Leadership Defined:
In this next series we will discuss 5 vitally important aspects of “Leading Your Home.” Today we will define and look at leadership in the arena of fatherhood.
Leadership quotes are as common as Brown’s fans…okay bad example. They are as common as guns are in Texas but here is the one I live by…
Leadership is heading towards a destination and taking others with you.
Let’s break it down:
“Destination”– The Lion-Hearted Man has vision for his life. He has an aim to his pursuit. His life is a course with a destination in mind.
“Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained [stumble over themselves]” (Prov 29:18).
Last May I ran a marathon with a couple of buddies. That race required lots of vision (and petroleum jelly). If you’ve ever done anything physically demanding then you know what I’m talking about. My first test of whether or not I knew why I was doing this was when I stepped out of my house at 6:00am in mid-February to begin training…in Ohio…in February…at 6am. Had it not been for that band of brothers I would have 100% turned around, locked my door behind me, and collapsed on my bed (with my Brooks still on). Fast forward to May 20th at the 18th mile-marker. I’m exhausted, chafing (think Andy on the office), and 6.2 miles away from the finish line. What carried my buddy Eric and I through those remaining 6.2 miles was that we envisioned the finish line in our minds. We pictured the destination. The same is true as fathers. Without a destination we wander at the expense of our wives’ and children. So, the question is what should our destination be? The answer is JESUS. Following Jesus gives us our aim and leads us into eternity with God. He is the way, truth and life (Jn 14:6), but if I pursue my own desires apart from Christ then I lead my family astray. There is no middle-ground!
“Heading”- The Lion-Hearted Man expresses his motion through action not words. My mentor, Jeremy Kimble used to say “words are cheap.”Once the start gun went off I stopped talking and started running. Every step took me closer to the finish-line. Take the next step!
“taking others with him”– To me this is the most vital aspect of leadership. The Lion-Hearted Man does not go alone. Arriving at his destination by himself means failure. Compelled by love, he links arms with those around him and brings them along for the journey. Jesus calls us to make disciples (Matt 28:19-20). When we got saved we were not beamed up to heaven Star Trek style. He left us here for a mission: people. In “Fatherhood is Full-Time Ministry” we talked about our family being our mission-field, and where we go first to make disciples. It’s a no man left behind mentality! Paul Tripp says…
Nothing is more important in your life than being one of God’s tools to form a human soul.
We are a tool in the hands of a loving God who wants to shape our children. He does this primarily through his grace and our leadership. SO…Let’s go and take our families with us!
Next week we will discuss how “Leading Best Means Pursuing Jesus Passionately.”