Leadership Legacies: Why Character Trumps All

by Gary Corwin

Whatever else one may say about Paul’s logic, he makes it clear that all the credit and glory for his work belongs to God. Every person in ministry would humbly acknowledge the same truth. And yet, how often do we seek to position ourselves so that when the report, article, or book is written, we will receive significant credit for the breakthrough? We can’t seem to help wanting to take some of what should be God’s glory alone.

The Apostle Paul wrote,

What after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe – as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who made things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. (1 Cor. 3:5-8)

Whatever else one may say about Paul’s logic, he makes it clear that all the credit and glory for his work belongs to God. Every person in ministry would humbly acknowledge the same truth. And yet, how often do we seek to position ourselves so that when the report, article, or book is written, we will receive significant credit for the breakthrough? We can’t seem to help wanting to take some of what should be God’s glory alone.

And the problem is even wider than the scope of the personal example Paul cites. Not only are there those who plant and those who water, but there are those who weed, those who stake, and those who prune, just to name a few analogies that could be cited. In every ministry context there are multitudes of people doing all sorts of tasks that support the establishment and strengthening of churches and further God’s kingdom purposes.

So what does this say about leadership legacies? Consider the following:

First, it says that our categories for understanding complex tasks are oversimplified, and that the Body of Christ is as varied in its doing as in its being. Good leaders are known for celebrating and encouraging the toes in their organization as much as the tongues and the arms. They also know that there is only one head, and it is he alone who holds all things together by the power of his might.

Second, it says that there are times when innovation is truly needed, but far more often the crying need is for more passion in doing the same tried and true things that first century believers did—things like bearing joyful witness, living lives of integrity, and teaching others what they have learned. The result, as Roman Emperor Trajan once remarked, was to turn the world “upside down.” Leaders who understand this are far more interested in their team doing a few important things well than mapping out a new pathway that can be described in clever acronyms. They also lead in showing the way by example.

Third, it says that the leadership legacies that really matter may have more to do with successfully unleashing the energy and gifts of those who work with her/him than how brilliantly the leader can move individual workers around the ministry chessboard, or outline a new global strategy. But the penchant for the leader to feel that he/she must do something personally that is visible or quantifiable in order to be considered successful is sometimes irresistible.

Finally, the legacy of leaders that will be most enduring will stem not from how many battles were won, or how many lands were conquered, but by how much they loved the Lord, the glory of his name, and those with whom they stood shoulder to shoulder day by day to bring God glory. In many ways, it reminds us of the epitaph wisdom we sometimes hears: “There are very few people in their final moments who say, ‘I wish I had spent more time at the office.’” No, it’s all about relationships, and that is as true for leaders as it is for anyone. Ministry leaders just have a broader field of relationships—at home, as well as with those with whom and to whom they minister. The greatness of a legacy, therefore, depends most of all on how well and how broadly a leader can love.

Some may be wondering whether I am giving too short shrift to things like strategic insight, visionary planning, and spellbinding oratory. Perhaps, but that is not the direction that under-appreciation usually goes. So if I have overemphasized that which is too often missed at the expense of other important qualities, I can live with that.

After all, these other qualities are no more the product of our own cleverness and will than the most menial and humble task that can be imagined. God stands behind it all as author and finisher, just as Paul reminds us. God bless those leaders who remember this is so, as God has already blessed those who have that kind of leader to follow.

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Gary Corwin is…

EMQ, Vol. 52, No. 4. Copyright  © 2016 Billy Graham Center for Evangelism.  All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from EMQ editors.

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