Contrarian Leadership

There is no playbook for leadership. Leaders face a continuously changing environment that sometimes requires decisions that might seem unusual. In this episode of the Church Leadership Podcast, Adam and John listen back on an interview with Todd Wagner at CLC 2018. He shares stories of when unconventional thinking helped him solve complex leadership problems.

Episode Highlights

• Believing that pastors cannot confide with others about their own struggles is foolishness. Leaders should model what it looks like to be authentic and vulnerable in their walk. Do not believe the lie that leadership has to be lonely and isolating. Get people around you who will hold you accountable.
• When people think about reaching people with the church, they often only think about evangelism. However, the church is meant to live out their faith in all aspects of life. A healthy church will evangelize naturally in the workplace, be on mission in their city, and attract people with faith that is alive and active. Fight against being a dead church that only pays lip service to the gospel and never seeks to truly live it out on mission.
• Many churches function like a cruise ship, catering every tiny thing to the desires of it's passengers. They try to maximize comfort and ease. However, the church is more accurately an aircraft carrier or a battleship. Leaders will call their people to far more than comfort and find ways to equip others for the real work of ministry.
• Tragically, the church's discussion of topics like abortion often dissolves into hate and yelling at people. True leadership looks like pointing people to all the good the church is capable of. Rather than yell at people about abortion, double down your efforts to support foster care and adoption in your city.
• You do not need a beautiful building, a lot of resources, or even your health to do ministry. You need only the people of God, fully devoted and ready to live on mission. Do not confuse having a building to meet in on Sundays with actually being the church. You are the Church!

For more discussions and interviews like this one, we encourage you to attend this year's Church Leaders Conference, April 28-30th in Dallas, Texas. Join thousands of church leaders from across the globe to be refreshed among God's people, encouraged by God’s vision for His Church, and equipped to be even better leaders wherever God has placed you on mission. You do not want to miss it.

Additionally, if you have any comments or questions, please email us at clp@watermark.org.

Note: This episode features audio recorded from a large conference venue with a minimal amount of echo. Apologies for the quality of the audio at some points during the episode.