ADESINA AYODEJI OYENIYI

LIFE2020172

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION LEADERSHIP

CHAPTER 20

REPRODUCING LEADERS INTRODUCTION

The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will
also be qualified to teach others. 2 Timothy 2:2

With the words above Paul presses home a leader’s responsibility to train others to lead. If he is to carry
out his trust fully, the leader will devote time to training others to succeed and perhaps even supercede
him.

John R. Mott believed that leaders must multiply themselves by growing younger leaders, giving them
full play and adequate outlet for their abilities. Younger people should feel the weight of heavy burdens,
opportunity for initiative, and power of final decision. The younger leader should receive generous
credit for achievements. Foremost they must be trusted. Blunders are the inevitable price of training
leaders.

Perhaps the most strategic and fruitful work of modern missionaries is to help leaders of tomorrow
develop their spiritual potential. This task requires careful thought, wise planning, endless patience, and
genuine Christian love. It cannot be haphazard, hurried, or ill conceived. Our Lord devoted the greater
part of His three years of ministry to molding the characters and spirits of His disciples.
Paul showed the same concern for training young Timothy and Titus. Paul’s method for preparing
Timothy for the church in Ephesus is deeply instructive. Timothy was about twenty years old when Paul
became his friend. Timothy tended toward melancholia, and he was too tolerant and partial to people of
rank. He could be irritable with opponents. He was apt to rely on old spiritual experiences rather than
kindle the flame of daily devotion. But Paul had high hopes for him. Paul set about to correct Timothy’s
timid nature, to replace softness with steel. Paul led Timothy into experiences and hardships that
toughened his character. Paul did not hesitate to assign him tasks beyond his present powers. How else
can a young person develop competence and confidence if not by stretching to try the impossible?

Traveling with Paul brought Timothy into contact with men of stature whose characters kindled in him a
wholesome ambition. From his mentor he learned to meet triumphantly the crises that Paul considered
routine. Paul shared with Timothy the work of preaching. Paul gave him the responsibility of establishing
a group of Christians at Thessalonica. Paul’s exacting standards, high expectations, and heavy demands
brought out the best in Timothy, saving him from a life of mediocrity.
The observant leader may discover latent talent in some quite unpromising people. No work is more
rewarding to a missionary than developing leaders, for the survival and health of the new churches the
missionary plants will greatly depend on the spiritual caliber of the nation Christians. Once the pioneer
stage in any field has passed, the training of leadership should take high priority. One of a missionary’s
main goals should be the development of faith in promising young people who can, in time, lead the
church.

Lest our training programs become too rigid and we discourage the exceptional person from service, we
must always allow room for the unusual person, the one for whom there is no mold. God has His
“irregulars,” and many of them have made outstanding contributions to world evangelization.
Leadership training cannot be done on a mass scale. It requires patient, careful instruction and
prayerful, personal guidance over a considerable time. “Disciples are not manufactured wholesale. They
are produced one by one, because someone has taken the pains to discipline, to instruct and enlighten,
to nurture and train one that is younger.” When a person is really marked out for leadership, God will
see that that person receives the necessary disciplines for effective service.

In conclusion, a leader is not yet successful until he has made leaders out of others that are around him,
who can run with his visions even beyond his own capacity.