Being a follower of Jesus turns us into better leaders of people than we would be if we were not following Jesus. I am not suggesting that all Christians are great leaders or that all great leaders are Christians, but that a follower of Jesus becomes a better leader of people because Jesus continually transforms His followers.
An “unfair advantage” is a term that is sometimes used among marketplace leaders to acknowledge a skill, attribute, or discipline a company has that others do not have. Christian leaders have the ultimate unfair advantage because we never lead alone. Our God is wise and promises us His wisdom when we ask. He is powerful and fills us with His strength and energy when we are weary. The advantage is unfair because we did not earn Him with our grit. By His grace, when we placed our faith in Christ, God graciously gave us His Spirit.
Here are seven leadership fruits that leaders are encouraged to develop and the roots beneath the surface that produce the fruit. Healthy roots that, by God’s grace, Christians are able to hold simultaneously…
1. Vision (roots of burden and belief)
Christians are well-equipped to hold burden and belief simultaneously because our faith recognizes both the pain of a broken world and the promise that God will make all things new.
2. Conviction (roots of clarity and courage)
Christians can receive wisdom and clarity from God, who promises to give generously, and Christians have courage because the One who is within us is greater than the one in the world.
3. Servanthood (roots of thinking big and acting small)
Christians can think big because our God is able to do more than we ask or imagine, and we act small because Jesus served us and servant is our identity, not merely our activity.
4. Perseverance (roots of fighting and trusting God is fighting)
Christians can persevere because God promises to preserve His people. We can endure through trials because we are held by God’s power and promised that He works all things together for good for those who love Him.
5. Credibility (roots of character, competence, commitment, capacity, and chemistry)
Character is the most important attribute of credibility. Christians can and must grow in integrity because our Savior commands us to walk as He walked. He empowers us to do so by His Spirit, and He is committed to developing the character of His children.
6. Transformation (roots of changing beliefs and behaviors)
Christians understand transformation because we’ve been transformed from death to life and are being transformed as we follow our Savior. We know that lasting change is often slow and comes through painful seasons of growth, but it impacts what we believe and how we live.
7. Resolve (roots of restlessness and rest)
Christians live with holy restlessness because we’re not satisfied with the status quo in a broken world. Yet we can also rest because our ultimate identity and security are found in Christ, not in our leadership outcomes. We can pre-decide to persevere because we know our labor in the Lord is never in vain.
By looking at and learning from Nehemiah’s journal, I walk through all seven of these leadership fruits (and the roots beneath the surface) in my new book The Rooted Leader.
