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To aspire to leadership in God’s kingdom requires us to be willing to pay a price higher than others are willing to pay. The toll of true leadership is heavy, and the more effective the leadership, the greater the cost.
That is the price of every great achievement, and it is not paid in a lump sum. Achievement is bought on the time-payment plan, with a new installment required each day. The drain on resources is continuous, and when payments cease, leadership wanes. Our Lord taught that we could not save ourselves in the task of offering salvation to others. When Jesus said, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it” (Matthew 16:25), part of what He meant has to do with hoarding personal resources in the vain hope that they will preserve us.
Self-sacrifice is a daily cost that we pay. A cross stands in the path of spiritual leadership, and the leader must take it up. “Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers” (1 John 3:16). To the degree the cross of Christ is across our shoulders and over our backs, so the resurrection life of Christ is manifest through us. No cross, no leadership. Paul declared, “I die every day” (1 Corinthians 15:31a).
“Whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:44–45). Each of the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11 was called to sacrifice as part of his or her service. Those who lead the church are marked by a willingness to give up personal preferences, to surrender legitimate and natural desires for the sake of God.
On the Emmaus road His disciples recognized neither Him nor His message. Not until Jesus broke the bread and they possibly saw the scars did they know the person for who He was. When Jesus stood among His demoralized band in the upper room after the resurrection, He showed them both “his hands and [his] side.”
Scars are the authenticating marks of faithful discipleship and true spiritual leadership. Nothing moves people more than the print of the nails and the mark of the spear. Those marks are tests of sincerity that none can challenge, as Paul knew well. “Let no one cause me trouble,” he wrote, “for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus” (Galatians 6:17).
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Are we all called to be spiritual leaders or is this task for a select few? Should we be the ones seeking out leadership positions or do we wait for the opportunity to present itself? We know ought to strive to be in the will of God at all times, but what does this mean for our day-to-day? Learn what it means to become a better leader today.
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