Ordinary Time

Pause

What makes a leader worthy to follow? Relevance? Intelligence? Vision?

All of that misses the point.

Instead:

Why don’t we follow “people with an ardent desire

to dwell in God's presence,
to listen to God's voice,
to look at God's beauty,
to touch God's incarnate Word
and to taste fully God's infinite goodness?”

quotation from Henri Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus (1989)

Listen

“But you shouldn’t be called Rabbi, because you have one teacher, and all of you are brothers and sisters. Don’t call anybody on earth your father, because you have one Father, who is heavenly. Don’t be called teacher, because Christ is your one teacher. But the one who is greatest among you will be your servant. All who lift themselves up will be brought low. But all who make themselves low will be lifted up.”

Matthew 23:8-12

Think

Sports fans are always shouting, “We’re number one. We’re number one.” They do that because it is human nature to want to be the first, the best, the winner. But in God’s kingdom, things do not work that way. We are equals, like brothers and sisters are equals in the family.

Jesus says: “Christ is your only teacher. God is the giver of your life.” No matter how educated and holy a leader on earth appears to be, we are to follow God first. Humility is important in a spiritual leader. Praise and honor can cause the downfall of a leader who starts out doing God’s will and forgets whom all the praise and honor belong to.

I must never follow a woman or man so closely that I forget to look to God.

Deborah Guy

Pray

Lord, I pray to be the leader you would have me to be. I pray that I follow the leaders you set over me to the extent that they follow you. Amen.

Go

May I see the opportunities to lead and have the humility to follow the leaders who are following the Lord's path.