Theology of Credible Leadership - Lesson 12

Dr. John Johnson
Theology of Credible Leadership
Credibility and Character
Lesson Transcription

So let's make sure we're, all together in where we're at and what we're thinking about. We're talking about credibility, which is a really important part of being a leader. And we've said that credibility starts with character. Not that that, again, necessarily means much because are we talking about good character, bad character? Character is I've noted, speaks to essence, and that can be good.   

And, and that can be bad. I think when I think of, of a leader that seems to be inherently flawed, I go back to the Old Testament to Saul, who, who was anointed to be the first king. And yet there seemed to be something in his character that kept him from ever stepping up to be the, to be the leader Israel needed.   

That would then be more defined by David, who also was deeply flawed as we know. But Saul seemed to be particularly so it seemed like he could not make good decisions. There was something of a crack, if you will, something in his essence. So character is a neutral word. But when we think about character from a theological side, when we look through the lens of character, thinking theologically, we see that as with, with everyone.   

Character needs to have a reference point. And that reference point can be as we'll look at in a little bit. It can be secular philosophers, philosophies, can be as we see more and more today, I believe people who make themselves as the reference point of character. But in theology would say the reference point is God and his character, and God and his revelation.   

We put these together and we begin to, to get a sense of what we mean by character. Because when we look at revelation in particular, we see these virtuous. And they don't necessarily repeat themselves, but I believe that they all come together to give us several core words that define character.   

So we've looked, we've looked at godliness, which all would agree is a, is a necessary start point. So when we're looking for a leader with character, we're asking the question, is there a, a godliness, a God likeness, a sacredness, a holiness in the way this person carries themselves? Is there something that reflects this person, spends time with God such that something of God in his character begins to, to fill and in dwell and flow out of this leader?   

That's what we want, especially those in churches. That's what we want. We also have seen that it also has to have a huge piece of love. We don't talk about that a lot as leaders, but you can't miss the fact that thinking theologically, it's a huge reference point.   

It's a key part of the character of a leader. So again, when we think about virtuous, we think of holiness. because this is where it starts. This is a, there has to be a godliness that is seen in a leader that reflects the fact that he spends, she spends, deep time with God, such that something of God gets imparted and fills and then oozes out in terms of their leadership.   

But love is also a core piece. As I've mentioned. We sometimes don't see this, as maybe so imperative in, in a leader, but we can't get away from it because it is so much the character of God. And, and so we need leaders who, in, in, in a sense, let God build this in our character, in our essence.   

Because if we think about it, it's what, it's what the people who follow us need from us, they need to know,  that they're loved. I think that's, I think that's especially true for pastors. People appreciate a lot of leadership skills and qualities, but what they want to know at the end of the day is, but does, but does he love us?   

Does he love this church? Does he love me? Does he love God? Which then I think will reflect itself out when, a pastor's in a hospital and ministering to someone going through great difficulty or in a home or giving counsel or, or in the preaching itself, reflects someone who is sharing even sometimes very difficult and hard sayings because he's so in love with his people.   

It's a core part of character just as, justices and as we've looked at, just as humility is. But I want to look at another character quality we see, and that is integrity. Someone once said that, a leader without integrity, if a leader has no integrity, then nothing else matters. And at the same time, you can also say, say, if a leader has integrity, nothing else matters.   

They're both true. If you don't have integrity, then who cares what you accomplish? If you have integrity, then that's enough. And integrity, again, speaks to completeness, to someone who is straightforward, someone who is dependable. It gets to the heart again, of a person.   

Here’s another character quality that stands out, and that is,  that is a person who is diligent. They may not think of that so much in moral terms, but when you look at a failure of diligence, or let's say laziness at its heart, at its heart, laziness is an immoral approach to life. People who are lazy, slothful tend to be disordered, tend to be careless, tend to be foolish.   

They are leaders who, at the extreme believe in nothing, care for nothing,  who are lazy. At the center it is a character flaw. So I believe God would say a leader of character is a leader that is faithful, diligent, hardworking.   

So theology teaches us what it teaches us, that God is a reference, is the reference point. It teaches us that God has revealed to us, what character, moral excellence, I should say looks like, and gives us these virtues. Theology also, underscores the character is critical to effective leadership.   

A moral character is foundational to a leader's credibility. That it's what gives a leader legitimacy. It gives a leader the lawful right, if you will, to lead. It enables one to exercise power effectively am amid trials and transitions and setbacks and successions.   

We stay with these kind of leaders. Moral character enables a leader to avoid excess. Leaders are tempted to overreach. It just comes with the territory and to overextend and to overestimate themselves. When I go back to overextend, overextend their boundaries, there is this tendency and temptation in leadership to get out of their lanes.   

That's why character is essential. Character is what keeps a leader in his or her lengths. Leaders are ambitious by nature. Character ensures that that ambition is properly wholly, that, its character that enables leader to use power in an appropriate way, and to define, success in an appropriate way.   

