Word Count: 369 – Est Read Time: <2 Minutes
What’s Up?
We keep making the same church leader selection mistake—choosing skill over spiritual depth. And it’s killing the church’s effectiveness (and it’s future!)
So What?
If we keep treating church leadership like a business hiring process, we’ll keep getting shallow, ineffective leaders. The church is not a corporation—it’s a spiritual movement, and it needs leaders who lead with faith first.
The Point Is
1. Spiritual Maturity First
A warm body in a leadership seat isn’t enough. Just because someone attends regularly doesn’t mean they’re spiritually focused. Leadership must be rooted in faith, prayer, and a commitment to ongoing spiritual growth. If they aren’t actively engaged in deepening their faith, they have no business leading others (not even doing the bookkeeping!).
2. Alignment with Mission and Vision
A leader who isn’t fully committed to the church’s mission, vision, values, and behavioral covenants will lead in the wrong direction. If someone isn’t living and breathing the church’s purpose, they’re going to steer it off course—guaranteed.
3. Passion Over Obligation
Too many church leaders serve out of obligation – or good-heartedness – instead of passion. If they don’t genuinely love their role, they’ll do what they have to, but not give all they have. Passion fuels effort, innovation, and perseverance. A passionate leader inspires others—a “willing body” breeds mediocrity.
4. Skills Can Be Taught—Spiritual Leadership Can’t
A spiritually focused, mission-aligned, passionate person can learn almost anything. But no amount of training can make an unspiritual, disengaged person into an effective church leader. Skills matter, but skills come last—not first.
And … ?
Jim Collins nailed it: having the right people in the right seats is essential for any organization. But the church has a unique set of priorities. Acts 6:3 sets the biblical standard—leaders should have a reputation and be full of the Spirit and wisdom. Yet, too often, churches pick leaders based on availability, tenure, or professional skills rather than biblical qualifications. The result? Church leadership teams with the spiritual depth of a mud puddle.
Action!
Stop filling leadership roles based on availability or business-world logic. Start using Acts 6:3 as the standard for choosing spiritually mature, mission-driven, passionate leaders.
