Serving Bread

There are many working definitions for “leadership.” I recently heard a leader defined as someone who has both the capacity and responsibility to lead. I find this to be a helpful expression of what leadership entails. Dr. Clinton at Fuller Seminary defines it as,

“A leader is a person with a God-given capacity and a God-given responsibility to influence a specific group of God’s people toward God’s purposes for the group.”

I think of capacity as having the resources, training and assets to leverage leadership, whereas I view responsibility as having the authority or vision to influence. Too often leadership is defined simply in terms of tasks and training. This definition is often played out when emerging leaders pursue the knowledge of leadership, thinking it sufficient for influence. In the business world, it’s the myth than a MBA degree will propel you to the upper-echelon’s of influence within your industry. In the Christian world, it may mean the myth that a seminary degree is sufficient when leading a flock. I think of King Herod in the gospels. Commentators say that he was not really a “king.” He may have been trained and given abilities to govern his people, but he lacked real authority to lead people.

Likewise, one cannot simply claim responsibility to lead without the capacity to lead. To take responsibility for the growth of others and the vision of the ministry is important, but without the training and ability to move people toward God’s heart will render that leadership fruitless (in the long run). A biblical example of such a person may be King Rehoboam, who had the responsibility to lead but lacked the capacity (in his case, wisdom) to do so (See 2 Chronicles 10).

Leadership requires both capacity and responsibility. Sometimes I find myself putting more stock in one trait over the other. We must develop both traits in our desire to influence people. In some cases, these traits are developed and learned and in other cases, these traits must be earned. But if we find ourselves in an area of leadership where we either do not feel like we have the capacity to lead or the responsibility to do so, we should pause and and reflect on what kind of leadership we are bringing in that particular context.

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I don’t get sick all too often. I usually get sick once a year for a 24 hour period. That has usually been my flirtation with a cold, flu or viruses in general until the past twelve months. I have crashed with a fever three times in the past twelve months. Some of that probably has to do with my three year old who inevitably catches and nurtures viruses from school.

But this year has taught me to pay attention to my body when I’m sick. As I was laying in bed this past week in misery, I’ve thought of the purpose of being sick. Sickness reminds me that the human body is frail and susceptible to all kinds of viruses. Sickness reassures me of my mortality but also of God’s grace—that this is not God’s intention for humanity.

But how is being sick a leadership insight? Being sick forces me to slow down. I’m not very good at slowing down. I get bored easily and I cannot imagine life without doing. Newton’s first law scares me: “A body at rest remains at rest.” My fear in resting my body or my soul is that it will remain in restindefinately . The proverbs warn against the foolishness of laziness and though slowing down or resting is not the same as being lazy, it is difficult for me to separate them.

So from time to time, I need to be forced to rest my body. From time to time, I need to walk in repentance from the deceptions of busyness. Sometimes I wonder whether God has a way of forcing me to rest when I ignore all the other signs to pursue rest.

Resting is an important element of leading myself and leading others. My children teach me how rest and leadership are tied together. They sleep for 12-16 hours a day because their growing body needs the rest. In fact, their physical growth is happening during their sleep. My rest and my growth are tied together. I cannot be reflective or even have desire to do ministry unless I find myself well rested and well loved by God.

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