John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
Jesus taught us the principles of leadership. “Leaders lead from the front”. The most powerful leadership tool we have is to model the behaviour that we expect others to follow. Leaders have a charisma about them that makes others follow but there is no human leader who is perfect or flawless. The greatest of leaders have had their moment of weakness. The philosophy of following a person due to the bond that people have developed is called “relational leadership”.
David was a relational leader. Roughly 400 men who were in distress, debt and discontent followed David when he fled from King Saul to the Cave of Adullam (1 Samuel 22:2). They did not follow David because he had a position or power. David himself was running for his life, yet, the bonding and the example that they saw in David attracted the outcast men to him. This group of 400 slowly grew to 600 and out of the ragtag group came the thirty mighty men of David who served him in his kingdom after he became the king. Uriah the Hittite was one of the mighty men that David trained, coached and developed; however, David failed as a leader before man and God by taking Uriah’s wife. After committing adultery with the wife of Uriah and impregnating her, he tried to trick Uriah by bringing him back from the battlefield to his home to cover his mistake.
We follow Jesus as we have developed a bond with Him but Jesus, our relational leader, will never disappoint us or let us down. We follow Him like a sheep that follows its shepherd confidently. Jesus our leader will not teach, coach or guide us to do anything that is harmful or detrimental to our growth. Jesus is the greatest relational leader whom we can trust and follow blindly.
Relational Leader:
- Hidden Agenda: There will be no hidden agenda in a good relational leader. Everything they say, guide and advice will be to develop their followers.
- Hypocrisy: There are no hypocrisies or inconsistencies in relational leaders.
- Humility: Humility is the clothing of a relational leader.
Relational leaders have no hidden agenda; they are honest and humble.
Prayer: Jesus my Good Shepherd, make me a relational and trustworthy leader like you. Amen.
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