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7th June 2011 by Claire Hill

If you're excited about being a Christian leader because you like the idea of being the boss, sounding important, having people obey your orders and being in charge ... you've got the wrong idea.

The power belongs to God

It's true that you might be given positional power over people or a ministry. You might be a LIFE group leader or a youth group leader or school captain or a worship leader. But if you're a Christian, you need to know that it's not your power.

The power belongs to God.

All of it.

Any authority you have been given was delegated to you by God.

It's not a perfect analogy – but let's assume that God is the President of the United States of America and you are his assistant. The President's assistant will often write letters on his behalf. She'll draft up some of his speeches and probably attend some meetings and represent him in his absence. But the assistant is not the President of the United States. She does not have the authority the President has. Her role is to represent the President, to submit to him and to serve his agenda.

In the same way our role is to serve God's agenda. We should strive to know him as well as possible, to become as in tune with him as possible, to seek him in prayer before making decisions and to always strive to please him.

Regardless of how important-sounding your title is, God is the real boss. The power belongs to him.

You're on the right track if ... you are focused on listening to and obeying God.

Power for people, not power over people

The people you oversee are not there to feed your ego or to serve you.

This is sometimes how leadership is viewed in the world. A leader will sometimes see the people under her leadership as her servants or less-important minions.

But as Christian leaders this should be flipped on its head.

As Salvation Army General Linda Bond has said: "God has given you power for people, not power over people."

Our role is to feed our people, to help them grow in their relationship with Jesus, to help them achieve their God-given purpose and to show them God's love.

The General has a picture of a basin and towel in her office. She says that these two items should always be central for any spiritual leader, no matter how great or small the responsibility. She says: "It doesn't mean we literally wash feet but it means that every gift we've been given, we use to serve others."

You're on the right track if... you are focused on serving the people under your authority.

Climbing a ladder to the cross

God might elevate you as a leader (like how General Bond is now in charge of The Salvos throughout the entire world!) but we shouldn't be chasing after that stuff. That shouldn't be one of our goals or measures of success.

As Christian leaders we don't dream about climbing a ladder of increasingly impressive-sounding, well paid positions. We're not motivated by a desire for self-promotion.

General Bond says: "The only ladder I climb is the one that takes me to the cross."

If our energy, time and thoughts are fixated on climbing any ladder it should be a ladder that leads us closer to the cross.

General Bond says we should be seeking to experience more of the power of the cross, "the power of the risen Saviour living in us, the power to love and to serve."

You're on the right track if ... you're climbing a ladder to the cross.

If you haven't already, I encourage you to head over to MOREtv and watch the interview our own Nate Brown did with General Linda Bond before she left Sydney to be the global leader of The Salvation Army. I have used the wisdom she shared in this interview as the basis for this article.

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