The WIGTake Leader: Foundations, Fire, and Fatherhood

by Mark Goering and Dave Miller

In a world addicted to charisma and credentials, Paul’s leadership in 1 Corinthians cuts against the grain. He writes not as a manager of outcomes or a distant guru, but as a father. This isn’t sentiment—it’s strategy. Paul’s identity as a spiritual father gives us a profile of a WIGTake (What’s It Going to Take?) leader. These are leaders who build movements that last—not because they have control, but because they’ve laid their lives down.

1. Foundation Layer: Building What Others Can Build On

“I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it.” (1 Cor 3:10)

A WIGTake leader is not merely an initiator but a founder. Paul’s apostolic role was to lay the kind of foundation that others could build on. That foundation was Jesus Christ—nothing more, nothing less, and certainly nothing flashier.

Founders embed the DNA of gospel life. They don’t create dependency on themselves but establish patterns that are reproducible. They measure success not by attendance or applause but by whether future generations can carry the work forward in faithfulness and freedom. Paul warns that others will build on the foundation—but how they build matters (3:12–15). The founder’s job is to make sure the core is fire-tested and Christ-centered.

2. Fire Starter: Carrying the Weight Others Avoid

“We have become a spectacle to the whole universe… we are fools for Christ… we go hungry and thirsty… we have become the scum of the earth.” (1 Cor 4:9–13)

Paul paints a picture of apostles that no TED Talk would feature. And that’s the point. He models the cost of going first. Apostolic leadership is cruciform—it bleeds. WIGTake leaders go into unreached places not with slick presentations but with scars. They embody the message of the cross before they explain it.

Movements don’t start with perfection; they start with pain. Real apostolic leaders don’t wait for permission. They live with urgency. Paul’s suffering isn’t a liability—it’s legitimacy. If no one is bleeding, we’re not pioneering. And without pioneers, we don’t get multiplication. We get maintenance.

3. Father Figure: Raising Sons, Not Building Empires

“Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers… I became your father through the gospel.” (1 Cor 4:15)

This is where Paul hits the nerve. Apostolic leadership is not just strategic—it’s relational. In decentralized environments, where control is impossible, only fatherhood holds things together. You don’t need more managers. You need mothers and fathers in the gospel.

A WIGTake leader doesn’t hoard influence; they multiply identity. Paul urges the Corinthians to imitate him (4:16) because he’s not building followers—he’s raising family. He’s not cloning his personality; he’s calling people into maturity.

This is the tension: fathers don’t control, but they don’t abandon either. They stay long enough to call sons into their own responsibility and release them with expectation.

Why Institutions Still Matter: Fatherhood Needs a House

Movements need structures, but the structure must reflect the spirit of the founder. Paul’s spiritual fatherhood assumes that there will be ongoing leadership, but that leadership must be formed around the values embedded at the start.

Institutions built without fathers become mechanisms of control. Institutions shaped by fatherhood become houses of generational legacy. Paul was not anti-institution. He was pro-formation. Structures are necessary, but they must serve the people—not overshadow them.

The DNA matters. The foundation must remain intact even as others build.

Fatherhood as the Endgame: Following Jesus Means Becoming Like the Father

Paul’s leadership wasn’t a creative innovation. It was a reflection of God’s eternal nature. The created order is fathered by God Himself. Jesus reveals the Father, obeys the Father, and brings us to the Father. The telos of discipleship isn’t autonomy or success—it’s Christlikeness, which means becoming like the Father (John 14:9).

To follow Jesus is to grow into spiritual fatherhood (or motherhood)—to raise up others who know the Father and make Him known.

Conclusion: The WIGTake Leader Profile

So what does a WIGTake leader look like?

• Foundation Layer: Lays reproducible patterns rooted in Christ—not themselves.

  
  

• Fire Starter: Goes first, suffers well, and embodies the message.

  
  

• Father Figure: Multiplies identity, maturity, and family—not just strategy.

  
  

This is the kind of leadership that moves the needle in hard places. It’s not the path of least resistance—it’s the way of the cross. But it’s also the only way to see lasting fruit.