Effective leaders pay attention to structure and organization to insure the structure continues to benefit the organization’s mission. Read Deuteronomy 1:1-15.

The universe has overwhelming evidence of God’s use of structure and organization in the intelligent design of creation.  Even the simplest living organism is more complex and subtle than the most sophisticated computer. The Bible gives insight into God’s instructions concerning structure and organization to Moses, the leader He chose to lead His people from a time of slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land. When carrying total responsibility for leadership of the people of Israel overwhelmed Moses, God encouraged him to change the organizational structure so as to channel more of Israel’s human resources to fulfill the leadership needs. Wisely Moses accepted God’s counsel.

Structure and organization has a way of turning chaos into an effective use of resources. Read 1 Corinthians 14:40.

This verse, in a chapter on worship structure, furnishes a valuable glimpse into the public worship of the first-century churches. It stresses that order, structure, form, unity, like mindedness and mutual regard should prevail when believers gather together.

The effective leader finds a number of ways to constantly restate the goals and priorities of their mission. Read Luke 15:1-32.

Jesus was clear about His mission. According to Luke 19:10 He came “…to seek and to save what was lost”; those that were separated from God. Jesus found many ways to communicate that goal to the crowds that followed Him, His team, and the religious and political leaders. In Luke 15 Jesus reinforced His mission through three different stories about different situations; the sheep were lost naturally, the coin got lost accidentally, and the son got lost willfully. No matter what created the lost condition, Jesus came to find and help those who were separated from God.

A leader’s priorities can keep the good from becoming the enemy of the great. Read Luke 12:13-21.

Jesus’ words were so life changing that people followed Him where ever He went. At times the audience asked Him questions which triggered His teaching on a specific topic. At other times someone in the crowd would ask Jesus to use His authority to resolve a situation. On one such occasion someone in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus did not give the man advice on how to resolve his situation with his brother but Jesus addressed the real issue that would affect the rest of the man’s life, the man’s priorities.

As important as success, security, and significance are there is something far more meaningful. It is possible for a leader to achieve their wildest dreams for success and significance and still lose everything in the end. This does not mean success, security and significance are always bad but according to Jesus’ story there is a danger if these priorities dominate a leader’s thoughts and actions. Matthew 16:26 says, “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul.”

The way Jesus’ story ended warned against the attitude of greed and pointed out the futility of priorities that are not in line with God’s will. For Christian leaders the highest priority should be to bring recognition, glory, and honor to God rather than just pleasure to themselves. First Corinthians 10:31 says, “So whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” When a leader has that purpose in mind their priorities tend to sort themselves, and bring focus on what will bring the greatest recognition to God.

Write down your top five life priorities. How many of them focus exclusively on your personal benefit or gain? How many of your top five priorities focus on bringing glory to God (even if you do not receive financial gain or recognition)? Wise leaders can learn from Jesus’ teaching and discern bad priorities from good priorities from great priorities.

The effective leader does not ignore the needs of their core team. Read Mark 6:30-32.

Jesus’ public ministry was at its peak. He could not personally get to all the towns in Israel so He sent His disciples out in teams of two to the more remote villages to tell the story God had assigned to Him. Jesus’ disciples returned from their assignment and were eager to report the results to Jesus, but they found it impossible to report without interruptions from the crowds. Every leader has had teammates in their office that needed time dedicated specifically to them but one emergency after another or one interruption after another created a situation where that teammate felt unimportant and unappreciated.