Leaders After God's Own Heart
Dawn Jones, Roanoke, VA
Catagory: Volume 2, Issue 5 and 6 May/June 2000
Leadership is today's buzzword. Everyone is looking to be a leader. And not only a leader, but a good quality leader. So we read books, listen to tapes and attend seminars looking for that quality of leadership. In our pursuit, do we come away as better leaders or do we merely gain more information with which to arm ourselves? After reading this article you may be better able to answer this question.
We live in an age in which Christians are as caught up as the world in its quest for information. We have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, but information does not equate to righteousness which God desires in the inner parts. He wants our lives, hearts and minds to be in conformity with His Word.
We may be able to teach men doctrines, systems, principles and rules of conduct, but only God can transform a person's character. Character for leadership is developed through relationship with the Triune God. It comes from being taught in the school of the Holy Spirit and bring formed and fashioned according to God's plan and eternal purpose. He has placed us in the body as it pleases Him, 1 Corinthians 12:18. We can only become that which God has already determined for us to be. Leaders are appointed by God.
There is no rule or authority that exists except that it comes from God. So our striving to become leaders is a "striving after the wind". It is a chase for something that will soon pass away. It represents sinful and selfish desire, attributed to the carnal mind.
God has also given us sound, spiritual qualifications for leaders as found in I Timothy 3 and Titus 1. We use these external criteria to promote individuals to leadership positions. Yet we often overlook the actions and character that define a true leader.
Most of us desire to be leaders because we want recognition. We like the honor and power that accompany the position. When we reach positions of leadership, we somehow feel that we have arrived, and God has put His stamp of approval on our lives. This false belief has caused many to stray far from the biblical concept of leadership. Just because men have chosen us to be leaders does not mean that it meets God's approval (like Saul, Israel's first king); or that God is pleased with how we carry out the position. The real power of leadership is the ability to become less than you are so that someone else can attain to a higher standard.
The scriptures reveal men and women going about their daily lives and being positioned into leadership by God. They did not seek the position nor earn it by birthright (except for the priesthood). Also, they didn't become leaders because they were masters of the law or especially gifted or talented in an area. They were people who were far from perfect in their walk with God. In fact the Bible readily identifies the weaknesses of many. They did not have to put up a good front since nothing can be hidden from God anyway. God saw something in each of them that he could use. That something was humility, reverence, and the fear of Him. He chose those who recognized their inadequacies, who didn't have all the answers and correct formulas, but who were willing to seek His face to know His will.
God appoints leaders in the body for a specific purpose, And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we [henceforth] be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, [and] cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, [even] Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. Ephesians 4:11-16
Each leader must recognize his specific purpose and place within the body of Christ. A leader is an instrument of God's purpose. Those with a humble heart, a willingness to serve, obedience and a commitment to pleasing Him are great leaders in God's eyes, despite the number of persons they lead.
When one takes on a leadership position, he or she assumes a position of grave responsibility. to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more, Luke 12:18. A leader is accountable to God, the congregation or group he/she is leading his/her spouse, family, neighborhood, nation and the world.
People look up to leaders. They want to emulate them. That's why the most prominent attribute of any leader in the body of Christ should be the character of Jesus. When people look up to you what stands out? Is it your clothing and possessions? Do they see your nice suit, your nice home, your prestige, your accomplishments or how eloquently you speak? If so, then they are missing the mark! If they see love, integrity, compassion, mercy and humility, then they are seeing Jesus Christ.
Jesus said, if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me, John 12:32. There was no beauty or comeliness in Him that men should desire him, Isaiah 53:2 The Spirit of God drew men to Him. People should be drawn to the anointed one in you.
They saw that Jesus possessed what they needed. He had words of life. He had food. He could heal their sick bodies. He spoke and taught as one having authority, Mark 1:22. They came because He had the goods and He was willing to serve them.
Jesus said, that whoever is chief among us to let him be a servant, Matthew 20:27. The way to greatness in leadership is in serving others. Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life as a ransom for many, Matthew 20:28. Service and servitude is the heart of ministry, not the acclaim we receive from men.
So many in leadership are quick to receive and be served, yet are unwilling to serve and love others. The prevailing attitude among today's leaders seems to be "SERVE ME!" Are you a servant leader or one who expects others to serve you because of your position?
