Second Baptist Church of Rock Hill

These laws were written by John Maxwell. Each law will have an application in your life. We are all Leaders at some point in our lives. In fact, we are always a Leader in some part of our lives.

As each law is brought into this program, take a few moments to consider how the law applies to you.

The Law of Lid states that our leadership determines our level of effectiveness. In other words, our ability to lead will determine how successful we are regardless of the area of our lives; work, family, church, or any other area. Thus, it is vitally important that we all improve our leadership capabilities in order to be more successful in every area of our lives. 

This challenge is exactly what God wants us to do! If we are standing still, not learning, not becoming a better leader, then we are not progressing in our walk with Jesus. Remember, we are always striving for perfection, striving to serve, striving to be more like Christ!

The Law of Influence, simply stated, is that leadership is basically influence, nothing more and nothing less. If you lead people, you influence them. If you influence people, you are leading them. So, if you think you are not a leader, then consider whether you have influence over anyone else. If you do, you are a leader.

As a leader then, you have a responsibility to add value to the person or persons you are leading. You need to have a positive influence, helping others to attain their goals.

Who will you lead (influence) today?

The Law of Process simply says leaders develop daily and not in a day. This is very consistent with the life of a Christian. Salvation comes in an instant but the Christian life is a process that takes a lifetime. Along the way, we experience setbacks and leaps forward, hard times and great times.

The key to the Law of Process is our willingness to make commitment to the process. For a Christian, this means Bible Study, prayer, worship, witnessing, and living righteously.

Remember, consistency is what God longs for in our lives. Consistently faithful to Him. Consistently devoted to living out His example before others. Consistently growing in our relationship with Christ and others. Consistently loving everyone!

How far along are you in the  process of becoming more like Christ?

The Law of Navigation simply states that anyone can steer a ship but it takes a leader to chart a course.

Some people have the gift of being able to see the end result, the goal. People that excel at the Law of Navigation are able to see the pathway to the goal. If you are gifted in seeing the goal but not charting the course, then you need to get someone near you to help chart the course.

Where do your gifts lie? Do you need to work on developing your skills in "seeing the goal" or "seeing the pathway to the goal"? Pray that God will show you His goal and His pathway!

The Law of Addition basically says that leaders add value to others by serving others. When we provide a service to someone, we must first see that the person has valuer, in other words, is worthy of the service we are performing. By assigning value to them, they are encouraged to value themselves.

Jesus performed a great service for us when He chose to sacrifice His life in payment for our sins. Prior to His sacrifice, He determined that each of us have VALUE! This should prove to us that we do indeed have value, what a wonderful thought that is!

Because Jesus values us, so must we value others. We show that others have value by providing service to them. This is leadership!

Trust is the foundation of leadership! Our ability to lead is directly impacted by the ability of others to trust us. Are we trustworthy? The term "solid ground" rings cleat to Christians. Jesus Christ is our solid rock! He is 100% trustworthy and will be able to lead others to Him.

TRUST is earned. While it may be given to us freely at first, in order to keep it, we must earn it! Are you trustworthy?

People naturally follow leaders that are stronger than them. This strength is not in the sense of domination or power. It is in the sense of respect. People do tend to follow someone that they see as a better leader and for whom they have respect. Respect can not be demanded or expected, it has to be earned. The process of earning respect may take a long time. A leader must earn respect through consistent, reliable service and example to everyone around them. It is a purposeful commitment, a leader must "intend" to earn respect. Once respect is earned, it also takes a lifetime commitment to maintain it.

Respect can be lost in a single moment. Leaders must, therefore, be very diligent to protect their position and do as the scriptures teach, "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil". Thessalonians 5:21,22.

Take a moment to consider if those around you have respect for you. Have you earned it? Have you protected it?

