Leadership isn’t about building programs. It’s about building people—and that always begins with your own walk.
If we’re honest, most of us in leadership feel the tension between what we teach and what we live. We want to lead others well, but we’re often aware of our own inconsistencies. That gap can be humbling, even discouraging.
When we asked Jon Jenks, President of Baptist Church Planters, how he keeps his leadership grounded and genuine, his answer was immediate: Guard your heart.
“Don’t call people to a standard you’re not willing to live,” he said. “If my wife couldn’t back me up on something I’m calling other people to live, I’ve got a problem—and I need to address it”
That kind of honesty matters. People can sense pretense a mile away. A leader worth following isn’t one who projects perfection, but one who says, “Follow me as I follow Christ,” and keeps moving forward, even in imperfection.
Living that out requires more than conviction. It requires action. As Jon put it, if you’re not living up to the standard, start doing so. Growth doesn’t begin with knowing—it begins with practicing.
Doers, Not Just Talkers
Speaking of action…that’s exactly what we need to be demonstrating when it comes to discipleship.
Churches are full of conversations about spiritual disciplines like prayer, Scripture reading, and personal evangelism. But how often do we actually practice them together?
“We teach about prayer,” Jon said, “but how often do we actually pray—actually pray—with one another?”
Some disciplines can happen in the church building, and we should engage in them regularly during worship and ministry gatherings. Others require intentional relationships in the context of 1:1 discipleship settings, where we move beyond talking to actually doing the work of faith side by side.
Jon often uses a chainsaw analogy to make this point (and yes, sometimes with an actual chainsaw in hand).
“You can describe how to start a chainsaw all day long. Pull the cord. Press the choke. Adjust the throttle. But few people will actually be able to start it by just being told—they need to be shown.”
It’s a vivid picture, especially when applied to teaching someone to pray or study the Bible. Instruction is important, but demonstration is what makes it real.
And even then, Jon reminds us, the goal isn’t just to start the chainsaw.
“The real question is: once someone can start a chainsaw, are they ready to cut down a tree?”
Discipleship that ends with explanation or even imitation falls short. We want people to mature—to take what they’ve learned and confidently live it out.
We want the people we disciple to be able to pray, but even that in some ways is just “starting the chainsaw.” We want them to be able to pray confidently for the salvation of their family. We want them to be able to pray with and over their mother who is battling cancer. We want them to be able to lead someone to pray a prayer of salvation.
We don’t just want them to pray. We want them to wield prayer like the incredibly powerful tool that it is, to the glory of God!
Aim Small. Miss Small.
This mindset is why, when BCP coaches churches, they don’t try to overhaul everything at once.
“Many churches we work with are surprised when we tell them they need to be doing less, not more,” Jon said. “We rarely show up and add more to what the church is doing.”
The goal isn’t busyness and programs—it’s fruitfulness. If the top two people in every ministry intentionally disciple just one more person, that simple step multiplies impact far more effectively than adding another event or program.
But when leaders spend their energy only talking about what needs to be done, multiplication stops cold. Without discipleship in action, growth grinds to a halt. And without a depth of discipleship that encourages people to use and do what Christ commands, multiplication reverts back into addition, subtraction, or even division.
That’s why true leadership focuses on what matters most: replicating deep faith, not just managing activity.
The Power of Example
But who does this apply to, you might ask? How are we to deal with the varying levels of maturity within the church at large?
1 John paints a picture of spiritual children, young men, and fathers, and the picture we should take away from this segmentation is that every stage matters—and every stage can lead in discipleship.
Should a new believer be expected to disciple someone else? Absolutely. We all learn best by doing.
Will they do it perfectly? Of course not. But perfection was never the point.
The goal is to identify a few people, teach them, and send them out to do likewise.
Outreach. Prayer. Reading the Word. Listening to sermons. Every practice is training ground for one-to-one discipleship.
“Our goal should never be to make something artificial,” Jon said. “We want organic organization—engaged leaders who are held accountable for discipling others. Shepherds who set the tone and mobilize undershepherds and disciplers who go out and do likewise.”
Because when it comes to discipleship, if it’s not the standard for everyone, it’s not the standard for anyone.
Faithfulness starts at the top, but it multiplies at every level.
The Call
Discipleship isn’t complicated, but it is costly. It takes time, consistency, humility, and leaders who are willing to live in light of God’s Word.
That’s where transformation begins: when we stop merely talking about following Christ and start walking with others as we do it.
Baptist Church Planters exists to help church leaders build healthy disciple-making churches. If you or your church need support or resources to love God and love others, please reach out to us today. We’d love to help.
