Being in ministry is a massive responsibility. Not only are we accountable to our families, and the people we serve, but more scary than all that…the Lord God Almighty!
He judges us for right and wrong and when we mess up, as a leader, our punishment/chastisement is more severe because we are leading people.
In fact, the Bible says that it’s better to die than to lead one person into sin (Matthew 18:6). That standard is impeccably high, right, because we’re ALL sinners and we sin ALL. THE. TIME!
It’s impossible to escape sin on every level here on earth and yet, THIS is the standard God calls us to, as His children and as a leader.
We, of course, want to take that very seriously as we are called and strive to be the people God wants us to be. Holy, set apart for His purposes.
So what exactly makes for a good leader? What are the marks of an effective ministry leader? Let’s tackle that amazing question today and use it as a checklist for our own lives to make sure we are lining our hearts up to the grace of God’s throne.
12 Marks of An Effective Ministry Leader
A ministry leader could be anyone, whether in the church or outside of the church. That mom who is teaching her children is, in essence, a ministry leader. She’s leading her children. But for the purposes of this post, we’re going to zero in on ministry leaders within the church and outside of the church, teaching large groups of people. Let’s start there. 😊
1) They work day and night
A good leader is someone who sets an example. They take their role as a leader very seriously and they work hard. They do not take their calling flippantly but work very hard in order to accomplish the intended purposes.
I remember being in the homeless shelter and a few of the ladies were working hard, but so many of them were just plain lazy. Watching TV, doing nothing all day with their time, just being in the shelter. They seemed to lack determination and drive, some get up and go.
While they were watching TV all day and screaming, cussing, and yelling at their kids, I was working TWO full-time jobs. Who do you think is still there in the shelter and who do you think is not?
Because I worked hard, I saved my money, God blessed me for working hard, and I was able to move out of the shelter within 10 days! They had been there over 40 days and are still there now.
A leader is someone who works incredibly hard, EVEN when everyone around them is NOT!!!!
Yes, balance your time with rest and leisure. I’m not saying don’t rest, there’s a balance there, but a good leader knows they set the precedence, the standard. They know that even if no one IS watching, GOD IS, and their time and responsibilities are not only in His hands, but that He’s watching and judging us on what we do and we must take our job before Him seriously.
That doesn’t mean to work on things that don’t matter for the sake of “working hard”. It means to work productively, streamlined, and peacefully, in a way that matters for the glorification of God.
When others are out goofing off, we know our place before the Lord…to work unto Him with our whole heart and to be the kind of person He can use. It doesn’t matter what others are doing, we answer to God and so do they. They don’t answer to us, they answer to Him, so whatever they want to do is fine. But WE work hard.
Why?
We work hard for the kingdom of God because…
- Out of love for God and all He’s done for us (John 14:15)
- Out of a deep respect for God and wanting to be all He’s called us to be (Proverbs 1:7)
- To make God proud of us, that He made the right choice in calling us to do His work, to be His ambassadors (Ephesians 2:10)
- Out of a sense of urgency to help others, to save their souls, to help aid them in becoming better Christians (Philippians 1:24-25)
- To spend our time wisely here on earth, making every moment count (Ephesians 5:15-16)
- As part of our service personality/spiritual gifts – we don’t feel ALIVE unless we’re using and displaying (even to ourselves) our spiritual gifts every single day without fail, whether in a small or big way (1 Corinthians 12:4)
- To be that witness, testimony, and pattern others can look to and pattern their life after as well (Philippians 3:17)
- For eternal rewards, knowing that what we sow here on earth, we reap both on earth and in heaven (Galatians 6:7)
- Because God worked. He set the pattern for us in Creation, He worked 6 days and took the seventh day off (Genesis 2:1-2)
2) They are close to the people
You can’t serve someone and meet their true needs if you don’t know the people.
A good leader is someone who is well-equipped to get to know people quickly. Very often, we can see through to the heart of the person within seconds or minutes. We’re very good at seeing through people. Seeing if they are a scammer, a jerk, a kind-hearted person, etc. and what their needs are.
