Who is a Leader?

People have been trying to define leadership for as long as there's been more than one person on earth.  Who's the boss?  We don't want to be told what to do.  We do want to be told what to do.  We want to know how to get where we're going.  We want to pass the buck.  Humanity has a love-hate relationship with leaders.

Definitions of leadership abound.  Plato was writing about it in 380 B.C.  My sister calls it bossy (though I prefer the term "gift of administration").  So who is a leader?

I love reading about leadership...always hoping to save myself from having to learn a few lessons the hard way...but it also can leave me feeling overwhelmed, so aware of what I am not.  Then I remember my own personal baseline definition of leadership:  I am one who has seen, tasted, heard...and I'm so full of the wonder of it that I'm compelled to beckon, "Come!  Taste!  See!"

"Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did!"

"Come, let us tell of the Lord's greatness...taste and see that the Lord is good."

"Come and see what our God has done, what awesome miracles he performs for people!"

"He has given me a new song to sing...many will see what He has done...they will put their trust in the Lord."

That's the starting point of leadership:  you've seen, tasted, and heard and cannot be silent about it!   You don't have to be someone who has it all figured out, just someone who is willing to take the first step and beckon for others to come along. Definitely study, learn, find a mentor...just don't wait til you feel you've arrived.

You may not have an office with a fancy title on the door--or have an office at all--but if you've tasted, seen or heard and cannot contain the Good News, you're a leader.

Then the angel spoke to the women.

"Don't be afraid!" he said.

"I know you're looking for Jesus, who was crucified.  

He isn't here!  He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen...

And now, go quickly and tell...

Matthew 28:5-6

John 4:29; Psalm 34:3, 8;  66:5; 40:3