Introduction
Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another. That is especially true when you are looking at church leadership-past and present. From David to Nehemiah to church leaders of today, these leaders exercise some type of influence over the people they have lead or are leading.
Aubrey Malphurs takes the definition of leadership and turns it up another notch. Leaders just don’t have influence over the people they lead. They use their influence “to influence people in a particular context to pursue their God-given direction”.[1] In other words, it is the church leadership’s job to help the people they lead to see God and His work in their lives, to understand their purpose,
It is an essential element that a leader needs in order to make sure that they are effective in their leadership. The Credibility Audit determines the credibility of a person who is in leadership and determines the level of creditability they have with the people that they lead. I scored a seventeen on this audit, which means that I have high leadership credibility.
Currently, I have not been in my present ministry long enough for the people that I lead to fully trust me. According to the Malphurs text, it takes five years for a leader to gain any type of credibility.[3] At previous ministries, I have spent that much time there in a leadership position. I am known for my strong convictions and sticking to them no matter what others think. At the same time, I am known as person that cares very deeply for those that I lead.
The one downfall that I have when it comes to my credibility is my emotions. In the past, I have let what I was going through personally affect my leadership. I let my emotions get the best of me and my focus was shaken. Because I was unable to separate the two, my credibility was hurt because people did not see that I could keep my word or follow through with assignments that I was given. Now through much prayer and time with the Lord, I have learned how to better manage my emotions. I cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of my past at this point in my life. The damage to the congregants would be too great because most of them have come from