A For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach.
B He must not be arrogant
C or quick-tempered
D or a drunkard
E or violent
F or greedy for gain,
(Titus 1:7 ESV)
Again, I want to give you the whole verse so you can get the context, but today we’re going to talk about one aspect of this very important verse. Remember that this is God’s litmus test for the Christian leader. These are the things that a Christian leader is because God has made him this way. These are the things that we are to look for when we go to choose a Christian leader, because these are the things that God says a leader is.
A leader isn’t violent. I think that goes without saying, but obviously not, because God felt He had to say that leaders shouldn’t be violent.
So why shouldn’t leaders be violent? There are plenty of violent leaders in the world, men and women who have no more regard for human life than they do for a flea’s. These people lead through fear and violence, breaking the will of their followers. Their followers don’t follow out of the leaders influence, but for fear that if they don’t harm will befall them and their family. This is not the Christian way. A Christian leads from love and through that love service.
A violent person thinks themselves better than other people, and they will brutalize them to show that. They have no regard for people and see them as only resources. They are to serve the leader. The Christian leader knows they are know better than anyone else, and consider themselves beneath everyone else. They will serve them and love them to show that. They see people as the creation of God, His image-bearers, and what Christ died for. People have infinite worth for that reason.
Thats why a Christian leader is not to be violent. A violent leader and a Christian leader see the world and the people in it completely differently. A violent person by definition cannot be a Christian Leader.
Christian Leadership Principle: A Christian leader is not violent and does not lead out of fear, but leads out of love.
Here’s a set of verses to meditate on today: Psalm 17
Prayer: Father, keep all violence from me, and keep me from all violence. Let me be satisfied in Your love, and not violence and retribution. In Jesus’ Name, amen.
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