Faithful before God

“Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful” (1 Cor. 4:2).

The Canadian elections this past spring highlighted a general difference between Christian and other organizations and communities that is not often understood or addressed and that change leadership realities. In politics, you succeed by winning over people – that is the first priority. It is why political campaigns are won or lost by virtue of the stylized impact of the candidate. A leader or leadership group rises or falls because of their appeal. Favour from others becomes the highest priority. But in Christian circles, on the other hand, people succeed not first by gaining trust from others but by assuming the trust they have been given by God and proving faithful to him (so says Paul in 1 Corinthians 4). It does not first-of-all demand style, likeability or earning the favour of others, but knowing from whom your trust has come and then ensuring that decisions are “proven faithful” to God.

Now I have nothing against getting along with others or ensuring that the favour of others is held as a high value. What I want to impress upon you is that it is not the first value. Pleasing God is the first value. This may seem like an obvious – perhaps even redundant – point to make. A “no-brainer,” one might say. Yet in my ongoing experience within Christian leadership – both personally and as a consultant to faith-based organizations – it is surprisingly common to hear senior leaders or boards frame their decisions primarily around questions like, “What will [insert stakeholder name] think?” rather than asking the more foundational questions: “What is right? What is true? What honours God’s will? What is lawful? What does Scripture reveal about this area?” These are the questions that should anchor our discernment and guide our leadership.

A recent negative experience proves my point. In a messy leadership situation that I encountered, a trusted and long-standing pastor approached an Executive leader to try and sort the mess out. The Executive leader began to quote a scripture verse or two, ask a question about how a certain field of theology applied to the given messy situation . . . and the pastor snidely interrupted, saying, “You keep bringing up the Bible and God! That has nothing to do with this. The real issue is ‘What are others going to think?’”

Wisdom & stature

According to the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 4, Christian leaders are not meant to prove themselves to others in order to earn favour. Rather they are tasked with proving faithful before God. “It is the Lord who judges me,” Paul says in vs 4. And the result: “We have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world” (vs.13). In other words, Paul’s accountability allows him the space and freedom to do the hard work that is often not appreciated or endorsed by others around him at all. To make tough decisions that do not simply use “let’s all get along” as the highest bar of achievement. Interestingly, Luke 2:52 (the Cadet verse) described Jesus in just the right way in this regard, noting that proving oneself faithful to God ultimately will lead to favour among others. Luke writes: “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and favour with God and men.” That’s the right order. And the church needs leaders who keep these dynamics in the right order. It may even free everyone up to serve well.