Leadership. If you want to start an argument, discussing leadership is as easy a way as any. Who should lead, how should they lead, and what it means to lead are all hot topics. One very popular leadership philosophy in our postmodern world (our post-postmodern--I'm not sure where we're at in 2018) is to be a very passive leader. In other words, you lead by not really leading at all. Parents let their kids make their own decisions, managers don't really manage their employees, and husbands don't lead their wives. No one wants to offend anyone or take responsibility, so leaders are impotent.
This philosophy or style of leadership, sometimes explicit and sometimes implicit, is an overreaction to the despotism, chauvinism, and insensitivity to which human nature so naturally inclines. As such, it expresses legitimate concerns, but the answer to a problem is never to abandon the good and the right into order to avoid the bad and destructive.
Moreover, leadership is not optional. If you are in a position of authority or leadership, you don't have the option of not leading. If the President of the United States fails to do his job, it doesn't simply mean that he is not a good President. It means that he is a bad President. He is a failure of a President. He has been negligent, perhaps even criminally so. He has been derelict of his duty and there should be repercussions. The same is true for any leader. Leading is not a prerogative; it is a calling. If we are called to lead, we may do no other. Unfortunately, many of America's leaders, in the family, church, and state, have been criminally negligent.
This impetus of leadership means that it is important a) to identify if you have been to called to leadership; and b) to make sure that you understand what true leadership is. The latter is a complex topic that deserves its own treatment, but the former can be summarized in this way: if you are in a valid position of leadership, and if you have been placed in that position through legitimate means, you are called to lead. If you are a father, you are called to lead your family. If you are a mother, you are called to lead your children under the headship of your husband. If you are a pastor or an elder, you are called to lead your sheep. If you are a manager or a civil servant, you are called to lead those under your watch.
Let me single out dads for a second. Maybe you don't think you're a leader. Maybe your personality and past don't lend themselves to you assuming that role naturally. It doesn't matter. If you are a father who still has children in your home, you are a leader. You cannot give that responsibility, that calling, away. You will either be a good leader or a bad leader, you cannot simply not be a leader. You will be faithful, though certainly imperfect, or you will be negligent. Even if you don't believe in God, you have a calling from Him to lead your family. And you know what? Your role model for that calling is none other than our Heavenly Father Himself! Intimidated yet? If that doesn't scare you a little bit, you probably aren't taking your role seriously enough! You are called to love and lead your children as God loves, instructs, provides for, and disciplines His children. You are called to lead your wife as Christ leads His bride. That's a high calling! Talk about aiming for the impossible!
No matter what position of leadership you fill, your job is to lead. Do you have regrets? Weaknesses? Sins? We all do. Don't let them stop you from leading. Lead humbly, lovingly, and gently, but lead all the same.
This philosophy or style of leadership, sometimes explicit and sometimes implicit, is an overreaction to the despotism, chauvinism, and insensitivity to which human nature so naturally inclines. As such, it expresses legitimate concerns, but the answer to a problem is never to abandon the good and the right into order to avoid the bad and destructive.
Moreover, leadership is not optional. If you are in a position of authority or leadership, you don't have the option of not leading. If the President of the United States fails to do his job, it doesn't simply mean that he is not a good President. It means that he is a bad President. He is a failure of a President. He has been negligent, perhaps even criminally so. He has been derelict of his duty and there should be repercussions. The same is true for any leader. Leading is not a prerogative; it is a calling. If we are called to lead, we may do no other. Unfortunately, many of America's leaders, in the family, church, and state, have been criminally negligent.
This impetus of leadership means that it is important a) to identify if you have been to called to leadership; and b) to make sure that you understand what true leadership is. The latter is a complex topic that deserves its own treatment, but the former can be summarized in this way: if you are in a valid position of leadership, and if you have been placed in that position through legitimate means, you are called to lead. If you are a father, you are called to lead your family. If you are a mother, you are called to lead your children under the headship of your husband. If you are a pastor or an elder, you are called to lead your sheep. If you are a manager or a civil servant, you are called to lead those under your watch.
Let me single out dads for a second. Maybe you don't think you're a leader. Maybe your personality and past don't lend themselves to you assuming that role naturally. It doesn't matter. If you are a father who still has children in your home, you are a leader. You cannot give that responsibility, that calling, away. You will either be a good leader or a bad leader, you cannot simply not be a leader. You will be faithful, though certainly imperfect, or you will be negligent. Even if you don't believe in God, you have a calling from Him to lead your family. And you know what? Your role model for that calling is none other than our Heavenly Father Himself! Intimidated yet? If that doesn't scare you a little bit, you probably aren't taking your role seriously enough! You are called to love and lead your children as God loves, instructs, provides for, and disciplines His children. You are called to lead your wife as Christ leads His bride. That's a high calling! Talk about aiming for the impossible!
No matter what position of leadership you fill, your job is to lead. Do you have regrets? Weaknesses? Sins? We all do. Don't let them stop you from leading. Lead humbly, lovingly, and gently, but lead all the same.
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