We listen to them, watching, and taking into account what they say. We pay attention to them, getting to know them. Listening to their pain, their struggles, and ways we can help.
We’re constantly listening for what someone is suffering from and immediately thinking of how we can help. It becomes so innate that we do it automatically and don’t even realize we’re doing it. We’re just born to serve. Born to care about others in a genuine, real way.
Getting close to the people we serve, listening to their needs, hearing their pain, understanding their struggles and wanting to serve them, to help them, to make things better is part of who we are in Christ. We have the desire to take care of people and it applies to everyone we meet, whether for a few seconds or knowing them for a lifetime.
Getting to know who you serve is monumentally important. It’s those relationships you build in a real and genuine way that changes things for them and helps them.
3) They are passionate
This isn’t some “J-O-B” to them. It’s not something you clock in and out of to work, to do your time and you can’t wait till you get to clock out every day so you can go do something else. No. An effective leader ENJOYS their work. They LOVE doing it. They love serving. They love doing what God’s called them to do. They love helping others become more godly. They love helping others in any way they can and it’s not a job, a duty, but more of a lifestyle.
They are strategic with their time, working hard to maintain time carved out of their life FOR ministry, making ministry a priority in their lives, knowing how vitally important it is.
They are passionate about the opportunity to serve more people, change more hearts, and walk beside others. It lights them up inside when they are able to do this. It makes them happy (Psalm 37:4).
Right now as I write this to you, I’m eating a bowl of cereal for breakfast and so excited to write this post because I know God is leading my words and it will help many people. Although my physical need is that I’m hungry, I hurriedly take bite after bite in order to get my fingers off the spoon and onto the keyboard.
It’s my PASSION to write, to help you, to serve God, to be used as a vessel for Him to others. It’s a joy, a pleasure. My needs come secondary in this moment. My joy is to help YOU. It’s exciting to see what God has me to write, it’s exciting to know this will help people, it’s a joy, a pleasure, not drudgery or something I clock into a time clock to work.
If a leader does not have passion for the ministry, he or she should not BE in ministry until they do. They need to take time away and really evaluate their heart. Evaluate whether or not this is REALLY God’s calling for them, why they aren’t passionate about it, really praying it through, asking God that if it IS His will they be in ministry, to give them the passion they should be having.
Ministry can be tiring, maybe they are just tired and need a break. Maybe they are not balancing enough rest with serving. Perhaps they are serving TOO much and not doing the things they love to do (spending time with family, hobbies, etc.) We definitely always need a balance between serving and resting. Don’t serve too much you’re frazzled, and don’t rest too much you’re not an effective leader. There’s always a balance in everything we do. We need rest and God understands that (Genesis 2:1-2).
It’s up to you to learn that balance of rest and serving and it can take some time. There are a lot of responsibilities, serving others, your family, your friends, life stuff, house stuff, your own spiritual walk with Christ, church, making money, etc.
The best advice I can give you on balancing everything is of course, from the Bible. 😊
Matthew 6:33.
When we just simply seek FIRST HIS kingdom, everything else will fall into place naturally. Just seek His will, His kingdom in everything you do and things will become apparent. You’ll learn the things you can throw out completely (stop doing), the things you can delegate, the things you can do yourself, and the things that can be done later.
Things will become apparent to you. Definitely pray things through, seek the Lord for His will and guidance on every issue you face, but putting Him first in our lives is the key to everything, which leads me to the next point.
4) They put God first in their lives
God has a very active role in their life: first!
While they love their spouse, their life, their church, their friends, and the people they serve, they know that without God they are nothing. God is their everything and nothing ever can replace Him in their hearts. While it would be hard, they can survive without everything else in their life, but they know they cannot survive without God.
They have a proper perspective on God. One that is holy and reverential. They fear the Lord and make it their aim to please Him.
