The Disciple's Journey (pt 2)From series The Disciple's Journey.
Everyone has potential
The leadership we need today is less about technique as taught in business schools, or the charisma that political leaders crave. It is less about the pursuit of wealth or power. It is about character and grit. It is about faith. It is about the pursuit of the common good, seeking the best in people, rather than destroying them by focussing on their faults. Everyone has potential; it’s just that we don’t have the type of leadership that unlocks it. We are afraid to unlock our own potential and afraid to intrude in helping others to find theirs.
Defeating fear
I believe that the model for leadership has been with us for 2000 years. We have just lost sight of it. As then, man’s behaviour is often governed by fear, which allows us to do things that in retrospect seem unspeakable. Fear ultimately stems from an absence of a relationship with a God who is longing to reveal His purpose for us. The ministry of Christ was a reminder that if fear can be defeated, human possibility can be unlocked.
Revealing eternal values
In a world without love we resort, as did the Pharisees, to the law. Through fear’s antidote, love, we discover that we are stronger than we think we are. As we overcome challenges we reveal the eternal values that allow us to become stronger still. It allows us to find courage we did not know we had. We begin to discover that we are defined not by what we have or even by what we do, but by how we reveal ourselves through the challenges that life throws at us.
As beacons of hope we can defeat fear and darkness, unleashing the Holy Spirit within us: a Spirit that is more potent than we can imagine, with the power to transform both our lives and others’.
Risking everything
When installed as Archbishop of York in 2005, John Sentamu invited Christians to reach out to the demonized and dehumanised, the Muslims, the Sikhs, the Hindu, the agnostic and the atheist. Love does not judge. We must be prepared to take a risk. Compassion is not defined by giving a poor person a coin, but setting out to change the system that created poverty. Nothing is created through inertia. Jesus taught us that we must risk everything – our well-being, reputation, riches – to make a difference.
The world is not short of words
There are many fine words written and great intentions articulated, but nothing much changes. Every day Christians pray for an end to injustice and a better world. But prayer without action is only fulfilling half the deal. God can work with us, but we have to do something too. Words without actions are just words and the world is not short of words. As James writes, ‘What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith, but has no deeds ...’ (James 2:14). His faith was made complete by what he did.
Henry David Thoreau said:
Demonstrate the love of God
It is true that for every 1,000 ideas only one per cent is ever realized. We all witnessed the Church’s failure to respond to the Occupy movement outside St Paul’s Cathedral in London, 2011. It was an opportunity to provide an alternative vision for the world after the failures of the capitalist system became apparent. But in fear of upsetting mammon, the Church lost another chance to be fiercely relevant to the world. Jesus rarely preached but allowed his passion for social justice to demonstrate the love of God.
‘Globally, 98% of Christians are neither envisioned nor equipped for mission in 95% of their waking lives, but imagine if they were.’ London Institute of Contemporary Christianity
Visit Simon's websites: Releasing Leadership Through Mentoring and The Disciple’s Journey to read more about discipleship.
(Part two of a three part series)