Lead Differently. There is a culture that has existed in Nigerian schools for decades giving children the power to punish other children junior to them. We taste the sweetness of power in a culture like that and then we become intoxicated and addicted to it.
This was the kind of leadership culture that was prevalent in the time of Christ (Mark 10:42 TPT). In some parts of the world we have a ‘High-Power Distance’, which means that the gap between the leaders and the led is vast. The powerful are very powerful, and the powerless are very powerless. Human nature and power don’t go well together, especially fallen human nature.
Bullying happens across all cultures, it just manifests in different ways. But where you have high-power distance which you see in Africa, Asia and Latin America, it manifests openly. As soon as you become a Christian, you will have to go counter-cultural to fulfil the will of God for your life. (Romans 12:2 NLT).
To go counter-cultural, you have to be courageous. One of the basic human needs of a human is the need for belonging so which makes it hard to displease the crowd. But you cannot live an effective Christian life without being ready to displease the crowd. The world is in desperate need of good leadership right now, there is so much uncertainty and anxiety, people need direction and we are being called to the assignment of leadership. (Mark 10:43-45NLT).
We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. (1 John 3:16 NLT)
It is time for us to be courageous in modeling Jesus’ kind of leadership. His kind of leadership is built on love, care and affection for other people to the point of sacrificing. If you occupy a leadership position and you don’t have love, leave and go look for love because your failure is predictable without it.
