On Leadership

"For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed." Isaiah 9:16

I believe it was Abraham Lincoln that said, "If you want to discover a man's character, give him power." How true. Leadership has power, but it is not about power; it is about responsibility. Leaders err when they think their position is about power. Leadership is never about what others can do for you, but about what you can do for others (see Matthew 20:25-28).

This is why husbands can be monsters, kings can be tyrants, and presidents or prime ministers can be reckless and malignant: they treat leadership as power instead of responsibility, as prestige instead of servanthood. Even the church is infected with this. To be a pastor is viewed as a position of power: if it does not have the ear of the government, the media in its back pocket, and a six figure salary, than it is not worth taking.

As Christians, we are the keepers and enforcers of what is good and right, true and holy. That makes us the leaders of the world. As salt and light, we are to be the example for the rest of the world, the example that God laid down in Christ. To be a Christian (and a leader in general) is to be wed to the idea of servanthood: to be, as Oswald Chambers put it, "broken bread and poured out wine," to be the sacramental channel of God's presence (with all His terror and beauty) to the people. God did not justify and sanctify us through Christ so we can sit and do nothing. We are to blaze the trail of the narrow way, and call to others to follow us.

To lead is to serve. Not serve in the sense of bondage (see I Corinthians 7:21-24), but serve in the simplest sense, i.e., the sense of service, to be given for others. The sacrificial serving love of Christ is the same love that can burn through us and inspire the lost to seek what we have found. To be a Christian means having power, but it is never about power. It is about what God can do for others through you.

"You can take what you want from me.

Empty me until I'm depleted.

I'll be around if I'm ever needed."

-Switchfoot