Competent leaders deserve and should insist on loyalty and commitment from their team. Read Luke 14:25-35.

During His three years of public ministry Jesus gave Himself wholly to His assignment from God and to His team. He demonstrated His ability, commitment, resourcefulness and intelligence in private settings, to the masses, and to the political and religious leaders of His day. Jesus’ example tended to drive the uncommitted away but attracted the committed. His passion to honor God and His competence in carrying out His assignment gained the trust, respect, loyalty and commitment of His team. Jesus never hesitated to tell His followers to count the costs of following Him because He wanted their all or nothing.

Wise leaders know that before demanding high levels of commitment, they must demonstrate a level of competence. Competence is required to gain the trust and respect of their team. John Maxwell discusses competence in a note in The Maxwell Leadership Bible:

Competence goes beyond words. It’s the leader’s ability to say it, plan it, and do it in such a way that others know you know your business – and know that they want to follow you. Competence must be sought at every organizational level. Incompetence can be tolerated nowhere, John Gardner once wrote, “The society which scorns excellence in plumbing because plumbing is a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.”

Once a leader has demonstrated competence they must identify what it is within their organization that is worthy of their team’s commitment. I personally have found that rather than asking the question, “How do we get commitment?” it is better to ask, “To what or to whom are we committed?” No matter how competent the leader, until their team understands what they are doing that is worthy of commitment it will feel shallow to the team to be asked for commitment. For the Christian leader, when their organization’s goals and outcomes are properly related to God and the organization’s activities honor Him, commitment will make sense to the team.

Jesus said that His team’s love for Him needed to be so great that all other human relationships would pale by comparison. While it is true that only Jesus would qualify for that kind of devotion, leaders can learn from Jesus’ example and should not hesitate to ask their team to count the costs of being on the team so they can chose to get on board or leave for a cause and leader they can commit to wholeheartedly.

 Job 11:13-15 “Yet if you devote your heart to Him and stretch out your hands to Him, If you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent, then you will lift up your face without shame; you will stand firm and without fear.”

Wise leaders willingly develop accountability systems that keep the trust of their team. Read Hosea 10:3-4.

God, through Hosea, declared that the prosperity in Israel had created a situation in Israel in which their leaders became self reliant and ignored the value system He established. The leaders felt they were accountable to no one and they drifted into serious separation from God and the people. As Israel’s leadership became ever more self reliant they made false promises that had lawsuits springing up “like poisonous weeds in a plowed field.” The falsehood of the leaders so totally eroded the people’s confidence in the leadership that they concluded “We have no king…”

God longs to bless and reward obedient leaders. Read Jeremiah 29:1-14.

Jeremiah had warned Judah for decades to repent of their violations of the covenant they had made with God. Eventually God gave Babylon military success against Judah. Babylon invaded Judah three times. Once they simply made Jerusalem and Judah subject to their rule and forced them to pay an annual tribute, once they took several thousand captives back to Babylon including the king and his family, Daniel and others that were the brightest and best Judah had to offer, and during the third invasion they destroyed the city of Jerusalem, mercilessly massacred thousands, and took virtually all the able bodied back to Babylon in chains.

A wise leader trusts God even when their heart is inclined to do something contrary to God’s revealed will. Read Jeremiah 17:5-10.

Jeremiah draws a sharp contrast between those who depend on human strength and those who depend on God. A leader who is detached from God is in danger, but one who trusts Him will have the elements essential for His blessing. Jeremiah makes it clear that leaders cannot look to both human strength and dependence on God as their supreme basis for trust. Leaders will either ultimately put their hope in the promises and power of people, or they will look beyond human capability to the person and promises of God.

A Christian leader can display unbelievable courage when they are sure of God’s assignment. Read Jeremiah 1:5-10.

Jeremiah was God’s prophet to Judah during a time when God was about to discipline the nation. The military and religious leaders were blind to their opposition to God and felt the nation was flourishing, not about to be judged. Jeremiah would deliver messages of judgment to leaders that were hostile to the concept. This would take courage. Even Jeremiah may have faltered except for his unshakeable conviction that he was God’s man for this specific time and place.