Hello everyone! Welcome to Prodigal’s new blog: Lead&Follow. I’ve been extremely blessed to be given the opportunity to share some insights on leadership with you, most of which I’ve learned the hard way. The school of hard knocks has definitely left me bruised and battered at times!
I spent long hours considering where to start and what to focus on, and I decided to address the leadership crisis we have in society today. The world is crying out for strong leaders, but it doesn’t even realize it! We’ve shifted away from strong values and our moral compass no longer points to True North (God). Idealists and opinionated individuals-both of which typically make good leaders-are considered trouble-makers, so many potentially great leaders are squashed before they can even stretch their wings.
As Christian leaders, we find ourselves in the unique position of having the answer that nobody seems to want. The secular world has chosen the beautiful beach house with its prestige and perfect view. They lack the foresight to realize their sandy foundation is either slowly eroding beneath them or will be washed away in some future storm. Like Noah, we long to urge them to come to safety, but unlike Noah, most of us don’t have the courage to be ridiculed for what we believe in! How do we get past that fear, and how do we get people to put their faith in us when they have no faith in what we stand for?
The answer lies in Ephesians 6. We must be “strong in the Lord and in His mighty power…so that [we] can take [our] stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (v. 10-12).
Once we understand that we’re not fighting against people, we can develop a winning strategy. Only God can change people and soften hardened hearts, so if we waste our time trying to force-feed our opinions to others, we’ll only be beating our heads against the proverbial wall! However, by knowing who the real enemy is, we increase our chances of fighting effectively.
It would be easy for me to say we must be prayed up and read up and end today’s blog there. After all, isn’t that what being strong in the Lord is all about? I will say resoundingly, “NO!” Praying and reading our Bibles are vital to our survival and success, but they are only start-points. God wants us to pray up, read up, and then go beat up the demonic forces that are destroying his beloved creation! So here are a few guidelines to help you focus your battle plan.
- Understand that God is not accidental or coincidental. The people in your life have been carefully chosen and placed there for a reason. You should know what that reason is. God will tell you if you ask Him!
- Don’t sugar-coat your message. That’s the devil’s strategy. Speak the truth in love. I will stress the in love part of that statement.
- Get to know the people you’re associated with. The Bible very consistently shows how God draws the unbelievers to Himself by alleviating their suffering. You have no chance of doing that without knowing where their pain is.
- Pray specifically for those people and their needs. To pray for someone is to love someone, and you can’t impact anyone without love. God is love, and prayer has power!
- Have a desire and look for opportunities to impact their lives. This is crucial. Helping at the right time-with the leading of the Holy Spirit-is the hook that pulls them toward Christ. Your words have far less impact than your anointed actions!
This certainly isn’t an all-inclusive list, but following these tips should help you be a more effective leader. Please note that I didn’t talk too much about being someone’s boss. That’s because a true leader is focused on leading others to Christ before all else. That doesn’t mean you ignore work-related issues, it just means you should prioritize correctly.
Notice also that I didn’t talk too much about fighting demons, but if you follow the above advice, that’s exactly what you’ll be doing!
Tune in next time for more rambling!
Leave a Reply