Leadership and Me

    Some of the thoughts for this article were derived from the good discussion that the men had recently on leadership. 

    When we think about leadership in the church, most of us have the natural tendency to think about what the church or certain individual Christians should be doing. It just seems that it is much more difficult for us to perform self-inspection and ask, “What should I be doing?” Or, “What would make me a stronger Christian or better leader?”

    There are certainly things that are beyond our control, but at the same time I never remember Jesus praying to His Father and saying anything like, “Well Father, I would have accomplished Your Will, but these apostles kept slowing me down.” Or, “I would have served You better, but the Pharisees kept opposing Me.” Jesus simply did what He needed to do in spite of others who were not so committed or cooperative. 

    The apostle Paul said, “examine yourself to see whether you are in the faith” (2 Cor. 13:5). In order for each of us to be good leaders for Christ, we must have lives that are worth following! That doesn’t place a burden on others, it places a burden on us! In 1 Corinthians 11:1 Paul said, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” The best way to be a good leader is to manifest in our lives the attributes of Christ who was the greatest leader this world has known. 

    While we certainly need to do what we can to encourage our brethren, we need to give the most diligent efforts to being what we need to be. The kind of leader that takes care of himself will impact the lives of others and be a great asset to the church.

Daren Schroeder