Leadership

I  recently heard a lesson on leadership. It was eye-opening and extremely instructive. It also gave an indication of how hard a true leader must work. It consisted of three points.
1. Leadership is more about responsibility than privileges.
2. Leadeership provides less latitude, not more.
3. The most important expression of leadership is personal.

In ten minutes I learned more from Pastor Allen than I have in hours long seminars and many books. I cannot reproduce everything he said, but this will give an overview of the key points.

Number one: Leadership is more about responsibility than privileges. We all see leaders with the perquisites of office and envy their advantages. But the “benefits” of being a leader are neither the motivation nor means of leadership. A leader is responsible for the progress of his group. A brief summation is that the leader takes the group and individuals someplace where they would not be able to go without him.

If a person “leads” a group to a place that they would naturally go, he is not a leader, but the coincidental role of being in the front of a toboggan or roller coaster. He is not leading, he is just the first one in a line that is going where ever it is going, regardless of whether he is there or not. A true leader is the guy who takes the toboggan and riders back to the top of the hill.

The supposed perks are not a reward, but tools to allow the leader to accomplish the task. They are not there for his enjoyment but for enablement. He can get more done with these “tools” and thus they provide value and assistance in accomplishing the overall task.

The second point builds on this. Leadership provides less latitude, not more. A leader is not given extra privileges as a reward, they are essential in his ability to accomplish the goal. For example, most leaders are among the first to show up at church, and among the last to leave. They have a key to the building because they are often required to be available at nearly all hours of the day.

A leader sets the schedule, usually with the convenience of the following group in view, and he has to adhere to it. A member may wake up feeling “bad” and skip, but if the leader skips, well, nothing happens. He basically has no wiggle room, unless he can find an emergency substitute. And a lot of explaining is required. “Too bad he isn’t as dedicated as the ‘rest’ of us. We are here.”

The third aspect of a good leader is that the most important expression of leadership is personal. A leader’s most important “follower” greets him every morning in the mirror. In other words, self control, and leading oneself is a critical component of any leadership post. We had witnessed a literal flood of failures recently, and some even in spiritual circles.

And the source of their problem, when they honestly confront the issue, is a failure to exercise discretion in their personal life. Self control is a fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22 and 23. These things are “available” to all believers but not all believers consciously express them And the dearth of practice leads to a catastrophic collapse. Even a “minor” collapse will result in terrible consequences in the life and body of his followers.

James warns about the peril of being a “teacher” or leader in James 3:1
Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.

Romans 2:21 has an intersting take on this. (It is a little out of context, but applies.)
...you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal?
Teach yourself. How can you lead without teaching?

And Revelation 2 reports two churches that actively followed false teachers. Obviously some responsibility lies in the group to hold a leader accountable. But better far is the leader who polices himself.

That discussion of leadership is a good place to start, even for my personal leadership in my own life. Step up to the responsibility. Dedication requires more than a casual attention in the execution of our daily tasks. And to sum it up, 2 Peter 1 charts the path of successful leadership.
5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Notice that it begins with “passive” characteristics: faith, moral excellence, knowledge. Then it hinges on self-control, number three. This will produce active expressions of our faith. Perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love are the manifestations that mark a good leader.

Lead on.



https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+5:22-23&version=NASB

Execution

We executed Billy Ray Irick on August 9, 2018. And, yes, the “we” is all of us. All of Tennessee executed him through our elected and appointed officials. Were we wrong? No we were not in error, regardless of what some may claim.

There was no “rush to judgment.” Mr. Irick was accorded a trial. He was given over 30 years of appeals. Justice is based on action, and not necessarily how the judgment is administered. If the judgment is unfair or unjust, it is subject to appeal. But if it is distasteful, onerous, or even painful, it is not subject to appeal. Irick’s appeals were not substantive: was he innocent or guilty? They were focused on the process of satisfying the requirements of the law and not the substantiative issue of guilt.

One argument was his mental state. Did he have the cognitive ability to recognize that what he did was wrong? Recall that he fled, and attempted to hitchhike out of town. (Tennessean 8/10) A mental incompetent does not understand culpability. The arguments that he was impaired ignore the fact that he did know that his actions were wrong and behaved accordingly.

The state has determined, rightly in the opinion of many, that violating the rights of others requires some remuneration. In the case of the ultimate offense, taking a life, there is no equivalent “payment,” outside of execution.

Biblically, “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” was not a severe pronouncement of retribution, but a merciful, compassionate limitation of “revenge.” When the Old Testament law was promulgated, a person in power had an absolute right to exact any level of punishment on a person who offended him. For instance, injuring an “eye” could lead the offended power person to kill the offender. He often even expanded the infliction of retribution to the family of the offender.

An “eye for an eye” restricted the punitive measures to a level commensurate with the amount of damage. In the instance of murder, the limitation would extend to the ultimate sanction. That penalty is not required, and, our state has correctly mandated the consideration of aggravating factors. A particularly onerous murder may, and does merit the ultimate retribution. To ignore or deny that denigrates and depreciates the life of the victim.

Out of all the current coverage, there was only one article about the little seven year-old girl, Paula Dyer, and what she suffered. Did Mr. Irick gasp for air and turn purple? (Tennessean 8/10) Paula did. The reports mentioned that blood vessels had burst in her eyes, a sign of violent asphyxiation. She was found in a puddle of blood. Irick’s appeal to avoid any pain is poorly supported or buttressed by reality or justice.

We made a statement in this event. The value of life, even a helpless child, is inestimable. Interdicting that life is a capital offense. There is no conflict between justice and mercy. Mercy is linked with and inseparable from a demand for an accounting. Mercy granted a fair trial and appeal. No more can be legitimately claimed. Justice was served.