“And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men” 1 Samuel 22:2 (KJV).
True Christian leadership is transformational, bringing positive changes in the lives and welfare of the led or the followers. In a generation where people use others to get to their goals or achieve their life’s ambition, service delivery that truly brings transformation has become very rare. Today leaders want to get wealth and become famous at the expense of the led. A situation where leaders including church leaders become very rich while their followers are becoming poorer is a contradiction of godly leadership.
Jesus called the disciples to follow him so he can make them. Call to leadership is not a call or opportunity to mar people’s destiny but an opportunity and a privileged position to make or establish people. True leaders improve the lives and the lots of the followers. Jesus showed a practical example of true godly leadership by taking his disciple from obscurity to prominence. “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty, and base things of the world, and things which are not to bring to naught things that are” 1 Corinthians 1:26-28 (KJV).
Humanly speaking, God’s team cannot be a winning team. He chose the most unlikely people but God does not see the way man sees. As a transformational leader, he can make something out of nothing. He raises the poor from the dunghill or from the ghetto and makes him sit with kings. Like Jesus, David chose the unlikely team, the depressed, down and out, the weak and the distressed and the discontented, but as a transformational leader, he empowered them and changed them to mighty men of valour. See the end result. “These be the names of the mighty men whom David had: the Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite: he lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time” 2 Samuel 23:8 (KJV).
PRAYER: Lord, help me to empower others in Jesus name.
Rev. Vincent Diolu