Transcript
Ben Fallon: We have a compilation of questions that we've been saving for you, Paul, and they're all about leadership. There are four of them. “Can leadership be learned or is it something that you are only born with naturally?” Another one, “How do I know if I have the gift of leadership? How can I improve in the area of leadership?” “What advice do you have specifically for emerging young leaders?” And then lastly, “If I'm not a naturally gifted leader, should I accept positions of leadership if I'm promoted, or should I settle for second in command or even lower?” So rather than going back and forth about all of these, I thought I would give them to you all at once and then let you address them as you see fit.
Paul Tripp: Well, I want to start with, as I always do, with the general and move more down to particular because I think thinking in a general way, biblically, helps us to get to the specifics. Let me read Ephesians 4:7 and 8, “But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of God's gifts. Therefore, it says (Listen to this.), ‘When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.’”
I believe that God gifts every one of his creatures. I believe that Taylor Swift, Elon Musk, a well-known politician, Steven Spielberg, you just go on with the names, are all using God-given gifts. They've been blessed by God with unusual ability and power in a particular area. Although they may not recognize that, although they don't know that, and although they don't use them as God would design, they're using gifts given by God. We realized early, as parents, that our children were given gifts and that it didn't work to fight their giftedness. If your child has artistic gifts, they're not going to work well as a lawyer. Don't push them to be a lawyer. We thought, “Our children are given gifts, and we didn't have a vote.” And so, we wanted to encourage the giftedness, the natural giftedness of our children, so that those gifts would be developed, and, so that as adults, they could find ways of using those gifts.
In Exodus 31, when we are watching the building of the temple Tabernacle in the Old Testament, it says, “Bezalel and Oholiab, and every craftsman in whom the Lord had put skill.” (Paraphrase) So, it's recognizing that they were particularly skilled craftsmen in particular areas, and God had given them those skills. So, it never works to work outside of your natural gifting, your God-given gifting. I know more than one situation where, for example, somebody was a really skilled carpenter and doing quite well, but they decided they wanted to have their own business and became a contractor. Now they have to function like a businessman and their business collapsed because, although they were a skilled technician, they weren't a skilled businessperson, and they began to work outside of their calling. So, everybody has a natural gift; it's always best to work inside of the gifting that God has given you.
So, how do I know my calling? Well, I think there are five things that come together. First, natural gift. What have you discovered of your natural gift, opportunity to exercise that gift, passion for the use of that gift, experience of development of that gift, and that gift being recognized by somebody other than you?
When I'm dealing with a young person who's called to ministry, that's what I'm always looking for: gift, opportunity, passion, experience, recognition. Because ultimately, in terms of ministry gifts, it's the recognition of the church that's the final what do I say, the final decider of that gift. God gives the gifts; if he's given you gifts, he will give you opportunities. If he's given you gifts; he will give you passion. He will allow you to have experiences, and he will lead his church to recognize and support that gifting. This means that discovering your giftedness or your calling is never an individual pursuit. It's always a community project that's not best pursued alone.
If it's ministry calling, you should have mature leaders looking over your shoulders, invited into your life to be candid, sharing with you their wisdom, providing you with opportunities, critiquing how you've done. I think one of the crises in the modern seminary is there are many people who are in pastoral training who have never ever been through that kind of recognition process in the church. They've just decided that they're called somehow. I was a seminary professor for twenty years. And I had two kinds of students; the one I called “lone wolfs,” those are the people who just decided to go to seminary on their own. And the second group was those who were sent by their church whose gifting had been recognized and were sent to seminary for training.
Now think about this. Which group would you predict to have longevity in ministry? Well, obviously those whose gift had been recognized and had been sent there. So, whether it's ministry or ministry leadership, those gifts are, if you have those gifts, they will be recognized, and you will be given opportunity, and it should never be an individual thing.
And I want to say one final thing, “There is a difference between having a ministry gift and having leadership gifts.” There are some people who have strong ministry gifts but are best as part of a team. And there are some that have strong leadership gifts and can be that out-front, visionary, mission-setting leader. And those are not necessarily the same gifting. Not everybody who has been in ministry for several years should ascend to the core leadership position. There are some people whose lives are best spent as part of a ministry team. And there are some people that are clearly gifted leaders and should be in that primary leadership position.
BF: Thank you, Paul. Well, Paul has a book out called Lead: 12 Gospel Principles for Leadership in the Church. Now, it's not an analysis if you're a leader or not, personally, but rather what should the character of the leadership be in the local church context? It's incredibly recommended for pastors, elders, and ministry leaders. You can find out more at paultripp.com/lead.
You have permission to print, repost, share, distribute, and translate this resource as long as you credit Paul Tripp as the teacher, do not charge for this resource, and do not alter the content in any way. If you require an exception or special permission, please email Teaching@PaulTripp.com.
