Pastors, are you making the most of your godly men?  

One of the conversations I frequently have with pastors is about leveraging their best men, their most reproducible men, as leaders for a men’s discipleship initiative. 

Can you think of a guy in your church everyone recognizes as someone they would want to emulate?

When he walks into a room, folks already know his reputation in the community; in character, in business, and in integrity.

His marriage looks healthy. His family seems solid. His walk with the Lord is robust. His children are admirable, doing well, and walking with the Lord. In short, we’re talking about a 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 sort of guy. He is a man who is clearly qualified to be an elder or a deacon in his church. 

What if we put a man like this in a multiplying position instead of putting him in a position where he is being utilized for his gifts in a limited way, where you get what he is capable of, but it ends with him? What if we place him where he has an opportunity to be a life-giver by investing in other men as his priority in the local church?

Now you’ve got a long-term plan for sustainability in your church and Kingdom growth. 

We want these guys in leadership positions, but I think we miss something when we don’t recognize that one of the most important aspects of leadership is reproduction. We don’t want his influence to stagnate just sitting in a committee seat. 

So, pastors, can you think about that guy who everyone looks up to as a model of a godly man? When you know who that guy is in your church, I would ask you what it would look like to invite that man out to lunch or coffee one afternoon and suggest that you would like to unhook him from all his responsibilities at your church.  

Unhook him from church management and move him toward Kingdom multiplication.

Release him from all those responsibilities and offer him just one – to reproduce his life in the lives of other men. 

Cast the vision for a man like that to prioritize strengthening the church, not just by making sure the budget is strong, but by making sure there are more godly men with servants’ hearts, strong marriages, and faithful children, who can sustain the ongoing work of the church. 

It’s a challenge for you to think about, pastor. Who is the 1T3T1 guy in your church who represents Paul’s admonition to Timothy and Titus about the type of man who could be an elder? Can you invite that man to be the critical leader of your strategic initiative to see godly men multiplied in your church? 

That’s a strategy for Kingdom growth. 

“He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.” Titus 1:9