Bringing Change - Influencing Relationships

  nor had I as yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials or the rest who did the work. 

Nehemiah 2:16 (NASB)

Our focus in this post is being the kind of leader who can bring needed change.  These three, "Bringing Change" posts have been about leading to bring change.  We talked about the need to lead, vision and the last one, today, influencing relationships.

Every leader must learn to influence others.  That happens through relationship.  People will only follow you so far because simply you are the leader.  It requires an intentional influence.  But it also requires relationships.  Relationship are the key to everything we do as a leader and when it comes to church life.  Without relationships you will accomplish little.  But let me remind you to be careful not to build relationships just to get the work done.  That is manipulation.  We are called to love!  build relationships just to be a part of another's life and through it you will be able to lead.

That being said we also need to understand others.  In being intentional about building pastoral relationships, keep in mind there are about six different kinds of people you will need to influence.

1. Power People.  These are the people that are influential in the body.  They are the E. F. Hutons in the congregation.  When they speak everyone listens.  You will need to influence them and share the vision with them.
2. Gifted People.  Everyone who is a believer has a spiritual gift.  As a leader you must spend enough time with people to know their giftedness.  You want to be able to influence the right gifts to join in the vision at the right time.
3. Committed People.  If you are to lead you must know who is committed to the cause of Christ.  In every church there will be people present for a variety of reasons.  You need to know who is there because of a calling from Jesus.  They are the people you can count on.
4. Needy people.  Because of the nature of the church there will always be people with needs.  Frankly if the church is doing its job in ministry that is a good thing.  But the needy people that I am speaking about are the complainers, those with an agenda, and those who continually want your attention. It will benefit you to limit your time with these people, they will suck you dry of energy and time if you let them.
5. Flighty people.  These come in several varieties.  Some mean well but just won't catch what you are saying.  At times they will make you chuckle.  They mean well and are harmless but too can zap you of time.  A second type of flighty person is the one who is just waiting for you to say, do something they don't like and then they will take off.  They can be a little more troubling.  Watch out for them, they can give you a challenge in what others think about the ministry of the church.
6. Possible people.  Possible people are leaders in the making.  They have potential and you can see glimmers of great things God can do in their lives and ministry.  Possible people need you to influence them through mentoring and discipleship.

Prayerfully think about the people in the church and how much time and in what ways you need to influence them and build relationships.  A final caution, understand that building relationships with others always includes a risk.  But don't let the risk hinder you from relationships.  They will make all the difference as you lead and personally in your life.