Leadership
A Christian Blog
Being a leader, or the act of leadership really is an interesting topic. What does leadership mean, the Oxford dictionary would simply tell you it is the act of leading. Well, that is not real helpful. Ok, then maybe we dig a little deeper, down to the root of the word, how about lead, what does lead, mean. Back to the Oxford dictionary I went, and it meant ‘be in charge of or command of’.
To be honest, none of that gave me a lot of spark to write much of a biblical study on leadership. Who chooses a leader, why do some have good leadership skills, and others don’t.
Leadership is one of the few things in life that you can be good at and still those that stand with you do not receive.
Jesus for example, the perfect leader, He had one man betray Him, and another deny Him in His finest hour. All of the training that the disciples went through from a perfect leader, and yet two followers still failed.
Leadership, is something that you can be perfect at, and still have failing results, and I believe it is because leadership relies so heavily on followers. There is no leader without followers, the very definition states that you are leading something.
The seed of leadership is first planted in being a good follower. Leading and following, they are fruit of the same tree.
In the NKJV if you type leader in, it appears 67 times, with 65 times being God telling the people to appoint a leader, 1 time referring to one of those leader, and 1 time, God saying He has picked the leader, and this is how I know that Jesus is the perfect leader.
In Isaiah 55 and verse 4, [Isa 55:4 KJV] 4 Behold, I have given him [for] a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.
The heart of a man may see a leader as a powerful specimen, from a lineage of great leaders, their leadership skills honed in classes and through the years of watching the king or leader before them.
But the only perfect leader we have record of was born amidst controversy, He was delivered in a manger because there was no place to stay, or at least no place they were allowed to stay. His earthly father worked hard as a carpenter, and beyond the word of God had no formal training in leadership, and yet, Jesus, was the perfect leader that God spoke of that He would send.
So, surly God could have just made Jesus a perfect leader, but that would have been cheating, so we know God did no such thing. Jesus would have to become a great leader on His own, or at least in a fashion that could be replicated by the body of Christ.
So naturally, the first step, the most important step to leadership, as I said before, starts with being a follower, a follower to God, and that only happens when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
In 1st Corinthians 12, we see Paul talk about the gifts of the Spirit, and in verses 27 and 28 from the NLT it reads like this, [1Co 12:27-28 NLT] 27 All of you together are Christ's body, and each of you is a part of it. 28 Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church: first are apostles, second are prophets, third are teachers, then those who do miracles, those who have the gift of healing, those who can help others, those who have the gift of leadership, those who speak in unknown languages.
Leadership, comes from the spirit of the man. Great biblical leadership inside the church comes from the Spirit, and it should be the Spirit of God that lives inside of Him.
Growing up in Texas, we loved our football, and it seemed that the team success was based on the ability and quality of the leadership of our team. I always thought, what makes him such a good leader, I couldn’t trace it to anything, but now I know, it was his spirit, I always called that the, ‘it factor’, some people had it, and others didn’t. But, something I could see in every great leader, is that the drive and determination they had surpassed all others. They were the first ones to practice, and the last to leave. They would motivate and encourage those around them, inevitably, they had a sense of love for all, and they garnered a loyalty from their followers that could not be broken.
Now those qualities, can be earthly and help you have success on the football field, or they can be spiritual, coming from the Spirit of Christ who lives within us, and through that, can bring Glory to God.
Jesus showed us these things, He followed God at all costs. Much of that ‘it’ factor lies within that supreme ability to follow, and the willingness to give all for what you believe in. The quarterback on the football team was willing to give all for that victory. Come in, stay late, work with others, study.
Jesus was willing to give all, He gave His time, He gave His kindness, He gave His patience, He gave His love, and most importantly He gave His life.
Leadership bleeds down every level, even the followers are leaders to those that look to them. There really is no break from leadership, especially in the body of Christ. Someone is always looking, and therefore you have a moment to sway their life, and your leadership can guide them either into a place of darkness, or into a place where they too, are bringing Glory to God.
Leadership is not easily explained, or attained. When you look at doing something, always look at perfection. Jesus was a perfect leader, God appointed Jesus as our leader. So therefore, to have good leadership characteristics, it is best to study Jesus, and we could read plenty of verses about how Jesus was patient with those around Him, Jesus was always in control of Himself, Jesus was gentle, Jesus lived in a light of great joy, He was kind and faithful, He was peaceful, and of course He had an unsurpassing love for everyone. He wasn’t leader to just a few, He was leader to all, that He might bring them into a relationship with Him.
You want to be a great leader, then first be a great follower of Christ, and do those things, and as your relationship with Him grows, you will find that leadership inherently grows with it.
