CORINTHIANS 13, the very first
book, holds the holy spiritual gifts of the Lord on either sides, i.e. chapters
12 and 14. The spiritual gifts — which are given and need only be claimed — are
not from ourselves, lest we boast. They are from God for the Kingdom’s use, and
not for our own gain at all.
What sets apart our appropriate use
of the gifting we’ve been given? L O V E, love.
We’re given to a
spirit of conquest or of cooperation.
If we ply our
gifts in a loving way we behave in a spirit of cooperation: others come first.
Others always come first. Love looks outwardly. But if we don’t practice our
gifts that way we pursue the unworthy ideal: conquest: the building and making
of a kingdom of our own choosing and design. Such a kingdom is not built in God’s
name, it has no Kingdom purpose, and that kingdom will be built in vain, and may
well come ultimately to fall into ruin. (Although, it’s fascinating how things
not honouring to God can still often be instruments for his glory.)
When others come
first, which is to choose to build the Kingdom, albeit slowly, we may seem to
be frustrated at every point. Just getting people onto the same page, in the
spirit of gentleness, compassion, and mutual respect, may seem such a taxing
endeavour. But unless everyone swims in roughly the same direction, there’s no
progress. And still there needs to be plenty of room for diversity and even
dissenters. Love encounters, and is able to accommodate, much opposition. Out
of opposition, a patient response of gracious poise showers all in the glory of
God. Out of opposition is the test of conquest and cooperation. Opposition, and
not agreement, reveals leadership’s motives. God uses opposition. He proves the
leader through opposition.
The true test of a
leader is how they respond to opposition. This test will show if they’re
conquest-oriented or cooperation-oriented.
If ours is a
ministry of reconciliation, within the Lord’s purpose in reconciling the whole
world under himself, we’ll be avidly of the cooperation camp — embracing of
opposition, seeking to learn, and to win friends of enemies, even as we bear
the costs ourselves. We’ll find innovative ways of accommodating people, of
bringing people along, of turning people toward love, of modelling the sort of
humility Christ showed when he went to the cross on our behalf; that is, to
lose is to gain.
***
The underpinning of
conquest and cooperation is love; love is lacking in and possibly missing from
the former, yet love is to the glory of God in the latter. Only by love can the
glory of God in myriad manifestation be seen.
Whose kingdom are
you building in your life: the Lord’s or your own?
How does God
choose leaders in the eternal realm? How lovingly do we apply our leadership
here on earth?
This, ultimately,
is the question for every leader; for every aspiring leader… for leadership in
the heavenly realm: is my goal for leadership one of conquest or cooperation?
Is it ‘my way or
the highway’ or is it ‘God’s way and the die (to self) way’?
© 2015 Steve Wickham.
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