In Psalm 15, King David asks the Lord, \u201cWho may dwell in your sanctuary?\u00a0 Who may live on your holy hill?\u201d\u00a0 In order for a leader to abide in Christ, he must understand what it means to live a life worthy of being called a leader.\u00a0 Psalm 15 clearly delineates eleven qualities, that if upheld, according to verse 5 mean the leader \u201cwill never be shaken.\u201d<\/p>\n
If you are traveling somewhere, you have to know how to get there.\u00a0 I believe that King David was just like a lot of us.\u00a0 He wanted to be a great leader, but he needed some more clarification about how to get there.<\/p>\n
Whenever my husband and I head out for a road trip, he always programs our Global Positioning System (GPS) with our destination as well as any stops we would like to make along the way.\u00a0 The GPS stays in touch with the satellites in the atmosphere to assure us that we are headed in the right direction.\u00a0 The device will tell us how far we have until we need to make a turn or if we need to be aware of heavy traffic ahead.\u00a0 Occasionally we are going somewhere familiar and decide to take a shortcut that is not directed by the GPS.\u00a0 Very quickly, the GPS will ask us to please find a safe place to turn around, \u201cyou have veered off the recommended course\u201d.<\/p>\n
Psalm 15 can be viewed as a roadmap to what it means to live a blameless life.\u00a0 The guidelines set out are not easy, but they are very detailed.\u00a0 They address many areas of life and cover a variety of character issues including integrity, money, honesty, and relationships with other people.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter what kind of leader you are, Psalm 15 is written for everyone that desires to become the person that God created them to be.<\/p>\n
If you turn over to the New Testament, Ephesians 4-6 goes into more detail about exactly what the life of a leader looks like. Paul talks about unity in the body of Christ, describes the different roles that Christians are called to live, and challenges us to live as children of light.\u00a0 He goes on to talk about what it means to be imitators of Christ in our dealings with our spouse, our parents, our children, and those in authority over us.\u00a0 Ephesians 6 closes out the section with specific instructions on how to put on the full armor of God in order to protect ourselves in time of spiritual warfare.<\/p>\n
In researching this letter to the church at Ephesus, it was interesting to look at the Greek to really see the heart of what Paul was trying to get across to them. The opening word in Ephesians chapter 4 is parakalo.\u00a0 Parakalein denotes an urgent request and encouragement, charge, or pep-talk.\u00a0 The NIV translates this word to mean \u201curge\u201d.\u00a0 Paul adds emphasis to his urging by pointing out his imprisonment, which he is suffering only because he preached the Gospel.\u00a0 Someone who believes strongly enough in this material to be imprisoned for it certainly deserves our attention!<\/p>\n
The first part of Ephesians 4 speaks very specifically to the idea of unity in the body of Christ.\u00a0 The passage doesn\u2019t say that everyone will have the same gifts and abilities; in fact, verses 11-13 speak to the fact that there are many different roles to be filled.\u00a0 Each role is critical to the makeup of the body.
\nI had the privilege of playing on a number of basketball teams growing up.\u00a0 I was never great at the game, but always enjoyed playing with different groups of people. As I have gotten older and running and jumping isn\u2019t what it used to be, I have now become a high school basketball coach.\u00a0 My job is to make sure that the five girls on the court know what their role is.\u00a0 I don\u2019t need five guards and I don\u2019t need five post players.\u00a0 It takes the right people playing the role they are most gifted in to make our team function as a team.\u00a0 If my shortest player is the only one crashing the boards, our team will not be very successful in the rebounding department.\u00a0 My job as their coach is to create unity on the team by convincing my players that they were created for a specific purpose.\u00a0 The only way our team will be successful is for them to all be the best at what they are best at.<\/p>\n
Paul is talking about Christ being the head in Ephesians 4:16 when he says, \u201cFrom him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.\u201d\u00a0 A leader has to decide if they are willing to be good at that one particular thing God has gifted them to do.\u00a0 In order to be successful as a leader, we have to put our agenda aside in favor of running hard after God\u2019s perfect plan for our lives.<\/p>\n
Ephesians 4 goes on to talk more about what it means to have a new attitude, how to deal with your anger, and what it means to speak truthfully to your neighbor.\u00a0 One of the most often quoted Scriptures from this passage comes from verse 29, \u201cDo not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.\u201d<\/p>\n
