One of the most powerful memories I have of the Army involves standing in a chow line with other officers waiting for our enlisted soldiers to get their food. The reason we stood in line rather than going ahead of our soldiers related directly to the three M’s of leadership taught to us in our officer basic courses. Our cadre taught us to lead with these three priorities: my mission, my men, myself.

If you think about it, these three M’s apply to leading as a Christ-follower as well. Whatever your role in the kingdom, applying the three M’s to your leadership will help you develop more Christlike and kingdom-focused leadership. How do these three M’s from the Army apply to church leadership?

1. My mission.
Lead with the accomplishment of the Great Commandment and the Great Commission as your first priority. Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God, and the second is to love our neighbor. The most loving thing we can do for our neighbor is to share the Gospel with him or her. As Christian leaders, lead others by the example of loving God and making disciples. As soldiers of Christ, be willing to give up your lives for this two-pronged mission. Imagine what our churches would become if we had Christ-followers living out this first priority of kingdom leadership.

2. My men.
Our first priority of mission leads to the second priority: people. In his letter to the church in Philippi, the Apostle Paul encouraged the believers there to humble themselves before one another and to consider the interests of others superior to their own (Philippians 2:3-4 ESV). Our love for others should lead us to minister to and make disciples of the people around us. We begin with our family members, then the members of our churches, and, finally, the people in our community, our state and around the world. We should look to their spiritual, physical and emotional needs. They are directly related to our first priority and its accomplishment: the mission.

3. Myself.
In the above encouragement to the Philippians, Paul did not tell them to neglect their own needs, but to make them subservient to the needs of others. It is imperative that we care for ourselves spiritually by spending time daily in the Word of God and in prayer. We need to care for ourselves physically so that we will have the health and energy to accomplish the first two M’s. We need to engage with our Gospel communities in accountability and discipleship relationships, discipling others and being discipled. By taking care of ourselves in this way, we can take care of others.

I saw the positive impact that implementing the 3 M’s had upon my soldiers as I led them as a battalion chaplain. I am convinced that the application of these three leadership priorities within the church will help grow stronger leaders and stronger churches to the glory of God and the advancement of His kingdom.