Who
is qualified to lead,
From
situation to circumstance?
Men
and women devoid of greed,
Who waltz only to God’s
dance.
The hope of humankind – Jesus Christ – is the sole example of
leadership any Christian looks to. Sure, the apostle Paul, among others, and
certainly our contemporaries, the mystics, the reformers, the patristics, etc,
qualify as models to follow. But all Christian leaders have adopted Jesus as
their sole model.
As a mentor myself, I understand we need mentoring. We need
salient, observable, recent, and relatable examples of Christ’s work in a human
being. If a mentor cannot present a reasonable imitation of Christ in their
being they are not a Christian leader.
Too often we miss the essence of solid Christian leadership
example, which is coincidentally built
from the primer of good Christian character that we are all to allow God to
nurture within us. If we have any glaring flaws of Christian character we are
doomed as leaders and we build ‘the house of God’ in vain. So the renewing of
our characters to the abounding of good virtue is our goal. We allow God to
start and continue that refining work.
J. Oswald Sanders (1902–1992) wrote, in Spiritual Leadership (1967, 1980, 1994):
People without natural leadership
skills do not become great leaders at the moment of conversion. Yet a review of
the history of the church reveals that the Holy Spirit sometimes releases gifts
and qualities that were dormant beforehand. When that happens, a leader is
born.
A true Christian leader is less likely to be a charismatic ‘natural’
leader, and more likely to be ‘selected’ for leadership by the in-working of
Holy Spirit. The gifts and qualities of the person anointed for a leadership
role emerge as visible possibly only when the occasion arises. The best
Christian leaders are reluctant, albeit diligent, leaders, who have a spirit
for unity under God. Most of all, the Christian leader is dependable – they
depend on God very steadfastly, which means they are likely to be extremely
flexible, approachable, and pastorally-hearted.
It seems an unpopular phrase these days: servant leader. But the
dependable Christian leader is servant of all. He or she can (and by example,
often do) serve all without any second thought. But they are also discerning
enough to know the will of God in their present situation. They rejoice with
those rejoicing and they mourn with those mourning. Their pastoral flexibility
adapts to the need of the time, without giving way to unnecessary sentiment,
but such flexibility caters for and respects personal and interpersonal
differences. Christian leadership celebrates diversity of many kinds.
And all this is likely to emerge in such a way as people might
say, “I never saw leadership in him or her.” God loves to change things up. We
ought to remember the biblical principle: God humbles those who exalt
themselves and he exalts those who humble themselves for his sake.
***
Christian leadership is an irony. It’s
about the glory of God through others, for others, by others, in order that
others might see and partake of the Kingdom
of God. Christian
leadership is not about the leader at all.
©
2014 S. J. Wickham.
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