Leader: Parent and Pastor Examples

Parenting is the most obvious example. Before children can reason, the only way you can lead them is by being a boss. You can’t really explain to them what they should do. They learn by getting punished or denied a value because of what they didn’t do.

If the goal of the parents is to raise the child into becoming self sufficient, they will first approach the child from a LEADER perspective. They will reason with the child. They will account for uniqueness and determine what motivates the child. If the child doesn’t respond, then the parents will approach the child as a BOSS. For instance, the parent may first try to show the child why it would be best for him to stop bothering his sister before physically separating the child from his sister.

I realize being a BOSS is easier for the parents. They get what they personally want more quickly. They don’t have to give a reason. However, if the parents fail to adjust over time, the child may end up not valuing growth, thinking, or morality. Worse yet, Justice may demand that God act like a BOSS with the parents! After all, the parents are showing God how they want to be led by their Heavenly Father.

Another example deals with church leadership. For instance, how does the "leader" of your church motivate people to tithe? The "force" method would just take it out of your paycheck. The BOSS method would tell you it is a law. They would tell you to do it and appeal to your emotions through guilt.

The LEADER would realize tithing is a principle. He would appeal to your best interests by showing you what is in it for you. He would use reason and explain the value you get.

Tithing is part of The Law. We are under no obligation to tithe because we are not under The Law. However, the principle of tithing is true. God blesses those who tithe and have a good attitude. Tithing follows the Reward Model.

Remember, the Spiritual aspect is most important to God. The giving of money to God is an EFFECT of a Spiritual cause. Actually, it always was…it’s just that now we have the opportunity to be blessed because it is not a law, it is a principle.

There are a lot of things that Jesus tells us to do for our benefit, but people seem to still interpret it as a law and use it as a threat…next week we will look at the Bible for examples including Jesus’ leadership style.

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