Do all leaders in local churches need to be gifted administrators and organizers? (My answer might surprise you)

A guest post from Chris Brauns


Proverbs 27:23 Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds.


I assume that a fair number of young leaders read this blog.  So, this is my chance as a pastor with a fair amount of gray hair (but, for the receding hairline, I would have even more) to give practical advice to aspiring young leaders. 

The question is, “Do you have to be a gifted administrator to be a leader in a local church?”  The answer to that question is, of course, “no.” 

BUT, before you click through to the next post on your feed reader, let me quickly add this.  You do have to be organized to be a leader.  And, whether or not you are gifted administratively, you must value those who are administratively gifted and you must be committed to systems of organization, administration, and prioritization.


The administrative demands of ministry are shepherding and leading are tremendous.  Those who serve in pastoral ministry have myriad things to keep track of:

• You need to keep track of personal information about the sheep in your flock.  That is part of shepherding.  If your church is of any size at all, you won’t be able to remember everything.
• Your schedule needs to be kept current on a well organized calendar.  My wife, administrative assistant and I use Google Calendar.
• You must properly file relevant materials for teaching and preaching.
• You must follow through on commitments you have made to others.  If you are not organized, then you will fumble on the goal-line at inopportune times.
• If you aren’t organized, then you won’t prioritize work, and you will not be the best steward of your time.

How are you doing right now?  What does your desk look like?  Is it well organized?  Do you know what commitments you have made for the coming weeks?  What is next on your priority list? 

Here to read a productivity tip from my blog.

James MacDonald - Wise Up About Alcohol - Part 2

Yesterday I posted part one of a series of reflections on a recent message (here and here) called, "Wise Up About Alcohol" from Pastor James MacDonald. In his message he gives six reasons why he believes that total abstinence should be the norm for all Christians. Yesterday I addressed his first reason and today I'll address his second reason.

2. Alcohol impairs wisdom.

Pastor MacDonald bases his argument on the following verses from Proverbs 31. In this section of Proverbs, Lemuel is remembering and recounting what his mother taught him.

It is not for kings, O Lemuel,
it is not for kings to drink wine,
or for rulers to take strong drink,
lest they drink and forget what has been decreed
and pervert the rights of all the afflicted.

Pastor McDonald makes the case from this text and others that the Bible teaches that people of prominent position or influence (like Kings) should not engage in drinking alcohol of any sort. But that is clearly not what this passage is teaching. It is important to ask, what type of drinking would cause you to forget “what has been decreed”? Certainly not drinking in moderation. When Lemuel’s mother exhorts him to not drink wine, this certainly points to drunkenness and not having a glass of nice wine with dinner. I have consulted many commentaries on this verse and did not find one that said that this verse is teaching total abstinence.

Ponder the previous verses.

What are you doing, my son? What are you doing, son of my womb?
What are you doing, son of my vows?
Do not give your strength to women,
your ways to those who destroy kings.

The mother implores his son to “not give his strength to women.” If we are following the interpretation from Pastor MacDonald, it would seem that he was supposed to stay away from all women. Don’t drink and don’t engage with women. Do the Proverbs really teach this? Based on the context of these verses, I think it would be more appropriate to assume that the mother is saying that he needs to be careful not to be consumed with passion for sexual relationships with women. This can be seen in the plural form of the word “women” which leads one to think of various mistresses. So these verses are not teaching that one should be completely free from alcohol or sex but rather, if one is to pursue them it should be within the appropriate boundaries.

Consider The Lord’s Supper and the example of Jesus. Should we assume the only time that Jesus and his disciples drank alcohol was in a very unique and sacred moment when Jesus ushered in the New Covenant and they never before nor never after participated in alcohol? Was this just a ceremonial one time event? I should think not.

If you want to make the case (like Pastor MacDonald) that alcohol is never fit for those in prominent positions of leadership then the disciples who where given the responsibility to usher in a whole new epoch in Christian history would certainly have had to observe total abstinence. Obviously, this seems to have not been the case.

Certainly drinking alcohol in excess can impair wisdom, but there is a reason why you can drink one beer and then get in the car and legally drive. It’s the excess of drinking and not alcohol itself that can impair wisdom. Unfortunately, Pastor MacDonald does not offer this qualification in his message.

Tomorrow we’ll look at this third reason for total abstinence.

On Decision Making

“Proverbs, and the wisdom literature in general, counter the idea that being spiritual means handing all decisions over to the leading of the Lord. The opposite is true. Proverbs reveals that God does not make all people’s decisions for them, but rather expects them to use his gift of reason to interpret the circumstances and events of life within the framework of revelation that he has given. Yet when they have exercised their responsibility in decision-making, they can look back and see that the sovereign God has guided.”

—Graeme Goldsworthy, in the New Dictionary of Biblical Theology (IVP 2000), p. 210. See also Gospel and Wisdom in the Goldsworthy Trilogy.

(HT: The Shepherd's Scrapbook)

Biblically Speaking, Wisdom = Listening

Owen Strachan has a good reflection on wisdom and listening. Here is his conclusion:

To conclude this little piece, biblical wisdom is not autonomous and isolary, as so many of us might think in our individualistic age. Biblical wisdom involves closing our mouths, humbling our hearts, and opening ourselves up to receive God’s transforming, redeeming, gospel-rich wisdom, the embodiment of which is Jesus Christ. This has implications for all of us. This means, at base, that we humbly listen to the Lord. From there, we need to adopt a balanced posture of submission and humility in the presence of leaders, counselors, parents, and others whom God has ordained to “cry aloud in the streets” to people just like us.

Read the rest.

A Proverbs-Driven Life

Doug Wolter:

I love the Proverbs. As Anthony Selvaggio says, it gives us“timeless wisdom for our words, work, wealth and relationships.” And I would add, it’s probably the best parenting book ever written! So I’m excited about this new book from Shepherd Press called A Proverbs-Driven Life.