Leadership development is hard work. It takes time and effort. It’s hard to know where to begin, or who to start with. Or perhaps we’re secretly afraid the trainee will outshine and replace us. Sure, delegation sounds great … until things get messy and projects fail. Frankly, it’s often faster to just do the job yourself.

But neglecting to develop leaders is like skipping the oil change in your car. You can get by for a while, but eventually, it catches up with you, and irreversible damage has already been done.

I was shocked when I read an article by Thom Rainer a while back that 75% of pastors confess they do not have a plan to train their leaders. He went on to give four reasons:

1. Pastors don’t know how to train others. It’s not a leadership problem as much as it is a leadership development problem.
2. Pastors don’t have time, nor do volunteers have the time to sit through lengthy sessions of training.
3. Churches can’t afford it. The costs of training conferences or materials were simply too high.
4. There is no framework available to them to use to train their people.

I can relate to all four of these. I’ve struggled over the years with what to do, when to do it, how to afford it, and how to do it. Lifeway’s solution is Ministry Grid, an online training program worth looking into.

But I think it’s also helpful to discuss these issues together and see leadership principles worked out in a local church context. That’s where this blog comes in. You can read my original post from a year ago where I explained the title of my blog and my goal in writing.

Im just an ordinary pastor, trying to faithfully preach the gospel and model healthy church ministry. I have no presumption that our church is the best model of discipleship. But I’ve come to appreciate how important leadership development is. Growing up, I experienced the blessing of being mentored by other pastors, and now I have a passion to do the same for the next generation. I’ve learned a lot of lessons over the years — often through mistakes — and have now watched dozens of college students go through the Applied Theology program at Cal Baptist University and participate in local church internships of various strengths and effectiveness.

My challenge for pastors in 2015 is this: Will you focus more attention on leadership development? Will you begin to see it as a priority, and structure your schedule and budget and relationships and meetings to address this area of ministry? Will you at least admit there is a problem, and take steps to grow in the new year? Will you begin to develop a strategy for grooming future leaders who can share the load of ministry and maybe even eventually succeed you? Are you willing to make changes so that one year from now, you’ll have a few men further along in their Christian walk and ministry readiness than you have today? Would you be willing to join me on this journey together and let me know what you’re learning?

2 Timothy 2:2 challenges us “what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” Let’s get busy developing leaders and passing the cloak to the next generation.

Question: What do you find most difficult about leadership development? Click to leave a comment.