Exercising Godly Leadership

Being a leader doesn't necessarily mean that one is in charge. Leadership involves much more than being in authority. Some people have an inner drive to be in authority over the lives of others but may not have the attributes that garner the respect and support of those he would lead. In such cases, the problems engendered may be many.

A true leader is one who will be looked up to and whose opinions will be valued regardless of the role he occupies in life. In every pastorate I have had there have been those who had no elected or appointed position that influenced a significant segment of that body. Sometimes it has been a wonderful experience to have such people and in others, a pain in the neck.

Regardless of whether the mantle of leadership one wears is official or unofficial he must wear it humbly and for the good of all. If he becomes arrogant or self-willed, espousing his own agenda, he will be destructive and hurtful. Paul warned the Ephesian church of such people as he prepared to leave them, saying "Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them" (Acts 20:28-30 NIV).

A Godly leader is not only one who has authority but one who gracefully submits to proper authority. The Centurion who came to Jesus in behalf of his servant aptly voiced this idea. He said, "For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it" (Matthew 8:9).

Peter warned that those in authority should do it with humility and Godly consistency. "The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by constraint but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock" (1 Peter 5:1-3 NKJ).

A leader, in caring for his charges, has the responsibility of seeing more than they do, seeing before they do and seeing further than they do. He cannot have tunnel vision or be myopic. He should be neither whimsical nor capricious. He must be a person of vision and practical spirituality. He must not ask the people he leads to go where he has not gone before them nor to give that which he won't give himself.

Leaders, whether they occupy official positions or they are only tacitly recognized as such, bear a greater responsibility for their actions, leadership, and teaching than those who follow them. They should not involve themselves or those who follow them in frivolous pursuits or teachings, being aware that there are things that matter in light of eternity and things that don't. Therefore, one should walk with humility, grace, and Godliness. James warned, "My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation" (James 3:1).

Peter continued his charge to elders by saying, "And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

May all of us look with a sense of new responsibility at the charges under our care and be careful not to seek personal advantage but to do all with a sense of awe, dignity, and faithfulness unto the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jeff