Dare Great Things For Christ

All of us who lead are men and women of action and being men and women of action we’re responsible to create changes to make something out of nothing. To change status quo into something new and doing this in a social setting means that we will often encounter competition. How are Christians supposed to deal with competition? In this third of our series of 10 on “The Rules of Power” by Robert Green we focus on law 15 where instead of loving our enemies he calls us to crush them.

The life of King Solomon was truly extraordinary. Gifted with outstanding wisdom, King Solomon’s wisdom blessed Israel with outstanding abundance. And even though everything in his life was not worthy of imitation, the Bible is careful to record that he used his gifts to build the temple of God. This might surprise us. Why would God want his leader to dedicate himself to building a temple? It’s a question that opens us to a deeper understanding of our own leadership today.

For anyone reading the Bible looking for an example of leadership, the life of King Solomon stands out as a must read. Not everything that he did was exemplary, in fact much of what he did was problematic. And yet still, God writes straight with crooked lines. And looking at his life as it’s given us can teach us lessons both good and bad. Things to do and things to avoid in our own leadership. We begin our series on King Solomon by looking at his prayer for a listening heart.

Can power be a pathway to holiness? It’s a provocative question, mostly because of the ways we view power today. But what if I asked it differently? What if I said, “Could leading others like a servant of Christ make you holy?” Most of us would then say, “Absolutely.” The way that we view leadership has a lot to do with how we exercise it. In this second part of our series I try to unpack for us how leadership, in fact, is a practical truth.

Reading the Gospels from the point of view of leadership offers us many wonderful insights into our own leadership. Afterall, watching how Jesus leads is the best way to discovering what he expects from us as well. Leadership can of course mean many different things, but when you look at how he was towards his disciples you can’t help but notice his intention to influence them as profoundly as possible. He does this through words through teaching through example and most powerfully through his presence.

Anyone who reads the gospels can’t help but notice the way that Jesus Christ is confronted by and chooses to confront those who surround him. His life was not easy and his public ministry was marked by confrontation. The fact that he does not hide this from his apostles and that those confrontations play such an important role in the Gospel provides a leadership lesson for us as well. Most of us will have to live through many confrontations and Jesus shows us how.

Those involved in leadership spend a lot of time talking about leadership in the abstract. But Christian leadership can’t be spoken of without Christ. Which begs the question, “How did Jesus lead?”. While this subject is vast and can be approached from many angles perhaps the easiest way to understanding how Jesus leads is by watching how He actually led and His leadership begins with His choice of His twelve apostles. Join us in this first of our next series, “Watching Jesus Lead – The Choice Of The Twelve”.

It's a well-known fact that leaders in industry and society are men and women of action. If we’re in charge, it’s to produce a result. But living under this kind of pressure can sometimes weaken that is necessary for success. Afterall, we didn’t get involved just to be a machine. We got involved in order to lead and leadership is much more than just producing results. In this seventh part of our series on Secrets To Joyful Leadership we explore the power of beauty and its capacity to motivate a joyful leader.