Kap & Pen

I had an interesting comment posted on my facebook page this a.m. I had posted that I was excited about all the babies being born this year. So many just in my own family–plus many friends having babies too! And I said something about this generation of babies being our future Christian leaders. The responder said I had given her something to think about. They had generally been raising their children to be followers of Christ. Was there Scriptural admonition for developing Christian leaders instead of Christ-followers? This is an excellent topic and I intend to research Scripture for a future post along this line, but I had to post my initial thoughts regarding this subject. Certainly, there are many examples throughout Scripture of men and women who were leaders while at the same time following God.

I think the one can easily go with the other. In the military amphitheater there are generals who lead and a host of other leaders under them. Likewise in Christianity, our boys can grow up to be men who are Christian leaders in the faith while still following their Leader, Christ.

Imagine the mother of Moses. Desperate to save her infant son from certain death, she places him in a reed basket in the water and has his sister stand guard. Of course we know that Pharoah’s daughter discovers him, keeps him, and makes his mother nursemaid to Moses. She only has a few years to instill in him a love for the true and living God, yet she does an incredible job. He did not forsake his people, but rather became their leader.

Daniel was not a young man at the time, but he was a leader among the Jews by refusing to not pray. God came first. Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah braved the fiery furnace before they would bow to a false god. They were true leaders among their Jewish slave peers and before their lost captors. Esther was a leader for her people by risking her life and using her wits to preserve her nation and see justice done. Rahab showed daring and bravery, standing in a treasonous position while hiding the Jewish spies, and eventually ending up in the line of Christ.

Joseph, though not often thought of in this manner, was a leader, if only for his immediate family. In our society, where women bare children out of wedlock all the time, it is difficult for us to imagine the stigma that would plague Mary her whole life. Joseph was completely within his legal rights to publicly shame her and give her a writing of divorcement; yet he would not do that to her. And then God sends His angel to him and tells him it’s okay to take Mary for a wife. Who else would believe him? No one. He must stand alone and bear the public “shame” that was to follow Mary. He did not shirk this responsibility, but lovingly cared for Mary and raised Jesus as his own. How many men today could have done that? Joseph indeed showed leadership while following God.

Think of all the martyrs throughout history. They willingly gave their lives in service to Christ. They died for the faith so that Christianity might spread and souls be saved. These were true followers of Christ, yet they were also leaders in their own way. These were not all meek, quiet men and women who quietly believed and were quietly killed. These were people who suffered public humiliations, tortures, and death. How can a man or woman be willing to die for their beliefs and not be considered a leader or hero of the faith?

Are we raising leaders? What do we expect their character traits to be? I have been guilty of misjudging my own children in this area. I have said, “Well, I would love for my sons to be involved in politics and be leaders of the community, or to be called to preach or be evangelists, but…” “They just don’t have that personality,” or, “They don’t like studying that much,” or, “Schooling is difficult for him,” (I have one fine son who has great talents and abilities, yet has dyslexia and it really bothers him.) I am making excuses. I am following the lines I’ve been fed by the media and Washington. Why am I expecting that in order to be a Representative or a Senator that my son must have a law degree? Let’s go back to when this country was first created. The idea was that the COMMON MAN was to be elected for a SHORT TERM of office in which he would go and SERVE THE PEOPLE, and make laws under which HE HIMSELF WOULD LIVE. What if we raised a generation of men who believed this and went to Washington and actually DID this? What kind of tremendous positive things could be seen in this country? We have gotten so far from what our founding fathers envisioned. Career politicians have ruined the greatest form of government man has ever developed.

So yes, I think we can raise our boys to be true followers of Christ while at the same time raising them to be leaders, first in their families, and then in their neighborhoods, their cities, their states, their country. We can and should be raising godly young men to rise up and serve the Lord as leaders who can redirect America back to acknowledging the Creator of the Universe. To turn back the tide of evil that is running rampant through our streets. We can raise men to stand, and having done all, stand.