Reliable leadership—its spiritual source

I remember, as a third grader, visiting my great-grandmother. She was a young girl at the time of the American Civil War, and when I recited a poem I’d learned in school about Abraham Lincoln, I was shocked to hear her criticize him. To me, Lincoln was a cultural hero—the U.S. President who ended slavery.

To her, Lincoln was a man from Illinois with many flaws, no better than anyone else. This illustrates an important concept: time may idealize certain historic figures, but upon closer inspection, failings among even the best human leaders point to the need for a higher sense of leadership for our nations and our lives.

This isn’t just an abstract or intellectual issue. Today, contentious factions and flawed strategies are arising at national levels, spreading to state and local governments, and playing out in the business community, in clubs and organizations, and in families. But we can also honestly say that it isn’t anything new. The Biblical prophet Isaiah lived at a time of crisis not unlike our own. In fact, several of the same cultures were at war with each other in the eighth century BC as are fighting today.

Terrorism in the Middle East caused Isaiah to proclaim: “The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us.” To me, this is the key to reaching a higher direction for leadership. And the historic record supports it. Isaiah witnessed the miraculous deliverance of Jerusalem from the siege of the Assyrian king. A situation hurtling toward inevitable disaster evaporated, virtually overnight.

So Isaiah got it right when he identified God as the source of reliable leadership. And that’s good news, because God is accessible to everyone, in every time and culture, in every situation, at every moment of the day or night. Whether it’s a nation, a corporation, a service club, or a Little League team that needs leadership, we can always turn to God for guidance. He is as near to us as our consciousness. When thought is quiet, and honestly seeking God, help is right at hand. God governs and maintains His creation, moment by moment.

The best leader is the clearest transparency for the authority and government of God. Christ Jesus proved this; his example of unconditional love and his healing ministry lifted him high above any other leader the world has ever known. Several passages from the Book of Isaiah are cited by Christians as divine promises that his leadership fulfilled. The New Testament describes his life and preserves many of his teachings.

Another significant characteristic of a good leader is the ability to attract followers. Millions of people have sought to follow in Christ Jesus’ footsteps, and the Gospel of John says Jesus prayed specifically for them. He said, “Neither pray I for these alone [meaning his immediate disciples], but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.”

Mary Baker Eddy sought constantly to follow the divine leadership Christ Jesus exemplified. She was born a few decades before my great-grandmother, and was an adult during Lincoln’s presidency. From a solid but modest rural background, she emerged as Leader of the Christian Science movement. She wrote a best-selling book on Christian theology, drawn from her own experience in relying on God for healing. She established a church with members all around the world, and she founded a daily newspaper. Perhaps most important of all, following Christ Jesus’ example, she healed thousands of people and showed her followers how to do likewise.

There’s a pattern emerging here, a reliable track record for life under God’s direction. I, too, have been able to experience its benefits. When I held a position that demanded management skills way beyond my training, I found that relying on God was the only way to go. One time, I prayed pretty much without stopping for a week—sometimes literally on my knees—about a situation that, like the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem, seemed to have no solution.

Once I stopped fretting and started listening with my whole heart, however, an idea came to me that worked for everyone concerned. Looking to God for leadership, I was freed from doubt, inexperience, and factionalism.

There’s never a leadership void when we accept God as our leader. He is ever present and always available; His guidance is perfect. In selecting leaders at any level of society, human credentials are much less significant than humility before the authority of God. It doesn’t take a long time to turn things around—whether in a family or in an international forum—when there’s genuine reliance on God’s inspiration and direction.

History teaches valuable lessons about leadership. It shows what works and what doesn’t. Consistently, it points us in the direction of God, whose wisdom and strength never fail to lead to peace. Isaiah writes of a spiritually directed leader: “The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.” What leader—and what follower—could ever ask for more?

God’s leadership:

Science and Health
167:20 The flesh

King James Bible
Isa 33:22
Isa. 9:6, 7
Isa. 11:1-10
John 17:20
Isa. 11:2