Influencing people is a process in which leaders must be courageous. “Courage,” said Franklin D. Roosevelt, “is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.” For people to feel comfortable following a leader, that leader must be confident or appear confident. Additionally, the prospective followers must have a reason or desire to go in the direction that the leader is leading. As of this writing, we are a little more than 3 weeks away from the 2018 mid-term elections. This blog is not political. However, it is fascinating when politicians make speeches in which they boldly state what the American people want. Coincidentally, what the American people want is exactly what that politician also wants.
Sometimes Christians are guilty of a similar process. When we demand compliance with Biblical mandates, even as others do not accept our a priori assumptions about scripture, we communicate more caring about rules than people. The American Bible Society publishes “The State of the Bible” each year. In the 2018 version, 54% defined themselves as Biblically disengaged.” This means that they read the Bible for themselves 1-2 times per year or less. Seventy-two percent of those Biblically disengaged individuals believe that the Bible has the right amount or even too much influence in our culture. In other words, they do not want to be led based on what the Bible states.
An Important Lesson in Leadership
In April 2001, I (David) began working at Boys and Girls Home in Lake Waccamaw, NC. I started reading a book titled The Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell by Oren Harari. A few months prior, President George W. Bush selected Powell, a retired 4-star general, to be the Secretary of State. Prior to this, General Powell served as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Persian Gulf War. Based on the practices of Powell, Harari suggested that his audience should identify someone who has leadership skills that are admirable. Then, take that person to lunch in exchange for the opportunity to learn from that individual. The CEO of my new employer, Boys and Girls Home, was Major General Stuart Sherman Jr, a retired 2-star General from the United States Air Force. I approached General Sherman and told him about the book I was reading. To my surprise, he said “Powell, oh yes. His office was a few doors down from mine at the Pentagon.” Thankfully, he agreed to meet with me.
In that meeting, he profoundly said something to me that I hope I never forget. He said, “Until you can name 10 personal things without notes about all of the people who report directly to you, you are not ready to lead them.” I asked for clarification, and he stated “people will not follow your leadership unless they believe you want to see them succeed as much as you succeed yourself. The best way to convince them of that is to build a relationship that is personal. Otherwise, they will feel like you are only using them to get where you want to go.”
Fearless Love
With 54% of American population being disengaged with the Bible, strongly suggesting the people should follow Biblical mandates in which they do not believe is not going to work. The average person in our society no longer expects themselves to live a Godly life. Therefore, we must first develop a relationship with people, and that means convincing them we care about them, before we try to convince them to change their way of life. We must begin by loving them fearlessly. . . . just like Jesus did. In May 2016, Phil Keaggy released an album titled “All at Once.” The ninth track on this fantastic album is called “Fearless Love.” Below is a video of the song.
Our Application
Highlighting General Sherman’s advice, Christians who want to lead people in the way of Christ should focus on developing a relationship with individuals using fearless love as the primary motivator. God wants a relationship with humanity, and if you look at Scripture as a whole, the Bible is clear that God is pursuing a relationship with every human being. However, God does not demand that we change prior to the relationship. God accepts us as we are, and we change during the sanctification process. Therefore, demanding others change before the relationship with God starts is not a Godly process. Likewise, pushing people to change based on a commitment level that is beyond that individual’s spiritual maturity is also contrary to God’s way of doing it. Jesus accepted the consequences of our sin on the cross fearlessly, and his ultimate goal was to remove obstructions to our relationship with God. Let’s follow his example of leadership.