It’s something they have a goal of every day of their lives: how can I please God today?
Everything they do, everything they say, everything they are, all revolves around the One Who created them.
I will tell you the truth. I have not met one guy who pursues me or has ever pursued me, as of the time I’m writing this, in all my life, who has not wanted to take over that #1 spot that belongs to God in my life. And I tell you the truth again, I remain single, by choice, because of it!!!!!
I will not budge.
I will not move.
I will not change my mind.
I will not back down.
That #1 spot in my life belongs to God and God alone and not even a husband can take that away from Him. I will not allow it and I have been proven of that, time and time and time and TIME again!
While there are many great things to love in this world, God MUST BE the ONLY #1 choice for the effective leader…and dare I say, for all Christians also.
You must put God first in your own life, then you must teach others, by way of pattern, to put God first in their lives too. There are many idols that seek to entrap us, but we dare not let them.
Take out your pitchforks and your fire and burn down those idols in your life. Kill them. Mortify them. It may sound radical, but it is the necessary thing to do continually for God’s glory, as well as for your ministry.
5) They take time to rest
As mentioned in #1, rest is vitally important to your ministry.
I used to work day and night, just hustling non-stop for years. I started drinking coffee to keep up eventually when I was getting burned out. That wreaked havoc on my system and I ended up fainting. When I woke up, I tore my tendon and ended up in a wheelchair for a REALLY long time… a couple of months.
It was horrible.
Since then, I started learning to rest. It was really hard at first. You love what you do. You wouldn’t do anything else. It’s your passion, but you have to have other passions too, than just one.
No matter how FUN it is, you need to do other things. Eventually, you’ll get bitter, worn out, burned out. You need rest and God set the standard for that. He created the universe and everything in it in six literal days and rested on the seventh day.
You don’t have to take Sundays off if you don’t want to. It is a good idea, but there’s no hard and fast rule that says you do.
For me, I like to take a day or two off whenever I feel like it.
Whenever I feel like I need a day off, I take one. Since I blog, that’s a bit easier for me to just not write or work that day. For you, it may take some more precise calculating and planning, but however you do it, you need to take time off.
I would encourage you to take at least 1-2 days off each week and one full week off every quarter when you’re serving others.
The reason is that we can get so swept up in meeting everyone else’s needs, after all, we genuinely care about those we serve, so we tend to forget our own needs. We need a good spouse who will make sure that our needs are being met continually, to look out for us, and we need to set aside time to meet our own needs as well.
It’s also a great time to spend time with your family.
I feel like the perfect schedule for me personally has been to work 4-6 hours a day and the rest of the day, I spend however I want. I also take 2 days off each week (usually never back to back).
You may think to yourself, “That’s a lot of time off”, but remember, that I’m a single mom. I do the roles of the wife AND husband. I make the money AND cook the dinners. I do it all. I have to clean my home and take care of lawn mowing. It’s just how it is as a single woman.
When I AM working, I’m working HARD. I’m hustling, I’m running…FAST! I’m very strategic and my life is very peaceful and streamlined. I’ve got it pretty well down and really good at time management. I feel like NOW, I have a good handle on things, whereas I didn’t before.
You’ll have to find a system that works for you. That you feel rested, not bitter toward serving, sacrificing your time, the things you wanna do, but to create balance in your life for everything. God, your family, you, serving, etc.
You’ll get there, just make it a point to have a good balance.
6) They are prepared
Before I started creating this Christian website, I errantly thought that Pastors just spent about an hour (or a day) preparing a sermon and then giving a talk in front of the church. Having notes in front of you makes it simple, right?
BOY…WAS I WRONG!!!
Really, really wrong! 😆
In order to create ONE blog post for this site, SOOO much goes into it. It’s not just one hour of preparation before I write. It’s not just one day either! It’s a lifestyle.
Every single day, if I’m not taking MY job seriously before the Lord, I’m not studying, becoming a better Christian, learning the Scriptures, learning what GOD wants to say to you guys, and studying in-depth passages and the Word of God, then I’m not prepared.
