The Desire to Lead
It sometimes seems as if the world is filled with two kinds of people: those who actually want to follow, and people who actually want to lead. Followers frequently don't want the responsibility that comes with leadership, and would-be leaders can't bear the idea of being led like sheep: they need to be in control. There is nothing wrong with wanting, even needing, to be a leader.
"If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. An overseer, then must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, uncontentious. . ." (I Timothy 3:1-3 NASB).
According to the dictionary, a pugnacious person is one who has a belligerent nature, who is truculent and combative. To be truculent is to be scathingly harsh and aggressively assertive.
Anyone who wants a leadership position in the church should not be pugnacious, but gentle. There are many reasons for this. The Christian community is supposed to be characterized by unity. Our unity is supposed to be like the unity in the Trinity. "That they may be one as we are one," Jesus prayed to the Father.
There is no harsh, combative, or aggressively assertive behavior within the Trinity. And leaders in the Body of Christ shouldn't be harsh, combative or aggressive, either. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit have complete and perfect unity among themselves. And anyone--anyone--who wants to be a leader in the Body of Christ must have the same gentleness that Jesus exhibited with children, with women taken in adultery, and with all who are burdened and weighed down with heavy loads.
A people who are gentle are free from harshness, sternness, or violence; they are moderate. This certainly describes how Jesus deals with us. On the other hand, to be stern is to be expressive of severe displeasure. The Good Shepherd is not a God who habitually expresses his severe displeasure with us, but expresses of acceptance and his confidence in us.
This acceptance and confidence in one another is a quality of Christian leadership at every level of congregational life and activity. We all know what it is like to be bullied, to be pushed aside and made to feel like we don't count for spit, to be discouraged, to feel like you don't have any value or potential--even with Christ at your side. This will not happen among us.
"If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. An overseer, then must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, uncontentious. . ." (I Timothy 3:1-3 NASB).
According to the dictionary, a pugnacious person is one who has a belligerent nature, who is truculent and combative. To be truculent is to be scathingly harsh and aggressively assertive.
Anyone who wants a leadership position in the church should not be pugnacious, but gentle. There are many reasons for this. The Christian community is supposed to be characterized by unity. Our unity is supposed to be like the unity in the Trinity. "That they may be one as we are one," Jesus prayed to the Father.
There is no harsh, combative, or aggressively assertive behavior within the Trinity. And leaders in the Body of Christ shouldn't be harsh, combative or aggressive, either. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit have complete and perfect unity among themselves. And anyone--anyone--who wants to be a leader in the Body of Christ must have the same gentleness that Jesus exhibited with children, with women taken in adultery, and with all who are burdened and weighed down with heavy loads.
A people who are gentle are free from harshness, sternness, or violence; they are moderate. This certainly describes how Jesus deals with us. On the other hand, to be stern is to be expressive of severe displeasure. The Good Shepherd is not a God who habitually expresses his severe displeasure with us, but expresses of acceptance and his confidence in us.
This acceptance and confidence in one another is a quality of Christian leadership at every level of congregational life and activity. We all know what it is like to be bullied, to be pushed aside and made to feel like we don't count for spit, to be discouraged, to feel like you don't have any value or potential--even with Christ at your side. This will not happen among us.
posted by Ron Goetz | 9:51 PM
1 Comments:
I agree: people who respond to leaders aren't so much "sheep" as they are people of action. There are many people who feel frustrated by their situations, but don't know what to do. Geat leaders usually arise in certain circumstances where leadership is necessary, but traditional leadership isn't equipped for the times.
Sir Winston Churchill had sort of washed out of politics when fascism began to grow in Germany. He apparently was the only man in Britain tough enough to rally the British people, alone and virtually without allies, against Hitler.
Cindy Sheehan is another such leader, though on a more modest scale. Her simple action of waiting near Crawford, Texas for an audience with the president inspired hundreds of frustrated people to follow her example.
Most of us have even more modest visions. Among our Christian friends we want closer, more encouraging fellowship. We would like to see more people benefit from knowing God better.
Lissette, your last paragraph raises an interesting question. You don't use the word "follower," which is quite interesting. You call followers people "who respond to these leaders," "people of action" "who have a shared desire to commit themselves to the leader's vision."
But you don't call them followers. Very interesting implications.
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