Organizational Shepherds and Stewards
Luke Kuepfer • March 27, 2020
As we begin the last section of DOING in our phase on Achieving Organizational Effectiveness, I’d like to briefly discuss the roles of shepherding and stewarding. Psalm 78:71 states that “[God] chose David his servant...to be the shepherd of his people.” In 1 Corinthians 4:1, Paul refers to stewardship when he writes: “...regard us...as servants of Christ...entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed.”
At the Reverb Network, we believe that Jesus’ standard of leadership in His Kingdom is that of servanthood with the implication that serving leaders are both shepherds and stewards. Just like parents set their children up for success with training in their early years and cheerleading after they leave the nest, so do organizational shepherds provide direction from the top and empowerment from below in order to steward the vision (click here
for some examples.)
Psalm 78:72 notes that “David shepherded them with integrity
of heart; with skillful hands he led them.” A shepherd’s life was very hard. Shepherds were required to be on duty twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week to feed, guide, and protect their sheep. Constant vigilance, fearless courage, and patient love were necessary characteristics of the shepherd.
Stewardship implies responsibility and fruitfulness. The apostle Paul was passionate about fulfilling the purpose God had given him and multiplying the effects of the Gospel to everyone in his sphere of influence.
Organizational leaders at the DOING level both direct and empower. They are doers, moving from the being and knowing of serving leadership toward implementation.
[Next week we will look at a case study of Jesus as a Shepherd Leader.]
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Organizations allow individuals to work together to accomplish things that they could not accomplish by themselves.
God wants each of us and the organizations we lead to always strive to do everything in an excellent and effective manner.
A long-range (strategic) plan serves as a “road map” to help us achieve the mission and vision that God has given us.
Leaders who develop followers grow their organization only one person at a time. But leaders who develop leaders multiply their growth.
A leader that leads, loves, and serves like Jesus must learn to use their power and influence to serve others and accomplish the mission God has given them.
Wisdom can be defined as having experience, knowledge, and good judgment. Wisdom is that character trait that enables one to live an exceptional life.
Decisions reveal the values of a leader and require obedience and dependence on God. They demand wisdom. Making decisions affects just about everything leaders do.
It is one thing for a leader to have a vision; it is quite another thing to be able to effectively communicate that vision to others so that they will embrace and internalize it.
Godly leaders must first have a vision of who God is, the future He holds for them, and a sense of what He has called them to do.
