A young teacher on the faculty of a Christian school heard that I was preparing to teach on leadership and posed two questions:
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Where are the real leaders—the real Christian leaders?
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Are politics and God such polar opposites that none (of the Christians) will rise to take the lead?
Frustration was evident in both her voice and her questions. She offered the following comment:
I see it (life) as the battle between evil and righteousness that has been raging for the longest time, and Christians aren't even aware there's a war going on. The humanists, pragmatists, atheists, et al. are sharpening their weapons and Christians are still playing with rubber swords.
I agree with her; I see the same issues.
From a Christian worldview, the only sound leadership can come through alignment with God. Since Jesus is Lord of all, there is no other option. This suggests that a Christian definition of leadership might be something like the following:
Leadership is freeing people from sin (apostasy) and aligning them with God’s will, God’s ways, God’s timing, and God’s glory.
Sin is apostasy. This means abandoning one’s post in doctrine or deportment. Therefore, in the current fallen state of the universe, leadership is necessary primarily to counter sin by facilitating alignment with God. The objective of all leadership (parenting, spiritual, workplace, and government) should be to help others live in obedience to God.
Such a definition is counter to pedestrian thinking because it implies that a Christian worldview is a precondition for sound leadership. While there is common grace for all to provide some rudimentary leadership, truly profound leadership must seek alignment with the Creator and his ultimate purposes. The leadership that is empowered by common grace alone can never be profound. Only those who embrace a sound Christian worldview can lead people into alignment with God’s will and execute his will according to his ways, in his timing, and for his glory.
This is what the Christian teacher was desperate for because she did not see it in any context of her life.
Here is your business tip. True leadership is Christian leadership because only Christian leaders are guided by Scripture as illuminated by the Holy Spirit and understood by the historical orthodox Christian church. This is the requisite epistemology that undergirds alignment of thought and actions with God’s will, performed according to God’s ways, in God’s timing, and for God’s glory. No leader will ever be profound without this mindset. And such leaders will be clear that the knowledge and wisdom needed will be found in Scripture and propagated through the real expressions of the local New Testament ekklesia (the church of the living God).
