This article is the first of four in a series. 2 The Work | 3 God’s Way | 4 The Reward
SERIES INTRODUCTION
Leaders must be led. Maybe you have never thought of it this simply. But just as an athlete needs an example and usually a mentor, we need the same as those who would be leaders in the world, and especially if we would lead with Jesus in our hearts and on our lips. We do not learn righteousness in a vacuum, for without spiritual training, we would always default to sin. So as leaders, even while we lead, we look for more insight and help from those who lead us. And as Christian leaders, this means we namely look to Christ and his word.
This is the intent of this series, for which we are much indebted to the work of Eric J. Alexander in a chapter in his book, Our Great God and Saviour. The chapter, “God’s Fellow Workers,” outlines four laws of Christian service. Our short articles will take up each of these four laws and move us toward leading with more understanding and more blessing each day.
(8-minute reading time)
GODLY LEADERS: THE WORKER
Whether or not you are wired to work for a boss, you almost certainly will have done so many times in your life, because even those who “work for themselves” are really working for their clients. For all the infamously unsavory ways to get ahead in work, the tried and true method is still the same: Do what the boss (or the client) asks you to do and do it well. A barber who “works for himself” will only get one chance at my hair; next time, I’ll be looking for someone who does it my way. That first barber can be true to his art on somebody else’s head!
It should not surprise us, then, that God’s first concern when it comes to his work is with the worker.[1] We cannot serve him, and thus we cannot serve others, if we insist on our own way. The Scriptures speak of God shaping his people, as with clay, and of refining them, as with precious metal. Whatever the metaphor, we know that God has no intent of leaving us in our present condition. He is always at work in us. Even—maybe especially—among leaders.
When we submit to the work God would do in us personally, we not only receive the benefits of his transformation in us, but we set a leader’s example for others that Christ is over and above all of us, no matter who’s “in charge” on earth.
If we do indeed allow the Holy Spirit to form our character, what can we be looking for him to do? Let’s consider three benchmark traits and three practices to help open our hearts to those traits.
To outline those traits, God is looking to form leaders whose leadership manifests humility, integrity, and love.
Humility. More than anything else, the humble person recognizes that others are greatly significant. This begins, of course, with the Lord himself. Unless a person be surrendered to the Lord, there is little chance the person will be formed by him. Over and over in Scripture, we find those who were humbled by circumstances, the recognition of their own sin, and the faithful worship of God were those God chose to raise up in meaningful ministry leadership. (Interestingly, the men, as opposed to the women, of Scripture generally needed the harshness of experiential training to bring them to humility and to leadership. Think of Job’s great personal loss and compromised health, David’s frequent flights from the murderous hand of Saul, or Peter’s embarrassing failure of support for Jesus on the night of the Savior’s arrest. Perhaps the culturally lower position of women, in both the Hebrew and Greco-Roman cultures, meant that much of their humility was “built in” throughout the course of their lives.)
Humble people may project a confidence, especially as leaders, but their humility makes them good listeners, as well as careful not to speak too quickly. Paul wrote to the Corinthians of the worth of every member of Christ’s body, even saying that “those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.” The humble leader recognizes this God-given worth and elevates others at every appropriate opportunity.
The apostle James urged his readers, “Humble yourselves before the Lord.” This self-directed move toward humility is one way we may be kept from the tougher lessons of life. If we need to be softened or brought into submission through demoralizing circumstances, God will do this. But why, in effect, ask for this? Instead, seize upon the opportunity that completed James’ instruction: “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”
Integrity. You have probably heard it said that integrity is doing the right thing when no one is looking. Let’s hope it’s doing the right thing when others are looking, too, because as a leader, you know that others are looking. They want to know how you—someone they have grown to respect (or someone to whom they are considering giving respect)—act in situations when your honesty, goodness, and commitment are put to the test.
