Rising to the Call of Leadership

Excerpt

Rising to the Call of Leadership

Introduction

What makes a leader a leader? What is it that makes some people leaders while others are just the person in charge?

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once wrote: “There was a time when the church was very powerful–in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.”

In leadership what makes the difference between a thermometer and a thermostat? A thermostat sets the agenda; a thermometer simply represents what is already in place. Dr. King was describing the church, but the description fits the individual leaders within the body also.

Leadership is tough. But God calls us to be leaders– in our homes, in our communities, in our churches, and ultimately in our world.

So what does God expect of those He places in positions of authority? What characteristics set apart the truly effective leader in contrast to the person who just happens to be out front? And how can you be the leader God has called you to be?

These are some of the questions we want to examine by the light of God’s Word as we look at the lives of four Old Testament leaders. Their examples offer powerful insights about the hallmarks of great leadership as well as the pitfalls that can undermine our influence and effectiveness.

Our prayer is that this study will give you a basic understanding of the characteristics we need as men and women of God who are called to live with biblical authority and strength in a world that desperately needs trustworthy leaders.

Excerpted from Rising to the Call of Leadership by Kay Arthur and David and BJ Lawson. Copyright © 2007 by Kay Arthur and David and BJ Lawson. Excerpted by permission of WaterBrook Press, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.