Discipleship of the emerging leader is as crucial as a lion nurturing his offspring or a father his child, but it goes deeper than a father to child relationship. It is much broader than teaching skills or fine-tuning character. Malcolm has written a letter that goes straight to the heart of discipleship and what emerging leaders need from those more experienced leaders.
At Asian Access, we have been affirmed for our ability to identify leaders who are right for our program. We’ve had numerous requests to share what we believe we have learned. So with humility, let me offer a few thoughts on our approach.
If you interact with other humans, chances are you'll experience some sort of rejection, and that can feel like being in the center of a storm without any shelter or comfort. Eric reminds us that leaders must weather the storms of rejection.
In Revelation 3:8 God told the church at Philadelphia that He had set an open door before them even though they had “little power.” Many times God opens a door for leaders who doubt their leadership abilities. How could I be considered a leader or have anything to offer leaders? Julie had to do some rethinking about leadership and asks several important questions.
“I was helping to train an overseas group of emerging leaders and seeking to impart skills to them for understanding the New Testament. Together we were noticing how Jesus, at first, hid Himself from a couple of disciples (Luke 24:13-16). Then as they walked, while His identity was hidden, He showed them how all the Scriptures spoke of Him (v. 25-27).”
One of the critical elements of successful leader development is identification of the right ones to build. Jesus took this very seriously – He spent the entire night in prayer before calling the Twelve! We may have a perfectly designed training program but if we’re building the wrong people it won’t work. Here is a simple but robust model that will help to identify emerging leaders with high potential.