The Art of Leadership
Think about this: What kind of leader would you be if you had unity at all levels of the group you lead? You would be a strong leader, for sure! Are you a leader? Aim to ensure unity at all levels!
One of the strongest armies ever was the German army (the Wehrmacht). They, however, suffered for a lot of disunity and internal disagreements with Hitler’s policies.
Adolf Hitler was the German leader who started the Second World War. To a large extent, Hitler’s following was not united at all levels. On the outside, everything in the German army seemed to be perfect but there was internal disunity.
This kind of internal disunity is sure to bring down any regime. Can you believe that a total of forty-two attempts were made on the life of Adolf Hitler? Unfortunately, the details surrounding most of these attempts are sketchy and some stories were unsubstantiated.
How many leaders have 42 recorded assassination attempts on their lives within six years? Adolf Hitler had entire battalions assigned to his security whilst Winston Churchill needed just a few bodyguards.
Opposition to Adolf Hitler within Germany clearly existed from 1933 to 1945. The opposition to Hitler took place at civilian, church and military levels. Although none of this opposition to the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler was successful, it reveals how there was disunity at all levels. There were however several well-documented attempts that came very close to succeeding.
The most famous example of the attempt to overthrow Adolf Hitler was the famous July Bomb Plot of 1944. Claus von Stauffenberg was the man who actually set off the bomb at Hitler’s East Prussian stronghold but there were many other men behind the plot. Many of these were in the military. Even Field Marshal Rommel was implicated in this plot but was allowed to commit suicide rather than face a very public and humiliating trial.
According to statistics, the most common form of opposition came from those ideologically opposed to the Nazis such as communists and socialists. Of the 32,500 death sentences ordered for political reasons, 20,000 of the victims were communists. With such levels of disunity and confusion, it is no wonder that the German campaign in the Second World War was defeated after six years.
Look at what Jesus said: And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, EVERY KINGDOM DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF IS BROUGHT TO DESOLATION; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. Matthew 12:25
For a leader, this principle teaches him that for every objective he must seek unity of command and unity of effort.
To follow this principle of war, there must be a single commander with the authority to direct all forces in unity. Indeed, every army that is not united in its purpose is doomed to eventual defeat. The principle urges an army to employ military force toward a common objective. Indeed, winning a war requires unity of command and unity of effort.
A leader must have eyes that look for the signs of disunity and disloyalty. The unity of the team is crucial if a team is going to win the wars that are before it. Jesus prayed for unity at all levels: Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; THAT THEY ALL MAY BE ONE; as thou, Father , art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
John 17:20-21
Look at how Jesus prayed for unity at all levels? He knew that a lot depended on the unity of the body. The kind of unity that the Word of God describes is the type that forces us to join to become a body of inseparable parts. You have not achieved unity until your separation from a team member is like separation of a part of your body. That is why we are called the body of Christ. Our joining together is the joining of body parts into one inseparable unit. Think about it.
How easy is it for you to be separated from your Christian brother? How easy is it for your kidney or your leg to be separated from your body? It is a very difficult, complicated process because the parts of the body are well and truly connected to each other.
That is how we must be connected to each other. Stay connected! Develop connections between yourself and all the essential people that God has placed in your life and ministry! These must be connections that will be difficult to break and separate! That is the meaning of unity at all levels!
To war a good warfare, you must have unity at all levels!
theaol@ymail.com
By Dag Heward-Mills