Chapter Three

True Leaders Really Care, And Their People Know It

By Dr. Lester Hutson

Zechariah 11:15-17

"And the Lord said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd. For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that is broken, nor feed that standeth still; but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces. Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened."

Some pastors and other church leaders don't really care. To them, their role is just a job. They see themselves as rather aloof from the people. They don't sympathize with the people's situations. They have an "it's their problem" attitude, and in helping people with their needs, they take the attitude that they're kind of being used and they don't like it if it's after hours or at some inconvenient time. They don't seem to really care if things are done right, or how people feel except as it relates to them directly. Oh, they go through the motions and do what they have to do, but their heart is really not in it. There's not a genuine compassion and caring and identification with the people, or a genuine personal identification for the needs of the church, the ministry, or the class. There's a sort of "if it goes, fine" attitude, but "if it doesn't, it's not going to bother me all that much. I'll just move on to the next person, the next job, or the next church."

What I'm saying is that there's no real reaching out to the people beyond "the professional, that which is required." Not many real, person-to-person bonds are established. Whatever interpersonal involvement occurs is only that which has to be done to keep the job. Beloved, people can read that "loud and clear." It doesn't take a class, a choir, a ministry, a church, or a member long to decide "he's doing this because he has to; he'd really rather not," or, "I'm getting a front; this is not how he really, personally feels about it."

Yes, people can soon tell when you really care. And, they tend to follow those who really care, and wander away from those who don't. And, churches with truly caring leadership tend to prosper, while those without it don't. Caring is not the only leadership characteristic, but it is a big, big factor. Zechariah 11:15-17 is an excellent treatise on "shepherds" or leaders who don't really care, who don't truly have the well-being of the people at heart. Such ones are called "foolish" shepherds.

"And the Lord said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd. For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that is broken, nor feed that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces. Woe to the idle shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened." Not only do men take a dim view of such failures in leadership, God abhors it. Oh, I imagine most any person in a leadership position would pacify himself by saying, "Oh, yes, I care," and in a general sense, he does. He has some feelings for those under him, but not in a truly committed, "heart in it" sense. His main interests are elsewhere, not on those he serves. They're just of passive interest to him, not his active concern.

Well-Being of the Flock

Leaders who really care about those they serve are committed to their well-being. They grasp the reality that a clear understanding of their basic needs is essential to the well-being of those they serve.

Knowing your people - it's not easy, but it's vital! It's vital to their welfare. You can't really help people when you are shooting in the dark. You must see where the needs really are. You can't be taken in by the friendships, facades and all the multitude of masks behind which people hide.

Knowing your people requires constant, diligent study and analysis of them. You can't walk around with your head in a cloud, just caught up in the flow of things, and really know the needs of your people. Knowing their needs requires watching and lots of listening. It requires looking beyond the physical needs to the spiritual. It requires lots of prayer, and sorting through the whole picture in meditation to separate, objectively, real needs from mere wants. Meeting needs means being on the right track, and truly caring leaders make it their business to be on the right track with their people. Solomon admonished shepherds or leaders, "Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds," in Proverbs 27:23. True leaders do it. Church leaders understand the basic needs of their people as a whole. They keep the overall need of the church in clear perspective. They look for developing trends and attitudes. They see where the whole church is, and ever seek to lead it where it ought to go. They care about the whole.

They also watch for the basic needs of the church as individuals. A church is just individuals banded together. No caring leader ever forgets that he's serving people, not just some lifeless organization. He keeps a careful eye on the needs of his people as people, not just as meaningless, expendable parts of a big whole. This caring involves doing whatever is necessary to meet their needs. Beloved, it means finding a way to help! It may be words publicly or privately. It may require a rebuke or a pat on the back. Finding a way to help may mean financial help, or rallying others to the aid of a brother. It may mean stiff action on one member to protect the whole. It never says "I won't help," or "I give up."

Caring vs. Leadership Cancers

Genuine care for the people you serve destroys several leadership cancers. It destroys selfishness. Unilateral decisions, which reflect primarily the desires and interests of the church leaders, do not adequately reflect the needs, interests, and desires of the people. Self-centered decisions and activities reflecting greed and personal enhancement of the leader at the expense of the people destroys the morale of the people. Selfishness is a sure sign of a "don't care" spirit. Unselfish devotion rallies people behind their leadership.

Genuine care also destroys ignorance. Leaders, especially the pastor, are the main channel through which God blesses his church. The need of the people for God is greater than the need of the people for a channel, yet, they need a channel, and when they don't have a good one, they suffer. If a pastor or teacher is not studying the Word, his ignorance will be a big hindrance to the church. It is amazing how time in God's Word generates creativity and motivation, which translates from the pastor to the people. If a pastor or other leader is not studying the sheep, he will be ignorant of their needs. In turn, troubles and ills among the members will grow. If he is not reading and learning new ideas, the church will suffer for lack of better technology. Ignorance in leadership is a great curse to any church. Jeremiah observed, "For the pastors are become brutish (wasteful; consuming) and have not sought the Lord (His wisdom): Therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered," in Jeremiah 10:21. Genuine care for the well-being of the people keeps a leader knowledgeable and on top of things. He will not let his people suffer because of his own self-allowed ignorance. Genuine care also destroys slothfulness. Caring for needy people is hard work. It's demanding, time-consuming, and often very emotionally draining. Hearing their problems, searching for solutions, dealing with the hardships of the church as a whole is no job for the lazy.

Invariably, one who is more interested in himself than he is in the needs of the church and its people will be slothful in these pursuits. Solomon warned,

"I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man." (Proverbs 24:30-34)

Yet, those who really care for the church and its people will pay the price. The apostle Paul is a great example of one who really cares. He wrote, "I will gladly spend and be spent for you," in II Corinthians 12:15. Truly caring leaders are never lazy. They constantly give of themselves.

Genuine care destroys the tendency to get side-tracked. There are always diversions. Things come up to lead you away from the main functions of your leadership position. With pastors, there's always a fellowship meeting, somebody on the phone, somebody dropping by to visit, paper work, and somebody with a great new idea. The work of winning and discipling people and meeting their needs can look rather dim against the bright lights and glamour of things big, noisy, and full of excitement. When a man really cares for his church and its people, their welfare will always be weighed in light of any new glorious opportunities which present themselves, and that leader will not allow any diversion to take him away from meeting the basic needs of his people.

Destructive Steps

Along these lines, there are three very easy ways for a church leader to destroy his ministry and life, as well as the church he leads. Do nothing with it. Sit idle. Let your lazy streak win. Proverbs 20:4 says, "The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing." Give yourself to the wrong thing. Fight, claw, work hard, give your lifetime to a cause or direction that is empty and worthless. Struggle to the top of Masada only to find the Jews are already dead. Jesus asked, "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Matthew 16:26)

Allow yourself to be diverted. You're basically on the right path, but you periodically allow some lesser need or golden opportunity to get you off the main track. You become a "jack of all trades, but a master of none." The Bible says, "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways." (James 1:8)

Many a church suffers because its leadership doesn't genuinely care enough to avoid these destructions. Genuine caring keeps church leaders committed to the welfare of the people. This commitment of true leadership is one of the main differences in those who claim to be leaders and those who are. The presence of absence of this genuine caring in their leadership is a difference, one of the big differences in prospering and non-prospering churches.

"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"