Student Leadership 3
If we are to develop a better view of Leadership, then maybe we can access some good Christian resources?
A Google search for “Christian Leadership Resources” gives us millions of hits! Searching specifically Christian sites still leads us to many thousands of options. We might think that this would cause us to be well informed.
There are some useful resources, but many are based on a “business model” of powerful individualised leaders, justified by some selective Bible verses. This actually takes us down a wrong path. Can we learn something from these resources? Yes. But we need to be discerning about the basis of thinking. As David Starling reminded us, we need to beware of the uncritical absorption and imitation of the mindset and power structures of the surrounding culture.
Other common Christian resources base leadership understanding on Biblical characters. We are to lead like Abraham, or Nehemiah, or Moses. Again, can we learn something from these stories? – Yes, but the Bible does not call us to imitate these people.
Yes, Nehemiah organised people to build a wall but he also cursed some Jewish people, beat them and pulled out their hair – not the best leadership techniques or qualities!
Yes, Abraham trusted God with an uncertain future, but there were also times when he didn’t – handing his wife over to another and lying about his relationship, producing a child with a servant – again not leadership practices we would endorse.
All leaders in the Bible are faulty; the Bible does not give us leadership techniques; the Bible shows the faithfulness of God.
Having cleared the decks a little – let’s consider how we might view, and develop, leadership amongst our young people. We’ll start next week.
Blessings
Brian