Apart from core values and apart from restraints, leaders can eventually implode. So, character is critical. It's critical for another reason. That is, it is critical to the organization's health, the single greatest advantage any organization can achieve.   

I think it was Lencioni who put it this way, and let me say it again. The single greatest advantage any organization see achieve is its organizational health. And this again, begins with the health, with the moral wellbeing of a leader. A leader who is guided by principles, who is immune to attention getting, of seeking to impress people, tending to impose one's will.   

These are the things that impair leadership. Moral character is the, in the best interest of followers. I mean, leaders may sometimes say, well, I'm not sure how important as long as a leader fulfills my desires. But if followers are thinking as they should be, they realize that it is in their very best interest that a leader has moral character.   

That’s why when people are willing to set it aside for other reasons, it will come back to haunt them, because the, the leader will ultimately, without character, moral character, fail them. So moral character, there are a lot of,  great reasons to have moral character as a leader, but it also is essential because it keeps a leader in step with the priorities of God.   

Leaders who consistently manifest the character of holiness, love, justice, integrity, humility. They serve God's purposes,  for which they were summoned,  character. Therefore, and this is to sum it all up, this is the point I want to make, is character's not a sub theme.   

It it is a mandate. It is,  essential character, let's face it, is what gives force to leadership. When the Apostle Paul speaks to leadership qualities, he begins again with character as he does in one Timothy three or Titus one. If one takes the necessary time to study character in leadership, one discovers that most leadership failures had little to do with personality conflicts on exceptional performance or failed expectations.   

The issue was in the end, on principled hearts absent of moral character, you have leaders like Saul. Leaders like Manasseh, Caiaphas, Herod, all were leadership disasters because they were moral failures.   

They lacked the, the gyroscope, if you will, that that helped him stay on course. But when there is character, you have leaders like Joshua, Deborah, Samuel, David, Elijah, and Paul. So finally, when we think about character, the reference point being God, the revelation of character as he gives us, we also find in scripture that theology shows us how character is developed.   

Character formation begins with acknowledging that it is not to be developed by me in my interior. There’s the necessity of God. That is, as I've said before, there is no internal true north, even though a lot of leadership books just talk about it that way.   

I think of Bill George's book, true North, as if one can find it in one's interior. It can't be. Character cannot be calibrated on one's own. There is, we use words like self-mastery. It sounds impressive. Theology would tell us.   

However, it's an illusion. The deeper one penetrates the heart. If we're honest with ourselves. I know for me, the deeper and deeper I get down to the interior of my heart. I don't find a true north. I find Ashley things that disgust me, something that tells me something is deeply flawed within, that there's something in my nature that if I don't, if I don't get it corrected, I'm going to go badly off course.   

So what theology tells us when it comes to character is that if we're going to be leaders of character, it has to begin with a ra, radical heart change. Something that goes beyond ourselves, that goes beyond even, people that I respect. And like David Brooks, who talks about the necessity of redemptive influences in one's life. It sounds all nice, but it's not strong enough, right?   

It’s not that we need redemptive influences. What we need is redemption. What we need is redeemer,  that can do this deep work of transforming the heart, radically transforming the heart. We are,  to use, to go back to, to Brooks, he uses the language of crooked timber. In part, he gets that right.   

We all are crooked temper timber. There are no straight arrows. And in many of the leaders of scripture we read, there was moral failure. There were,  ungodly kings. There were corrupt priests. There were greedy saints, because, as Joe put it, man is born for trouble. Or as Romans three puts it, there is no one who is righteous,  not even one.   

So how do we develop character? Ha has to start with the radical heart change. All the reading of leadership books and all the reading of moral formation,  will only take us so far. This is why character is impossible to build on our own. Why so many workplaces are dysfunctional. Why current books on leadership include titles like leadership, BS and the end of leadership.   

Otherwise without hard change, leaders will keep doing the same,  bad things, staying in the same bad habits, and hang on to the same disordered thoughts. So character, how do we develop it? It's got to start with an interior change, a radical heart change that only the work of Christ can accomplish, but it's also developed as we grow.   

It’s an ongoing work. Character development is a life journey. It's an ongoing holy pursuit. Character development is a daily regimen. It develops,  and involves self-denial. It involves rigorous training, and Paul,  likens it to an athlete.   

First Corinthians chapter nine, it's developing love requires learning how to love as God loves. And it, it includes in developing love, developing the love for people, praying for them, that we might see them as God sees them. It's develop in developing justice. It will require a deep understanding of divine righteousness and the courage to carry it out.   

Developing integrity will require a daily regimen of self-examination of standing before God, acknowledging weaknesses, moving to confession and repentance. If there's any chance of integrity, we have to stop each day and say, God, do this interior check. We have to be willing to open ourselves, to God in every way developing.   

Humility will come only as we have this daily acknowledgement of our insufficiency and, and, and pray for it. That's a risky prayer. But leaders who get leadership understand the, the truth of John 15, five, apart from me, you can do nothing. Or Psalm 1 27, verse two, unless the Lord builds the house, unless the Lord builds this church, this organization, this institution, as the psalmist puts it, they labor in vain.   

