A long time ago, John Maxwell said, “Everything rises and falls on leadership.”

For years, I wanted to try to prove him wrong and find something else that could explain healthy, growing, transformational churches. I couldn’t do it. Obviously, we need God at work and the gospel at the center, but research repeatedly has shown that leadership really matters on the human side of things. In fact, my research has ended up basically proving that Maxwell was right. Leadership is key for churches that see growth and impact.

Because of the importance of leadership, pastors must break through purpose and personal barriers, as we saw in the first article of this series. We must align our hearts and lives with Jesus and his mission, and repent when we fall short. From there, we must also take stock of our leadership capabilities and training, seeking to grow in the places where God has called us. That’s what I want to talk about in this article.

Many have asked (and answered) the question, “Are leaders born or made?” Some say one or the other, but the reality is that it’s both. Leaders are both born and made. Some people naturally move toward the front and lead effectively, and all leaders can also grow and develop skills in leadership.

Breaking through the purpose and personal barriers I talked about in that first article is a part of growth and development as a leader. That growth then continues through theological and practical development. This need for theological and practical growth applies to breaking growth barriers in churches, like the 200 barrier, and it applies to everyone in church leadership.

So, let’s explore how we can grow in these areas.

Theological Leadership Growth

Christian leadership development — and specifically church leadership development — requires theological training. I believe that theological training happens best in a structured institutional program. We have such training at Talbot School of Theology where I serve as dean, and it can also be found in many other excellent programs. Many pastors have underdeveloped in terms of their theological training. Specifically, many pastors have an underdeveloped ecclesiology and missiology — biblical frameworks for the church and mission.

Pastors need to develop a dynamic, missional ecclesiology. Such a view of the church and mission will point a pastor toward a key principle of effective church leadership: you need to spend much more time with leaders and with the lost. Those are the engines of biblical, gospel church growth. Such an ecclesiological framework will require key shifts in how we view the church.

We must develop a pro-growth mindset, believing that reaching people with the good news is good and important. We must shift from a “doing” approach to an “equipping” approach. We’re called to equip Christians for ministry, not just do all the ministry ourselves (Eph. 4:11-12). We must shift away from a consumer faith toward a commissioned faith. We must see the mission of the church as essential to the nature of the church.

Then from this foundation of theological leadership growth, we can grow in practical leadership skills and practices.

Practical Leadership Growth

Theological development needs to partner with practical development. A friend who leads one of the largest seminaries in America told me that seminaries generally haven’t been effective in training leaders — because that’s not generally what they are designed to do. This makes sense, because most seminary professors are academics rather than leadership practitioners. I believe academics and scholarship are crucial, and I’ve invested decades of my life into both. Yet I also think that we need to develop practical, organizational and church leadership skills to lead effectively in the callings God has given us.

For example, we must learn how to shape and share a vision. A vision isn’t just a big goal. A vision is a picture of the future that is both inspiring and possible, fostering commitment through the power of God. We must also learn how to develop and deploy leaders. Let me explain why. Growing from 125 people to 200 people is 60% attendance growth. But a church of 200 requires twice as many key leaders as a church of 125. Growing by 60% in attendance requires growing by 100% in active leaders.

This leads to a key paradox of leadership: doing more often results in accomplishing less. As Carey Nieuwhof has said, “Doing doesn’t scale. Leadership does.” Pastors and ministry leaders can be so busy doing ministry that they aren’t leading within ministry. When we do this, we miss opportunities for mission — and we rob the people God has put around us of opportunities to lead and serve as well.

One great way to develop your leadership skills is through the Breaking 200 course I offer in partnership with RightNow Pastors+. In that course, I walk through some of these things in a lot of depth, specifically pinpointing some key shifts in our ecclesiology, missiology, and leadership development. I encourage you to check it out.

I want to help you, because I’ve had to learn some of these things the hard way. When I planted a church in Erie, Pennsylvania, I was trying to do everything for everyone. We were about 125-150 in attendance. Everyone had my number, and I was the first call for everything we were doing as a church. I have never worked so hard, and I was exhausted. I finally learned what needed to change, and in my young and brash way, I announced one Sunday, “I’m resigning as your personal pastor.”

People were shocked, and that was my intent. I wanted everyone to know that I was failing to do what I was called to do, and that we needed to shift how we approached ministry and cared for people. We did, and we never looked back.

Many pastors are in the same situation. Many are stuck and wrestling with whether they should just yield to the problem or find a way to break through. I understand the temptation, but I hope you won’t yield.

Instead, do what it takes to shift your vision of leadership and pursue theological and practical leadership growth — for the glory of God and the sake of the mission.

This post and other writings by Ed Stetzer can be found on Church Leaders.