Young people have the potential to transform society. To unleash that potential, youth workers spend countless hours developing student leaders. What exactly is student leadership? How best can student leaders be developed? To find out, we asked four experts.
Passionate about equipping others to lead well, Jenni Catron serves as the executive director of Cross Point Church in Nashville, Tennessee. There, she leads the staff and oversees the ministry of five campuses. She’s the co-author of Just Lead! A No Whining, No Complaining, No Nonsense Practical Guide for Women Leaders in the Church.
As the founder and president of Growing Leaders, Dr. Tim Elmore trains students with the skills they need to become authentic leaders. He’s the author of Artificial Maturity: Helping Kids Meet the Challenge of Becoming Authentic Adults and the best-selling Habitudes.
Driven to see others flourish in their God-given gifts, Efrain Figueroa is the executive director of New Life of NYC, a nonprofit after-school program that works with at-risk youth. Previously, he served as a pastor in the Assemblies of God tradition.
An Iranian-born Muslim convert to Christ, Keivan Tehrani is a powerful speaker and evangelist devoted to equipping leaders and students to love and reach the lost. He’s the co-founder and director of evangelism at Compassion Bridges and the global outreach pastor at WestGate Church in California.
Youth Worker Journal: To you, what is student leadership?
Jenni Catron: A leader is someone who understands his or her sphere of influence and wisely stewards that influence to bring the best out of others, leading them to where God’s leading. Student leaders have accepted the call to be leaders among their peers.
Tim Elmore: Leadership is leveraging God-given gifts for a worthwhile cause. It has less to do with position and more to do with disposition. Every student has leadership potential because it’s about positively influencing others.
Efrain Figueroa: Student leadership is giving opportunities to young people to lead in real-life situations.
Keivan Tehrani: Student leadership is an organized group of students whose passion for God thrusts them to love and live as Jesus did in a way that inspires their peers toward God. Student leaders welcome the guidance of adult leaders and work together to further the cause of Christ.
YWJ: Why is developing student leaders important? What’s the biblical basis for it?
Jenni: Biblically, we’re called to identify and develop spiritual gifts such as leadership. The earlier we identify and nurture this gift, the more opportunities we create for God to use it.
Tim: God’s call to lead is throughout Scripture: from Genesis, where God makes man in His own image then commands him to rule the earth, to Jesus saying to His disciples, “Follow Me…and I will make you fishers of men.” In other words, if you stay with Me long enough, I will transform you into an influencer of others.
Keivan: Developing student leaders is a way of saying discipleship. We’re to make disciples of all nations, but we begin at home with the youngest (least) of these, teaching them so they can walk in God’s ways (
YWJ: How should student leaders be selected?
Jenni: Look for sparks of influence and evidence of a heart that wants to know Jesus better. A natural influencer with a heart for Jesus is a recipe for dynamic student leaders.
Tim: It’s optimal for student leaders to have GIFTS:
G-GIFTED: Do they have aptitude and potential? Are they good communicators, organizers, planners or strategizers?
I-INFLUENTIAL: Do they have social capital? Even without a title, do they leave their mark on others?
F-FRUITFUL: Do they get results?
T-TRUSTWORTHY: Do they seem credible with their lives? Is their character as deep as their gifts? Can they be trusted with responsibility?
S-SERVING: Are they already serving? Are they actively involved in the community, proving they have a heart to make a difference?
Efrain: Give them opportunities. Leadership isn’t a textbook thing you learn in the classroom. David was in the backyard taking care of sheep. His father overlooked him. You can’t look for a specific thing. You have to believe in youth and trust they can do this.
Keivan: Look to those who are teachable servants and influencers who are willing to pay the price. Set the bar high and open leadership to whoever’s willing to jump. Often my strongest leaders looked to be the poorest choices, but they were teachable and willing to sacrifice. Jesus, in His infinite wisdom, selected the 12 (many of whom the religious community would have disqualified). After years of missing the point and bickering over who was greatest, they got it.
YWJ: Scripture lays out qualifications for elders and deacons. Should youth ministries have qualifications for student leaders? If so, what should they be?
Jenni: Students want and need boundaries. They want to understand what’s expected of them. To develop qualifications, begin with what your church has established for leadership positions and make age-appropriate adjustments.
Tim: It’s one thing to accept any student into our community, even when his or her lifestyle is ungodly. It’s another to admit students into responsible positions who must set an example for others. Our criteria should revolve around aptitude, reliability and potential. They must demonstrate they can model the way for others. After selection, they should meet regularly with leaders who hold each other accountable.
