By John B. Wong
A Commentary on the Sabbath School Lesson for September 11–17, 2004
I’ll discuss this week’s lesson in two parts. (1) Who is a leader? Hallmarks of a good leader. (2) What does our support mean, how is it done, and by what guidelines. What is the ultimate purpose of good, supported leadership in the context of God’s work on earth?
Before discussing the substantive issues on leadership, we need to be reminded first that in this fallen world with flawed humanity people are born with unequal talents and gifts. Some people are natural-born leaders with charisma, passion, people skills, and plenty of energy. Others are shy, indecisive, fearful to take risks, and have low energy output. Not that any of these characteristics could not be polished and improved with God’s help and education, but in my experience and by my observation the improvable segment is only 25 percent at the maximum.
It would be tragic indeed for one without some of the inborn leadership qualities to try to assume the role of a leader when he or she is better drafted for God’s cause as a follower. There are usually exceptions to every rule, of course. And we have to bear this in mind when we assess candidates for appointment. But the exceptions do not invalidate the general rule.
Second, the contribution of a follower is no less than that of a leader—the only difference is the type of contribution. In God’s evaluation, both the leader and the follower are equal—that is the fundamental equality and justice (Gal. 3:28).
Third, leadership is factored into the social order of a communitarian economy in God’s church. God expects us to accomplish his work on earth in an efficient manner with order and justice. God looks to good leaders to implement his work as competently, if not more, than secular corporate CEOs.
A good leader is the sine qua non for success in any project. In all major movements—whether religious, political, social, or economic—leadership is most crucial. Without good leadership, a movement flounders like a boat without an oar, an airplane without a pilot. Throughout biblical history, major events were shaped by extraordinary leadership—from Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Nehemiah, to Jesus, Paul, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Wesley, White, and the list goes on.
Let me name some of the leadership qualities that are essential for success. First, leadership is a gift from God—the gene pool endowment that confers capability and makes possible the expression and fruition of what was mentioned in our first paragraph. A leader at the same time, with gifted capacity, is also gifted with responsibility to lead and influence the followers and to accomplish great things for God.
The first cluster of qualities that are preeminent concern the heart and soul of the leader—his or her character, dedication, commitment, integrity, humility, and vision. He is the one who has been graced by God’s love and lives to express his gratitude for the role he is entrusted with. It’s not just a job, or a career goal, or even a spiritual avocation. He/she must sense the calling to lead on God’s behalf.
The second cluster of qualities includes some important habits and qualifications oftentimes reflected and practiced in the leader’s family and church. A leader who cannot set his own house in order flashes red signals, granted there are unexpected turns in a tragic world. A treasurer who has "messy" family financial dealings should warn us against entrusting her with greater responsibility. Qualities in this second cluster include competence, the ability to inspire others, a team spirit, creativity, and resourcefulness.
Other virtues are fairness, willingness to learn and accept criticism and be corrected, good judgment and discernment, quick decision making when called for, accessibility, and ability to follow through. In addition, a leader ought to have Christian courtesy to return calls and answer e-mails, strength to stand on one’s conviction and direction when the issue has been carefully thought through and affirmed in consultation by others. He or she should be brave enough to take certain risks with little fear of failure, and be able to thrive on constructive stress and unavoidable hard work.
Important also are personal appearance and sensitivity to racial, gender, age, nondiscrimination; economic and educational disparity; and religious and cultural diversity in our contemporary world. Lastly, a good leader should delegate micromanagement to others while focusing on major issues. There is always a balance between relinquishing leadership too readily and having the grace to "move over" should the occasion demand. A Christian leader might well resist a kind of religious arrogance and inflated ego to think he is indispensable. God is never short of resources and person power.
Good and qualified leadership is only part of the whole equation. For God’s work to succeed on earth, He involves all the people who are willing. It takes team work. That’s the reason why a good leader must be able to inspire others to put in their 120 percent capacity. He must be keen to spot developing young talents to succeed after the present generation. Because of their own insecurity, good leaders sometimes knowingly or unknowingly suppress cultivation of upcoming leaders.
Leadership at the top is lonely and lonesome. Support for leadership, which is derived from God, must be complemented by human support and encouragement. Leaders should remind themselves that our support of them must be earned and not presumed. There is in God’s economy no divine right of leadership for inheritance.
Leaders must first learn to be good followers, so they would understand what the followers need and expect. In one sense we are all followers of our Master Leader Christ Jesus. He is the only perfect leader. All earthly leaders are humans with feet of clay like ours. This should give us a sense of proportion, a measure of tolerance, a generous dose of forgiveness to those fractured human souls. Our earthen vessel notwithstanding, cracked pots should still be held accountable for the sake of God’s cause. No one should stand in the way of God’s purpose on earth. God would not allow it; neither should we.
On our journey to the glory land, leaders and followers must join hand in hand, heart with heart, ever respectful of each other’s needs, ever caring for one another’s burdens. Cry together if we must, but rejoice always. The battle will be over, our destiny is sure. The battle has been won. We, leaders and followers alike, will get the "gold" on God’s Olympic platform.
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