Jesus' Paradox of Leadership
Leadership is not what you think it is! The world defines a leader as one who guides another on a way especially by going in advance; directs on a course; directs the operations, activity, or performance of; to have charge of. In short, a leader guides, directs, is the one out front and has the power and authority.
Jesus' way of leadership is quite different than the world. "Within minutes they were bickering over who of them would end up the greatest. But Jesus intervened: "Kings like to throw their weight around and people in authority like to give themselves fancy titles. It's not going to be that way with you. Let the senior among you become like the junior; let the leader act the part of the servant. Who would you rather be: the one who eats the dinner or the one who serves the dinner? You'd rather eat and be served, right? But I've taken my place among you as the one who serves." Luke 22:24-28 The Message
What is different about Christ's leadership:
- Leaders serve - they build, encourage, and equip others rather than use people to accomplish a desired outcome or result. By serving they value people as much as the results
- Leaders continually seek to earn authority and responsibility - they don't use authority to get their way or run over the people under them, they become like the junior. Likewise, leaders seek to earn the trust of those they serve, it is not something that is demanded or expected.
- A Leader's power is not from a position or themselves - the power of a leader is from God Himself. In fact, Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that "power is perfected in weakness… that the power of Christ may be manifested."
- Greatness as a leader is defined by Christ and comes by serving. To be great is not defined by what your peers think or the world thinks but what God thinks.
There are two approaches to leadership - the world's way or Jesus' way. Be careful not to driven by the need for short term results because you will invariably default to using your leadership to use people to achieve your goals. You will receive the accolades of the world but miss the honor from God. The one has temporal reward the other has eternal reward. Choose to be a paradox, play to the audience of God and become great.
"Leaders we admire do not place themselves at the center; they place others there. They do not seek the attention of people; they give it to others. They do not focus on satisfying their own aims and desires. Being a servant may not be what many leaders had in mind when they choose to take responsibility for the vision and direction of their organization or team, but serving others is the most glorious and rewarding of all leadership tasks." ~ by James Kouzes and Barry Posner in Credibility: How Leaders Gain and Lose It, Why People Demand It.
Bruce Witt