THE ART OF LEADERSHIP By Dag Heward-Mills
Survival is a central theme of life. All true leaders must have a survival mentality. All ministers of the gospel must have a survival mentality. Many are the difficulties that will be thrown at a minister of the gospel. Remember that many human beings are ungrateful and difficult to deal with. God did not promise us an easy road when we chose to serve Him. Yet, God expects us to survive after the attacks are over. God expects that having done all, we should still be able to stand (Ephesians 6:13).
All leaders can be sure of having some level of disloyalty within the ranks of their followers. Jesus’ ministry survived the betrayal by Judas. Betrayal is part of life. No matter who you are or what type of leadership you have, you will experience betrayal. But you must be a survivor! Read through this popular Psalm by King David:
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23:1-6
Note that King David spoke of surviving the valley of the shadow of death. You must survive this and be able to stand after it all. Bear in mind that if you cannot survive you cannot be a leader because leadership involves surviving!
Things A Leader Must Do To Survive
- A leader must continue to exist or function in spite of adverse conditions. We are surrounded by adverse conditions. We face contrary, hostile and unfavourable conditions all the time. In all this, remember that the Bible says we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). We are in a battle with a real enemy. The conditions are not good. Satan is the god of this world and in a sense we are on his turf. But we are overcomers in the name of Jesus!
- A leader must come through. Every leader must come through and pull through. After I had preached in one church, the pastor told me, “It seems you have been through hell.” Certainly, I have been through a lot, but I am still around. Every leader must carry on and carry through – all the way to the end.
- Every leader must continue. Don’t give up on the way. Every leader must remain alive after the challenges of life. One of the main battles of a leader is to battle to continue. This is because of discouragement, attacks and many difficulties. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, IF YE CONTINUE in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; John 8:31
- Every leader must last. Paul was a leader who lasted. Every leader must outlive the storms. When the storm is over you must still be around.
- Every leader must recover and revive. When you are confronted with the most difficult situations, you must do your best to refresh yourself and go on. Discouragement may come, but you must overcome it.
- Every leader must live to fight again. It is usually not worth it, running away from a fight that is duly yours. It will present itself again. When Jesus was baptised, He was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After he overcame the devil, the devil left him for a season. You must remember that you will fight again. Be prepared always!
- Every leader must continue to live or exist in spite of danger. Life presents dangers to us all the time. But a leader must have a hard forehead against danger.
A leader has to survive many things in order to be there to the end. There are many things that will threaten to take out a leader. That is why a leader must select his aim and maintain it. Many are the things that will try to sway a leader away from his purpose. Steadfastness, is therefore, key to every leader. Steadfastness refers to the ability to stay on course. A leader must be able to stay on course till the end. You are a survivor!
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