ByWhen Jesus left the earth, Ephesians 4:8 says He gave gifts to men. Even though Paul stated five gifts, the main idea of Jesus for doing this is to establish godly authority and leadership in the Church–His bride, so that people will be well discipled and trained to know Christ and do the work of the ministry in all areas of life (Ephesians 4:11-15).
Effective leadership cannot happen without good followership. For this reason, it has become necessary for us Christians to follow servants of God who labour hard to disciple and teach us the ways of God with roots in the Word. So that as we follow what they say as inspired by God, we’ll grow spiritually also to become leaders capable of doing what our current leaders are doing, even at higher levels.
No great leader wants to build anything for himself and his family alone. Great leaders don’t think about positions; they think about the next generation. So in any great ministry that has great leadership, they are not only mindful about fulfilling purpose but also raising the next generation to continue the work of the ministry. Nevertheless, this doesn’t happen when the followers of the leader involved aren’t faithful and available to serve.
Great leaders don’t think about positions; they think about the next generation.
If you’re in the congregation or under the service or of a servant of God, you have to be intentional to follow him well, not with the intention of replacing him, but to help you grow in Christ. Who knows, whether your ardent followership and faithfulness in service will end you up being taken higher?
The question is, “What does it mean to follow your leader in Christ well as a child of God?” Here are four keys to doing this.
1. Believe in your leader
You cannot closely follow your leader in Christ if you don’t believe in God’s anointing upon his life.
The moment a person joins a church or a ministry, in most cases, the first person he watches is the top leader or head pastor. Why?—Because many people are tired of being deceived. So people check for authenticity of the anointing before committing themselves to following leaders, especially in Africa. If your leader is consistently practising the ways of God, you must start believing in the anointing upon his life.
In 2 Chronicles 20:20, the Bible tells us not only to believe in God but also in His servants. That is important because servants of God do what God tells them to do. And because of that, they can be led by God to things you as a follower may not expect.
You cannot closely follow your leader in Christ if you don’t believe in God’s anointing upon his life.
Tweet
If you want to follow your leader in Christ well, you should ask “why” they do some things they do, which you may not like, instead of joining others to complain about what’s wrong.
In Numbers 16:1-50, the Bible records how Korah, Dathan and Abiram, with all the people who joined them to rebel against Moses and Aaron died. Take this as a lesson. A follower is never greater than his leader.
2. Obey your leader
Hebrews 13:17 tells us to obey those who rule over us. “Obey” in that scripture means “listen.” Our leaders in Christ watch over our souls. So many times, God reveals deep things to them about us that we may not understand, and that necessitates them to stand in for us both in prayer and counsel.
When you receive divine instruction from your leader that has its roots in God’s Word, honour God by obeying what he says. It may not be directly said to you but can come as a ministration from the pulpit of God. In every way you hear such an instruction, do it with wisdom.
3. Imitate the ways of your leader that glorifies Christ
God’s ways are imitable. They are primarily known through the scriptures and can also be put to practice by the power of God. But sometimes, the leaders in God’s house teach and model the ways of God before their congregation. Paul understood this, so he told the Corinthian church to imitate him as he imitates Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1).
Effective Christian leaders are usually too busy to have time for each person under their followership. What he says in public sometimes contains specific keys to how he applies what he learns from the Word of God in his private life, although he might not say it plainly. As a follower of Christ, be wise enough to discern the ways of God modelled by your leader in deed and speech.
4. Listen to God’s Word through your leader
Preaching consistently and frequently with doctrinal accuracy is one of the hardest things to do as a minister. Even though it’s done ideally by the anointing, the hours an anointed preacher can spend to prepare one sermon are usually many, and that’s work. However, they hardly tell the congregation about it. God graces them to study, both for their lives and to preach the Word. Therefore, if your Christian leader does these things, listen to the sound doctrine he preaches and teaches you because it’s for your edification.
