Loyalty and Christian Leadership

Loyalty and Christian Leadership LOYALTY AND CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP
A. Hugh Clark That Christian Leadership and that which constitutes loyalty in leadership is a subject of very great importance; one that demands the most serious thought and deliberation of which we are capable needs no further proof nor demonstration than that which is amply furnished by an acquaintance with the defeats and failures of so many of our congregations occasioned by incompetence, indifference and lack of loyalty on the part of those to whom they look for leadership. How often might it be Said of the church, God’s people today, as it was said of Israel of old: “They that lead this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed” (Isaiah 9:13).

I do not have the public preacher especially in mind in this discussion nor those qualities and characteristics thought to be exclusively requisite to loyalty in him as a leader among the people. I have in mind the preacher, the elders, the deacons, and all who in anyway accept the obligations of leadership in the church. It might be said, too, that everything I shall name as necessary for loyalty in leadership is also necessary for loyalty in every Christian; but so is this true of everything Paul said about the qualifications of even the elders, with possibly two exceptions.

Let us turn our attention now to the following considerations.

Loyalty in Leadership Demands Great Faith
Loyalty in leadership demands great faith; a faith that can “endure as seeing him who is invisible” even when considered from every human viewpoint the realization of God’s promises and the accomplishment of his requirements seem unnatural, improbable or even impossible. A faith that shines more bright and clear
When tempests rage without;
That, when in danger, knows no fear,
In darkness, feels no doubt! Where God has spoken, such a faith proceeds in spite of difficulties and without regard for consequences.
The conduct of Abraham on two occasions is an ex-emplification of the kind of faith which loyal leaders will have need often to exercise. God had made a promise to Abraham but between Abraham and the realization of that promise lay apparently insuperable difficulties, when considered from every human point of view. But Abraham had great faith and, “In hope believed against hope, to the end that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, So shall thy seed be. And without being weakened in faith he considered his own body now as good as dead (he being about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; yet, looking unto the promise of God, he wavered not through unbelief, but waxed strong through faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what he had promised, he was able also to perform” (Romans 4:18-21), He was not blind to the difficulties that lay in the way of the fulfillment of God’s promise, he was fully conscious of them and considered them, but because of his faith they became not his difficulties, but God’s, and he was convinced that nothing was difficult with God.

Later in the history of this man of great faith when the promised seed was now a flourishing youth and God commanded that he be offered as a sacrifice on an altar in the land of Moriah, seemingly destroying the very possibility of the ultimate fulfillment of the promises formerly made concerning him, Abraham moved deliberately and unfalteringly toward the strictest obedience to Jehovah’s command. And so complete was his decision and purpose, that Paul says, “By faith Abraham, being tried, offered up Isaac; yea, he that had gladly received the promises was offering up his only begotten Son; even he to whom it was said, In Isaac shall thy seed be called; accounting that God is able to raise up even from the dead; 
from whence he did also in a figure receive him back” (Hebrews 11:17-19). This is the loyalty of a great faith and without great faith such a loyalty is utterly impossible. Men of this type receive a natural deference from those among whom they live and serve which always puts them out in front which is unquestionably the position of leadership.

Loyalty in Leadership Requires Consecration
A little inquiry into the etymology of the wTord con-secration as used, in both the Old and the New7 Testa-ments shows it to have the following significations: to separate; to set apart; to devote; to dedicate; to make perfect; to fill the hand or full handedness. It is easy to collect from these significations that the man w7ho is consecrated to the Lord has separated himself completely from all other allegiance, is fully set apart unto the Lord in his own. mind, and is devoted and dedicated wholly, fulJ-handedly, that is, without reservation to the Lord’s person and to the Lord’s cause. One so fortified inwardly will find little difficulty in exemplifying that measure of allegiance and loyalty becoming a leader in outward conduct, and there will be in him nothing of the vacilating, temporizing, compromising disposition of the half converted.

One so consecrated to the Lord will not enter a relationship, business or otherwise, which will not lend him both time and bodily energy sufficient to be loyal and faithful to the Lord's appointments and service. Such consecration will easily insure the presence of all the leaders of the congregation at all the church meetings and will also bring them down near enough to the front of the house to indicate a fervent interest and a definite concern in things spiritual. It wiil promote such a measure of self denial and self forgetfulness as will preclude all maneuvering, political intrigue and catering on the basis of friendship and personal obligation among leaders, and will enable them to rise above personal feeling where the Lord’s work is con-cerned and to act strictly upon the basis of sincere conviction, enlightened reason and moral judgmet. One who cannot or does not do this has not sufficient consecration to be loyal to the Lord, and makes of his office or position a tool or expediency either for the imposition of a tyrannical will or through servility and subserviency to secure human favors and selfish aggrandizement. And either is a terrible prostitution of divine and human trust.

Must Recognize the Rower of Example in Leadership
There is marvelous power in example in leadership. Hence the apostle Peter, himself an elder, gave com-mandment through the Holy Spirit to all elders, “ . . . Neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:3). And Paul, the great preacher of the gospel, in-structed Timothy, “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example to them that believe, in word, in manner of life, in love, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12).

