Article
Strong Leaders Need Strong People
What Saul got right before God rejected his kingship.
Church planters often look at King Saul as the prototype of failure—an anxious, self-protective leader whose insecurity and disobedience eventually led to God removing his kingdom (and ending his life). That reading is true. Saul is a warning sign on the shoulder of the leadership highway, pointing toward what happens when fear, ego, and spiritual drift go unchecked.
Yet Scripture also shows us that even deeply flawed leaders can display instincts worth learning from. If we only study Saul’s collapse, we may miss something God affirms in his early leadership.
Near the end of 1 Samuel 14, just before God rejects Saul in chapter 15, we read:
“There was hard fighting against the Philistines all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any strong or valiant man, he attached him to himself” (1 Samuel 14:52).
Hidden in this brief line is a principle worth recovering. For all the things Saul got wrong, he instinctively did something wise: he identified strong, capable, valiant men and drew them close.
It is possible to be deeply flawed and still display a leadership instinct worth imitating. Saul’s eventual collapse does not erase the truth embedded here: healthy leaders do not isolate themselves. They intentionally pull strength toward them. We also see this instinct exemplified in King David, who also established his “mighty men” to help carry out the mission God had given him (2 Samuel 23).
This matters for church planters because our tendency—especially in the early years—is either to lead alone or to gather only those who will not challenge us. Saul reminds us that strength seeks strength.
The Opposite Pattern
Sadly, I’ve watched the opposite unfold far too many times in church planting. Insecure or immature leaders—often without even realizing it—begin collecting people who mirror their deficiencies rather than confront them. They surround themselves with teammates who enable dysfunction, remain silent when they should speak, or exist simply to affirm rather than sharpen.
What follows is predictable: poor decisions compound, culture erodes, blind spots widen, and eventually the mission suffers. It is heartbreaking and avoidable.
Saul’s story shows us that strength recognizes strength. Weakness tends to recruit weakness. And church planting is spiritual warfare. The work is too complex, too costly, and too consequential to lead in isolation or to build teams where difficult conversations are avoided and dissent is treated as disloyalty.
The Real Test of Leadership
Underneath all this lies a deeper diagnostic question—one that may reveal more about your leadership future than preaching ability, strategic insight, or charisma:
How do you respond when strong people challenge you?
Strong leadership isn’t revealed in how we handle agreement, affirmation, or praise; it is revealed in how we handle correction, confrontation, and counsel. Our response shows whether we are secure or insecure, humble or self-protective, mission-focused or image-driven.
Saul and David embody this contrast. Saul eventually silenced, resented, and feared people who threatened his control. David, though profoundly imperfect, learned to receive rebuke, repent when confronted, and embrace the faithful wound of a friend. The difference wasn’t personality; it was posture before God.
One of the most spiritually dangerous positions a planter can inhabit is leading without being meaningfully challenged. Isolation disguised as authority is a trap, and it breeds blindness.
What Saul Teaches Us
Saul’s early instinct teaches us three important truths for ministry leadership.
First, leaders must learn to recognize strength in others. Church planters should actively seek out wisdom, conviction, courage, and maturity in those who surround them. It is a spiritual instinct that protects the mission.
Second, leaders must intentionally draw such people near. It is not enough to admire strong people from a distance; we must invite them in, give them access, and empower their influence. If the only people who speak freely into your life are those you can easily manage, you are not being led—you are merely being affirmed.
Third, leaders must actually listen when those voices confront them. Many pastors say they want strong staff, strong elders, or strong advisors—until those advisors challenge blind spots. At that moment, many retreat, resist, or remove the very people God provided for their good.
Why Church Planters Need This
Church planting exposes and amplifies the heart. Pride, insecurity, impatience, ambition, and fear all come to the surface. No planter grows into maturity or survives seasons of pruning without a circle of strong, godly counsel. Saul teaches us that even flawed leaders can recruit strength; what we do with that strength determines our future.
So, take stock. Who actually has access to your life and leadership? Can they challenge you? Do you invite their candor? Do you repent when they expose something in you? Are you deeply accountable to anyone who is not impressed by you?
Ultimately, Saul serves as a warning. But he is also a mirror. His downfall reveals what happens when insecurity is left unaddressed and correction is resisted. His instinct to gather valiant men reminds us that leadership requires intentional relationships with people who make us better, sharper, and humbler.
Church planter, you do not need perfect leadership to plant a healthy church. But you do need humble leadership. You need strength around the table. You need the courage to be confronted and the wisdom to listen.
The health of your church will rise or fall with the character you cultivate, especially in those closest to you.
A Word to Leaders in the Field
Let me offer three invitations.
First, evaluate your inner circle. Ask whether the people around you are godly, wise, courageous, truthful – and whether you have given them permission to challenge you. Or have you gathered people who merely affirm you?
Second, seek honest feedback from a strong leader. Invite a staff member, elder, spouse, or sending pastor to speak candidly. Ask them, “Where do you see blind spots or immature patterns in me?” And then truly listen without defensiveness.
Third, repent of any leadership decisions shaped by insecurity. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. And planting demands grace. Lean into it, and you will be transformed into the kind of leader God desires you to be.
