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On Following Bad Leaders...
On Following Bad Leaders...
So this past Tuesday Night, I did my best to make a case that the key to where you wanna be, need to be, feel called to be and dream to be is leadership. (The foundation for this thought is rooted in Eph 4...that Christ gave us leaders for the equipping of the saints and the building of the body.) I am sure there were many opinions in support and in opposition of the thought. We can dig into that over coffee at some point. The thing I wanted to address here on the community site was the issue of truly bad leaders. Everything I said on Tuesday was in the case of good, honest, and positive leaders (and those who are working to be like that). But I think I need to address the issue of what to do when following bad leaders...so here I go and feel free to leave some comments.
If you believe you are following a bad leader, the short answer is stop following them. But I would suggest you ask a few questions before you do.
1. Who's setting the standard? The judgment that someone is a bad leader remains objective unless you start with what God thinks about them and their leadership. Many in Israel believed that Moses was a bad leader. It didn't work out so well for those guys because according to God they were wrong. See Numbers 16 and 17.
2. Are you afraid of being challenged? Human nature often resists being called out and encouraged to live differently. John the Baptist's critics were men who could not bear the truth that their lives were not being lived correctly...and he was killed because he was a leader who told the truth.
3. Are you asking too much? We will at times expect more than what is appropriate from our leaders. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul spends a great deal of time defending his ministry and some of the reason has to do with them (church in Corinth) comparing him to other leaders of the day. What Paul uncovers is that it isn't his lack of eloquence that is the problem, it is their immaturity as believers.
4. Is God telling you to leave? Sometimes God has a greater purpose for us in serving under bad leadership. In his first letter, Peter encourages believers who are currently in exile and under persecution to not rebel, but to endure. Then the writer of the letter to the Hebrews reminds us that we come from a long line of folks who were victims of bad leadership, yet few of us have been tried to the point of shedding blood (Hebrews 11 and 12). Apparently, the 1st century church saw bad leadership as an opportunity to show what true following, obedience and humility looked like.
5. Is God actually dealing with you? God often uses bad leadership to show us what is missing in us. He often allows us to serve under bad leadership for a time because the pressure, persecution, stress and frustration will actually lead us to places of honesty. Often, it is under bad leadership that we find ourselves prideful, spiteful, doubtful, stubborn and many other not so great qualities. But the truth is, it is in these situations that the opposite should be true. It has been said, 'when you are pressed, what comes out?' If what comes out when you are pressed is not from and like God, then the problem is also with you.
So...if you are experiencing bad leadership, feel free to no longer follow that leader. But understand that if God is using that bad leadership to teach, challenge, mold, train and prepare you, use discernment and wisdom before you make your move. The lessons you do not learn under this bad leader, you'll repeat under the next bad leader.
Finally...this is not as applicable if we are talking about our parents as leaders...that's a whole other (and tougher) ball of wax. Funny, people ask me often 'what do I do about my bad leader?' But it never seems to be appropriate to ask 'what do I do about my bad follower?' Again, another subject for another blog.
Hope this was helpful...please comment. Love you all...
So this past Tuesday Night, I did my best to make a case that the key to where you wanna be, need to be, feel called to be and dream to be is leadership. (The foundation for this thought is rooted in Eph 4...that Christ gave us leaders for the equipping of the saints and the building of the body.) I am sure there were many opinions in support and in opposition of the thought. We can dig into that over coffee at some point. The thing I wanted to address here on the community site was the issue of truly bad leaders. Everything I said on Tuesday was in the case of good, honest, and positive leaders (and those who are working to be like that). But I think I need to address the issue of what to do when following bad leaders...so here I go and feel free to leave some comments.
If you believe you are following a bad leader, the short answer is stop following them. But I would suggest you ask a few questions before you do.
1. Who's setting the standard? The judgment that someone is a bad leader remains objective unless you start with what God thinks about them and their leadership. Many in Israel believed that Moses was a bad leader. It didn't work out so well for those guys because according to God they were wrong. See Numbers 16 and 17.
2. Are you afraid of being challenged? Human nature often resists being called out and encouraged to live differently. John the Baptist's critics were men who could not bear the truth that their lives were not being lived correctly...and he was killed because he was a leader who told the truth.
3. Are you asking too much? We will at times expect more than what is appropriate from our leaders. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul spends a great deal of time defending his ministry and some of the reason has to do with them (church in Corinth) comparing him to other leaders of the day. What Paul uncovers is that it isn't his lack of eloquence that is the problem, it is their immaturity as believers.
4. Is God telling you to leave? Sometimes God has a greater purpose for us in serving under bad leadership. In his first letter, Peter encourages believers who are currently in exile and under persecution to not rebel, but to endure. Then the writer of the letter to the Hebrews reminds us that we come from a long line of folks who were victims of bad leadership, yet few of us have been tried to the point of shedding blood (Hebrews 11 and 12). Apparently, the 1st century church saw bad leadership as an opportunity to show what true following, obedience and humility looked like.
5. Is God actually dealing with you? God often uses bad leadership to show us what is missing in us. He often allows us to serve under bad leadership for a time because the pressure, persecution, stress and frustration will actually lead us to places of honesty. Often, it is under bad leadership that we find ourselves prideful, spiteful, doubtful, stubborn and many other not so great qualities. But the truth is, it is in these situations that the opposite should be true. It has been said, 'when you are pressed, what comes out?' If what comes out when you are pressed is not from and like God, then the problem is also with you.
So...if you are experiencing bad leadership, feel free to no longer follow that leader. But understand that if God is using that bad leadership to teach, challenge, mold, train and prepare you, use discernment and wisdom before you make your move. The lessons you do not learn under this bad leader, you'll repeat under the next bad leader.
Finally...this is not as applicable if we are talking about our parents as leaders...that's a whole other (and tougher) ball of wax. Funny, people ask me often 'what do I do about my bad leader?' But it never seems to be appropriate to ask 'what do I do about my bad follower?' Again, another subject for another blog.
Hope this was helpful...please comment. Love you all...
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