Who’s Your Lead
I received a recent promotion at work that has placed me in a role of leadership. Now, generally, I do not mind serving as an unofficial leader, i.e. not on paper, because honestly, it does not carry the pressure and responsibilities that an official title has. However, The Lord saw fit to extend this opportunity to me and through prayer, discernment and godly counsel, I accepted. Since my acceptance, the word “leader” has been a pressing term on my spirit and heart. With my own history of serving under questionable and poor leadership, I worried about repeating their mistakes in addition to making my own due to lack of experience. Prophetically speaking, God revealed to me how this present position is preparation for future leadership roles He has set on my path but the most important lesson He is teaching me is how to reflect Him through my leadership.
As I proceed through this season, Jesus has brought to me various lessons and messages on what is looks like to be a leader. For example, He told me,
“Stop trying to be an effective counselor. Stop trying to being an effective leader. I have called you to be a transformative leader through My leadership.”
He also taught me that all leaders and people in power follow someone’s example. Whether it be what they have learned and seen in others and fashioned for themselves or what the world/our degrees/our jobs say are great leaders. We all follow someone’s example. He asked me, “Whose example do you wish to follow?” I responded, “Well I want to lead like Jesus.” As I processed through this with God, I realized how much I have been attempting to lead based on my own personal experience (good and bad), my own strengths and my own effort. I was being led by my own interpretation of what a good leader looks like. I had not come into agreement with Jesus regarding my leadership.
I had not invited Jesus to be Lord of my leadership.
Now as I continue to pray and surrender to Jesus as Lord of my leading, He is adjusting my vision of it and reshaping my heart towards how I lead. I look to Him as the Perfect Leader, the Model of all transformative leadership. I look towards His heart, His behaviors and His interactions with those whom He led and continues to lead. So far, the most impactful lesson was through the infamous, washing of His disciples’ feet found in John 13:1-17, but He went deeper than my common knowledge of this passage. Upon teaching His disciples an important lesson in serving, He used Himself as an example of the role of serving when leading…
Leadership is not about a role, it is about character.
Whether He was speaking to His disciples, religious or political leaders or the masses, Jesus led with consistency of his character that was transferable from group to group and setting to setting. His ability to lead was not determined by where He was or who He was speaking with, but simply a response to His character. A leader is first and foremost, a servant. Jesus serves us by showing us grace, mercy, forgiveness, advocacy to the Father (1 John 2:1) and by laying down His life for us (1 John 3:16). With Jesus as Lord and whom I am not above, how much more am I to serve those who I am clearly not lord over in the same way. Jesus also led by intentionally listening to His people (Psalm 34:17), being moved by their grievances (Matthew 14: 14), meeting their needs (Matthew 14:15-21), encouraging them (John 14:1-4), modeling behavior (John 13:1-17), having hard conversations that may come off as confrontational (John 5:41-44) and holding them accountable (John 4:14-18). This certainly led to Him not being popular with some (John 6:66), but it established Him favor with The Father (Luke 2:52), whom He modeled for us to follow. So, I ask you, whose example are you modeling? whose favor are you seeking? Whose lead are you following? Whether we lead at work, at home, in church, with our relationships (family and friends) or in our community, I pray our leadership is in response to our sanctifying character of being more like Jesus.
