Christian Leadership Foundations 2 - LoveSample

WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?

Leadership Devotion

In 1 John, John tackles the question, “How can you really know that you belong to God?” There was teaching around the place that a relationship with God was all mystical and spiritual. It didn’t really matter what you did physically as long as you had this spiritual connection with God. Plenty of people these days have the same idea. They think they belong to Jesus because of some kind of connection with him, although this has little influence on the way they live.

John explains that practical love for others is a vital sign of a real relationship with God. This passage takes us to the core of John’s argument. God loves us deeply, and he showed this by sending Jesus to sacrifice his life for us. As God lives in us, we inevitably find God’s love flowing through us to others. If this doesn’t happen, it’s obvious we don’t know God’s love.

It’s that clear cut for John. You can’t experience God’s love if you dislike your brother or sister (4:20). Your relationship with God will always show in love for others. Christianity is not all about some mystical, spiritual connection with God. Those with a real relationship with God will practically love people. Having experienced God’s love, they can’t help themselves. Loved people love lots.

While this is true for all Christians, it is especially true for Christian leaders. I’ve heard Christian leaders say, “My responsibility is the big picture. I don’t have time to care for people.” I hope they didn’t mean it. According to John, they haven’t experienced God’s love, if that is true. Love must be a foundational motive for Christian leadership. Christians lead because they love deeply.

To Contemplate

How deeply have you experienced God’s love for you personally? How does this show in your life?

Leadership Reflection

Talking about love as a foundation of Christian leadership seems odd.

We associate love with romance, families, and maybe even pets. It is not a word we use liberally with leadership. Love is about feelings and passion, and extravagance. These are not emotions and actions that mesh easily with leadership.

I can still remember when I fell in love with the beautiful young woman who has been my wife for over 40 years. I put up a huge photo of her above my desk in the male-only Math staffroom at the high school where I was teaching. This made me an object of ridicule, but I did not care. I was in love, so it did not matter what the guys thought of me or how over-the-top my lovesick actions were.

Of course, the concept of love is wider and deeper than this kind of loving infatuation. But still, how does it find a foundational place in Christian leadership?

God, love, and us.

As we have seen in the Bible reading, John makes it clear that love is at the very heart of God and our relationship with him. God loves us and has shown this in sending Jesus to give his life for us (1 John 4:7-10).

It is difficult for us to grasp the immensity of God’s love for us and all his creation. Adam and Eve, who were perfect and enjoyed an intimate relationship with God, were duped by Satan’s lie that God did not want what was best for them. If it was difficult for Adam and Eve to believe God loved them, how much more difficult it is for broken people like us to know the depth and breadth of God’s love for us. Grasping God’s love is important. Paul knew this. In Eph. 3:17-19, he prayed passionately for the Ephesians to know the unknowable – God’s immense and incredible love.

As we see in Rom. 8:38-39, God’s love for us is not a temporary thing. He is no fly-by-night lover. God’s love is eternal. It will never be exhausted. Nothing will ever separate us from the love of God. We will be saturated with God’s immense love forever.

As God’s love pervades our life, it inevitably changes the way we see others. We cannot help but love them. John reckons that our love for others is the sign we have received God’s love, and dislike of others is clear evidence we do not love God. These are strong words, but John is crystal clear. See 1 John 4:11-12, 19-21.

We cannot talk about leadership without talking about love. Love is foundational. Love pervades our relationships with those we lead. If love is not driving what we do, God says all our effort is worthless.

This is how it goes: God immensely loves us. Having received and experienced this love, we deeply love others, especially those we lead. Love for God and love for others drive our life and leadership. Christian leaders love strongly and deeply.

Servant leadership

While most Christian authors writing about leadership do not talk about love, they consistently refer to “servant leadership,” which is love in action. Serving is the practical outworking of love. We show our love for others by serving them.

Christian leaders deeply love those they seek to influence. Like Jesus, they show this love by sacrificing their lives for those who follow them. It is a loving desire to serve people that drives real Christian influence.

This emphasis on leading by serving is prevalent throughout the New Testament. Check out Matt. 20:25-28; John 13:13-17; 2 Cor. 4:5; Gal. 5:13; 1 Pet. 4:10. We’ll delve into this more over the next week.

I realize this is a high ideal, but Jesus goes further. He calls us to show this type of love to our friends and followers and our enemies (Lk. 6:27). Sometimes those we lead will not like us very much. We still love and serve them.