Jesus, as he lived among men, recognized the power of example in leadership and exemplified in his own life every great truth he ever taught and set it forth as a living, breathing, active reality. His language was ever, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” The result was that in after years when any of his apostles sought to teach the great truths of his kingdom regarding human conduct, as the most powerful enforcement possible they always made their appeal to the Master’s example. Let me give a few instances. If humility was to be impressed, Paul would say to the Philippians, “Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross” (Php_2:5-8). When the same apostle recommends meekness and gentleness, what is his argument? “Now I, Paul, myself, entreat! you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ ...” (2 Corinthians 10:1). When he would exhort to unity and concord and mutually edifying assistance, what does he say? “Now we that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each one of us please his neighbor for that which is good, unto edifying. For Christ also pleased not himself.” And further on he continues, “Now the God of patience and of comfort grant you to be of the same mind one with another according to Christ Jesus; that with one accord ye may with one mouth glorify the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 15:1-6). When Paul would exhort Christians to brotherly love, to what pattern does he refer us? “Walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odor of a sweet smell” (Ephesians 5:2).' How does the same apostle encourage charity to the poor and liberality in giving? “In all things I gave you an example, that so laboring ye ought to help the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that he himself said, It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).. And did he give anything? “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). How poor did he become? “And Jesus said unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heavens have nests; but the
Son of man hath not where to lay his head” (Luke 9:58). When Peter teaches men to be patient under injuries, what model does he propose to them ? “This is accept-able, if for conscience toward God a man endureth griefs, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if when ye sin, and are buffeted for it, ye shall take it patiently? But if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye shall take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For hereunto where ye called; because Christ also suffered for you leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps; who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered^ threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: ...” (1 Peter 2:19-23).

Finally, when the same apostle would inculcate universal holiness, to what standard does he direct the thoughts of his followers ? “Like as he who called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living” (1 Peter 1:15).

Oh! What a lesson is here for all who would lead in the church today! And how have the hearts of the strong been grieved and the weak been made to stumble, because professed leaders have not learned this lesson : but go on assuming the role of a leader and stating and restating the great truths of the kingdom while it is public knowledge that their own lives are sadly at variance with the principles of righteousness and holiness they profess with their mouths. It is possible for one’s knowledge to exceed his practice, but it should never exceed his intention and purposeful endeavor. And if this be true, there will never be those glaring inconsistencies often witnessed in the lives of men, and there will be an obvious and continuous narrowing of the margin between knowledge and achievement.

Loyalty in Leadership Requires Initiative and Vision in Matters Concerning the Kingdom of God
Circumspection and forethought, wise planning and animated desire, precede all consistent growth and de-velopment, activity and achievement in a congregation. This we call vision. But there must be more than this; there must be the generation of the disposition and energy with which to exercise inherent ability in personal and cooperative effort to originate and instigate action; this we call initiative. And all of this belongs peculiarly and particularly to the obligations and functions of a loyal leadership.

Sometime men possess these fine qualities and char-acteristics where their own personal affairs and for tunes are concerned but are strikingly devoid of them where the affairs of the church are concerned. Such spiritual indifference and sloth on the part of men who have accepted positions of leadership in the church of our Lord constitute the grossest, most aggravated disloyalty which certainly deserves and will receive the severest penalty (Matthew 25:26-30). Their wicked sloth not only stifles their own usefulness but intercepts and destroys the very possibilities of those who look to them for leadership.

Extreme age in leaders carries serious peril here. Many times the individual who in earlier maturity, generously endowed with health and ability and succeeding well in his personal affairs, was optimistic and enthusiastic in the Lord’s work, and who really planned and initiated the most outstanding achievements in the history of the congregation, continues in the position of leadership until the debilities of age and unavoidable reverses have robbed him of his security and his productivity; in consequence he naturally loses his once energetic and enthusiastic outlook, and though the congregation is now numerically larger and financially stronger than it ever was, having in it a group of younger men with much of life still before them and filled with zeal and the ability to carry on to greater service, because of his personal condition he may now be counted on consistently to discourage or oppose even lesser ventures than he one time championed to the glory of God and the growth of the church. He cannot realize that there are other men still in the prime of their strength and usefulness who are just as sane, conservative and capable as he was at their age, whose leadership and usefulness, vision and intiative in di-recting the congregation in further achievements, he should not hinder. These things are not said to disparage age nor to detract, in the least, from that full measure of love and esteem which we should all delight to accord those who have borne the burdens of other days, but simply to warn against a real and possible fault into which any of us could slip with the passing of the years.

Loyalty in Leadership Demands Watchfulness
The vigilance and watchfulness of a loyal leadership will take three directions. There are false teachers from whom the church must be preserved and false doctrines against which the church must be fortified. These false teachers may be divided into two classes; those who arise in the church and those who would seduce from without. Paul said of the first, “I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Wherefore watch ye . . . , ” and of the second, “Take heed lest there shall be any one that maketh spoil of you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Acts 20:29; Colossians 2:8). The safety and purity of the church in every age depend upon the sincerity of its teachers and the soundness of their doctrine. Sound doctrine and plain teaching constitute the only hope of right practice.

Loyal leaders will watch also for opportunities for do-ing good, that they may direct the energies of those under them into the most fruitful channels, “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:16).

They will also “watch in behalf of your souls, as they that shall give account; that they may do this with joy, and not with.grief” (Hebrews 13:17). “They will admonish the disorderly, encourage the fainthearted, support the weak, be longsuffering toward all. See that none render unto any one evil for evil; but always follow after that which is good, one toward another, and toward all” (1 Thessalonians 5:14-15).

Loyalty Demands Much Prayer
There is nothing which more powerfully influences the life of a Christian than prayer. There is nothing which to a greater degree purifies his passions and tranquilizes his conscience than prayer. By prayer a man is delivered from headiness, egotism, and presumption ; he learns instead to be meek and humble and “not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think.” But all of the benefits of prayer are not to be thought of as merely subjective and psychological. God actually does things for his children in answer to prayer. “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8).

“For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers; but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil” (1 Peter 3:12).

“And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us” 1 John 5:14).