3 Character Traits Every Young Ministry Leader Should Develop

By Paul Worcester

Greg Laurie is a godly and gifted evangelist who has been used by God to share the gospel with literally millions of people around the world.

He came to Christ during the “Jesus Movement” and has been proclaiming Christ powerfully ever since. His burden now is to encourage another great awakening and revival among young people today.

I spent a day with him and around 60 other young leaders was inspiring and motivating to continue pursuing God for revival in our nation and world.

During our time with Greg, he emphasized three primary character qualities we must focus on if we are going to be fruitful and leverage our influence for God’s glory.

1. HUMILITY

The primary character quality that Greg emphasized was the need for us as young influencers to grow in humility. He recounted how he has watched too many up and coming leaders be taken out by pride.

Pride has a blinding effect that makes you resistant to the correction that God and wise leaders could give you.

Pride is an offense to a Holy God who deserves all the praise and glory who will not share his glory with anyone: “I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols” (Isaiah 42:8).

Greg stressed the importance of being connected and accountable the leaders of a local church and godly wise mentors who can encourage you as well as correct you when you start to steer off course.

Being gifted is not the same thing as having character. Being gifted will open opportunities to serve but having godly character will set you up for a lifetime of fruitful ministry.

He frequently mentioned the advice and example of his mentor Billy Graham. He said the more you knew Billy Graham the more you respected him. How impressive he was in preaching publicly was only trumped by his character and humility in private.

Part of being humble is seeking to grow as an aggressive learner. The primary source of learning must be God’s word. It is crucial that young Christian leaders are people who are saturated with Scripture.

Young leaders must know God’s word better than any trend or social media strategy. They must learn how to hear from God and how commune with him on a daily basis.

A daily serious time of Bible reading and passionate prayer is essential for anyone hoping to be used by God in seeing lives change.

Greg has encountered his share of criticism and praise for the work he is doing. He encouraged us not to ride the roller coaster that is the praise of man but to focus on doing what pleases The Lord and see the opinions of people as secondary.

2. RESPONSIBILITY

The next character quality Greg emphasized was the need for us to grow in our responsibility—to be diligent stewards of the gifts that God has entrusted us. He challenged us to do whatever we could to leverage our influence to advance the gospel.

He emphasized the importance of honoring The Lord even in “little things” of life including staying pure in our thought life and being on guard against greed.

“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much” (Luke 16:10).

He also encouraged us to create sustainable rhythms of ministry with seasons of pushing and seasons of rest, and to involve our families in our work as much as possible.

One area Greg cautioned us was in the area of how we use our words. He encouraged us to “Be quick to listen and slow to tweet.”

He told how he often first sends a text to a respected friend if he is wanting to send out a snarky or edgy tweet. This friend may encourage him not to post it or says go for it.

In our world even a temporary lapse in judgment can result in serious consequences. Young leaders must be extremely cautious about what words we are publishing.

3. URGENCY

Greg had an obvious passion and urgency about him as he shared with us about the desperate need to share the gospel with those around the world.

More people have access to high speed internet than clean water. That means this generation has the opportunity to share the gospel using technology to the most remote parts of the earth.

Our goal must be to use whatever means possible to fulfill the Great Commission in our lifetime.

In addition to sharing the gospel boldly and broadly Greg urged us to grow in our prayer lives. He told stories of how every great revival was birthed by people of urgent and passionate prayer.

He challenged us to study revival history and to learn all we can from those who have gone before us in great movements of God. One of the defining characteristics of every person used by God in revival was a powerful prayer life.

One of the most fascinating things Greg shared with us was the intense spiritual attack he undergoes when he is preparing for an evangelistic event.

But he actually gets more worried when there is no opposition to an event. He knows when God is working and the gospel is going to be shared the enemy is seeking to distract and discourage however he can.

The gospel is always advanced through people who are willing to pay whatever price to share the hope that Jesus offers to those who desperately need it.

Hearing from Greg Laurie that day inspired me to continue leveraging my life to do whatever it takes to see as many people as possible come to know Christ.

I pray that all of us younger leaders will continue seeking to learn all we can from those who have gone before us and set an example for us to follow.

PAUL WORCESTER (@PaulWorcester) and his wife Christy lead Christian Challenge at California State University, Chico, where they passionately seek to introduce college students to Jesus and become multiplying disciples.

Paul is the author of Tips for Starting a College Ministry and the co-author of the new edition of The Fuel and The Flame with Steve Shadrach. This article, adapted and used with permission, appeared on OutreachMagazine.com.