In the bible, Deuteronomy chapter 34 tells us that Moses died overlooking the Promised Land and never entered it. Despite this, his leadership enabled the generations after him to enter and possess the land. Verses 10 – 12 talk about how no one in Israel has ever risen up, shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did. It got me thinking, yes Moses was called, anointed and equipped to lead Israel, but we are also called, anointed and equipped to lead young people from a place of slavery in Egypt to a promised land in Canaan. Moses, despite his faults, which were many, was a world class, once in a generation leader. As were Joshua, David, Peter and Paul.
With that said, I think it’s time to move our youth ministries from being ‘average’, ‘ok’, ‘it’ll do’ or ‘good enough’, to become world class, once in a generation great British youth ministries. I don't think that's arrogant, I don't think that's competitive; I think that's fulfilling the potential that God has instilled in you as a leader.
If we want world class youth ministries and youth work, we need world class leaders, and so often I can settle with where my leadership is at which then hinders and can thwart what I lead from moving forward with health, growth and strength.
That is why I want to become a more effective leader. Not so that I can tweet how great my leadership thoughts are, but so I can genuinely see the lives of young people changed.
In order follow in the footsteps of biblical leadership heroes, the question I ask myself is what separated them from everybody else?
I have come to this conclusion – I have no idea. I don't believe there are ‘6 leadership traits’ or ‘5 things you must do’. All the leaders were different and effective and the same is true for us. We are all different and yet all our youth work is effective in different ways, therefore this article isn’t about providing you with a list, it’s about provoking you as I have provoked myself to consider where is my leadership stuck? Where do I need to consider making some changes to how I lead other leaders and how I lead young people, because ministries will be a reflection of our leadership.
In the gap (and it’s huge) between where I am leading now and where I would like to lead, (the reality and the vision) is a massive stack of young people. Here at Rocknations, which I have the privilege to lead in Bradford, Leeds and Belfast, we work with hundreds of young people on a weekly basis and we are seeing many find Christ and get plugged into Church. But I know that in the gap between where I lead and where I could lead, there are multiple tens of thousands of more young people. That is why I want to become a more effective leader. Not so that I can tweet how great my leadership thoughts are, but so I can genuinely see the lives of young people changed. I know God is ultimately in charge and he brings the growth, but I believe my leadership plays a significant role.
From where Moses was (reality) to where he could be (vision) there was a huge gap and over time, he committed to the process of fulfilling his leadership potential. Yes he was naturally gifted, yes he was spiritually potent, yes he was genuinely humble – all great qualities of once in a generation leaders, but he made a decision that if he was going to take God’s people from one place to another, he needed to step up. That started with growing in enough courage to say to Pharaoh ‘Let my people go’.
What Moses did was build a bridge between aspirations (what we want) and reality (where we are) – that's what great leaders do. They don't just paint a beautiful attractive picture of what’s possible in the Promised Land – they actually take people there. I want to be a leader that builds a bridge and an opportunity for every young person to move from Egypt to Canaan, and although that doesn't solely rest with me, (God is way more capable than I am….) I do believe that I have a part to play in my leadership gift.
When I first started out, I thought I could see every teenager in my city saved within a year. I had great passion, but my passion needed great leadership to accompany it. Now by the grace of God we have seen phenomenal things, but if I’m honest, it’s not where I thought it would be years on. Nonetheless, every year I tell my team ‘we go again’ whether we fail or succeed, and commit to the process of developing as leaders and reaching young people.
What we often do is start pulling different levers, hoping one of them will eventually click and explode what we are building. We change venue, we change the program, we build a new website, we change the name; we change it again, all in hope that it will work. Those are simply methods. What we require is a change in mind-set.
What Moses did was build a bridge between aspirations (what we want) and reality (where we are) – that's what great leaders do.
I totally believe that mind-sets, not methods, build this bridge to a reality. Methods are what we pull. Mind-sets are what pull us. Once in a generation leaders don't get consumed with methods because every method can both work or fail. They commit to the influence of their mind-set and the mind-set of their teams. I have to ask myself ‘Where is my mind set’ – where does it need re-setting?
The method wasn't enough for Moses; he needed a change in mind-set. “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he”. As a youth work thinks, so is it. I can learn from others, I can observe other programs and methods, but I think the growth and health of what we do is an inside job.
I used to hate confrontation, I still do to be honest…but I know that if I don't have tough conversations, we will settle for where we are, and if we settle for where we are, we can’t reach the young people in our path. So I change my mind-set to overcome the stumbling blocks that are preventing me from fulfilling my leadership potential, because where I set my mind is where I end up. We will continually look at our youth ministry to see where we can change. We will meet and discuss what we can do better, but primarily I’m interested to see how our mind-set amongst our leaders determines our method and not vice versa.
What is it that you need to consider changing? What do you want to become more effective at? We won’t be perfect, far from it, no leader is. But I’d love to build something in Great Britain that is great, not because of the resources we have, the building we have, the expertise we have, but because we have a group of leaders who desire to fulfil the leadership gift on their life. Then we can confidently say to young people “Follow me as I follow Christ”.
Lets lose our obsession with the method and commit to the mind-set and the spirit of reaching young people.
Dave Niblock is the youth pastor at LIFE Church UK and campus pastor at Life Church Leeds. He also oversees the Rocknations youth movement which hosts a youth conference every August, youth leader training events and the IAMFUTURE worship movement.