In one article I write, I could pull from 10 different jewels or sources, nuggets of wisdom that if I wasn’t doing my daily studies with Christ, I wouldn’t know, and wouldn’t be able to teach.
All that knowledge that I have, has been accumulated over years and years and years of diligent study.
If I didn’t take this seriously, you guys would suffer. I wouldn’t be able to be the woman God wants me to be. I wouldn’t be able to teach as much as He wants me to teach.
And I want to make clear, that it’s not HARD GRUELING labor, but a passion and a JOY to study His Word, to be in His Word daily, to obey, to prepare to teach you, and to learn myself. 🥰
I love doing it. I love learning about God, who He is, and all the things about Him, but it is a commitment. It’s a discipline. And while I do not at ALL, consider myself a Pastor (I’m a woman and that would be unbiblical), I do have to study daily to be used for His purposes, this blog, to teach you. To come alongside you and learn with you.
An effective ministry leader prepares. They take their job very seriously. They spend the time necessary to do what God has called them to do. They don’t take shortcuts or throw it off to someone else, they are diligently, continually, consistently, putting in the time and effort to be everything that God can use.
It’s your heart, your study, your life. You go above and beyond what you’re asked to do because it’s a joy for you. You love it and you’re good at it. This is God’s work, you only want to give Him the best. 🥹
7) They are highly focused
There are SOOOOO many things in this life that demand our attention, that try to steal our day away. Things, or people (whether purposely or not) trying to get our focus OFF of what GOD intends it to be.
Sometimes it’s just life.
Right now, having just got out of the homeless shelter (having literally given up EVERYTHING for God…and not sorry about it either!) I’m in a transitional place where the heater is not working as it should. It’s freezing cold, snow everywhere outside, and my studio apartment is 57 degrees. It’s pretty cold!
I continually have to manually switch out heaters, constantly keeping them up, but not too hot so as to burn out the heaters or start a fire. It’s a delicate balance I play with every single day right now until I can get into a regular apartment.
It’s not fun, but it is what it is and that’s okay. This is where God wants me for now and it’s what I have to deal with.
You know the feeling. There’s probably something you’re struggling with or dealing with also as you seek to RUN your guts out for the glory of God. Things hold you back, they seek to entangle you and you have to FIGHT to do the will of God.
The struggles of life are for everyone, no matter what you do in life.
But for the ministry leader, they work hard to focus their attention on what matters, to continue to run as fast as they can IN that ministry, on a continual basis, not allowing the things of this world to entangle them or slow them down.
We streamline our lives, we systematize everything, and we get good at time management so that we CAN spend time on what really matters!
We don’t get sucked up into the meaningless things of life, and that’s a daily battle, to be honest…for everyone.
8) They show tenderness and compassion
The world is tough, and I’m convinced, it gets tougher every day. It gets to be a more scary place every day. The people, the things you have to deal with, but everyone is dealing with something. Everyone has struggles.
A good leader understands this. Usually having gone through EXTREMELY painful situations themselves, are able to show compassion and tenderness to others, because of that pain they’ve endured.
They understand what it’s like.
It’s like that really old lady’s eyes. They’re so tender, loving, caring, compassionate. Why? Because she’s been through it. She knows. She understands. She’s been there.
Our job as a leader is to nourish others, walking alongside them, not above them, but having gone through our own drastic, gut-wrenching trials so that we understand and can relate to the problems of the people we’re trying to serve.
It’s that gentle love that is always there, always cares, always shepherds, always listens. 1 Thessalonians 2:7.
This is the way God is and therefore, this is the way His shepherds must also be, having been through things, understanding other’s pain, and yet still not sinning ourselves in this way. Hebrews 4:15.
9) They have a confident peace
If you’re in ministry at all, you most likely came across a season in your life, most likely at the very start of it, that just said to God, “I’m not worthy of this call.” It’s something we all go through and it’s tough to get through.
