True leaders do not create followers, they create more leaders. As we let our own light shine, we encourage and unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. To become truly great, we have to stand with people, not above them. As we learn, we teach. As we receive, we give. As a leader, we lead by example whether we intend to or not and the place to improve the world is first in our own heart, head and hands. Here are some motivating and stimulating thoughts, inspired by the writings of Jimmy Draper and Bruce E. Vinston.

Christian leadership is not about authority; it is about influence, not about dominance, but service; not about personal success, but about making those around us successful. It is not about using those whom we work with to achieve our goals, but about using our gifts to develop the skills and maturity of those we work with. It’s not about getting our way, but developing a sense of stewardship among others and working together in serving the Lord. Leadership is not about us as the leader, but about God who has placed us together to bring glory to Himself.

Through the years in my journey in life, I have learned that there seem to have four elements to be an ideal Christian leader: CALLING or doing the will of God, COMPETENCE, or doing what we do well, CONFIDENCE, or knowing what we can do by our self and what we can do with God’s help, and CHARACTER, or living a life according to the character values of the Old Testament and New Testament.

To me, the most significant attribute in Christian leadership is the call of God upon our life. God has a plan for our life and His call to us is critical for successful leadership. God’s call is always to Himself and not to a specific task. In our ministry, we may have many different roles, but each of us is placed in the context of our personal relationship with the Lord.

The lack of certainty of a divine call to the ministry is one of the main reasons why many of seminary students, like me, leave the ministry. Without the assurance of God’s call on our life, we will not make it in ministry! The ministry is hard and terrible vocation, but it is a wonderful calling for those are chosen.

There should be a sense of the need to do what we do well, from which we can derive a need for COMPETENCE. Whatever we do, let us work at it with all our heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since we know that we will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ we are serving.

There is always a need to be good at what we do. We learn that calling without competence can still lead us to greater success with CONFIDENCE.  Even with calling and competence, success may not occur to the level that it could if we as leader lack CONFIDENCE. The notion of confidence is similar to the concept of self-efficacy that is our belief in our ability to succeed in specific situations or accomplish a task. In this case our focus is on self-perception, rather than reality. Successes and failures contribute to a perception of self-efficacy, although when faced with unfamiliar situations, our experience is replaced with our self-beliefs. If we would be a leader in God’s kingdom, we must stand firm upon a recognition of a Divine call to ministry, and upon our unwavering commitment to be with Him in whatever role He has for us in His Kingdom

I have learned that CHARACTER in addition to the elements of calling, competence, and confidence, is a key element of Christian leadership. In fact, there is a general sense among many of us that CHARACTER is the most important element in Christian leadership. How we conduct our self, manifests our character, our behavior is the outgrowth of our character. As a righteous leader, we demonstrate our belief characteristics in line with biblical principles; that we do not interact with the wicked nor participate with evil people.

Through our beliefs, we behave in line with biblical principles. How blessed are those who do not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scorners! If our delight is in the laws of the Lord, and on His law, when we meditate day and night, we will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in due time.

By Tim Pedrosa