It’s an amazing thing how many people think that leadership is about making people happy. I constantly tell the people around me that their happiness is not in me. If people are looking to you to make them happy, they will one day end up upset, end up disappointed, end up irritated. You will refuse something that they think is a matter of life and death. I said while preaching this sunday that i have learnt to be wary of people who love me too much and Jesus not enough.
Some people love themselves, love you and no one else. That is dangerous and frightening. They will be miserable when you frown, happy when you smile and resentful when you do not scratch their itch. And they are often the most vicious and unpleasant when things don’t work out. Leaders need people around them who are there by choice and commitment not because it makes them feel good. I have learnt to look at people’s hearts and see if they are committed to the cause of Christ or simply want to hang out with the woman of God. When people put you on a pedestal, get a foam cushion because you will fall off, at least try to make it less painful.
The last thing you want is to become slaves of the very people you are meant to lead, to become enslaved to their whims and fancies, to their pet sins that heaven forbid you preach about on threat of departure. This emasculation of leaders works against the cause of the gospel in our increasingly relativistic post-modern society. God grant you courage.