Archive for category: Faith

In this study of the character of leadership, I find myself thinking about “the character of characters.” A “character” is a person, often someone who plays a part in a story and is an example from whom we can learn, but it is also a trait or attribute that can be applied to that person and to his/her leadership. When we study the character of that character – identifying biblical characters, and then identifying something in their character that can teach us something about who we are and how we lead – we learn things about the character of leadership that can be applied in our own lives. In this week’s episode, we are learning from Samson.

Speaking transparently, for much of my life in my teaching and leadership roles, I have battled the tendency to be a people-pleasing perfectionist. I think it probably stemmed primarily from my personal insecurities when I was young, but it led to me wanting to put on a front that I always knew the answers, knew what I was doing, and was doing everything right, out of fear of looking like a failure and feeling unworthy. The reality was that I was and still am a flawed and broken sinner in need of a savior, Jesus Christ, and in need of God‘s hand at work in my life. God had to do a lot of work in me on that, but at the same time, I am so grateful that God chose to use me despite my imperfections.

That’s one of the reasons why God takes the time in the book of Judges to tell the story of Samson. Samson was chosen by God from birth to serve a special role for God‘s kingdom and for His purpose. God had a long-term plan in mind, and He chose Sampson to play a role in that plan. But most of Samson‘s story that we read in the book of Judges is a story of flaws, selfishness, and willful disobedience. Although at times it becomes clear that he relied on the power of the Holy Spirit, much of the rest of the time, he was arrogant about his strength and his capability, which led him to be self-reliant, rather than God-dependent. Because of that, he made a lot of decisions that were contrary to the holiness that God was asking of him. At the very end of his life, he was shown to be someone used by God for greatness, at a time when he found himself fully and completely reliant on God. That’s been a lesson that I’ve had to learn in my leadership and in my life. I am a flawed and broken person, and if I am not in a position where I need to be dependent on God, it is easy for me to be self-centered and self-reliant, and to lose sight of God or to not keep Him in focus. It is in recognizing my flaws that I am reminded of two things:

1) I am dependent on God because of my imperfections and flaws. Just like Paul prayed for his “thorn in the flesh” to be removed, and God left it there so that Paul could acknowledge that it was in his weakness that God was made strong, it is in my flaws that God can work in me.

2) God wants to use me despite my flaws, and in doing that it becomes clear that the work that I do is because of God working in me and not because of my own mistaken sense of perfection. And so the story of how God used Samson in spite of his great flaws is a tremendous lesson for you and me.

The character of this character shows us that God is not waiting for us to be perfect, because we never will be, but wants us to be dependent on Him and allow Him to work through us to accomplish His plan. My challenge for you, based on Samson‘s example, is to be willing to acknowledge and accept your flaws, and allow God to work in spite of them and through them to use you in your leadership.

In this study of the character of leadership, I find myself thinking about “the character of characters.” A “character” is a person, often someone who plays a part in a story and is an example from whom we can learn, but it is also a trait or attribute that can be applied to that person and to his/her leadership. When we study the character of that character – identifying biblical characters, and then identifying something in their character that can teach us something about who we are and how we lead – we learn things about the character of leadership that can be applied in our own lives. In this week’s episode, we are learning from Nehemiah.

In my years of educational leadership, and in the various roles that I served, part of my responsibility was connected to strategic planning. Sometimes I was a member on a committee, and sometimes I was driving the committee, but regardless, it was an important part of what I did. In several instances, that strategic planning also involved some type of capital improvement or construction along the way. It may have been renovations or additions to current facilities, or it may have been the construction of brand new buildings. And to do that required intentional thought and planning and a process that had to be put in place, starting from exploring the needs and the options, to getting buy-in from people, getting the necessary funds and resources, and then carrying out the construction plan.

That’s one of the great lessons that Nehemiah helps us to learn. He successfully brought about the construction of a project for the Jews in Israel, and did it in an incredibly remarkable fashion. Understand that Nehemiah was the cupbearer to the king. What that means is that it was his responsibility to test the food and drink that came into the king to make sure that there was no poison intended to harm the king. That also meant that he was a very trusted employee of the leader of the land. That’s remarkable, given that he was a Jew, and his people were captive in another land where he was serving that king. But in that capacity, God also gave him a burden and a purpose, for helping to restore the security of Jerusalem.

