Christ-Like LeadersVoorbeeld

Recognizing God’s Greatness

Since we started this plan with a funny story, let’s go ahead and finish it with another funny story. There was a very proud scientist who decided that he would clone himself eleven times. The scientist had eleven clones and then himself, so it was 12 of “him” total. The legend says that the angel of death came looking for him because it was his time to go. Attempting to avoid death, the scientist was sure one of his clones would be called. They all looked impeccably and exactly the same. When the angel of death approached all twelve of them, he said “Oh, I’m going to find the real one,” and they simultaneously responded, “No, you’re not going to find the real one because we are all exactly the same.” The angel said “Oh, don’t worry, I will find the real one.” All twelve replied, “no, there’s no way, we are perfect and exactly the same.” And the angel of death said, “But I have found a flaw in one of you,” and immediately the proud scientist jumps out and says “Where? Where’s the flaw?”  “Right there, that’s your flaw. You thought you were perfect,” says the angel. Whoop! The angel of death took him away. 

Pride is real. Pride has you thinking you are invincible and can do it all. Pride has workaholics thinking they can do it all if they keep working. Pride has the control freak thinking they can control everything and everyone. Pride goes against the Christian virtue of humility. 

Ask yourself, how can I exercise Christ-like leadership? The kind that recognizes that everything is a gift from God and that it is only by His grace and the power of the Holy Spirit, that we are able to do what we do. The kind that recognizes flaws and limitations, understanding that we are ultimately in God’s hands, all together, at the service of the kings of kings, and lord of lords. 

There have been many saints throughout the history of Christianity. The good news is that they didn’t all start out as saints. You may wonder: how did they become saints? Was it some sort of perfection or personal achievement? Nope. I’ve read those stories and even the best personal achievements fall short. You know what made them effective instruments of the gospel? It was that they were humble enough to recognize the greatness of God acting in and through them. It was by the grace of God and the power of the Spirit that they did everything they did for Christ. That’s where we are called to. If we want to be Christ-like leaders, we must first recognize that it is by God’s greatness that we do great things.