There's something very different between Christian leadership and other types of leadership - and this post is something I've felt unable to write during the last year... See, I didn't like the nickname "El Presidente" for a couple of reasons: for one it opened the door for pride to enter into my role.
But it's the second reason I want to write about, and it's to do with the differences between Christian leadership and other kinds of leadership. See, Christian leadership isn't really leadership at all. It's a bit of a misnomer. "Leadership", as the world understands it, is power, is authority, is glory. Christian leadership? It's submissive, it's subservience, it's humility.
I'm envious that I can't serve with the fabulous new CU exec who went away to Forum Midlands a couple of weeks ago! They'll all be brilliant, and I'm very excited to see and hear of how God chooses to use them. But they'll be most brilliant if they concentrate less on "leading" and first and foremost on being led.
"Leading" implies control, authority, a sense of being the boss. Being led implies servitude, submission, a sense of being second-in-command to someone. A phrase we've often used when praying is "God, it's your CU, not ours".There's a right and Godly way of Christians leading other Christians, but only if those leaders are first being led by God. Not as brain-washed puppets, but as servants, discerning what will best suit their master. There's a chain of command in Christian leadership, and no matter what structures are going on at earth-level, God is always the King.
It's made my job over the last year a whole lot easier knowing this: that the best kind of leader puts God first and him/herself second. Otherwise our leadership is self-centred, full of pride, and ultimately sinful. We have to be dependent on a Father who gives instruction through his word, a Son who sets the perfect example of earthly life, and a Spirit who speaks and inspires us into action. Get these things right, and you've got Christian leadership right.
