A Good Shepherd

A: I wanted to share today's labor of love... while it was written for a course in youth ministry, I figured it could bless somebody out there :)


Having a total block on what to write about leadership, I pondered how God led his people out of slavery through his servant Moses. There was demonstration of power through miraculous acts by God, which brought about faith in His leadership. He also picked a leader who met the task humbly, and did not feel able to go forth and speak to Pharaoh (Exodus, 4:13). If Moses was overly confident, the glory would have been taken from God and brought upon man and the story would have ended rather differently. Moses also had to walk and struggle amongst the people he was assigned to lead. He was the target of others discouraging words but had to continue to serve and persevere. Leadership is achieved through sacrifice and service.


The interesting thing about moral authority is what a paradox it is. The dictionary discusses authority in terms of command, control, power, and sway… But its antonyms are civility, servitude, weakness and follower (Greenleaf, 11). The greatest example of this is seen in the Gospel account of Jesus’ life and demonstrated in the parable of the lost sheep (John 10).While a shepherd could lead harshly, through fear, rules, and intimidation ,“The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John,10:13). In closing, I’d like to stretch that vision of sacrifice beyond actually dying for a person (idea courtesy of Bob Russel). If you believe time makes up ones’ life, spending your time praying and investing in someone's life would be considered "laying down your life". And that is a good leader.

Greenleaf, Robert K. Servant Leadership: a journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness. Paulist Press: 2002