We are coming into an election season, to be honest it seems like we are always in an election season any more. Choosing a good leader is difficult, what is even more difficult is living under a bad leader. Bad leadership can even corrupt good men and women. The book of James gives us some insight into good and bad leadership, signs that you are either going to be blessed or struggle under the leader at your job, church, government, ministry, or home. You may be a leader; if you are please take these few brief comments to heart. Be encouraged or make corrections which ever applies to you.
Rooted in the heart of a good leader is peace, purity, gentleness, mercy and freedom from hypocrisy.
Rooted in the heart of a bad leader is envy, self-seeking, confusion, and so on.
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. James 3:13 – 18
It would be easy to point to a leader and begin to judge them based on your perception. We need to be very careful when we judge those in leadership that we see through the Lord’s eyes and not our own. Leadership is costly. A good leader will make tough, and at times, unpopular decisions based on his/her desire to please God rather than men, that is one of the definitions of true humility. A true leader wants the best for the Lord and everything and everyone God has placed in their hands. A true leader will fight for you, even against your own self-destructive behavior and sin nature, even if you don’t realize they are fighting for you.
Our questions of whether a leader is good or not is often measured in time, not in immediacy. Evil intent is seen more as the direct result of long-term impact rather than short-term response. Is the benefit all about the leader? Is the glory going to the leader? Does the leader talk about themselves all of the time and constantly need the reassurance of the people around them. Are decisions made to directly benefit the leader or do they benefit their family, business, government, or ministry they are leading? Do they really believe in what they are saying or are they saying it to please the people? What did they believe before they were placed in a position of leadership, it is most likely, despite all the rhetoric or their actions, what they believe now. Consistency is key to being a good leader.
If you are a leader in your job, ministry, home, or government, know that God has a plan for you and your leadership. There are many different styles of leadership each style works in different environments. Please understand that your leadership is a gift from God and a responsibility to God. You are not in a position to please men but God. It does not need to be a burden but a blessing. Like any gift from God as you surrender and use it for His honor and glory you draw closer to Him. But like the failures in the Bible, if you use it for selfishness, it may seem like you are prospering for a season but in the end you will find only frustration and a long distance relationship with the Lord. Don’t be afraid or frustrated. If God has called you, as you submit to Him, He will give you the wisdom to be all that you have been called to be and all that you family, business, government, or ministry need you to be.
If you are under a good leader, pray for them that they will continue to be the man or woman of God, He has called them to be. If you are under a bad leader, pray that the Lord open their eyes to become who God has called them to be. Pray that you can learn what you need to about humility, godliness, and service. Anyone can rejoice under a good leader but it takes people after God’s own heart to be fruitful and at peace under bad leadership.
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