Tying It All Together

The 2020 Vision Statement of Freedom to Lead:
In five years we will see 5000 storycentric leaders in 25 under-resourced countries
being transformed into competent Christ-centered leaders.

We’ve come to the last of the FTL Summer Blog Series where we have been unpacking FTL’s Vision Statement for the next five years. To recap, FTL is offering under-resourced leaders the opportunity to walk towards freedom, suggesting solutions that go beyond the economic. We have seen how each one of these 5000 targeted leaders has a name and a story. And while we can cultivate, God ultimately does the transforming. Last week we even began exploring the competence issue, though only in part.

In conclusion, what is the thread that ties all this together?

Competent Christ-centered leadership.

If we tackled all of those other issues with precision but skipped the “competent Christ-centered leadership” part, we’d miss the entire point. Competent Christ-centered leadership is the key here. Yet, what does that mean?

Character

First, competent Christ-centered leadership focuses on the leader’s character. We want leaders to grow in Christ-likeness as they become more loving, joyful, peaceful, and patient. We want them to look to Christ as their model of how to lead people toward their potential rather than treating them like cogs in a machine. Jesus certainly has a lot to teach leaders about trusting the Father even in the loneliest hours of leadership.

Competent

However, Freedom to Lead believes that developing character is only part of what it means to be a good leader. We also believe in cultivating competent Christ-centered leaders.

Ministry Development

Developing a competent Christ-centered leader involves both character formation AND ministry development. Christ-centered leadership suggests that the teachings and life of Jesus Christ, as the central part of the biblical narrative, inform us about ministry development as well as character formation.

For example, what does Jesus teach us about leading a group of people through change? What can the Master Teacher show us about being agents of peace in the midst of group conflict? How does Jesus demonstrate leadership in teams and partnerships? How does He exemplify the Abiding Life, the Witnessing Life, and the Empowered Life? What do authentic mentoring relationships look like through the lens of the Shepherd-King? What can Christ offer us in terms of stewarding our resources well? And what does Jesus show us about developing a ministry plan and prioritizing ministry values?

Competent Christ-centered leadership – Jesus modeled leadership in all of these things.

So as we transition from the summer to the busy fall season, please follow FTL as we continue to discuss competent Christ-centered leadership through stories, blog posts, and module events around the world. We also have a book entitled Leading With Story: Cultivating Christ-Centered Leaders In a Storycentric Generation for people to get a better understanding of how all this fits together.

Because when all is said and done, we really do want Jesus Christ to be at the center of all that we think, do, teach, and proclaim.

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