In the progressive church, leadership means having to successfully deal with many different kinds of leaders in our church in order to fulfill our vision. Truly, learning how to release different kinds of people is the key to releasing your vision.

Noah is symbolically a great model for this kind of leadership because he had to navigate a ship that had animals together as diverse as a lion and a sheep.

Today’s progressive apostolic leader must learn how to shepherd emerging political, financial, and church leadership all in one ship.

Today’s apostolic model:

I. Multiethnic model

1. The model church, Antioch, had a diverse leadership.
A. Acts 13: They were multiethnic.
B. Most urban churches today are homogeneous.
C. We have to learn what the demographical trends of our communities are going to be and plan to reflect that if we are going to have a future.
D. Sunday morning is still the most segregated part of the week. (This is ok if your church is in a community that has only one ethnic group or if your church speaks in a particular ethnic language.)
E. Christians sometimes still carry their ethnic nuance as something more important than Christianity.

II. The church was multi-vocational
1. Barnabas: Real estate mogul

2. Saul: Religious leader

3. Manaen: Political leader

4. The biblical model shows that it takes a combination of marketplace and religious leaders to transform culture.
A. Persia was transformed with Esther, Nehemiah, and Ezra working together (a politician, celebrity lay person, and religious leader).
B. Daniel was both a prophet and political leader.

5. Today’s pastors need to understand how to effectively minister with both church and marketplace leaders in order to impact their community.

III. How to pastor marketplace leaders

1. Don’t have a cookie-cutter approach.
A. You must understand the demands on their time and treat them differently.
B. Can’t have weekly cells if they are traveling or have 18 hour days and are often stuck in business meetings until 9 p.m.

2. Need to affirm their place in the kingdom as a minister.
A. Ephesians 4:10-12 teaches that God’s plan is to release ministers in every realm of life so that “He can fill up all things.”

3. Need to allow their input if they are faithful.
A. Don’t treat them as a cash cow or as a political platform for your own agenda.
B. Be careful how many favors you ask of them, even if they are your leaders.
C. I don’t even ask my son Jason for too much even though he is nationally connected to media and political leaders.

4. Care for their souls. Don’t try to give them advice about the marketplace unless it is on the how their vocation fits with the biblical worldview or they ask for it.

5. Use them to help form alliances with community leaders and religious leaders to advance the kingdom.
A. They love it when they are affirmed and used to advance the kingdom.
B. My charter school experience in putting together a board of educators, community and business leaders.

6. Protect them from other Christian leaders with agendas.
A. They will believe you are condoning the ones you introduce to them.
B. They will be exposed to business schemes with ignorant people that will make you look bad.

7. Don’t allow those with money to pay for all the meals and programs in the church; they will feel used.
A. They want to see that the whole congregation has ownership before they put a lot into your building fund.
B. When I take a business person out for dinner, I always offer to take the check.

8. Teach your congregation to accept people of influence and treat them with courtesy and respect.
A. Insulate them from leeches.
B. Don’t announce what they gave or what they make.
C. Don’t show them favoritism.

9. Respect the fact that the wealthy in your church may want to give offerings to other charities and organizations besides your church.

10. Treat them with respect.

A. Don’t preach at them like they just came out of a halfway house. If a pastor only preaches “at” people he will only have the kind of church visitors who want to be controlled or treated like children, which means he will not have many high-end leaders visiting and/or staying in the church.
B. Give them reasons why you do things instead of just expecting them to listen to everything you say.
C. Give them financial information regarding the status of your projects if you want them to give a large amount.

For more information, please visit Joseph G. Mattera