In today’s cultural seismic shifts, the boundary between sacred and secular continues to blur—and that’s a positive development. As pastors, we have a unique opportunity to extend our influence beyond Sunday mornings by training our congregation’s leaders to become “pastors in the workplace,” while also sharpening our own leadership abilities. This mutual coaching relationship reflects Jesus’ model of servant leadership and expands our impact in ways we may never have imagined.
Untapped Potential in Your Pews
Every Sunday, professionals with decades of leadership experience gather in your congregation. They lead teams, navigate complex organizational challenges, and influence workplace culture every day. These individuals aren’t just church attendees—they’re potential kingdom ambassadors who spend more hours each week with non-believers than you ever could.
The Master Leader model, inspired by Jesus’ example, offers a framework for equipping workplace leaders to expand your church’s ministry beyond its walls. As Jeff Osborne states in The Master Leader, leadership demands “constant attention, training, and investment to achieve excellence.” By intentionally developing these leaders, you’re not just growing your church—you’re spreading Christ’s influence into boardrooms, schools, hospitals, and businesses across your community.
“By intentionally developing these leaders, you’re not just growing your church—you’re spreading Christ’s influence into boardrooms, schools, hospitals, and businesses across your community.”
Character and Action: The Dual Focus of Kingdom Leadership
Jesus exemplified leadership that balanced being and doing—who He was influenced what He did. The Master Leader highlights this dual focus on character and action, offering a comprehensive approach to leadership growth.
Character: The Foundation of Influence
Before Jesus taught His disciples to do ministry, He shaped their character. Likewise, workplace leaders need more than tactical skills—they need transformed hearts that reflect Christ’s values. As The Master Leader points out, leaders must first decide “the kind of leader you desire to be,” establishing a mindset that guides all subsequent actions.
This character foundation includes:
Servant-heartedness: Jesus upended conventional leadership by washing feet and putting others first. Workplace leaders who adopt this servant attitude stand out significantly in environments often marked by self-promotion.
Flexibility and nimbleness: Great leaders, as the book notes, “master servanthood, flexibility, and nimbleness…knowing how to fly at different altitudes depending on the situations or challenges they are required to manage.”
“Jesus upended conventional leadership by washing feet and putting others first.”
Action: Bringing Kingdom Values to Life
A character without action stays theoretical. Jesus didn’t just teach about the kingdom—He proved it with real actions that His disciples could see and imitate.
The Master Leader highlights several action-oriented principles from Jesus’ ministry that translate powerfully to workplace settings:
Practicing mercy and inclusion: Chapter 7 highlights how Jesus “embedded his primary value of love into real-world situations through practicing mercy and inclusion.” This shows how workplace leaders can create Christ-centered organizational cultures that stand out in their industries.
Casting a compelling vision: As the book notes, “That is your main role as a leader—to cast a compelling vision of a preferred future.” Jesus cast a vision of restoring Eden, bringing “a bit of heaven to earth as a precursor of things to come.” Christian workplace leaders can similarly cast vision that aligns with kingdom values while achieving organizational objectives.
“Christian workplace leaders can similarly cast vision that aligns with kingdom values while achieving organizational objectives.”
The Two-Way Street: Why Pastors Need Coaching Too
Many church leadership models fall short because they see pastors as the only source of wisdom instead of fellow learners. However, the most successful pastors understand that business leaders in their congregation have valuable insights that can strengthen church leadership. Consider what your church’s executives, entrepreneurs, and managers have mastered:
- Strategic planning and execution
- Team building and conflict resolution
- Financial stewardship and resource allocation
- Organizational development and change management
- Performance evaluation and improvement
This was my own experience writing The Master Leader in collaboration with Jeff Osborne, who “worked as a C-level leader in multiple organizations and has coached hundreds of leaders in the business world.” He brought invaluable perspective to the project. Similarly, inviting your congregation’s business leaders to coach you creates a powerful learning environment that benefits the entire church.
“Inviting your congregation’s business leaders to coach you creates a powerful learning environment that benefits the entire church.”
Implementing The Master Leader as a Discipleship Tool
The Master Leader isn’t just another leadership book for your shelf—it’s a discipleship tool designed to equip both church and workplace leaders. Here’s how you might implement it in your church:
- Create mixed leadership cohorts: Form groups that include both church staff and workplace leaders to study The Master Leader together. The diverse perspectives will enhance everyone’s learning.
- Establish coaching partnerships: Connect church staff with business leaders for mutual mentoring, using the book’s principles as conversation starters.
- Build workplace ministry teams: Commission and equip workplace leaders to see their professional environments as ministry fields, applying the book’s twelve Master Leader values and actions.
- Create feedback loops: Invite workplace leaders to assess church systems and strategies, leveraging their expertise to enhance the church’s effectiveness.
- Celebrate workplace ministry stories: Consistently emphasize how congregation members are implementing leadership principles to promote the kingdom in their work environments.
“Consistently emphasize how congregation members are implementing leadership principles to promote the kingdom in their work environments.”
The Multiplication Effect
Jesus’ final words were “a proactive commission, sending his followers to establish his kingdom globally.” He understood that leadership multiplication was essential to the mission’s success. As The Master Leader reminds us, “Jesus had his Twelve, and they passed the torch to those who traveled with them. Down the line it went until here we are today.”
By empowering workplace leaders and enabling them to empower you, you’re creating a leadership multiplication system that goes well beyond what you could achieve alone. You’re recognizing that the Great Commission calls all believers—not just vocational ministers—to lead like Jesus in their spheres of influence.
The goal isn’t just to create great leaders but to develop “Master Leaders—leading like and leading for the one who initiated this whole thing we call servant leadership.” When pastors and workplace leaders coach each other, we build a powerful ecosystem of kingdom influence that transforms both the church and the marketplace.
The Master Leader provides the blueprint. Are you ready to build it?
