Missing:Leadership! Be A Real Leader!

Be a Real Leader!                                           By Kelly Durant  1-20-13

Matthew 20:20-28

1.And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.

2.There was a movie (Top Gun, 1986) in which some cadet pilots were going out to do a practice flight and dog fight. One arrogant young man said to another, you will be my wingman (meaning he is making himself the main one or leader) but the other one protested, No, you will be my wingman! This is the power struggle in life for everyone, as everyone is always fighting for who will be in charge no matter where you go!

Don’t forget a lot more could get done for God if we did not worry about who got the glory (or credit)! The fact is each and every one of you that come here, in particular Soldiers, are considered to be leaders and we expect you to lead, follow and not “get out of the way” but rather get help for what is happening in your personal life stopping you from doing more for God! When you do something for God or His work, you get blessed for your faithfulness!

In families, in governments and politics, in sales and industrial companies, in youth and adult sports, in every community system, and sadly even in churches, the people desiring power, position, authority, and recognition can many times be jeopardizing progress and be embarrassing! Everyone should forget about who does what and just do whatever is needed!

3.My wife and I are proud of many of you who worked extra hard to make the building nice this past week. Out of the 100 people here on Sunday, we get about 10-15 of you to show up most of the time to work and thank you so much for your hard work!. How many of you have ever gotten an award or recognition for something you have done that took extra effort? It is Biblical to give honor to whom honor is due! And with the Lord’s work you get recompensed in heaven! Hebreos 6:10-12

Leadership in general today, however, needs attention, leaders are scare as few want to do the work, or there are leaders who want a title but they are not leading as they should.

4.There is an old Latino song that says, “Quitate tu para ponerme yo!” {Get out of my way, so I can be in your place (in control)}. This song seems to sums up the idea many people have about positions of power which they think should just be handed to them because they are aggressive sharks and they can just take it. They misunderstand what leadership is and how it requires a great deal of training, responsibility, faithfulness, sacrifice, dedication, and lots of hard-work to produce the results needed. Leaders are not born in royalty, they are common people that get shaped by practice, mistakes, and experience!

Today most everyone agrees, globally we have a leadership deficit in every system no matter where you look. Few people step up to the plate to be totally dedicated, sacrificial and be the one to take the heat when failures occur. It is the lazy human nature in many people to want to enjoy the benefits of being a leader without doing the work! Thank the Lord many of you here do work when it is needed!

But today many people around the world, due to assistance programs and hand-outs have adapted an “entitlement” mentality. Many people have the idea that a leadership position should just be given if you kiss up to the right person. Some people want to be the leader out of pride so they can run the show and just sit comfortably telling others what to do. This is the problem, many people in the world are running the show without a clue of what they are doing! And like the saying goes, If you want to know what a person really is like, give them power and see what they do with it! Many people abuse authority. Personally, I recommend that leaders be as careful as possible while leading so they don’t crash and sink the ship!

5.In the verses of today we see the power struggle, the envy, and the competition of the disciples amongst their selves on who will be the big leader with the most benefits and privileges. Imagine, even in such a group so small as 12, there was politicking going on so that the mother asked for her 2 sons to have more authority than the other 10! And in verse 24 it says the other 10 were indignant, and this is the way any one of us would feel when another person is trying to assume a power over you just because they think they deserve more than you?!  

Let’s expound on these verses so you may gain insight as to how Jesus was teaching certain principles about being a leader. God’s ways are not our ways, and often people think that rank, position, and privileges are achieved by getting the leader’s favor. The world’s systems are unfair and confused and politics may work unfairly but they do not get past a righteous God. 6.(&7).There are 3 clarifications about how positions are gained concluded from the verses of study of today:

1.      Real leaders are not put in authority positions due to favoritism.

Jesus answered the disciples wisely, over positions, telling them they had no say so in the matter and that only God decides. Not even Jesus would make that call: He wanted God and the Holy Spirit in on that one! Who ends up with what position in the end has a lot to do with what that person does, and with what the others involved decide in the decision making. This proves that authority is given not just on one person’s call. The assumption too many people believe is that they can decide things, or manipulate things in their favor through their leader. But when a person tries to affirm power by the back door way, there will always be an expected resistance from others.

