Leading in Christ

In the real world where God is acknowledged and obeyed, every Christian is a leader. The difference is in the sphere of influence. In our mixed and twisted world the ongoing thing is to emphasize and promote one individual to the exclusion of others in the collective.

When the focus on one individual is considered to be the best, the leadership potentials of the other individuals in the collective are neglected and undermined in the process. This means that their interest, possible growth, and development are not given the necessary attention and encouragement to enable them to be all they could be as leaders.

The emphasis would be to recognize the leadership potential in every individual and encourage them to take advantage of the opportunities before them to develop to their fullest potential and attain to their full sphere of influence. Simply put, it means that every individual is to be encouraged to grow to the full limit of their potential and not to be forced to exceed it. This is because, when an individual exceeds the limit of their ability, they would become a liability to themselves and to those around them. This effect is appropriately described in the management circles as Peter’s principle.

The Biblical example of this truth that you should work within the limit of your ability is found in the parable of the talents and minas, as told in the Gospel of (Matthew 28:14-25); Luke 19:11-17). Every person was given the opportunity to grow and develop to the very limit of their ability. They were all encouraged to act and given the resources to attain to their full potential. Failure was only due to their neglect to take advantage of the opportunities given to them.

Everyone was assigned to what they were able to handle. The failure was due to personal neglect when they had the opportunity but failed to take it. Everyone was given what they could handle, nothing more or less. Romans describes this principle as the measure of grace (Romans 12:3-8).

The chance to grow and be fully developed to the limit of your personal ability is what is inherent in the divine distribution of the gifts of the Spirit (Eph. 4:1-14; I. Cor. 12:1-11), in the Body of Christ. When every believer is encouraged to be focused on using their gift or gifts to the best of their abilities in influencing others for the good of the Kingdom of God , the world would be better off in the end.

Although we are leaders with various levels of influence, we submit to one another as good team players and contribute our part in obedience to the leadership of Christ our sovereign Master. No Christian leader should consider himself or herself better than those who follow him or her (Deut. 17:18-20).