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THE 4 DEADLY SINS OF CELL LEADERSHIP How
to Avoid them and enjoy a fruitful, effective cell ministry Appeared in Cell Group Journal (Spring 2002) By When it came right down to it, I was pressured to perform.
I had to get to know my neighbors, build community in my neighborhood, and help
grow our new cell church plant in On a positive note, the pressure drove me to attend
association barbeques and hang out at the Monday night football gatherings at
the clubhouse. But I knew it wasn’t a healthy way to build my church. Although I had been feeling this pressure for months, I
kept it to myself. One night, I confessed the pressure to perform at my cell
meeting. “I feel so pressured to reach my neighbors,” I told the group. I
received prayer, but couldn’t pinpoint the source of the problem and I still
felt like I was going about my ministry in an unnatural, unhealthy way. After the meeting I talked with my wife and realized I was
feeling pressured to perform by placing all the responsibility on my own
shoulders. I was assuming
responsibility that only God could take! Yes, God is intensely concerned with reaching my neighbors
and building a cell church in God showed me that He desires to give me His light yoke in exchange for my heavy yoke. When I realized this, the burden lifted. Through this experience, God revealed four deadly sins that could easily wipe out your ministry as a cell leader. #1 ASSUME
RESPONSIBILITY THAT IS NOT YOURS I was making unrealistic goals that were vague and
unattainable. God reminded me of Larry Crabb’s comments in The Key to Caring
about the difference between a goal and a desire. Crabb said: “A goal may be defined as a purpose to which a person is
unalterably committed. He assumes unconditional
responsibility for a goal, and it can be achieved if he is willing to work at
it. A desire may be defined as something wanted that cannot be obtained without the cooperation of another person. It is
an objective for which a person can assume no responsibility, because
it is beyond his control. Reaching a desire must never become the motivating
purpose behind behavior, because then a person is assuming responsibility for
something he cannot fulfill on his own” [italics my own]. It dawned on me that I was confusing desires with goals —
that which I could accomplish and that which was beyond my control. My desire was to see conversions in my neighborhood and to
create a sense of community. Of course, this is a wonderful desire. But you’ll
notice that only God can make this happen. I was trying to take the place of
God. I now realize that God wants me to make clear-cut,
bite-sized goals that are in my power to accomplish. For example, I can
accomplish the following goals: ■ Invite my neighbor to play tennis. ■ Invite my neighbor over to my house for a special event (dessert, etc.). ■ Make it a point to talk with my neighbor in the front yard. ■ Encourage my potential cell leader to begin the training track. ■ Give my potential cell
leader opportunities in the cell to use his gifts and talents. These goals are feasible. I can accomplish them. Desires,
on the other hand, are beyond my own ability to accomplish. Here are some
examples of my desires: ■ That my neighbor responds to my invitation and actually plays tennis with me. ■ That my neighbor accepts the invitation to come to my house for a special event. ■ That the person I’ve identified as a potential
cell leader actually enters our leadership training track. To make this difference practical, let’s take a typical
concern for cell leaders: Group multiplication. Many leaders experience tension when thinking about this
topic. A major cause of this tension is making unrealistic, vague goals based on
lofty desires, rather than bite-size, feasible goals based on what can actually
be done. ■ Talk to a cell member about facilitating the next cell group meeting. ■ Guide this potential cell leader through your church’s training. ■ Set a multiplication date and continually remind the group of that date. ■ Give the future cell leader ample opportunities within the cell to participate in ministry to others and facilitate meetings. ■ Remind the group weekly of their need to evangelize
and invite non- Christian friends. As you can see, your goals should be feasible and
measurable. They should be based on clear possibilities in which you have
control. Confusing desires with goals, while subtle, makes a huge
difference in your emotional well-being. When you’re pressured to perform —
to fulfill the goal yourself — your peace disappears and you feel stressed,
knowing you’re not going to succeed. Sadly, many cell leaders simply turn in their resignation
at this point, never citing the real reason. They don’t know why they feel the
way they do. I suspect confusing desires with goals is the culprit on many
occasions, leading to burn-out. Don’t get caught in this trap. #2 DO ALL THE WORK “I’m the cell leader. I need to do all the work.”
Wrong. The cell leader is the facilitator, not the work horse. You
are the person who orchestrates the work for the whole group to carry out. Remember the concept of net fishing versus pole fishing?
It’s the team that does the work. Everyone participates! There’s too much work for one leader to do alone.