We know our shortcomings, we know how we fail, we know that we are not good enough to do this great mission He’s asking us to do, to have this big impact on the world, and yes, every ministry leader has a big impact as it spreads through the people and the people we teach, then go off and teach and show their light that we helped grow to others!
But a good ministry leader knows that we can’t stay there and wallow in that self-pity and doubt. We can’t constantly be second-guessing ourselves and we just need to get out there and perform the works that God has called us to perform (Ephesians 2:10).
We understand that God’s ways are perfect and that whatever He has called us to do, He has equipped us to do (or will equip us over time as we obey Him), even if it doesn’t feel like we’re equipped to handle or perform all the things necessary to obey Him. He doesn’t call us to do something He doesn’t give us the gifts to do.
Oftentimes, He’s BEEN equipping us and preparing us for a few years, slowly over time BEFORE He calls us to do something and if we really take a look back on things, we’ll see just how He was doing it. He trained Paul for 3 years in the wilderness. He trained Moses in the wilderness for 3 years also. All before their ministry. Jesus was also trained and then tested by Satan before His ministry officially began.
All throughout the Bible, you’ll see men being trained, shaped, molded, and guided long before their ministry work comes to pass. I’ve found the same to be true in my life. God has prepared me and what He hasn’t, the things I still needed to learn (like how to set up a blog in the technical aspect of it, for example, I learned as I went. He guided me and helped me).
It’s not ours to question Him or argue with Him (Isaiah 45:9), it’s for us to obey Him, knowing that He’s got this. It doesn’t surprise Him, He knows exactly what He’s doing. 💯
10) They are joyful
When we are doing what God has called us to do, it lights up our souls in a way that nothing else can do. We are joyful, happy, passionate, and content! We feel SATISFIED because we have lined up what we are doing to the will of God. We know that we are pleasing Him and that is fully satisfying.
That feeling of satisfaction helps us to continue through the good and the tough times in ministry, knowing that we are doing what God wants us to do. To the Christian, pleasing the Lord is, of course, our #1 aim. Above trying to be a good person or a good little Christian, above trying to be the best or to be perfect, the REASON we do all that is because we want to please our God.
He’s done so much for us, saved us from Hell, set us on a new path, given us life, given us a purpose, made us into His image and out of that gratefulness to Him, we naturally desire to make Him happy.
We want to share that love and passion and joy with others. We want them to be happy like we are happy. We want them to see and to have the answers like we found, the answer of Jesus Christ, who made all things better for us.
We are joyful to do it, joyful to serve, joyful to sacrifice. It’s our joy because it’s what God has called us to do. Without that joy, a ministry leader is not effective. People see a lack of joy and it’s not compelling to come to the foot of the cross.
Why would anyone give their life to God only to be miserable? Now, God does not always promise rainbows and sunshine. He says that Christians will suffer and often we suffer MORE for being a Christian than not being a Christian because we live in such a loveless, hostile world. Still, even in the midst of our pain and suffering a Christian can have joy.
Doing the will of God, serving for His namesake is a high privilege. It’s a joy to be a partaker in His kingdom work! Romans 10:15.
11) They are full of love
The Bible says that faith without works is dead (James 2:14-17), but you can have all the faith in the world and not have love and have nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1-2)! So, it is very clear that to have good works for the Lord Jesus Christ, we must have love. We must love the people we are serving and love the world at large.
Unless we have love for those we are serving, we labor in vain. A genuine love for the people and a love for God to work hard and perform all the things He’s called us to do is so necessary (Philippians 4:1).
But what do you do if you’ve fallen OUT of love for the people you serve? Maybe you’re tired, burned out, and getting bitter. What then? Before you do anything, before you quit your position, before you stop doing anything, give it a month and during that month, ask God to change your heart. Ask Him to give you a love for the people.
