leader/disciple
I started reading Neal Cole’s book, Organic Leadership. One of the quotes he uses in the book is from Ralph Nader: “the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.”
I liked the quote so much that I tweeted it. The quote automatically went to my Facebook status. I was surprised to see that two people on fb had a negative response to the quote. The gist of the their problem with the Nader’s thoughts was that leaders have to have followers. The assumption that most of us have is that for someone to be a leader there has to be some sort of hierarchy, there have to be followers who submit to “the leader.”
But when we seek to understand leadership from a Biblical worldview, we see a different model; a flatter model where the aim is not more followers to do the bidding of the leader, but instead more leaders do dream and innovate and work together. Leadership is like discipleship. True disciples seek to disciple others who will in turn disciple others. Likewise, valuable leaders are those who seek to empower others to become leaders who develop other leaders!
Perhaps it would be best if we in the Christian movement began to see discipleship and leadership as the same thing! Spiritual leaders are disciples who make disciples who make disciples. Spiritual leaders reproduce other spiritual leaders. Ultimately then, our focus in the church, as so many others have said better than I, should be to make disciples. As Alan Hirsch says, “I suppose if we fail at this, we have failed completely.”
Be a leader. Make a disciple.
One Response to “leader/disciple”
Join the conversation.
Use the form below to let us know what you think.
I saw the quote bro and i thought it was dead on. I have felt for several years that the key to leadership is being able to follow. Building people up through discipleship is most assuredly intended to creat Leaders, not followers. We all follow Christ first, but we must lead others towards Christ. Too many people look at leadership as a position…leadership is an innate character trait, not a position. I think that Hirsch’s quote at the end here so true. If we do not build up disciples who build disciples (in the amway fashion..haha) then we have failed…so true….