Characteristics of Kingdom Leaders

The process of building Kingdom leaders involves the same foundational principle I use when building a table. In order for me to know if I have helped build a Kingdom leader, I must first determine what a Kingdom leader looks like. Though they come in all shapes and sizes, some common characteristics describe every Kingdom leader.

1. Kingdom leaders possess a Kingdom perspective. Webster defines perspective as “the capacity to view things in their true relations or relative importance” and kingdom as “the realm in which God’s will is fulfilled.” Combining these phrases, a Kingdom perspective would involve demonstrating the capacity to visualize God’s will and the desire to give His will top priority. What is God’s will for every church? He wants to see the lost saved, the saved maturing in their walk with Christ, the maturing believer using spiritual gifts in ministry, and the people of all nations impacted by the gospel. The leader with a Kingdom perspective will focus on those Kingdom results as the standard by which he measures effectiveness.
   

2. Kingdom leaders listen to the King and follow His mandate. The King gave marching orders to the church before His ascension. With clarity He announced, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.”  
   
3. Kingdom leaders place their faith in Christ and not the church or other people.
   
4. Kingdom leaders believe God is actively working in the world to accomplish His purposes.
   
5. Kingdom leaders find comfort in a belief that God will accomplish His plans.
   
6. Kingdom leaders understand that their success is totally dependent on partnering with God in what He is doing.

The list could continue, but these descriptions provide an overall picture of a leader with that Kingdom perspective. Having established this picture, I now can move to asking, how do I lead our Sunday School leaders and members to have a Kingdom perspective?

1. Rely on the Holy Spirit to empower the church to develop servant leaders who depend on His power.
   
2. Demonstrate through your lifestyle characteristics of a leader with a Kingdom focus. Read The Kingdom Focused Church by Gene Mims to broaden your understanding of Kingdom leadership. Continually evaluate your approaches to life. A Kingdom view will say less of me but more of Him at home, less of me but more of Him at church, less of me but more of Him at work. How are you doing?
   
3. Communicate consistently the vision of the Kingdom results God desires to produce through your Sunday School.
   
4. Build a leadership team to communicate and implement this vision. Some leaders and members will not readily make the adjustments needed to see God work.
   
5. Look for those who hunger to experience His movement. Ask this leadership team to read The Kingdom Focused Church and begin regular meetings to dialogue about the content and pray about the need.
   
6. Keep ongoing evangelism training and multiplication of evangelism leaders a high priority. Leaders with a Kingdom perspective never forget God’s desire to rescue the lost from eternal separation.
   
7. Encourage the enlistment of new leaders who express a desire to be focused on Kingdom work.

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