The Bible does not so often use the word integrity. Perhaps this is because God does not consider righteousness to be possible without it—and his word has a lot to say about righteousness. Consider this description of what we would call a person of integrity, penned by King David in Psalm 15:
The one whose walk is blameless,
who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from their heart;
whose tongue utters no slander,
who does no wrong to a neighbor,
and casts no slur on others;
who despises a vile person
but honors those who fear the Lord;
who keeps an oath even when it hurts,
and does not change their mind;
who lends money to the poor without interest;
who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
There is a reason we would immediately call such a person “godly”—because there is no way to live such a life without God. In our understanding of the sin nature, we might even dare to say that there is no way to live such a life with God! But when we understand God’s plan to perpetually sanctify us (grow us up in him), we know that while we will still sin, we can be gaining ground in his care.
Love. If there is one master trait of every disciple of Christ, love is it. Jesus said, in summing up so much of all that he had taught those who lived and walked with him, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” You might recognize that the command itself was not new. When asked earlier in his ministry what the greatest command was, Jesus started with God, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.” But without skipping a beat, he added, “And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love looks past ourselves, up to the Lord, and out to others as he puts them in our lives.
Beyond this, when we understand the fullness of Jesus’ work, we know that love is sacrificial. We know this almost innately when a dear friend or family member is hospitalized. We change our schedule, even sacrificing work time and income, to be at their side. We explain to friends what we are doing and they understand, because these are special circumstances and this is what love does. But love is about more than the special times, and leaders who understand this will always keep their eyes open for ways they can intercede for people who are struggling and encourage those whose momentum is leading them to greater heights in their faith.
We cannot leave this idea of love without reminding ourselves that in Jesus’ economy, love is akin to service. He washed his disciples’ feet, then instructed them to do the same for one another. “I have set an example for you.” Since they did not apparently then wash one another’s feet on the spot, this was meant to be an ongoing call. Keep loving, keep serving.
Disciplines that set us up well
Now that we have identified three powerful hallmarks of Jesus’ people (and certainly his leaders), we may ask ourselves the question: Is there a way I can set out to attain these? The answer lies in the theological balance between God’s role and ours. While the Holy Spirit must be at work in a person in order for him or her to be “spiritual” (1 Corinthians 3:1), the person must be at work in terms of dedication to the cause (in the way that Paul told Timothy he needed to attend to the affairs of the kingdom like a diligent soldier, athlete, or farmer). If you have been walking with Jesus for some time, as most leaders have, you can name many possible disciplines that serve the purpose of fortifying oneself for Jesus’ sake, but let’s examine three.
First, there is what the older theologians called “the mortification of sin.” Because of its graphic depiction, it is hard to forget James’ exhortation: “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” The full directive begins with “Submit to God…” which takes us round to the trait of humility. We won’t successfully resist the devil’s calls to sin in our own pride or strength. But submitted and humble, we can honestly name and address the sin in our lives. We “put off” the old self, Paul told the Colossians, and “put on” the new. We cannot become righteous as God would have us be if we are still giving ground to sin in our lives.
Second, there is the study of the Scriptures, the inspired word of God. Paul wrote to Timothy that all Scripture is “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Every good work would include our efforts at leadership, and to get there, we must be taught, rebuked, corrected, and trained. Nothing can do this for us like the Scriptures can. Ingest them and let them provide nutrition to your spirit. In so far as you can, do this every day, just as you eat food for your physical body. Trying to live spiritually without God’s word is to starve.
Third, be a person of prayer. So many books have been written about prayer that we cannot pretend to even break the seal off the topic. We can only say that to be in communication with God, with constancy and attention, is to utilize an unmatchable gift. We can—somehow!—approach the throne of grace with confidence because Christ has opened the door for us with his perfect sacrifice. What a shame it is when we, normally out of laziness or busyness, forsake this chance. Again, we must fight with our flesh, calling it to a willingness that matches our spirit, and pray.
The beloved teacher of prayer, E.M. Bounds, wrote: “[God] does not anoint plans but men—men of prayer. It is not great talents, nor great learning, nor great preachers that God needs, but men great in holiness; great in faith, great in love, great in fidelity, great for God.” His words are a fitting conclusion for our investigation of this first law of Christian service. If we wish to lead, we must first be men and women of God, submitted to him, changed by him, and led by him.
[1] Eric Alexander’s words for this first law of Christian service are “God’s primary concern is with the worker, rather than the work.”