Leadership has been used as a throne to establish our own kingdoms with many servants under us. This did not come from God. God resists the proud but gives grace To the humble, James 4.6. He is not a respecter of persons, Acts 10:34. But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors, James 2:9. We have built a hierarchy of leadership, when the only leadership God recognizes is servant leadership.
If we performed the foot washing ceremony today, how many leaders would be willing to wash the feet of those they lead? Probably few. Maybe that is why it has been eliminated in most churches. Washing someone else's feet is a humbling experience. Yet the King of Kings and Lord of Lords bowed to wash the feet of sinful, carnal men. He: said "if I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done to you, St. John 11:15.
Jesus was teaching them, and us, a principle. That no matter how high our positions, we should follow His example and make ourselves subservient to others.
A leader is an example setter. He sets a pattern for others to follow. Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity, I Timothy 4:12. Sadly, the enemy has infiltrated the church and produced a group of showmen, seeking man's approval and building platforms of self seeking vainglory. What's worse is that sincere, God-loving Christians are following them like blind lambs.
[Let] nothing [be done] through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, Philippians 2:3-8.
Jesus set the standard for leadership. A leader possesses the mind of Christ Jesus - humility and obedience. He is humble and not seeking acclaim or approval, but his focus is on obeying God despite the cost, just as Jesus did.
-
-
- Jesus didn't distance himself from people, he came down to their level. He went to them and drew them to Himself. In order to deliver us from our sins, He became one of us. He took our sins upon Himself; even becoming sin for us, and gave us His righteousness. He was touched with the feeling of our infirmities (Hebrews 4:15). Are you willing to allow yourself to feel another's pain in order to save him? Jesus was numbered with the transgressors and made intercession for them (Isaiah 53:12). A leader does not proclaim his own righteousness and point out everyone else's sin. He labors and travails for their souls.
-
-
-
- Jesus gave of Himself. He taught the disciples (Mark 3:41 6:2). He restored them (Mark 6:30-32). He ate with his disciples. He didn't sit at a king's table, while the lowly gathered around Him. He sat where He sat. He ate with publicans and sinners and was criticized for his actions. He said, they that are whole need not a physician but they that are sick (Luke 5:31). He came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). A leader is committed to his appointed task. He identifies the needs and the needy and he goes there to assist them.
-
-
-
- Jesus did not seek his own glory? He did not desire to be Lord and Christ; He was made to be Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36). His meat was to do the Will of His Father which sent Him (John 5.30). A leader does not seek his own agenda or exultation, but his aim is to do the Will of God and be found pleasing in His sight.
-
-
-
- Jesus was not afraid to challenge the status quo with the righteousness of God (Matthew 15:12). He was not a man pleaser. He didn't care that the scribes and Pharisees were against Him (Mark 3:6). He did not care that they didn't invite Him to sit on their Council. A leader seeks to please the one that sent Him. Do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ (Galatians 1:10).
-
-
-
- Jesus didn't let unbelief or the fact that he was not received by his own stop him from teaching (see Mark 6:1-6). A leader must be undeterred in his work, and have a single focus.
-
-
-
- Jesus knew what was in the Father's heart. He wept over the city of Jerusalem (Luke 19:11) and he wept at Lazarus' tomb (John 15:36). He was not afraid to show feelings. A leader genuinely cares about the people he leads. Are the people that you lead just breathing bodies and nameless faces, or souls that you genuinely care about? Love is demonstrated by how much of ourselves we are willing to give.
-
Do you expect others to hold the door open for you or do you hold the door so someone else, can go ahead of you? Do you yield your place in line? When someone comes to your church, do you hand him a cup of coffee or drink of water? If someone comes through a door loaded down with packages and children, do you run to assist them? Have you given a hungry person money from your pocket, or helped a stranded motorist? A true leader would, because he loves not in word only, but in deed and in truth (I John 3:18). He recognizes that his leadership is from God, and that one called to lead is above all called to serve.
He hath shewed thee, O man, what [is] good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? Micah 6:8
A leader sets a pattern for others to follow. By his actions, he's always showing them the way of Christ, whether or not he ever preaches a word. He leads just as effectively, no matter where he finds himself: in the middle, out front, or behind the crowd.
If you have been convicted by this article of not being a leader after the pattern of Christ, then confess and repent. Determine from this day forward to be one of whom God can say. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
