I remember playing “follow the leader” and used it quite a bit when I was getting five year olds ready to warm up for basketball. I would get them to follow me – the leader – and they had fun and got stretched and worked out all while playing a game.
You can read a lot of information on being a leader today. Whoever is the most successful person will become the best leader. One great test of a leader is to see if anyone is following. There are a lot of people that think they are leaders but in reality they have no followers.
In the Church of Jesus Christ we want everyone to be followers of Christ. As leaders we need to lead others to Him. Hopefully by following us they will be lead into a deeper relationship with the Lord.
The term leader is mentioned only six times in the King James Version of the Bible, while the term servant is mentioned more than 900 times. That fact highlights a distinction between a driven self-serving leader and a servant leader. That is 150 to 1 and that’s why healthy churches strive to produce servant leaders.
Jesus was a servant leader and John 13:1-17 tells the story of how He washed his disciples’ feet. Peter didn’t want Jesus to wash his feet, but finally gave in and allowed it. Jesus then said: “Do you understand what I have done for you? You call me Teacher and Lord (Leader)… Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” (John 13:12-15)
Notice that Jesus is Lord and Leader, but He is also a servant as well. He wants us to follow in that example. I challenge you to do all that you can to lead people to the Lord. I want to invite you to invite someone to come with you to an event we have at 7 p.m. this Saturday night at First Church of Christ on 441 Ledbetter Road in Xenia. Joel Penton (Former OSU Buckeye football player) will share his testimony along with Brad Hurtig. Brad lost both of his hands and parts of his arms in High School, but by the time he was a Senior, he led his team in tackles. Rob Greathouse will be telling his story of his daughter being killed and how he is helping others recover now from their hurts. Join us for desserts before the 7 p.m. event.
When you hear “follow the leader” I hope you will ask if people are following you to the Lord or not. Ask others to follow you to this event.
