Leadership Or Leaderless
Leaders define reality by developing a worldview and perspective that enables them to interpret life from the eternal vantage point of God’s truth. The truth, even when it’s hard, sets people free from ignorance and deception.Jesus is truth and sets the standard for truth.
One of the most complex issues of Jesus day had to be when he would quote the law and then compare it to what he was about to say: You have heard that the law of Moses says. . . but I say. . . (Matthew 5: 21 – 22) All of a sudden, all of history is summed up in a single phrase and the contrast that is about to take place is imminent. What is it that Jesus is going to say? Actually it doesn’t make much difference what the topic is, if Jesus is going to speak about it, I want to listen and learn. The Apostle Paul had the same idea with his words: Follow me like I follow Christ. (I Corinthians 11:1)
Can you imagine what might happen if every leader was seeking to add to another perpson’s life instead of manipulating that life for his own position? John Maxwell, who leads all kinds of leadership seminars and write prolifically on the subject identifies the reason for leading is “to add value to people’s lives”. I had the privilege of hearing John in person and he identifies four ways to get this “adding of value” accomplished:
1. Value people. (This is done by accenting the value that a person has currently.) 2. Make yourself more valuable. (This means that you keep on learning, developing and growing. You are a continual learner.) 3. Know and relate to what other people value. (You actually learn this by listening and caring about people. That includes knowing what they care about and listening to what they have to say.) 4. Know and do the things that God values. (This is a Christian view that may not be identified by all who are in a leadership position.)
Christian leaders have a trust in God that is a priority. Next comes the influence that the leader has because people trust him or her. The qualifiers for a Biblical leader are found in I Timothy 3 and Titus chapter one. In a practical way from a “big picture” perspective those qualifiers lead us to ask three hard questions of church leaders that we may consider choosing: 1) Personally, do his internals match the externals? Is there consistency? Does the private world and public world match? This “Christian leadership” model has to include a genuine and authentic example that is without hypocrisy. 2. Domestically, would his family vote for him? Would his wife and children agree that he could make a significant contribution to the ministry in the church? Would the children say that their father’s leadership is the kind that the Lord would honor and use? 3. Publicly, would the community be surprised or confirming about the selection of this person as a church leader? Would the co-workers on the weekly job agree that this person would be a godly leader or would they be surprised because of the inconsistent example or language that is seen in the workplace?
Imagine what might be a response if every Christian leader had to give the names of three character references from his work place that were observations made by non-Christian people. What kind of consistency might that reveal?
I have a friend that has this saying on her office desk at a publishing company: “If you don’t practice what you preach, no one is going to follow you.” It is a great reminder and I want to have that kind of authenticity. It comes down to practicing leadership every day. Simple, isn’t it?
