The Ideal Leader We’re Searching for
What is the first word or picture that comes to your mind when you hear the word “leadership”? How do you feel about this word? Is there someone in your life that you can think of right away who is a leader? What are they like? How do you define and choose leaders in general? Do you also consider God a leader? How does He lead you?
Some people have a positive understanding of leadership and some can not even stand this word due to previous negative experiences. To some people, leadership means directing, shepherding and encouraging and for some it means control, fear and abuse. In my culture, this word is not much liked and many don’t have the right definition for it yet. Most of the time, it is associated with political positions and strict rules for people. When it comes to religion, faith and God’s leadership, my people are either fearful of God and try to please him helplessly, or they try to run away from him as far as possible so that they can avoid religious oppression and condemnation. They long for a model of a truthful, loving, and just leader. But it has become to many men and women a lost hope, a mirage, and a longing that seems impossible to fulfill.
However, in the middle of all this confusion and despair, there is good news and hope. Why you ask? Because there is actually a God who is the perfect leader. He is the one who holds government on His shoulders; He is the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). God is not only our Creator, Lord and Savior, but He is also our leader. He did not try to correct or condemn us from a distance. He bridged the separation himself.
He chose to become one of us and constantly showed forgiveness, compassion and truthfulness in everything that He did. When people or even Satan tried to manipulate him to use his power for his own gain, He refused that temptation and surrendered to the Father instead. He knew exactly for what purpose the Father had sent Him into this world. He came to pay the price on the cross and save us. His life gave us a perfect example of how a person or a leader should live on this earth. His influence went beyond time, borders, and cultures.
I remember reading the New Testament for the first time many years ago. I was so amazed by the life and personality of Jesus. Day by day, I was developing a new understanding of God and His personality. Many thoughts went through my mind: I didn’t know that God has a personality, that He speaks and communicates, that He is so powerful and yet so humble. After a few months, I was deeply in love with Jesus and in awe of His goodness and love. I surrendered my life to Him and thought to myself, “How can someone not surrender to a God like this?” Well, every day there are actually hundreds of Iranians who are giving their lives to Jesus and deciding to follow in His footsteps. They are experiencing forgiveness , healing and transformation through their faith and submission to God’s leadership over their lives.
Collective transformation begins with each individual surrendering to the lordship of Christ. When we look upon Jesus and learn from Him, then we will be able to understand true leadership. We Iranians are at a very exciting time of our history as we are returning to God one by one. So now is the time to redefine leadership according to the Bible. We need to realize that a leader has to be a servant first, someone who goes the extra mile, who perseveres, and who loves and respects others. We need to realize that control and fear are the worst tools to influence people and they never succeed. It’s time that Iranian Christians rise up in God’s love and build a positive influence. It’s time that our pastors set good examples for the flock . There are many newly born children of God who need to be cared for, so that they can grow into mature servants of God.
We, at Sound Life Global, have the vision to equip and empower Iranian Christians all over the world, so that they can step into their calling of Biblical leadership in their families, schools, workplaces and churches. When we talk about leadership, we mean influence – The kind of influence that is proactive, loving and purposeful. We will be launching our Biblical leadership training and coaching soon and can’t wait to walk alongside our brothers and sisters on their journey with Christ God. We are full of hope and expectation that God will do more than we can imagine through the lives of Iranian Christians in their nation and beyond.