Efrain: When we begin to put titles on things, we cloud the job description. Shy away from saying, “These are the qualifications,” and just say, “We’re working to develop someone into who he or she should be in the eyes of the Lord.”
Keivan: There needs to be a lot of grace when we talk about qualifications. That said, we need to keep the bar high because leaders set the example. As
YWJ: What other qualities are important in student leaders?
Jenni: A heart for Jesus. A good litmus test for the spiritual health of potential leaders is evidence of the fruit of the spirit. They’re not going to be perfect; but when you glimpse fruit, you know they’re on a journey of faith.
Tim: Perspective—They see what others don’t yet see. Courage—They’re willing to step out, to initiate and take risks toward a worthy goal. Favor—They’re able to bring others with them on the journey.
Efrain: Character. We don’t want a kid leading in church one way and in school another. We teach people in leadership that they have to lead. Sometimes that’s not right. You have to serve. If a kid can serve at school, we’re on the right track.
YWJ: What are the best ways to develop and nurture student leaders?
Jenni: The best student leaders develop out of relationships. They begin with a personal connection. They grow as they’re poured into by another leader.
Tim: Leader development is a process, not just an event. Events encourage decisions, but a process encourages development. In that process, incorporate Jesus’ IDEA for training:
I—Instruction: Verbal teaching on how to lead;
D—Demonstration: Good models of how it looks;
E—Experience: Safe places to try it out themselves;
A—Assessment: Debriefing that turns bad experiences into learning.
Keivan: Be a loving and godly example. Release leadership into their hands. Allow them to fail. Then teach them where they went wrong. Students become great leaders when we let them lead—even when they’re not ready. They need to be released, tested, corrected and released again!
YWJ: What prevents young people from developing into strong leaders?
Jenni: Many young people don’t get opportunities as leaders because no adult saw their potential. Students need people who will take time to invest in and mentor them; to hold them accountable and help define where the guardrails are for their lives.
Efrain: The church. We tell kids to lead in their schools and to be good Christian leaders, but we don’t give them opportunities to lead in the church. My first leadership role was a greeter when I was 19. The church didn’t have a 6-month waiting period to do that. From greeting, I went into prison ministry. There wasn’t really a proving time. Adults saw who I was and gave me opportunities. Sometimes we’ve got to take a chance on kids. They need to know, “Whatever happens, I’m going to love you anyway.”
Keivan: Fear of loosing friends, standing out, losing popularity and looking dumb. Lack of training and good examples are also reasons we don’t raise strong leaders.
YWJ: What advice would you give to students about how to lead well in a world that’s increasingly diverse, divided and violent?
Jenni: Study how Jesus loved others. Seek to develop crazy, unconditional love. The complexity of our world presents challenges; but when we see others as Jesus sees them, we’re equipped to love and lead through any situation.
Tim: Empathy is absolutely critical in leaders today. Students must place themselves with others who are unlike them to deepen their empathy and compassion. This means living out of their comfort zones.
Keivan: For too long, we’ve failed to challenge students to live by faith. Be intentional in reaching those unlike yourself. Purposefully mix kids of different cultures and backgrounds. Student ministries should strive to look demographically similar to the schools students attend.
YWJ: How does the development of student leaders impact the church?
Tim: Leadership development among students is vital. It solves the Joshua Problem. Moses mentored Joshua; when he passed away, Joshua led God’s people into the Promised Land. Joshua never mentored a younger leader. When he died, Israel entered the worst period of its history. It was the period of the judges when “There was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” This was because existing leaders failed to mentor younger ones. The church is dying for lack of quality life-giving leaders.
Efrain: It keeps the church growing. It gives the church a brighter future. Teaching and training them to lead now prepares them for the work of the church of the future.
Keivan: Younger leaders can inspire the church to reach and love its neighbor. They have fewer barriers and are more open to working with people of other cultures and denominations. We need them to show us how to work better with one another. A more united church pleases God and will help us serve the lost and hurting world. As Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and Daniel did, the younger generation can bring about a revolution that will impact pastors, kings and presidents to glorify God!
Recommended Resources:
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni
The Disconnected Generation byJosh McDowell
The Barbarian Way by Erwin McManus
In His Steps by Charles Sheldon
The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler
Radical by David Platt
Crazy Love and Multiply by Francis Chan
TheGospelCoalition.org
GrowingLeaders.com
