Leadership and Influence
Leadership can really be defined by influence. Being a leader, and therefore having influence, means we have the capacity to affect the character, development and behaviour of others.
One of the non-negotiable laws of leadership and influence is that we will reproduce after our own kind. Therefore, who we are internally, the true nature of our heart, is what will ultimately determine what we sow into the lives of others. While leadership may include a title or a role, every believer is called to be an influencer, an Ambassador for Christ.
When we take the path of leadership, at any level, we are making the choice to no longer live life unto ourselves in splendid isolation from the needs of others. Rather, we choose to be poured out as healing, redemptive oil upon the lives of those who have chosen to trust that leadership grace in our lives.
Leadership Responsibility
To take up the responsibility of true leadership is to take up the responsibility of influencing the lives of others. It is to see others empowered to follow Christ more effectively. But we can only lead them on the path that we first have chosen to walk.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:1, Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. People should look at leaders and say with confidence, “That is who I want to be”.
The responsibility of those who carry leadership is to be vessels of purity and truth, and carriers of God’s grace and spiritual authority. Every day we touch the lives of others, regardless of our title, our role, or our calling. But how do we influence others? Is it from a place of healing and redemption? Or are we reproducing from a place of hurt and brokenness?
In order to have an empowered present we must have a fully resolved past. We have all experienced hurts and difficulties in our lives. But as influencers, we are called to live as leaders who are pure in motivation and attitude. Psalm 51:6 tells us that God desires truth in our inward parts. The word truth is the word for transparency. God wants us to be open, fresh, see-through people that carry the fragrance of freedom. The challenge is that we can only do so carrying the marks of a redeemed past, not an open wound. We must be first partakers of that redemptive work of God’s healing grace in order to pour it into the lives of others.
An Incorruptible Heart
Having Influence Without Losing Your Integrity
David McCracken’s book, An Incorruptible Heart, has been written out of a passion to see a generation of leaders with a godly character foundation. David’s desire is that today’s leaders will be able to withstand the weight of individual talents and gifts, as well as the level of authority and power that God desires to flow through them.
The book deals with some of the deeper heart issues of integrity, purity of motivation, intimacy with God, accountability, servanthood, spiritual fatherhood and much more.
“In his inspiring book, An Incorruptible Heart, David McCracken skilfully lays a solid foundation addressing key issues to spiritual success … this is a road worth travelling!”
Marcus D. Lamb
Founder – President, Daystar Television Network, USA
