“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
(John 15:5-8 NIV)
Look around today and you will find literally hundreds, if not thousands of books and other related materials on “Leadership”. Indeed, “Leadership” and all of its associated training has become an industry unto itself. John Maxwell, Dale Carnegie, Steven Covey, Zig Zigler, and countless others have written book after book on the subject and yet we still have a shortage of true leaders in the world today. Why is that? I would like to suggest it might be because the true mark of a leader is not about being a “Leader”; it’s about being a “Disciple”. Not all leaders are Disciples, but all Disciples are leaders (emphasis mine) and it is precisely the Christlikeness within a leader that draws people to them. Yet the majority of today’s leaders, or should I say the people trying to become leaders, completely miss this fact and that is, in my opinion, largely do to the increasing secularization of our society. It’s no longer acceptable to talk about Jesus or the Bible in public any more, so the people wanting to sell books have taken His principles and stripped out any reference to Him in order to be more marketable with His very message.
I have read many books on leadership and let me tell you this: There is nothing written in any of them that was not first taught by Jesus two thousand years ago. The problem with reading these books is that many people end up idolizing and worshiping the author rather than the source from whom they are getting their material and inevitably all we end up with is a list of techniques for being a leader that sells us short and leaves us still wanting. They are missing the one crucial element for true success as a leader and that element is Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is the perfect model for leadership, not John Maxwell, not Zig Zigler, and certainly not you or me; and the sooner we realize this, the less time we’ll need to spend reading book after book on the subject of Leadership. Now I’m not condemning the wisdom and principles of leadership that the authors mentioned above have shared in their writings. Some of them are devout followers of Christ, which is precisely why they are such successful leaders. I’m simply saying that we need to keep what they say in the proper perspective and always keep first and foremost in our mind who we should be modeling ourselves after. Leadership exercises, activities, classes, and programs are great, but if that is your purpose and your process for becoming a leader, then that’s all you will have to offer others. If your life however, is about being a Disciple of Christ, a Servant of God, you will not only have the skills and techniques of a great leader to share with others, you’ll also have the Person of Jesus Christ to offer them.
C.S. Lewis once said “Aim at heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in’: aim at earth and you will get neither.” If we keep our focus on Heaven and we remain in Him, He will remain in us and we will bear much fruit; and it will be the fruit of our efforts that shows ourselves to be His Disciples. If we miss the example of Christ Jesus and remain focused on the training and techniques of being a leader, we limit ourselves and those we are teaching to what we know, and what we are. When we serve others as Disciples of Christ and train them as Disciples rather than just “Leaders”, the sky is the limit as to what can be accomplished because what we accomplish is done for the Kingdom, in His name, for His glory, rather than for ourselves. As Disciples: “We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end we labor, struggling with all His energy, which so powerfully works in us.”(Col.1:28-29 NIV) Amen.
Posted by Matthew Skaj 
