Thursday, April 21, 2011
3 C's coupled with Ashland's 4 C's
In an article on Christian leadership by William Heisler, three areas are highlighted that all leaders need to exemplify. First, he said that a leader must be committed to a cause. Commitment brings passion and stretches ambition to achieve goals. Heisler used America in constructing a better union through the constitution, winning WW1/WW2, and the space race as examples of commitment that rallied people around the nation’s and its leader’s cause. Then, Heisler focused on the mission of Christ to committing himself to death. Heisler says, “Followers must see your passion and draw from it enthusiasm and confidence…” Hence, why we aspire to take up our cross and follow Jesus as Christians, because He completed His task and calls us to follow in His example. Second, Heisler says every Christian leader must be a person of good Character. Fitting in our discussion of ethics and integrity, Heisler says, “effective Christian leadership is character—who you are when everyone's looking and when no one's looking.” Jesus often spoke against the Pharisees for their hypocrisy, living so holy to the public, while having hearts of stone. We too must be the same inside and out 24-7. He uses Bill Clinton’s fiasco as an example, and shows how his inner self reflected in his exterior actions. Third, is having compassion for the people being led. Heisler discusses the care and concern element of the leader, alongside the trust and response of the people for effective ministry. All put, I find these three C’s great for leadership alongside Ashland’s 4 C’s.
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Roger,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your conclusion on this article that commitment, character, and compassion should be added to our 4 C’s from the seminary to make ourselves good leaders. I think so many times as we struggle with the busyness of our work here at school that we forget about the basics of what we are working toward. We need reminding now and then about the
The author of this article stated that “situational knowledge, skills, and abilities” are also necessary for leadership but they are not enough. It is so important as we become leaders in the church that we concentrate on the qualities shown in Christ. We are called to be striving toward having the image of Christ. We are not doing this if we are not taking on these qualities spoken of in this article. I really appreciate the author’s final comments, “All of us in leadership positions, and most especially those of us who seek to honor God in our work, would be well-advised to take inventory of our commitment to a cause, the content of our character, and the compassion in our hearts. These attributes, when coupled with our skills, will earn us loyal followers, enduring results, and God's ‘well done!’” So true!