2.      Leaders gain position by great sacrifice.

What Jesus replied was oh, you want to have the power I have? Well, then you will have to drink from my cup and suffer what I will suffer, and get the anointing, or baptism, that I have in order to share it with me.  They agreed they would drink from his cup and suffer with Him, but they must have been somewhat pretentious to agree so quickly. Jesus even said you don’t know what you are asking for!

They actually were sacrificing a more comfortable life to follow Jesus around to preach the controversial new good news of a salvation for all, but they did not know at that time that they really would suffer great pain similar to Him! They all suffered a martyr’s death for Him! To reach honor and status one has to give up everything, or basically give your life to the cause!

3.      Leaders must be humble being willing to minister and serve in every way needed.

Jesus said: 26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; 27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:   To be a leader, you cannot just come into any place and start dictating orders to others how you want things changing the system. That leads to disaster! On has to be willing to come in and serve others on their level, and be patient to train others to serve after you leave. You must not care who may see you as less than them, you are a servant to them. We often serve even when you know you know much more than the other one on certain matters. To honor another as greater than yourself is too humiliating for some people but God requires it.     Philippians 2:3

8.Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

I recall my son, Chris, when he was 16 worked a year at the McDonalds just down the street from our house. He first learned to mop floors and do clean-up, then how to cook, then how to do the cash register. He basically took and learned about 6 training courses and then they told him he could become a manager. When the 30 something year olds who worked there for quite some time who were never willing to learn about management heard about how he might could be a manger soon they started hating him! Always leadership comes with a price and then you have to take the heat! Leaders are often lonely as few friends stay as friends when they feel they have to take orders from you. But only good followers make good leaders!

In the world, however, not usually are the hard workers recompensed as they should be. In the world we often see the buddy system at work, and aggressive undeserving, untrained, proud character-less people usually gain leadership positions. But usually their time is not for long as they always make a royal mess of things! Our world’s systems are very messed up due to this.

 Leadership ability: It is not gained by time accumulated somewhere but gained by training, not by a person’s age or skills not relevant to the tasks required, but rather it is earned by integrity and practicing virtues of character. The goal is to be FAT: Faithful, Available, and Trainable!

9.The good news is in the Salvation Army we are always doing ongoing trainings. We have weekend seminars here at the Corps, we have the DLOTS and when someone says they want to be more involved or become an Officer, they will get dozens of books to study, read, and then put into practice. Actually every Soldier age 14 and older is expected to be a leader and be busy doing a program or job of some kind for the Corps, with the youth, kids, or adults. When Jesus said to serve and minister, He left it open as there are dozens of ways to do that!

I think all of us have a natural desire to be the leader of something! But here is a problem of being a leader; it makes you a target for criticism! I always find it ridiculous how some people will complain about things. Complaining is the way some people think they will gain influence over others. They think that by putting down what others do, as if they were the expert, they will make their selves out to be superior to the boss and people will follow them as a leader.

Some people try to make their selves look better than the leader who does all the behind the scenes work. Like the time someone commented on the Corps food, that the meat was too cold, and the rice was too tasteless. The target in my mind was not the cook but the unappreciative person complaining and I thought, yeah, and you have never been in the kitchen to know what it is like to prepare a huge meal and then serve it to over 100 people! We should always praise those that work even though not every time will everything be perfect!

So concerning correcting leaders, you shouldn’t get into as you may lack the facts but you should consult the main leader first. When Peter was out of line boasting, Jesus corrected him, but it did not mean that Peter was disqualified for the job the Lord had called him for. Leaders at times fall and sin just like anyone else because they are human, but if God has a plan for them, trust that God knows how to bring them back into line. Always focus on your mission!

10.Those that work hard should get a reward and recognition for their job well done, don’t you agree? Be one of those that God is proud of. So after studying and preparing yourself with what you like, lead and put it into practice! Is God calling you to lead, follow, or learn how to do one of the two? But don’t be like the disciples that worried about who is first, just start serving!

A real leader learns, earns, and then burns bright for Jesus! Humbly serve in any way that is needed! Pray to lead as God expects from you! God and everyone will support you!