“Obey your leadersand submit to their authority.
They keep watch over you
as people who must give an account.
Obey them so that their work
will be a joy, not a burden,
for that would be
of no advantage to you.”
~ Hebrews 13:17
Eew! Now there’s a verse we pastors better not quote very often! Talk about a self-serving passage for a leader to teach, right? Yet it is in the Book, isn’t it? And what makes the conversation even testier is that this is one of those passages which doesn’t trouble us because it is hard to understand. It troubles us because it is so very clear and easy to understand. After years of troubling leadership failure, authoritarian abuse and cultural slide, it troubles us to be told to obey and submit. Admit it. We’ve just spent forty years or so attacking authority…and now we’re supposed to just up and embrace it? That’s a hard sell, Pastor.
Robert Sevier, in a thought-provoking 1999 article entitled Follow The Leader, told the grim story of a university president who resigned his position. The next day, the consensus in the all campus meeting was that the campus was most desperately in need of leadership. After much frustrating conversation, the current faculty president finally exploded at the group, "Leadership? Leadership? You don't want leadership. None of you want to work with a leader. You don't care about anything but yourselves. No leader in their right mind would come to this campus. You assassinate your leaders. You sue them. You stall and pretend you're discussing. You are not really interested in leadership because none of you are interested in following." When the faculty president was finally done with his diatribe, he stormed out of the room. The response from the assembled group was quick and critical. “What does he know?” they responded, “He's no leader!"
How interested are we in following? Where exactly do we learn how to follow well? Who exactly do we follow through all the troubling twists and turns of this life? And what exactly does the Bible teach us about leaders and followers? Is Almighty God more interested in how we lead or how we follow?
Interesting questions, huh?
We have been talking about leadership and followership a bit in recent weeks, hopefully raising some new perspectives and good challenges. You all know it is my hope (actually one of the profound passions of my life!) that we will all come to a better understanding of God’s desires in these leading and following areas. Hopefully, we will all come to more joyously and thoroughly understand God, others and ourselves.
In the month of September, we’re going to spend some time gleaning from leading and following greatness. In a loose continuation of our ongoing leading and following conversation, we’re going to spend six weeks considering some great people in the Bible. We’re going to take a look at three men and three women in the Bible from whom we can learn profound things about faithful leading and following. The life story and experiences of Ruth, Simeon, Elijah, Esther, David and Deborah have much to teach us if we will listen. I hope we will truly listen to what their stories have to teach us.
But in the meantime, prayerfully re-read that Hebrews passage above and test your cringe factor. Study it any which way you like. But if you find yourself wanting to add in a bunch of caveats and conditions, if you find yourself looking for a bunch of excuses for your rebellious behavior, ask yourself and ask God if there might be something He wants you to think about this month.
May God help us both lead and follow well! May we rejoice in whatever roles God gives!
Amen.
