Presence or Position: Leadership in Righteousness – Part 6

“God devotion makes a country strong; God avoidance leaves people weak.” Read Psalm 14:34 (MSG). There is a huge leadership gap in the nations today. We have evidence staring us in the face, that paper qualification is not what will solve the ills of our society. I recall attending a Pastors and Leaders conference in Atlanta, and as we were introducing ourselves, someone gave me their business card and it had on it this saying, “Authorized Dealer.” And I thought, if there are authorized dealers, then there would be un-authorized dealers. We seem to have a lot of qualification on paper, but no practical knowledge of the qualifications. For example, there are some with titles such as Dr. so and so, most right Reverend, Bishop and Apostle, yet with all these titles, we are not as effective as we ought to be, probably because we have relied more on the title, than on the development phase to be effective leaders; the development phase being in the presence of God and in His hands. Before we dig deeper, let me define what I believe Righteousness is, “It is a state of being acceptable to God.”

Watch this dearly beloved, righteous leadership is not indifferent to the socio-economic and political challenges. Listen to this quote, “All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.” Kenneth Galbraith. Righteous leadership corrects the course of a nation, it is not silent, it does not conform to the norms of society, instead it challenges the status quo, and desires to do something about it. Righteous leadership adjusts the courses of life, it honors people above self, it serves humanity in a way that is pleasing to God. A Biblical text to help put things into perspective is found in Psalm 85:1-5 (TLB), “God stands up to open heaven’s court. He pronounces judgment on the judges. ² How long will you judges refuse to listen to the evidence? How long will you shower special favors on the wicked? ³ Give fair judgment to the poor man, the afflicted, the fatherless, the destitute. ⁴ Rescue the poor and helpless from the grasp of evil men. ⁵ But you are so foolish and so ignorant! Because you are in darkness, all the foundations of society are shaken to the core. In other words, society is destroyed when Righteous leadership refuses to act and take their stand. Selah (pause and calmly think). Here we can see God’s standard for Righteous leadership; and any other standard not addressing what the Psalms says, would need to think again of what type of leadership they are embracing. To further enhance our understanding, let us look at what Romans 1:18-30, this verse of scripture highlight clear indices that the the foundation has been compromised. Righteous leadership examine foundations and seek ways from God to correct and build anew.

The book of Jeremiah 1:9-10, then he touched my mouth and said, “See, I have put my words in your mouth! ¹⁰ Today your work begins, to warn the nations and the kingdoms of the world. In accord with my words spoken through your mouth I will tear down some and destroy them, and plant others, nurture them, and make them strong and great.” Do you get a sense of what is being said here? Societies, nations and some Churches are suffering from the lack thereof of Righteous leadership; and when Righteous leadership rule, there is rejoicing in the city.  A few years ago, I investigated and researched the role of leadership in organizations, and arrived at an interesting outcome; most organizations embrace 3 key styles of leadership: Transformational, Transactional and Laissez-Faire styles, with each having adverse impact on members of the team they lead, including their organizations. 

Subsequently, I would be researching Biblical text to help us understand better 4 types of leadership in the Bible. And I do hope, at the end of our research together, we would have received and enriched ourselves with Biblical truths. God has equipped everyone of us with leadership qualities; and leadership is not an inherited quality, instead, it is a learned quality. In other words, it is something you can learn, and the best way to learn is to expose oneself to Biblical leadership standards. The 4 types of leadership I was able to identify from studying the Bible with people who exemplified these leadership styles include:

• Procrastinating Leader (David and Moses)
• Consensus Leader (Saul, Samuel and Ahab)
• Social Issue Leader (Judas)
• Restorer Leader (Nehemiah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jesus)

I am looking forward to digging deeper with you into these 4 types of leadership styles. And like I alluded to previously, it is my desire we identify the style of leadership most prevalent in our lives, and how to make the adjustment to be “Restorer Leaders.”

We write You read Be encouraged.