It is all about Vision!

Biblical leaders start off with the conception of their visions but only gets recognized with the birth (the activation) of them.

Looking at the following biblical leaders, we can learn more about leadership.

Moses – acknowledged as one of the greatest Biblical leaders of all time

When did he become a leader?

Was it the day a million slaves followed him into the desert? Or was it the moment he confronted Pharaoh for the first time with the vision that his people should be free?

It was neither! it was the day God confronted him at the burning bush.

Remember, Christian leadership starts at conception, not birth!

Jesus – certainly the greatest Biblical leaders that ever walked the earth

 If His followers were to be the measure of His leadership on earth, He was the utmost failure. His so-called followers did not follow Him, they followed their stomachs!

“Jesus answered, “I am telling you the truth: you are looking for me because you ate the bread and had all you wanted, not because you understood my miracles.” [John 6:26 GNB].

Surely, Christian leadership cannot be defined by using followers as a measuring standard.

He is the divine example of Christian leadership, yet even those closest to Him were following their own dreams.

“He was teaching his disciples: “The Son of Man will be handed over to those who will kill him. Three days later, however, he will rise to life.” But they did not understand what this teaching meant, and they were afraid to ask him. They came to Capernaum, and after going indoors Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you arguing about on the road?” But they would not answer him, because on the road they had been arguing among themselves about who was the greatest.” [Mark 9:31-34 GNB]

Only at Pentecost did the disciples start to follow where Jesus was leading them. They finally started demonstrating Christian leadership of their own.

Was this when the leadership of Jesus started?
I’d say no. His leadership started the moment He left heaven with the vision of giving His own life for our sins. Christian leadership starts at conception, not birth!

Abraham – the father (leader) of our faith.

He followed God from Haran and his only follower was his nephew Lot. If Lot was Abram’s measure of leadership, he certainly was a failure!

Abraham, as the father of our faith, gives us the very first example of Christian leadership. He received his vision from God and acted on it by believing God.

Then the LORD took him outside. “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if you can!” he said. “Your descendants will be that numerous.” Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness. [Gen 15:5-6 ISV]

If followers were the measure for Christian leadership, Abraham would have been a failure. Even his wife was not his follower.

She laughed at the idea of having children. “So Sarah laughed to herself and said, “Now that I am old and worn out, can I still enjoy sex? And besides, my husband is old too.”   [Genesis 18:12]

Yet Abraham is the leader of everyone today that gets saved by faith.

“You should realize, then, that the real descendants of Abraham are the people who have faith.”  [Galatians 3:7] 

Abraham had no followers in his lifetime regarding his vision, and no relationship with the followers he has today, those who like him, received righteousness through faith. Yet, he is the father of faith, and as such, still one of the greatest examples of Christian leadership.

Moses, Jesus, Abraham . . . were all great Biblical leaders

Yes, they all ended up having followers. But even if they did not, it would not have diminished their leadership. God would have commended each one on his leadership, for they received His vision and acted on it. It is not always the best leaders that have the most or the best followers. Some of the best leaders today are still not being recognized. Christian leadership is not about recognition, it is about action!

NOTE:

While all of these leadership ideas can be fairly interesting, there is nothing that compares to the covenant walk with God, where He personally shapes you as a leader. 

“The LORD your God will make you the head and not the tail—placing you above and not beneath—if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I’m giving you today to keep and observe. [Deu 28:13 ISV]