The faithfulness factor

By Tim Massengale

Before any individual can be placed in a position of leadership, the question must first be asked, “Will this person be faithful?” Faithfulness, dependability, reliable, trustworthy – as we have explained before, these are attributes that are worth their weight in gold. They are much more desirable than only talent or ability. It does little good to have a youth leader who is fantastic with kids and terrific in personality, yet cannot be counted upon to fulfill his duties or is not loyal to the pastor. You would much rather have a person of lesser natural talent, but is faithful and dependable. This type of person can be trained and developed into a strong, powerful, leader for God.

Can faithfulness and dependability be trained into a person? Yes . . . sometimes. But it is often a long process, and many a shipwreck has resulted, because dependability is a spiritual problem rather than intellectual. The person must want to change. Such was the case of young John Mark. In Acts l5, Paul felt that Mark was not dependable to go with them, having abandoned them in Pamphylia when the work became difficult. But much later, after someone – perhaps his uncle Barnabas – worked with him, his dependability had strengthened, and Paul sent for him saying, “He is profitable to me for the ministry” (II Tim 4:11).

Leadership training can often turn a person around. The key is the directing hand of the Holy Ghost. Let the Spirit speak to you concerning an individual. God knows the heart and whether the person is useful to His work or not.

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