by Dr. Richard Blackaby
Leadership is a journey. It is a process in which we grow personally over time as we interact with various people and we tackle a wide array of challenges. We won’t be the same when our journey is done, and hopefully neither will those we led. Of course, leadership is not necessary in periods of tranquility. Rather, leaders are called for when times, organizations, or people, have problems they cannot overcome on their own. Leadership can be messy. It can also be painful.
Of course, few people fully realize this when they initially embark on their leadership journey. There is a certain idealism connected with leading others, especially if we are entering a leadership role because we believe God called us into it. If God called us, will He not enable us to be successful? If we are doing the right thing, won’t people be grateful and appreciative of our efforts? If we demonstrate godly character and we seek to glorify Christ with our efforts, won’t we experience success and satisfaction?
Then reality strikes! To our bewilderment, people attack us for having tried to help them. Our motives are questioned. Lesser leaders strive to usurp our influence and challenge our authority. And perhaps worst of all, people we loved and trusted let us down.
I have spent countless hours listening to people as they shared their heart-wrenching stories. People who gave everything they had to their organization, only to be callously shown the door. People who, despite all of their sacrifices and successes, were bitterly opposed and maligned by the very people they were trying to help. This is the side of leadership that we don’t like to think about, especially when we assume a new position. We tend to focus on the possibilities while hoping there aren’t many problems.
If there were someone who might have thought he had a bye from opposition and betrayal, it would have been the apostle Paul. Paul was so filled with the Spirit that he could heal the sick and expel demons. He was a church planter extraordinaire. He had mentored a cadre of young, talented church leaders and missionaries and he was the greatest theologian of his day. Yet as he approached the height of his influence and success, Paul was plagued with petty, jealous, spiteful people.
Languishing in a Roman prison, the grizzled apostle wrote to his protégé Timothy: “Be diligent to come to me quickly; for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica—Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry. And Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas when you come—and the books, especially the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works. You must beware of him, for he greatly resisted our words. At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them” (2 Timothy 4:9-16).
After his dramatic encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus, Paul spent the remainder of his life following God’s will and investing in people. He poured his life out on behalf of others. Yet though Paul endured countless hardships and suffering, few experiences could have been any more painful to him than having people he had invested in, forsake him. Demas was one of those people. He had previously been a friend and companion of Paul’s (Col. 4:14; Philemon 24). Yet at a time when Paul was in prison and needing friends to stand with him, Demas had forsaken him, departing for Thessalonica. Apparently he had “loved this present world” more than he had cared for Paul, or the Lord’s work (2 Tim. 4:10). It would seem that the allure of identifying with the famous apostle had worn thin as Paul had remained confined to jail. So Demas abandoned his friend and set off looking for more enjoyable company.
However, Demas was not the only one to disappoint Paul. At Paul’s first defense in court, while defending his life, everyone had abandoned him (16). We don’t know who Paul was referring to. But apparently there were other friends and colleagues who had failed to stand with Paul in his hour of need. Paul doesn’t accuse them of doing so out of a love for the world, as was the case with Demas. More than likely it was out of good, old-fashioned fear. Identifying closely with the embattled apostle could have led to imprisonment or persecution. Despite all that Paul had sacrificed and endured for his friends, when a crisis came, Paul’s friends had been unwilling to risk anything for him.
There was a second group of people functioning in Paul’s leadership world. These were the ones who adamantly and shamelessly opposed him. Alexander the coppersmith did much harm to Paul’s ministry (Acts 19:33; 1 Tim. 1:20). The aged apostle went so far as to warn young Timothy to avoid such people. Paul, a man who fearlessly confronted crowds of angry mobs and who debated with the erudite philosophers of Athens? It seems that there are some people so set to resist the work of God’s servants that nothing can seemingly win them over or divert their hostility.
The question that inevitably arises is this: When we are trying so hard to serve our Lord and to lead with integrity, why does God allow people to forsake us or to brazenly hinder our work? If God is for us, why doesn’t he muzzle our critics (or worse!)? It may be comforting for us to know that even the mighty apostle Paul was not exempt from critics and fair weather supporters. Having such people in our life does not indicate we are out of God’s will. It might simply mean we have some exalted company that has likewise shared in similar trials.
But there was a third category of persons in Paul’s life. Those were his beloved friends. Few words strike a chord in our hearts as much as Paul’s simple phrase: “Only Luke is with me” (2 Timothy 4:11). Oh to have one or two Lukes in our life and ministry! What a blessing when you know there is at least one person who will always be there when you need him! Then there was Timothy. He had been on an assignment to care for churches in Paul’s absence. But when Paul was in need, he knew he could write Timothy and his young colleague would catch the next ship to join him. Apparently winter was coming and Paul needed his cloak. It is somehow pitiful to think that the great apostle was so destitute after his service for Christ that he needed his associate to hurriedly join him so he had something warm to wear in winter. Conversely, how delightful to know that Paul had people who would travel across the known world just to minister to him in such a practical way. Paul also had men such as Tychicus in his life who would readily do whatever needed to be done. At times we can overlook the dear friends God has placed in our life out of our frustration at those who have not proven themselves to be trustworthy.
Then there was Mark, who most certainly must have been John mark (Acts 12:12; 13:5, 13; 15:36-39). Here was a man who had abandoned Paul in an earlier time, but who had been reconciled and subsequently become a loyal and helpful colleague. Just as time had revealed certain people to be disloyal or shallow, so time had also disclosed others to be trustworthy companions. Such revelations will occur over the course of our leadership journey.
Throughout your leadership, you will more than likely deal with all three categories of people. Some will show great promise initially, but will disappoint you over time. Others will stubbornly oppose you and seek to thwart you regardless of what you do to be reconciled or to address their concerns. And then there are those who, over time, will be God’s instrument of blessing in your life. They will make your journey pleasant and will bring laughter into your life.
Each of us is in different places in our leadership pilgrimage. But we all can take heart from the apostle Paul. Spiritual leadership is not for the timid or fainthearted! There will be challenges and heartaches. People will disappoint us. Some will oppose us. But, in the end, we do not lead because of them, anyway. We serve because of our divine calling. Our Lord never promised an easy road. He did commit to always go with us and never forsake us, whatever path we might be on.
May the Lord bless you with many Lukes and Marks along your life’s journey, and may you lean upon His grace and strength when you have to deal with the others!