role. In light of the
text above it seems that churches cannot properly function without certain
gifts.
Question 77 in the pastor’s questionnaire specifically asks the
pastor about his spiritual gift(s). I believe the given options in the
question go along with the list of leadership gifts in Ephesians 4. The
most frequently listed gifts are gift of teaching (74.4% of pastors),
leadership (69.3%), pastoring (56.9%). Most of the pastors claim to have
more than one of the "leadership" gifts. Among the 11,560 pastors
surveyed, there are about 33 gift combinations. The 5 most frequent
gift-mixes of pastors are: (1) Leadership, Pastoring, Teaching (50 – score
for empowering leadership; 5.4% - frequency), (2) Leadership,
Organization, Teaching (53; 5.2%); (3) Leadership, Teaching (53; 4.7%);
(4) Pastoring, Teaching (39; 3.4%); (5) Leadership, Faith, Teaching (57;
3.3%).
Using the same method described in the previous article I found
that there are certain gift combinations linked with higher scores for
both empowering leadership and the average of all other qualities than
others. Interestingly, one of the most frequent combinations – pastoring,
teaching (4) – belongs among the gift mixes linked with the lowest score
for empowering leadership. There are many senior pastors whose primary
call is to pastor (shepherd) and teach. It seems that they have the right
gifts but may have been playing "somebody else’s instrument". Our data
indicates that one can be a good pastor and teacher, or even a good
organizer, but not necessarily the most effective in empowering others for
effective ministry.
On the other hand, there is another frequent combination – a mix
of leadership, faith, and teaching (5) - which equates with the highest
score for empowering leadership and thus seems to make the most effective
contribution to stimulating healthier churches. This suggests the
overriding importance of leadership that provides direction, effectively
casts vision inspired by faith, gives a sense of values, and empowers
people to ministry.
To build Christ's body, to unleash the potential of every
believer, to grow into oneness with Christ, every local church needs to
have a team of leaders who are gifted by God in the areas described by
Paul in Eph 4. However, given to the current expectations of pastors and
their role, the core of gift mix in healthy growing churches consists of
three ingredients: leadership, faith, and teaching. The other gifts are
excellent accompanying components.
So what about those pastors who do not have this gift mix? Let’s
conclude with a few comments: (1) There are pastors who may perhaps
revisit their call and reconsider the match of their pastoral position
with their giftedness. (2) One of the five most ignored jobs of a pastor
according to Bill Hybels is building staff. If you are a pastor and do not
have one or two of the gifts mentioned above, look for a person in your
team who has such a gift. (3) It is also good to know that pastors who
enjoy church work (regardless of their gift mix) are usually linked with
healthier churches (see graph).
 Petr Činčala (PhD) lives in the Czech
Republic and works as Research Manager for NCD International |
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