Consider the pressures that a cell leader places upon himself when he embraces
the statement “I need to do all the work.” ■ Prepare and facilitate all the various parts of the weekly meetings, making it look very polished and professional. ■ Personally reach your lost friends (and your member’s lost friends) for Christ. ■ Meet with everyone in the group as often as possible to mentor and disciple them into strong believers. ■ Train an intern or apprentice by having them watch
what you do so that when he gets his own group, he’ll know what to do. Instead of doing everything yourself — which will never
create a feeling of community or new leaders — involve the team! Ask others to
help you in every aspect of cell life and leadership: ■ Delegate all the various parts of your weekly meetings to others a month at a time and watch them learn as they do it. Ask someone in the group to be in charge of meeting refreshments, prayer, worship, and the ministry time. ■ Ask each host family to keep the “Blessing List” poster and display it in the room where you’ll be meeting. Every host can also be given the responsibility to plan and hold one fun event in the next three months to connect their unbelieving friends to the group. ■ Establish mentor-protégé relationships in your group (or accountability partnerships) and call them to see how they are doing. These relationship will be very fruitful if they have a difficult task to complete together, like your church’s discipleship or equipping track. ■ Meet with your intern or apprentice every week and
together decide what the next steps are for your group. Then, let him or her
learn by first-hand experience by leading the cell into one-another ministry and
outreach, as well as facilitating weekly meetings. This will reduce your
workload and give new leaders a vision for the future. By involving others and forcing yourself to give away
responsibility, the group will become an exciting place of ministry and growth.
And you will not feel like Atlas, with the weight of the world on your
shoulders. #3 THINKING THAT
EVERYTHING DEPENDS ON YOU I forgot that only God can bring conviction and create open
doors for the Gospel. The key question we should be asking ourselves is:
“Where is God working?” I discovered this with my neighbors. I was concentrating on
my next door neighbor because they’re immediately visible when I open my own
front door. But God showed me that I needed to broaden my perspective to include
those at the other end of the street who were far more receptive. With this new
thinking, I was able to establish contacts quickly because God opened the doors. The Psalmist wrote, “Unless the Lord builds the house,
its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen
stand guard in vain” (Psalm 127:1). Pursue those non-Christian contacts in
which you see God working. Paul the apostle said, “I planted the seed, Apollos
watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is
anything, but only God, who makes things grow” (1 Corinthians 3:6-7). Only God can convert a soul, motivate someone to enter
leadership training, or multiply his or her cell group. Effective leaders don’t take responsibility for making it
happen because this would only result in pressure to perform and succeed without
God’s power. But, the same leaders do take practical steps to plant and water,
leaving the rest to God. And, they take responsibility
to make sure there are enough positive concrete actions (goals) that eventually
result in a breakthrough. So, plan to work with your team and sow into relationships
with the lost, sharing the Gospel whenever possible. Then water the soil by
praying and fasting, loving these folks unconditionally. God will send His
Spirit to them and draw them to Himself. Watch and see how God works when you do
your part and you allow Him to do His part. #4 GIVING UP WHEN
THE RESULTS ARE FEW Effective leaders are not necessarily talented, gifted, or
outgoing. But they do have one thing in common. They’re persistent. They
don’t give up! Each week they ask their members to invite someone. Each
week they try to make contact with
members of the cell by phone and whenever possible, in person. Eventually,
something clicks. God works. You could compare what I’m saying to sowing and reaping.
If you sow sparingly, you’ll reap sparingly. If you sow bountifully, you’ll
reap bountifully. For example, let’s discuss the Blessing List (the list of
non-Christian people attached to each member of your group). It’s tempting to
give up when we don’t see our prayers answered quickly. We should remember
that George Mueller, a man who modeled effective prayer, prayed throughout his
lifetime for five friends to know Jesus Christ. The first one came to Christ after five years. Within ten
years, two more of them received Christ. Mueller prayed constantly for over
twenty-five years, and the fourth man was finally saved. For his fifth friend,
he prayed until the time of his death, and this friend, too, came to Christ a
few months after Mueller died. For this last friend, Mueller had prayed for
almost fifty-two years. God doesn’t view time in the same way we do. He hears
every prayer you make, and He desires that you persist until the end. At times
you’ll want to give up. Don’t. God is hearing your prayers and is pleased
with them. In His time the answer will come — quickly. Keep on encouraging your cell members to reach out and
invite people, even when you see few results. Remember the Scripture Proverbs
14:23: “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.”
Your diligence will lead to success if you keep on pressing on. God’s blessing
is right around the corner. CONCLUSION To continue to lead a group, multiply that group, and care
for the new leaders as a coach, you need Christ’s light and easy yoke (Matthew
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