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God's man takes the initiative, as he was meant to do, but he is not aggressive. He is strong, but not ruthless; sure, but not swaggering; hard, if need be, but not cruel. P.T. Forsyth says that hierarchy - the placing of one above another - was meant not for privilege, prerogative, favoritism, or dominion, but for leadership. And leadership means service, sacrifice, help, uplifting, redemption, and a cross. Leadership is not meant to exploit, but to lift; not to exterminate, but to rescue; not to rend, but to redeem; not to devour, but to carry; not for primacy, but for priority. It means, in the last analysis, obedience, service, even death, for the sake of others. The lust for power is as far from humility of the true leader under God as the lust for sex is from real love. The lusts for power and for sex are characteristic of the man who lives for himself.
Elisabeth Elliotauthor© Elisabeth Elliot |