Even though this mission and calling to serve God and lead his people in a project was a calling that came from God, that did not remove Nehemiah‘s responsibility to be strategic and purposeful in the project. So he began by getting permission from his boss, the king, to go and see what he faced in his work to carry out this task in Jerusalem. With permission in hand, he first went quietly, without drawing any attention, to go and look at the situation, to evaluate what obstacles he would be facing and what would need to be accomplished, so that he could prepare a plan. Then, with that plan in hand, he gathered the resources, came to the people, presented the plan to them, and then initiated and drove the construction project. In his case, the “construction project“ was rebuilding the wall around the city of Jerusalem. Keep in mind that this was a fairly massive wall, perhaps 20 feet high and 10 feet thick, intended to serve as a protective barrier for the city. What is incredibly remarkable is that Nehemiah was able to lead the construction project in such a way that the wall around the entire city, which had been broken down rubble, was rebuilt in less than two months. That is amazing! I’ve been involved in numerous construction projects, and it is normal for a single 30,000 square-foot building to take a year to a year-and-a-half to build. That’s a single building, and yet Nehemiah led the reconstruction of the wall around an entire city in less than 60 days!

How did he do that? First of all, he was being obedient to God‘s leading, and it was God‘s plan, not Nehemiah’s, so God‘s timing was very much a part of the process. But he gave Nehemiah the ability and wisdom to be strategic in his planning, so that the “less than 60 days“ process was really only the timeline for the actual physical construction. Nehemiah had spent additional time before that getting permission, getting resources, evaluating the circumstances, and preparing the plan. That was where the strategic part came into place. And that’s an important lesson that we can learn from the character of this character.

On the front end of the process, Nehemiah was called by God to rebuild the walls. On the back end, he led the people of Israel in an incredible construction process of a little under two months to actually rebuild those walls. In between, he engaged in strategic planning so that he was prepared for the project, and prepared to lead it. That’s a critical part of your role as a leader. God may have called you to something, and you will be blessed if you get to see the work brought to fruition, but in between you have a responsibility to develop a strategic plan based on your circumstances so that you can lead it well. From Nehemiah‘s example, learn to be strategic.

In this study of the character of leadership, I find myself thinking about “the character of characters.” A “character” is a person, often someone who plays a part in a story and is an example from whom we can learn, but it is also a trait or attribute that can be applied to that person and to his/her leadership. When we study the character of that character – identifying biblical characters, and then identifying something in their character that can teach us something about who we are and how we lead – we learn things about the character of leadership that can be applied in our own lives. In this week’s episode, we are learning from Daniel.

We live in a world in which compromise is often the easier path. When the pressure is on, or it’s going to come at great cost or sacrifice, it can be very difficult and challenging to do the right thing. And so it becomes easier to compromise. That may be because we want to be accepted by others, or we don’t want to fail, or we want to look like we know what we are doing, or the cost is too great, or for lots of other reasons. Regardless, it just becomes a pressure that we are not able to resist and so we compromise. That’s one of the things that I love about Daniel. He made a decision, a decision of integrity before he was ever in a situation, so that he was prepared to stay strong and not compromise what he knew to be right.

Daniel was a teenager when he and others like him were taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian army. He was hand-selected because of his capability and his connections as someone who was part of the noble class in Israel, and placed into a forced system of education that was intended to prepare him to be a servant leader in service of the king. But Daniel chapter 1 and verse 8 tells us that Daniel had “purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself.” He had made the decision early in his life that regardless of what came his way, he would remain faithful to the values that had been instilled in him in obedience to his Creator, God.

And, of course, the test came, as it always does. He and his friends, along with the other captives from other nations, were given a diet of rich foods as part of their lifestyle in preparation for their service. Daniel‘s problem was that he knew the law of God, and he knew that the diet that he was being given was contrary to the diet that God had required of the Jews for their health and well-being, and to demonstrate their relationship to him. So he knew he could not follow that diet, and he decided that he would not compromise, and instead put God to the test in front of the world. God rewarded his faithfulness, and Daniel became the most successful graduate that this training system had ever produced, serving is one of the highest leaders in the country, not just for Nebuchadnezzar, but also for two successive leaders after him.

One of the most important lessons that you and I learn from the life of Daniel, and in particular from his early experience after being captured by Nebuchadnezzar, is the importance of integrity. Daniel committed himself to integrity, which meant that he was committed to living out in his actions the values that he believed. That is absolutely critical and crucial to your success as a leader. As my dad would say, and as I have often quoted on this website and podcast, “Your walk talks, and your talk talks, but your walk talks louder than your talk, talks.“ Your integrity is demonstrated to the degree that your actions reflect the values you say you believe. Be a leader of integrity by living a life consistent with your faith, and do it boldly in front of others, regardless of what the potential cost may be. God will be faithful to ensure that your life fulfills the greatest purpose that He has for you, and your responsibility is to honor his faithfulness to you by being faithful to Him.

I think this is one of the most important lessons of character we learn from any character in the Bible. It reminds me of something else my dad would say: “It’s right to do right because it’s right.“ You will be marked in the world around you by your level of integrity. Do what is right in every circumstance, even if you stand alone and no matter the cost. Live your life without compromise.