Every so often I re-read this and I invariably see practical application
to my life and is a wonderful reminder as well motivator. It was preached
my my pastor in Texas who carries a wonderful mantle of wisdom and
leadership on his life. I'll put it in segments to make it easier to read
but I will say this is an absolutely great read. Often times we find
ourselves at odds with our relationships and there is a lot to be
considered. Enjoy...
Followership 101
By Dr. Ron Hammonds
In life there are leaders and there are followers. Sometimes people are
positioned as leaders and sometimes they are positioned as followers. It
is fundamental that people understand the difference between those
positions. When an individual leads; they will need to stand in
leadership, when they follow; they will need to stand in followership. The
story of the children of Israel coming out of Egypt shows there were more
followers than leaders, and more often in life people are positioned as a
follower rather than that of a leader. There is a need for good followers
to successfully stand in the position of followership in the church, as
well as in our personal lives.
Matthew 26:36-46 focuses on Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane in a time of
his life that exemplifies followership. Through this approaching climatic
time of Christ's life and God's salvation plan, there is a discovery of
three very important elements of followership that I believe are required
of people to allow them to be God pleasing followers in life. In this
difficult time for Jesus, he displayed the elements of obedience,
submission, and loyalty to God the Father in carrying out what was soon to
be required of him at the cross.
What does it mean to be obedient? Is there a difference in being obedient
and that of submission? What does it mean for a follower to be loyal to a
leader? How much loyalty does a follower owe a leader? The answer to these
and other potential questions can be answered once the simple but profound
truth is established that Leaders are responsible to lead, and followers
are responsible to follow. That may sound simple however; it is critical
that there is recognition of the accountability and responsibility
required of these positions. Are you a leader? Are you a follower? You may
not have a definite answer to those two questions. However, after reading
this chapter you should be able to find out whether you are a leader or a
follower, and I will submit to you that you will find you are both a
leader in many areas and a follower in many areas dependent upon your
position in the church or in life.
The followership elements that can be drawn from the example of Jesus in
the Garden of Gethsemane not only applies to the church, but they also
apply to family, to situations of employment, to status in society and to
marriage. They apply to every area of life because the law of God in
leading and following is central to life. Most often in life people will
be positioned as followers, so it is essential that they see what
obedience, submission and loyalty are from the position of followership.
Many times people will submit what followership is, however they offer it
from a leadership standpoint and not from the perspective of those who are
actually required to follow.
Permit me if you will, to establish some definition to the three elements
of followership, thereby allowing for a greater level of understanding of
it through Jesus' example in the Garden of Gethsemane. I believe meanings
are not in words; meanings are in people. If I say the color green,
someone could very easily think of a different color of green than I
intended. So in order to establish a common meaning, a discussion is
required. Can you identify with the husband for example, who made a
statement to his wife in which she then took offense? She then repeated
the statement back to him, and he insists he did not mean it that way.
There is a way to remain godly in these situations. That is to just drop
it, forgive and forget it. Why? Because He really didn't mean it that way.
Continuing to argue will only lead to him further denying he meant it that
way, and her insisting he did mean it that way. Divorces occur over
misunderstandings and often times they are found at the end still
insisting they didn't mean it that way. It is important to be understood
and not to be misunderstood, and recognize meanings are in people and not
in words. So I'll preempt the practical applications of these three
elements in followership by defining their meaning.
Obedience refers to doing what others tell you to do. People will often
find it easy to obey those they like, trust, agree with, and at times
those they are afraid of. Basically people will obey those they want to
obey, and those who they feel they have to obey. However, obedience means
very basically, to do what someone else instructs you to do.
Submission means to yield strength, or decisions to another person or a
leader. Which is different than obeying. Obedience already established
that people often obey those they like, trust, agree with, and even those
they are afraid of or those they want to obey. But it takes submission
to obey someone they dislike, do not entrust their decisions, disagree
with, are not afraid of because they feel stronger than their leader, or
someone they just do not want to obey. Submission is called of followers
even if they know they are right and their leader is wrong. Submitting
when they know their leader is right is only obedience. The test of
submission does not begin until a follower is asked to do something they
do not want to do or feel it is not right to do, until that point they are
only walking in agreement.
Loyalty steps beyond submission, meaning a follower will not complain to
others or create dissention against the leader after the follower has
submitted. How people conduct themselves after submission is a test of
loyalty. It is irrelevant during submission if the follower likes or
dislikes, trusts or distrusts, agrees or disagrees with, or is stronger or
weaker than the leader, but what is relevant to loyalty is how they
conduct themselves in light of those feelings after submission.
Continued in next e-mail...
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