Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Biblical Leadership: Character of the Christian
Malphurs quotes Howard Hendricks that, "The greatest crisis in the world
today is a crisis of leadership, and the greatest crisis of leadership is a
crisis of character." (1) He then goes on to define character as, "The sum total
of a person's qualities, both good and bad, that reflects who he or she is." (2)
Simply put, a person's character defines how they will (or if) they will lead in
any environment. The character of a Christian can not be turned on or off in one
environment or the other.
In Matthew 6:24 Jesus states that, "No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can not serve God and money." There are many different aspects of leadership in the Christian context, some are paid leadership positions and others aren't. The same is true in non-Christian environments however, most leadership positions in the non-Christian setting are paid. Nonetheless, it shouldn't matter whether a Christian is in one environment or the other the character should remain the same; remain "salt and light to the world."
As a missionary and tent maker the Apostle Paul could relate to both environments. In the Book of Collossians Paul states, "Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people (Col. 3:23)." In the full context of Collossians 3:18-25 the Apostle Paul was talking to all people to include husbands, wives, children, and servants. All of the environments wasn't particularly in Christian environments especially when he addressed the slaves. The point is that no matter what environment a Christian is in he/she should work (or lead) as if they were working for the Lord. A Christians character is defined by being the light and salt to the world in whatever environment that they find themselves.
I agree with Howell that, "Biblical leadership is taking the initiative to influence people to grow in holiness and passionately promote the extension of God's Kingdom in the world." (3) An experience that I can illustrate this is my personal experience while in the Army particularly while deployed. Before going out on mission all those involved in the mission would have to do "mission prep" which we would prepare our vehicles and gear for the mission. All of my guys knew that I was a Christian and on the last two deployments I had already accepted the call into ministry. It is a difficult task to share Christ in the military environment, but that didn't stop me from leading as if I was leading for the Lord.
I passionately promoted the extension of the Kingdom by leading as Christ lead His disciples; "I did not come to be served, but to serve." I demonstrated to the guys that I led that whatever they were doing I would be there with them and if I expected a certain standard for them I ensured them that I held myself to that same standard. Often times missions were long and draining, but there was still work to do such as doing maintenance on our vehicles or maybe we returned to the forward operating base during a meal time; which was a luxury for us. I decided that I would be different than other leaders that would just send their guys to do the work and send someone after meals for the others while the leader went back to their "hooches" (our quarters while deployed). I would either go for the meals myself or I would take the place of one of my guys to do maintenance of the vehicles and allow one of them to go the their hooch; I usually rotated the guys after each mission.
Something else that I would do is that when we lined up after mission prep to get ready to go out on mission I always prayed and had a military Bible that stayed in my vehicle. None of my guys were Christians, but I still prayed for them, others in the convoy, and the overall success of the mission. I never left the gate without doing so. I never did this for recognition, but there were some occasions that my guys would thank me for being the kind of leader that I was and without boasting too much my team or squad was always recognized as the best in the company. As an non-commissioned officer I was rated on my performance by my leadership and I would often get better ratings as other non-commissioned officers in the company also.
Bottom line, it is character that defines a person. A christian should have the character that would exemplify our Lord and that should extend from the church to the world. No matter what environment or context they find themselves they should work as if they are working for the Lord whether it is working at the bottom of the totem pole, the CEO of a fortune 500 company, or fighting in the trenches.
1. Malphurs, Aubry. Being Leaders: The Nature of Authentic Christian Leadership. Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Books, 2003. pg 18
2. Ibid. pg. 18
3. Howell, Don N. Servants of the Servant: A Biblical Theology of Leadership. Eugene, Oregon, Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2003. pg. 3
In Matthew 6:24 Jesus states that, "No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can not serve God and money." There are many different aspects of leadership in the Christian context, some are paid leadership positions and others aren't. The same is true in non-Christian environments however, most leadership positions in the non-Christian setting are paid. Nonetheless, it shouldn't matter whether a Christian is in one environment or the other the character should remain the same; remain "salt and light to the world."
As a missionary and tent maker the Apostle Paul could relate to both environments. In the Book of Collossians Paul states, "Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people (Col. 3:23)." In the full context of Collossians 3:18-25 the Apostle Paul was talking to all people to include husbands, wives, children, and servants. All of the environments wasn't particularly in Christian environments especially when he addressed the slaves. The point is that no matter what environment a Christian is in he/she should work (or lead) as if they were working for the Lord. A Christians character is defined by being the light and salt to the world in whatever environment that they find themselves.
I agree with Howell that, "Biblical leadership is taking the initiative to influence people to grow in holiness and passionately promote the extension of God's Kingdom in the world." (3) An experience that I can illustrate this is my personal experience while in the Army particularly while deployed. Before going out on mission all those involved in the mission would have to do "mission prep" which we would prepare our vehicles and gear for the mission. All of my guys knew that I was a Christian and on the last two deployments I had already accepted the call into ministry. It is a difficult task to share Christ in the military environment, but that didn't stop me from leading as if I was leading for the Lord.
I passionately promoted the extension of the Kingdom by leading as Christ lead His disciples; "I did not come to be served, but to serve." I demonstrated to the guys that I led that whatever they were doing I would be there with them and if I expected a certain standard for them I ensured them that I held myself to that same standard. Often times missions were long and draining, but there was still work to do such as doing maintenance on our vehicles or maybe we returned to the forward operating base during a meal time; which was a luxury for us. I decided that I would be different than other leaders that would just send their guys to do the work and send someone after meals for the others while the leader went back to their "hooches" (our quarters while deployed). I would either go for the meals myself or I would take the place of one of my guys to do maintenance of the vehicles and allow one of them to go the their hooch; I usually rotated the guys after each mission.
Something else that I would do is that when we lined up after mission prep to get ready to go out on mission I always prayed and had a military Bible that stayed in my vehicle. None of my guys were Christians, but I still prayed for them, others in the convoy, and the overall success of the mission. I never left the gate without doing so. I never did this for recognition, but there were some occasions that my guys would thank me for being the kind of leader that I was and without boasting too much my team or squad was always recognized as the best in the company. As an non-commissioned officer I was rated on my performance by my leadership and I would often get better ratings as other non-commissioned officers in the company also.
Bottom line, it is character that defines a person. A christian should have the character that would exemplify our Lord and that should extend from the church to the world. No matter what environment or context they find themselves they should work as if they are working for the Lord whether it is working at the bottom of the totem pole, the CEO of a fortune 500 company, or fighting in the trenches.
1. Malphurs, Aubry. Being Leaders: The Nature of Authentic Christian Leadership. Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Books, 2003. pg 18
2. Ibid. pg. 18
3. Howell, Don N. Servants of the Servant: A Biblical Theology of Leadership. Eugene, Oregon, Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2003. pg. 3
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