What a time to lead. Christians are deconstructing. Racisim is horrific. “Evangelical” seems to be a bad word anymore. The housing crisis is impossible. Volunteers are unrecruitable.
It’s a great time to be in ministry.
This may sound counterintuitive, but it’s true. When the bottom falls out of your outer world, you turn to your inner world because that’s all you have left. And it’s there you find God. (Guess what? He’s a great foundation.)
So, why are we talking about leadership in the first place?
Well, it’s adored. Idolozied. Sought after. Praised, cherished, prized.
Everyone wants to be seen as a leader. Everyone wants their kids to be leaders. We spend some $62 million on leadership development annually.
Except that Jesus never once told us to be great leaders in the Bible.
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV
“Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” Matthew 10:38
“Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.” John 12:26
“To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.” 1 Peter 2:21
So you may be wondering… Is leadership a bad thing? Absolutely not!
Make no mistake, the spiritual gift of leadership should be recognized, honored, and leveraged well. But so should every other spiritual gift.
God created each one of us to have significance and to exercise dominion over our lives. That’s why leadership is so difficult to define – God gave each one of us a will so that we are able to lead our own lives and decisions. We have to recognize that every human being was made to reign while acknowledging that we were also created to be followers.
We follow a man who called everyone to be a follower and no one to be a leader.
What we all need to remember is this: Spiritual formation is the process by which our inner self is given a particular character or shape. This is an unseen dimension to you: who you are, your thoughts, feelings, emotions, and perceptions. All of these things are being shaped all the time.
Consider if the life you’re inviting others to live is the life you’re living yourself.
And remember, we can all become followers of Jesus, just like Jesus Himself modeled in following the Father.
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