MEN7/52 Leadership Series: Note to Pastors and Leaders

Introduction

The Men’s Bible Study Leadership Series is presented by bible.org to help you build and fortify men in preparation for their roles as leaders in their families, churches, communities, and workplaces.

It is a leadership series because no matter what age or station in life a man finds himself, he is called to lead. Leadership hates a vacuum. If a man of God doesn’t stand up and lead, then someone else will and the consequences can be drastic for generations.

It is also a discipleship series because building men’s leadership requires ongoing personal relationships with someone who will shepherd and mentor them over the long term. Just as Christ lived in a community of relationship with His disciples, preparing them to lead, so too must we if we are to grow and be effective.

The Great Commission: Making Disciples

Jesus tells His disciples in Matthew 28:18-20, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” As His disciples, Christian men are called to this great commission. We are to be leaders in this cause just as His disciples were during the birth of His church.

In today’s culture, it is critically important for men to rise up and be courageous and sacrificial, bold and obedient, effective and humble in our roles as God’s proclaimers, protectors, defenders, and warriors. This series is intended to help men learn who they are in God’s eyes; how God has equipped them to do the job He has given them. It is to encourage them to take up their crosses.

The Leadership Series begins with the foundational structures that make up a true man of God – dependence, obedience, character, integrity, self-discipline, and humility. These are the attributes that a man must have in place if he is to have faith, confidence, strength, endurance, and courage during times of great challenge. Through Scripture, articles, study questions, and a weekly discussion group, each man will be encouraged to dig deep into his heart and soul to discover who God has created him to be.

Dr. Kenneth Boa

The articles used in this series are written by Dr. Kenneth Boa. Dr. Boa is engaged in a ministry of relational evangelism and discipleship, teaching, writing, and speaking. He holds a B.S. from Case Institute of Technology, a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary, a Ph.D. from New York University, and a D.Phil. from the University of Oxford in England.

Dr. Boa is the President of Reflections Ministries, an organization that seeks to encourage, teach, and equip people to know Christ, follow Him, become progressively conformed to His image, and reproduce His life in others. He is also President of Trinity House Publishers, a publishing company that is dedicated to the creation of tools that will help people manifest eternal values in a temporal arena by drawing them to intimacy with God and a better understanding of the culture in which they live.

Recent publications by Dr. Boa include Conformed to His Image, 20 Compelling Evidences that God Exists, Face to Face, and Faith Has its Reasons. He is a contributing editor to The Open Bible and The Leadership Bible, and the consulting editor of the Zondervan NASB Study Bible.

The Leadership Lessons

There are twelve (12) topics that are designed to be conducted over a thirty-two (32) week period. Your group should meet weekly at a specific time and place. First, participants should be expected to read all of the Scripture verses thoroughly, on a daily basis, and be encouraged to meditate on them. Second, they should read the article carefully and look for aspects of it that impact them personally. Third, they should complete the discussion questions thoughtfully, completely, and honestly, and diligently address personal applications. Finally, they should be prepared to share their answers during your group sessions. It is suggested that a participant be invited to share an answer only if he has completed it on paper. Most important, each man should be in prayer that God will speak to him through His word and through other faithful men.

You Will Make the Difference

This series can be either a high impact vehicle that can help change men’s lives, or it can be just another hit and run study that withers away. The difference is in the discipleship, shepherding, and mentoring component that you provide between the group meetings, and thereafter.

The men in your group should be encouraged to know and understand the areas of their lives that need transformation. You should encourage them to discuss, and work on, issues involving their faith, obedience, character, integrity, self-discipline, and humility that prevent them from being the leaders God has created them to be. Likewise, they need to know their strengths and virtues so they can be built up.

Group Environment

The ideal size is five to eight members. It is important to build and support a sense of authentic community and to foster close relationships. A group larger than eight can lose spiritual intimacy. It will also make it difficult for you to have regular, meaningful contact with them as you shepherd them each week. A covenant of confidentiality is a must. The men need to know that what goes on in the group, stays in the group. It is also important that your group meets weekly. It is difficult to have long term sustaining power if you meet every other week.

Group Discipline

You will want men who are faithful, available, and teachable (FAT!). They should commit to coming every week and being prepared. It does little good for a man to show up without preparing his lesson and answering each question. He loses the opportunity to grow and the group loses the blessings they receive from his preparation.

Group Sharing

Be prepared for men to open up and share sensitive areas of their lives. This is a moment when the Body of Christ becomes a healing factor in someone’s life. The key is to listen. This is not a moment to teach or fix. It will be up to you to be a spiritual and emotional traffic cop. It will be important that you prevent a member from monopolizing the time. At the same time, you will want a member who brings a critical issue in his life to the group to have sufficient time to share and be heard. How you and the group responds to him may very well determine if your group is a safe place for him to repair.

Group Shepherding

The group should be encouraged to bond with each other and to be in contact with each other throughout the week. The best way you can teach this is by doing it yourself. It is key that you contact each member soon after the weekly group session to see how they were impacted. It is also important to check with them to see how their lesson preparation is going. In your personal conversations with them, you will learn more about who they are and what their particular burdens might be. It is at this time that you can shepherd them, pray for them, and encourage them.

Group Interdependence

Your men will have specific growth issues to tackle, bruises to heal from, and callings for which they need encouragement. They will need each other for support and should receive accountability from someone who will be regularly available to them. Men about to embark on new callings will be greatly strengthened by the groups' emotional and spiritual support.

Group Activity

Finally, your group should be encouraged to engage in fellowship with each other, whether it is golf, fishing, or a sports activity. It should also take on a ministry opportunity together like working at a soup kitchen, helping with a building project for the church, or assisting those with special needs.

Beyond the Lesson Series

By the time your group has finished this series, relationships and spiritual bonds should have formed. Authentic spiritual interdependence will be experienced, and men will know they are not alone in being who and what God wants them to be. It will be critical for the group to either stay together for the next series, or to stay in close touch weekly to continue the shepherding experience and forming true Christian brotherhood.