Leadership Lessons From John the BaptistNäide

Lesson 1. Leaders develop character.

As we have seen from yesterday’s reading, John was the greatest of the prophets; thousands of people came to him to get baptized. He had a unique mission to prepare society for the Messiah’s ministry.

However, when asked about himself: “Who are you?” – John replied humbly that he was not “...the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.” (Mark 1:7 KJV), then he says “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30 KJV)

All that speaks of a mature and humble character. It’s impossible to execute the call without a humble character. We need to be people who neither success nor failure can unsettle. Neither praise nor critics. And that’s only possible when we grow in meekness and obedience to God. John understood that God had exalted him and given him authority for the special reason of weightily proclaiming Christ. The more authority God gives to the leader, the brighter Christ should be reflected in the life of such a leader. If the leader uses his position to promote himself, the fate of such a leader will fall short if he doesn’t stop in time.