You have picked up this book thinking that maybe you are a leader. Or you want to be a leader and need to learn how. The first thing we should probably do is define our term—leader.
We say a leader is one who leads. This simple definition implies a capacity to lead, that someone is following, and that there is some direction of purpose (not necessarily good or bad) the leader has in mind. Good leadership is a great blessing to the nation, the family, the business, or the church.
Does secular leadership and Christian leadership differ? Certainly if we look at 1 Timothy 3:1-7 we see that one of the keys of Christian leadership is good character.
1 Timothy 3:1-7 ( ESV )
The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.
A Christian leader ought to reflect God’s character since he is the one that is served. The incarnate Christ has come to earth and inhabited his people. This, because of our very nature, makes us different from leaders in the secular world.
The Christian leader is first a follower then a leader. By definition a Christian is one who follows Christ (the root of the word is “little Christ”). It is only after following the one we call Jesus that we are able to lead anyone else.
Christian leaders are agents of change. We do not just want to see things happen we want to see peoples lives changed. We want to see lightness brought into a dark kingdom. We want to see the very nature of society changed. We focus on serving rather than demanding. We want to see babies become young men who become older men able to continue the teaching process.
The Christian leader is more concerned about equipping the people they lead than in building themselves a kingdom.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
