Leadership

By Robert Stearns

I was impressed years ago with a story from men’s leader and author Steve Farrar. Paraphrasing his words, his story went like this:

You've heard of the preacher Billy Graham. But what about Chuck Templeton or Bron Clifford? Have you ever heard of them?

Billy Graham wasn't the only young preacher packing auditoriums in 1945. Chuck Templeton and Bron Clifford were accomplishing the same thing – and more. All three young men were in their mid-twenties. One seminary president after hearing Chuck Templeton preach one evening to an audience of thousands, called him "the most gifted and talented young man in America today for preaching."

Templeton and Graham were friends. Both were extraordinary preachers. Yet in those early years, most observers would probably have put their money on Templeton. As a matter of fact, in 1946, the National Association of Evangelicals published and article on men who were "best used of God" in that organization's five-year existence. The article highlighted the ministry of Chuck Templeton. Billy Graham was never mentioned. Templeton, many felt, would be the next ‘Babe Ruth’ of evangelism.

Bron Clifford was yet another gifted, twenty-five-year-old fireball. In 1945, many believed Clifford the most gifted and powerful preacher the church had seen in centuries. In that same year, Clifford preached to an auditorium of thousands in Miami , Florida . People lined up ten and twelve deep outside the auditorium trying to get in . . .

Graham, Templeton, and Clifford.

In 1945, all three came shooting out of the starting blocks like rockets. You've heard of Billy Graham. So how come you've never heard of Chuck Templeton or Bron Clifford? Especially when they came out of the chutes so strong in ‘45.

Just five years later, Templeton left the ministry to purse a career as a radio and television commentator and newspaper columnist. Templeton had decided he was no longer a believer in Christ in the widely-known sense of the term. By 1950, this future Babe Ruth wasn't even in the game and no longer believed in the validity of the claims of Jesus Christ.

What about Clifford? By 1954, Clifford had lost his family, his ministry, his health, and then . . . his life. Alcohol and financial irresponsibility had done him in. He wound up leaving his wife and their two Down's syndrome children. At just thirty-five years of age, this once great preacher died from cirrhosis of the liver in a run-down motel on the edge of Amarillo . His last job was selling use cars in the panhandle of Texas . He died, as John Haggai put it, "unwept, unhonored, and unsung." Some pastors in Amarillo took up a collection among themselves in order to purchase a casket so that his body could be shipped back east for decent burial in a cemetery for the poor.

In 1945, three men with extraordinary gifts were preaching the gospel to multiplied thousands across this nation. Within ten years, only one of them was still on track with their initial purpose.

In life, it’s not how you start that matters. It's how you finish.

Key Qualities for Finishing Strong

The qualities needed for a strong finish begin with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. With him in the pilot’s seat of your life, then walk out the qualities needed by a strong leader in order to finish strong:

1.      Cares deeply for God and for what God desires.

2.      Has the ability to handle conflict constructively.

3.      Has sensitivity to the needs and feelings of others.

4.      Approaches decision-making with a positive and “visionary” outlook.

5.      Accepts and affirms others.

6.      Has a heart for the downtrodden of society.

7.      Maintains spiritual and personal disciplines.

8.      Accepts responsibility in the life of the community and follows through.

9.      Is an example to others of moral truth and honest living.

10.  Can handle success and leadership without a proud spirit or condescending manner.

11.  Gives financial resources generously and wisely looks after personal finances.

These qualities can help you as a leader to finish strong. Yes, it’s important to start right and to focus on the overall vision and purpose for your life. But we must focus, fight, and finish strong in that purpose. Don’t quit. Let your overall purpose from God shape and form you into the type of leader that will make a lasting, enduring difference in the world around you... the type of leader that this world very desperately needs.

Robert Stearns in Executive Director of Eagles' Wings, www.eagleswings.to