Leadership



I often think about the idea of leadership. Working in the business world for the last 12 years while working in churches, I’ve seen a lot of different styles of leadership. I have a strong desire to make sure there is good clear leadership in the life of any church I’m working with because it’s one of my Spiritual gifts.

I read the gospel of Mark at least once year because this is the book that shows us how we should lead. In the first chapter of the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, the prophet Ezekiel sees four faces. He sees the face of a loin, an ox, a man, and an eagle. Each face is a picture of Jesus Christ; He is King (the lion), Jesus is a servant (the ox), Jesus is a man (the man), and Jesus is God (the eagle). Have you ever wondered why we have fours gospels instead just one? The reason is each gospel portrays Jesus differently; four different angles or traits of the same God Man. The book of Matthew was written to show Jesus as the promised King of the Jews, Mark was written to show Jesus as the servant, Luke shows Jesus as a man, and John shows Jesus to be God in flesh.

Jesus is the ultimate example on how we (His children) should live our lives. Mark is the handbook on how His people should lead. I feel it’s a most read for any man who wishes to pastor a church or lead a ministry.

A few weeks ago, I rented the movie “Outlander.” It was a pretty good fantasy film about an alien [that looks human; played by James Caviezel (actor who played Jesus Christ in “The Passion of the Christ”)] that crash lands on Earth in the 1400’s Norway. He comes across Vikings and battles an alien monster he had on his ship. The reason I bring this movie up while discussing leadership is there’s a scene in the deleted section of the DVD where the king of the Viking tribe the alien is helping is talking with his nephew about how to be king. He tells the young man that serving and protecting his people is a king’s true duty; not being a tyrant.

In the book of Mark, the true definition of being a leader is shown in Christ Jesus. He came serving others, and at the end He protected us from an eternity separated from Him by paying the sin debt we all owe. Any man who leaders a church as pastor should never “rule” the members like he is king over them. In the eyes of God, we are a family and all equal so the pastor of a church should lead like a loving brother leads younger siblings.

The church is a Christocracy where Christ is King of all and is the leader. A pastor is a steward or servant who God puts in place to help His children grow in their walks. Seeing the Biblical idea of leadership has helped me in my secular workplace and continues to help keep me in the right frame of mind while leading God’s people.