Give it time and see what He does. See if He helps your heart to have passion and love for what you do again, and if you still don’t after the month is over, and you’ve prayed through everything and feel like it’s just time you move on to something else, then, be blessed and do it. Find something else you’re passionate about, something else you love, another group of people somewhere that you can serve and be happy in serving them.
Because when we serve we must be happy about it. There should be a joy residing in us to do what we do, to sacrifice all we sacrifice day in and day out for the people and if there’s not, we need to align our hearts to God, take time to rest, and get back on track. If that doesn’t work, then find another area to serve in that DOES light your heart up! 🧨
12) They are humble
Because they spend so much time with Jesus, instead of comparing themselves to other people and feeling satisfied in their walks, they compare themselves to God and know how utterly depraved they are and how they don’t measure up.
There have been so many times in my serving where I’ve just doubted God calling ME.
Look at how weak I am, how inexperienced in the Scriptures I felt when I first started. I’m a single mom. I’ve got that against me where I’m trying to do it ALL.
And I realized that God calls the weak. He calls the ones with no power. The ones who can’t do it on their own, so that HE be glorified.
People look at me and realize pretty quickly that without God I’m nothing and so there must be a God and He must be in me. ‘Cuz I certainly can’t do this.
It glorifies God and so you have people like Paul in the Bible saying how he will boast in his weakness. That’s why. Because it glorifies God. Because in our weakness, God strengthens us, He makes us into the people He CAN use (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
So when we are feeling weak, brokenhearted, or like we’re failing, we can know that He’s here with us, helping us, leading us, guiding us, loving us (Psalm 34:18). When we are strengthened in our weakness, others see this and see the glory of Christ and exult in Him also.
In humility, the effective ministry leader knows that we’re all learning TOGETHER (2 Corinthians 4:5) and that not one of us has “arrived”. Being a more godly person is a daily struggle that we will have until the day that we die and go to be with the Lord.
Some may be further ahead, some may be further behind, but spiritual growth is 100% up to the Lord. How fast WE grow is set on pace by the Lord Himself and we know that. He who gives massive wisdom can also take wisdom away. Everything we are, and everything we have is all because of the Lord Jesus Christ and not because of our own merit, strength, beauty, or worldly ambition.
They should also be known for having a…
- thankful spirit (God gets the glory, not us)
- genuine concern for the people (for those we’re serving)
- bold spirit (in proclaiming the gospel to others)
- willing spirit (to work, to help, to serve, to be there always ready to help)
- submissive spirit (to God, to leaders above them, to each other in Christ)
- obedient spirit (to God, to those in authority over them)
- good prayer life (knowing that God is in charge of everything we are and everything we do)
- teachable spirit (listening to the people, learning from God, being willing to learn and grow for His sake)
- spirit that is above reproach (they are known for doing what is right, even when no one is looking)
For Pastors and elders specifically, there would be more qualifications found here in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 of how a man ought to behave and be known for in order to assume those roles.
If you are a Pastor or teacher, you can find my new Bible Commentary section here (it’s being built up as we speak).
If you are a Sunday School teacher and looking for some tools to teach your classes, here are some great (FUN) worksheets that also TEACH the truths of God.
Teaching godly character traits to elementary and tween-age children:
- We are one-of-a-kind, uniquely made
- We are to be friendly
- We should be gentle
- We are created for a purpose
- We should be helpful
- My soul thirsts for God
- We should be unselfish
- Sabbath Day – taking a day to rest
Teaching the attributes of God to elementary and tween-age children:
There are tons more activities, games, and worksheets for Sunday School here.
If you are a women’s Bible study teacher, here are some great Bible studies:
- Attributes of God Bible Study
- Hope Bible Study
- Singleness Bible Study
- Diappointment Bible Study
- Time Management Bible Study
For your own edification and spiritual growth, I’d highly recommend the Attributes of God Bible Study. The more we learn about God and who He is, the more we apply it to our own lives and in times of trouble, trial, and difficulty, we’re able to hold on, knowing WHO He is (as well as to encourage others when THEY are going through difficulty).
