Go After The Big Guy

When a ray of sunlight enters the house
through a crack,
it lights up everything inside
and even shows the finest dust in its beam.
So it is with the fear of the Lord,
when it enters a human heart,
it reveals all the fallibility still lurking there.

John Klimakos

The light that shows through the crack is both good and bad.  It brings the ability to see, to work, to guide - light is indeed good.  However, light reveals the dust that has built up in the dark as well.  The dark fights the light.  In spiritual leadership, we find ourselves much like Christ.  As a leader leads well, he becomes the light in a world that naturally tends to chaos.  The chaos will fight this change - it is natural.  As a leader brings in the positive, he will always find those ready to reveal the negative.  As a leader raises the bar and improves the organization, there will be those who wrestle with the change because it exposes weaknesses in them.

I have a really tall friend who hated fighting but everyone always wanted to fight him because he was the Big Guy.  It was like the Fastest Gun of the West always having to be challenged.  They are people who are not in the lead and who, as well, are not good followers.  These people have something to prove that unfortunately they cannot prove and, as a result, they will gun for the leader who raises the bar and brings in the light.  The spotlight of leadership brings attention to the leader and he will most certainly become the focus of some who do not want to be led, to follow or who are not qualified to lead. 

In spiritual leadership we find ourselves much like Christ.  If we bring in quality, spiritual leadership will expose all that is in the Church that is not yet clean.  We must accept this as part of our call and we must not be surprised that it will be difficult at times.  Nonetheless, we must bring in the Light.  As Christ said, "As I have suffered, so shall you."