All of us know what intuition is. Sometimes it is even spooky when our own intuition sees things that it is not reasonable to see. We call it a "gut feeling". We make decisions based on our intuition. Have you noticed that your intuition is best in the area of your gifts? Stock traders rely on intuition to invest in stocks other traders wouldn't touch. Farmers buying livestock rely on intuition to make profitable investments, seeing potential that others don't.

Gifted Leaders are able to use intuition to "read between the lines" when dealing with people, challenges and problems. What we must realize is that all of us have a certain amount of giftedness when it comes to leadership. Therefore, we need to rely on our intuition and not be afraid to LEAD.

Besides, where does our intuition come from? It comes from God and is developed through our relationship with Jesus Christ and the influence of the Holy Spirit!

This law simply says that who you are is who you attract. The old saying "birds of a feather flock together" rings true. So, who do you want to attract? Let's pick 3 characteristics of people that we would like to have around us; honesty, good attitude and dependability. If this law is correct, then we have to also have those characteristics. Who we are is who we attract.

In a church group, it is important for us to undersand OUR gifts and talents. Then, we have to purposely seek those that have OUR same belliefs, values and vision but have DIFFERENT gifts and talents. Our prayer should be that God will send us people that fill in the gaps where OUR gifts and talents are lacking.

Once again, this means that we need to be willing to step out of our comfort zones and do what does NOT come natural. We need to seek relationships with people that are different that us, same core beliefs but different talents and gifts.

This law says that great leaders touch a heart before they ask for a hand. This law holds true in all aspects of life but most importantly in the life of a Christian seeking to share their faith with others.

Each day we should look for opportunities to connect with others, emotionally. Our objective should be to "help" people regardless of what that "help" may be. After we connect, then we can share the love of Christ. Others will be far more willing to listen when they share a connection with us.

Practice the Law of Connection daily!

A leader's potential is determined by those that are closest to him or her. The CEO of a company is smart to surround themselves with an Inner Circle of people with talents and abilities that he or she may lack. This holds for the Pastor of a church as well.

But this law embodies more than just a presence of people. Leaders must invest their time, knowledge, wisdom and direction into the lives of the members of their Inner Circle.

Remember, for many of us who are not CEO's, our Inner Circles may be our families or our closest friends. God calls on us to be leaders in that environment too! We must invest in them for them (and us) to reach their (and our) potential. God's people are a TEAM!

This law simply states that only secure leaders give power away. This law goes hand-in-hand with the Law of the Inner Circle. Effective leaders are able to strategically gather folks around them with diverse talents and gifts and then empower them to use those talents and gifts. This applies to businesses and churches.

But for many of us, our inner circle is our family and our closest friends! Well, this law applies to them too! We must empower those around us and use God's gifts to lead and guide them along the way. Isn't this what we do all the time with our children?

How can you empower someone today?

People do what people see! Remember the game "Follow the Leader"? People of all ages and in all walks of life do this all of their lives; people do exactly what people see.

One of the most important aspects of leadership is to lead by example. Therefore, we better live the way we talk. Recently, Hiliary Clinton was quoted as saying that politicians need "both a public and a private position". Considering the political climate in America today, I think it is safe to say that most politicians of all parties have adopted this philosophy.

As Christians, we cannot live our lives in that manner. Each and every day we have to live as we believe, Christ-like, committed to truth and integrity. When we do, others will follow our example, our leadership.

This law states that people need to "buy-in" to the leader before they "buy-in" to the vision or plan. So, as a leader we need to determine if the people we are leading have truly bought-in to us. It is easy here for you to say "I'm not a leader, this doesn't really apply to me." If you do, you will be wrong! As I have stated several times before, each and every one of us are leaders in one form or another. Maybe we manage people in our job or head up an organization or maybe are simply viewed as a leader in our own homes and families.

For people to "buy-in" to you, it is essential that you show them your worthiness as a leader, Most importantly, people must trust you and see that you truly care about them. Whether it is in a large corporation or a small family, the formula is the same. Have those around you over which you have influence "brought-in" to you?