That is a great verse for leaders because it reminds us that what we say doesn\u2019t just affect those we are speaking to, it also resonates in the minds of those that overhear what we say.\u00a0 Leaders are never \u201coff the clock\u201d or \u201coff the record\u201d.\u00a0 The life of a leader is always open to be observed by others.\u00a0 Ephesians 4:32 says, \u201cBe kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ephesians 5 continues in the same vein as Psalm 15 giving some very practical examples of what it means to be an imitator of Christ.\u00a0 If you want to be a leader that honors God, you must take this chapter, put it into a checklist and evaluate your life on a regular basis.\u00a0 You should also invite other believers to assess your life to hold you accountable to these things.<\/p>\n
Ephesians 5:16-17 says, \u201cBe very careful, then, how you live \u2013 not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.\u201d\u00a0 The life of a leader is not an easy one, but God promises to reward those who are faithful to Him.\u00a0 In his book, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, Eugene Peterson says, \u201cBlessing is at the end of the road.\u00a0 And that which is at the end of the road influences everything that takes place along the road.\u201d<\/p>\n
The end of Ephesians 5 and the beginning of Ephesians 6 speak very clearly to relationships.\u00a0 The first relationship Paul covers is the one between husbands and wives.\u00a0 Every leader must be willing to submit to a higher authority.\u00a0 Humility is one of the most valued characteristics of leadership in the Bible.\u00a0 No Christian would ever argue Jesus\u2019 position as the Son of God, but even he humbled himself in John to wash the disciple\u2019s feet in the Upper Room and again on the cross to forgive us of our sins.\u00a0 Ephesians challenges husbands and wives to be great by lowering themselves to serve each other.\u00a0 The husband is commanded to love his wife just as Christ loved the church and for a wife to submit to her husband as unto the Lord.<\/p>\n
After husbands and wives, Paul talks about children and parents and then slaves and masters.\u00a0 It is amazing how closely these relationships are compared to that of husbands and wives because his overriding point is submission to the authority of Christ.\u00a0 Paul makes it quite clear that if you serve your spouse, your parent, and your master the way that you would serve Christ, it will go well for you.\u00a0 He also commands those in authority to serve just as Christ served the church and gave himself for it.
\nThe concept of humility is in direct contrast to the society that we live in that tells us to step on whomever we have to in order to make it to the top.\u00a0 Popular culture would tell us that humility is weakness and we should do whatever it takes to be liberated from whatever ties us down.\u00a0 Eugene Peterson said, \u201cThe Christian is a person who recognizes that our real problem is not in achieving freedom but in learning service under a better master.\u201d\u00a0 When it all comes down to it, people enjoy being led by a good master.\u00a0 What better example could there be to follow than Jesus himself?<\/p>\n
Paul ends his exhortation in chapter 6 by talking about the armor of God.\u00a0 Every good leader must have a plan for what to do in case of attack.\u00a0 It is not a matter of if the attack will come, but rather when it will come.\u00a0 Ephesians 6:13 says, \u201cTherefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are six pieces of armor mentioned in this passage.\u00a0 They are the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit.\u00a0 Each piece is a vital part of the protection needed to combat the evil attacks from Satan.\u00a0 \u201cFaith is not a precarious affair of chance escape from satanic assaults.\u00a0 It is the solid, massive, secure experience of God, who keeps all evil from getting inside us, who guards our life, who guards us when we leave and when we return, who guards us now, who guards us always.\u201d (Peterson).<\/p>\n
As Christian leaders, the Bible is full of instructions on how to serve the Lord and impact the world for Christ.\u00a0 Psalm 15 and Ephesians 4-6 can be used as a manual for learning how to be a leader.\u00a0 Ephesians 6 wraps up by telling us to put on the full armor of God and go make a difference in the world.\u00a0 Are you ready for this?\u00a0 Leadership is not for the faint of heart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In Psalm 15, King David asks the Lord, \u201cWho may dwell in your sanctuary?\u00a0 Who may live on your holy hill?\u201d\u00a0 In order for a leader to abide in Christ, he must understand what it means to live a life worthy of being called a leader.\u00a0 Psalm 15 clearly delineates eleven qualities, that if upheld, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}