Let me ask… Who are you leading? You may think that you’re not a leader. I beg to differ. We’re all leaders, called by God. It may be your family, your group of girls from high school, a friend, a neighbor, your small group from church, your online community. With that said, I wanted to address our leadership because how we lead is so important. We need to take our Kingdom leadership seriously.
First, as a leader, we need good role-models. We need people we can emulate our leadership after. As a Bible teacher, I model my leadership after some incredible Bible teachers. Kay Arthur, the founder of Precepts (who recently went home to the Lord), is at the top of that list. And believe it or not, another strong leader in my life is the apostle Paul. Do you have a role-model?
Second, we need a destination. As leaders, we are leading toward something or SOMEONE. And as Christian leaders, our ultimate destination is Jesus. Here’s a reminder, though… we are called to lead not to change someone. Transformation is the Lord’s work, leading is ours. Jesus is the answer for everything. We can lead them to Jesus by inviting them to church, leaving a tract at a restaurant, asking someone if you can pray for them, speaking truth into someone when they’re struggling, acts of kindness, or changing a gossip session into a worship session.
Third, we need to lead the right way. Here are five ways we should lead… 1) by the Holy Spirit. He is our helper, our guide, our counselor. We cannot effectively lead without Him going before us. Always ask Him to help you. 2) by the Word of God. The Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. We need to make sure we’re following the mandates of Scripture. This is why Bible study is so important.
And 3) by faith. Joshua was a GREAT leader because he led by faith. God gave him some off-the-wall instructions (like walk around the city for 7 days and then on the 7th day, walk around it 7 times and then SHOUT). He obeyed. Faith brings honor to the Lord. 4) By integrity. We must lead by doing what’s right. This is where many leaders fail. 5) with humility. Humility is one of the most important ways to lead as our verse clearly states. We are to serve others, not control them. Jesus demonstrated humility to the fullest.
Let’s lead well. Let’s lead people to Jesus, the One who can change them and the One who offers them a new life. Let’s take our leadership seriously.