So part of humility is simply to recognize God, I, God, I am desperate. I can't do this. I am I am hopeless without you. Something that this has to be. I think at the heart of a leader, every day, one wakes up to acknowledge this developing diligence will demand the discipline of rid oneself, of any signs, of lethargy, of beginning, with this realization that laziness starts at the center.   

So I can be a flurry of activity. I can be always in a hurry, but I can be deeply lazy at the center.   

So how do I develop diligence as a leader? It starts with, again, looking at the deepest part of my interior and asking the question, am I diligent there? Or am I slothful when it comes to spending time with God or learning from God, living with God, praying to God? A lot of people can be very impressive with all of their activity. And yet from a divine standpoint, a theological standpoint, be deeply lethargic in their souls.   

So it is a daily discipline of seeking the power of the spirit. A willingness to learn from God. A willingness to learn from suffering. Character is, is not something that's automatic. It's something that, that starts with redemption. And then it, it continues with this rigorous daily discipline that, that is necessary, because I do believe this, at its very heart, what, what a follower wants in a leader is, is a leader who has character.   

I think it was John Owen who said, the greatest gift a leader can give to his people is his holiness. And I think that's true. I'm, I'm still struggling here with a definition of character because I'm, I'm hearing what you're saying.   

Yeah. Even if we refer to Godly character, people use that just to mean moral excellence. Yeah. And it's, it, what you're saying is that the character needs to be God defined or God centric, character that's in line with God. I don't think there's a word in the English language for it, but that's what you're saying, isn't it?   

That characters that which is in conformity to the revealed qualities or characteristics of God himself, right? Yeah. So in terms of, of the challenge of defining character, it, it was interesting when Garber came out with her book on character, I think it was Joe Epstein or someone in a review of the book, said, it's, and it's a rather large book, said something to the effect, she took three or 400 pages to simply define character.   

That that says something in itself, that we have a hard time defining what we mean by the term. Yeah. And that's why, I I think in a very simplistic way to get to the core definition of character is to say, we're talking about something in its essence. Mm-Hmm.   

Right. I use the illustration. It's like looking at the character of a piece of wood. We're, we're looking at its core. Its fibers, if you will. It’s of its interior. So when we think about the character of a leader, I think in the same way we're talking about what, what is the essence of this person? If we're interviewing someone to be a pastor, we want to know something about their character, right?   

So, but we can only get to that by seeing what is the essence of this person? What if they, and, and that, that gets back to How well they know God, what they believe about God and what they do with the virtue list that God has revealed. And that begins to tell us something about character and, and, and then character will tell us, and why that's important.   

because it'll tell us,  how he'll respond when things go, go wrong, or,  when he's under fire. And the pressure, as, as it always will with pastors increase. So, will you be cool? Will you be calm? Will you be patient? These are all aspects of character or essence, whi which ultimately gets to a person's faith and a and a and then a person's day-to-day discipline.   

Mm-Hmm. So I don't know if that's getting to it, but Would you say that in addition to the demonstration of the virtues, that it's important to have a commitment to the process? That as we do those things daily, as we pray, that the Lord transforms us into what he wants, that we won't have all of the tools that we need to face every situation initially, but that as the Lord transforms us, he gives us the ability, the faith, the understanding to face the things that come along.   

So it's the being committed to the process of transformation, or I guess in a theological term would be sanctification.   

Yeah. Is important, You know, and it, let's go back to,  let's say interviewing a, a future leader. We, in, in a simplistic way, we may ask the question, tell us about being and doing in your life.   

So tell us about what you've done. Tell us about what you want to do, what you dream to do. But when we're talking about character, we're also saying, so tell us about being, tell us who, who you are. Tell us about the, the rigors that you employ to work on being who, who are you becoming? Can you address that? Tell us something of that.   

I, I think that's a great question, right? We, we tend to, when we interview a leader, we want to know from the performative side, what have you done? What have you accomplished? How did your church grow? What do you see as goals and marks of achievement? What are the outcomes you see here? These are all important questions, but I think we sometimes bypass the really more important question then, is tell us about being, tell, tell us when you're working on that part of your life, give us an insight into what that looks like.   

Right? And tell us how, who you've become and who are you becoming. How do then do you handle these kind of situations? That, because we want to know not only what you do, but who you are. So tell us not just what you do, tell us who you are and that, because, and because it should intensely matter.   

I I think we have a deep failure of leadership today, because we have somehow set that aside. And maybe in part we've set it aside because we don't have a moral reference point. So it's hard to bring that question up because we don't agree to the reference point.   

So we're saying to a leader, we're looking for someone with character. Well, we've already said that means nothing because character's a neutral word. If we say we're looking for someone with moral character, again, the problem in our age that is increasingly turned away from God is what does that mean? But at least in the church, we, it shouldn't be a question, right?   

It shouldn't be a question for who we're calling to be, let's say a leader in the church. It, it, it shouldn't be a secondary issue.