Godly leaders live at the intersection of faith and practice. On one side of the street is our faith. We desire to be men and women whose faith reflects our transformation into Christlikeness (2 Corinthians 3:18).
On the other side of the street is the real world where we live out our lives. Here is the dirty, gritty, and oftentimes difficult task of being Christlike in a fallen world, surrounded by unbelievers.
We want to be good. We want to be Christlike. But then the real world raises its ugly head testing our resolve with attacks on our principles, our faith, and even on God Himself.
Every Christian lives at this intersection of faith and practice.
Christian leaders must be prepared to withstand the assault of the world, or their leadership will falter.
The Apostle Peter gave some excellent advice to young believers that every Christian leader should take to heart. His advice consisted of qualities important for the Christian and came in two forms. First, he told them what to do to clean up their lives. Then, he gave them direction for how to live out their lives in a way that would bring honor to God.
Clean Up Our Lives
Peter instructed believers to clean up their lives by getting rid of certain qualities. In 1 Peter 2:1, Peter said they should “…rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander.”
- Malice. Wicked ill-will toward others.
- Deceit. Deliberate dishonesty or concealment of the truth.
- Hypocrisy. Claiming moral standards not evident in your own behavior.
- Envy. Resentful discontentment toward someone else’s qualities, property, or possessions.
- Slander. False statements, lies, damaging to a person’s reputation.
As leaders, the greatest damage to our testimony among non-believers is our inability to live out our lives in a Christlike fashion. We hypocritically claim a moral standard while bearing malice, being deceitful, envious, or even slandering others.
We need to put our own house in order first. Only then will our testimony to non-believers bring glory to God.
Once he addressed the negative aspects of our behavior, Peter addressed how to live our lives, so our example will be a positive one.
Live Out Our Faith
Peter continued urging the young believers to live holy lives among the non-believers wherever they live and do good works so others will see their example and be drawn to God (1 Peter 2:11-17).
Peter provided four specific instructions:
- Avoid the fleshly desires that war against you (v. 11). This is more than the lustful desires. It includes all the sinful desires of the world.
- Conduct yourselves honorably (v. 12). Not just with believers, but with non-believers, so despite their slanderous accusations against you, everyone will see that Christians are honorable.
- Submit to human authority; obey the law (vv. 13-14). God ordained government, so Christians should obey man’s laws as long as they do not violate God’s law (Acts 4:19).
- Show proper respect to everyone (v. 17). This includes loving the brotherhood of believers, fearing God, and honoring the king.
Peter’s instructions came at a time when Christians were living as strangers in a world that was hostile to the Gospel. Christians were slandered, falsely accused, and in many cases, suffered intense persecution.
In light of this adversarial environment, Peter’s instruction was for Christians to live their lives in a way that made them stand out from the world of non-believers. Through their good deeds, people would ultimately glorify God.
Leaders, it is said that the only view of God most non-believers see is that of Christians. Let’s make sure that what we reflect to the world in our lives is behavior that brings glory to God. In so doing we will fulfill Matthew 5:16, which says, “…let your light shine before men, so that they [non-believers] may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”
Join the Conversation
As always, questions and comments are welcome. Which of Peter’s instructions for leading a good Christian life do you think is most difficult?
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Category: Personal Development | Leader Qualifications
Often times it can seem scary to intersect both faith and practice and seems easier to keep them separated. Yet, God did not call us to live out our faith sometimes, He called us to live out our faith all the time, including when we are in a leadership position. This blog reminds us that we must first live out our Christian lives above anything else.
Allison,
Looking at the faith walk of some of our Christian leaders it seems they believe they can separate faith and practice, but they are only fooling themselves.
Leadership as a Christian carries a heavier weight than leaders without faith. Being a leader alone puts you in a place where more eyes are watching your every move, but more specifically for those who are Christian leaders. It is too often that non-believers see a Christian leader mess up, before they see how they consistently positively carry themselves and their work. But this call to faith and practice goes beyond work too. I feel as Christians we shouldn’t focus as much attention as to how the world sees us, God saves people we don’t, but focus on loving God and loving people. And the world will hopefully see His light through your love for God.
Kelsey,
You are so right – we need to be a light to the world! The example we give of our faith walk should draw people to God not give them an excuse to walk away.
As a leader, you have the responsibility and duty to set yourself as an example to all. This is a challenging position because every move you make, eyes will be on you and if you were to make a mistake, people will think that decreases your credibility as a leader. On top of that, being a Godly Leader means that you not only want to set a good example for others but you also want to be a light of God and showcase to nonbelievers the good works that God has done in your life and can do in theirs. I think the biggest challenge is probably not becoming too consumed with worldly influences that one becomes so materialistic they forget about God altogether.
Emily,
So very true – the greatest difficulty for Christian leaders is to not be consumed by worldly influences that surround us 24/7!
Behavior matters, and the more that leaders live up to their Christian values, the more they can positively influence others. Thanks, Ron.
John,
Well said, “behavior matters.” Its really that simple isn’t it!?