The Law of Victory simply states that losing is not an option, victory is mandatory. This philosophy holds true for everything we do. Imagine how well a football team would play if everyone on the team believed they were going to lose before the game even started? Would your child have ever learned how to ride a bike if you told them that they were going to fail?

Yes, the road is very hard sometimes. Yes, victory seems impossibly long. But, God has promised us VICTORY and we need to live our lives knowing that victory is ours.

Leaders understand that activity is not necessarily accomplishment. However, by their nature, leaders love activity. This law is the most difficult one for some. Many days, some feel trapped in the need to generate activity for survival and the items that should be their priorities get pushed to the side. Is this true for you? Whether you see yourself as a "leader" or not, this law is meaningful to us all!

Remember that 80/20 rule? Well, this rule applies to most things in life. If we sit down and analyze our activities, we will likely see that 20% of the things we do produce 80% of the return we desire,. If we can focus on the 20% rather than the 80%, we will be more assured of receiving the returns we need. This may change the way we think about things. Indeed, it will change our PRIORITIES!

This law simply states that if you want to "go up" you have to "give up". In order to grow as a person or a leader, we have to make certain sacrifices. For example, to play any sport and play it well, a person has to work and practice, a lot. (Just ask Ian and Ethan of our church!)

Dreams are easy! To see our dreams come true requires us to determine the sacrifices required and be willing to make them. No dream is unattainable so long as we are willing to pay the price to see it come true.

To be a devoted parent requires sacrifice! To be a devoted Christian requires sacrifice! To be a devoted friend requires sacrifice! To be a devoted grandparent requires sacrifice! To be an excellent leader requires sacrifice!

"... The joy of possessing leadership and all the benefits of leadership is the fact that you didn't get it free, you paid something for it. A free lunch may be good for a couple of hours, but it doesn't last very long."... John Maxwell

Pray that God will guide your dreams and give you strength to make the sacrifices needed to see all your dreams (God's visions) come true in your life.

When to lead is just as important as what to do or where to go. Leading is not just making good decisions but it is making them at the right time. It is easy to see how this law links to the Law if Intuition.

In baseball, timing is the difference between a homerun and a strikeout. The decision to swing is obviously important but, without the right timing, the batter still fails even if the decision was the correct one

"Most decisions that are good decisions, if they don't turn out well, are decisions that were made too late", John Maxwell said in his training class. So, when it is time to make the decision, don't delay. The price for not making the right decision at the right time could be very high.

The key to mastering this law is to pray for God to give us the right decisions at the right time. If we lack in the area of intuition (knowing the right time), then we need people around us with strong "intuition".

Leaders who develop leaders multiply. As the leader at Second Baptist Church, this law mostly falls on the pastor, Mark Bradley. If he is to have the chance to develop leaders, then church members must be willing to become leaders and not just be followers. Followers are very much needed, however there are followers at the church that really should be, have the capability to be, or are even already leaders and just don't know it.

Remember the passage of scripture (Luke 9:57 thru Luke 10:2)? God was calling "leaders" to step out and learn how to lead from the Master. Is God calling YOU to lead?

If Mark, as a leader teaches others to lead, the end result will be explosive growth!

A leaders lasting value is measured by succession. Each day, we determine our legacy. Have you considered what your legacy will be? Have you considered what the legacy of Second Baptist Church will be? What will be our succession here at God's church?

John Maxwell's legacy statement is "I want to add value to leaders who multiply value to others." Perhaps this statement could be changed by one word to make it apply to our service at Second Baptist Church and read as "I want to add value to PEOPLE who multiply value to others."

How do we add value to other people? It is actually very simple. Love people with the love that only Jesus Christ can instill in our hearts. Share the love, mercy, grace, and salvation of Jesus Christ in everything we do with everyone we meet.

That will create the legacy that will please God at Second Baptist Church!