FOLLOW THE LEADERdisqualify the person from further advancement in the kingdom
of God, for “...the Lord detests all the proud of heart” (Prov.
16:5). These are strong and searching words! Nothing aggravates
God more than conceit, the sin that aims at setting the self upon a
throne, making of God a secondary figure. That very sin changed
the anointed cherub into the foul fiend of hell.^4The first battlefield for every spiritual leader is the inner battle over the
throne-room of the heart. That’s always the last prideful stronghold to
fall! The great question is: “Who will supremely reign there – Christ or self ?”
Psychotherapist Sheldon Kopp noted the universal primacy of this inner
struggle when he wrote: “All the significant battles are waged within self.”^5
Tragically, self oftentimes wins the “battle of the heart” in the life of the
leader. The result is always the same – leadership tainted with ego and
tarnished by selfishness.
The philosopher Plato stated: “The first and best victory is to conquer self.”
But the only problem with his philosophical analysis of the human
condition is that self cannot conquer self! Pride will never willfully
surrender first place. Self-seeking will never step down from the throne.
Ego will never capitulate to another. Selfishness will never serve others.
No! Self cannot conquer self. Only Christ can conquer self and He does so
through crucifixion. The Apostle Paul expressed it this way through his
own experience of dying to self:
“I have been crucifi ed with Christ and I no longer live, but
Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by
faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself
for me” (Gal 2:20).Jesus turned leadership upside-down – or rather right side up! Sin had
inverted leadership and made it self-serving. Jesus exalted leadership
by causing it to take the lowest position! He made the route to leadership
greatness the exact opposite of the world’s route. He taught His disciples
whom He was mentoring for future spiritual leadership:
“...whoever wants to become great among you must be
your servant, and whoever wants to be fi rst must be your
slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served,
but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mtt.
20:26-28).