Leaders are stewards: The question is what are you stewarding and for whom?

 

Most would acknowledge that leaders are stewards. By definition, stewardship means that we look after the interests of someone or something else rather than ourselves. However, what we are stewarding and for whom requires some deep thinking and regular realignment because it is easy to get this wrong. We can inadvertently steward the wrong thing! This is true whether you lead a team or an organization. 

At any one time, if we are not careful, we may be stewarding (and looking after the interests of) ourselves or others and a mission. 

Leaders have the power to set agendas and focus. They also have the opportunity to look out for their interests or the interests of others. They can guard or give away authority and power. In fact, when a leader guards their authority, rather than sharing it, it is a sign that their stewardship is more about them than it is about others. 

The more autonomous a leader is in their decision-making (rather than sharing that decision-making with other competent individuals), the more their stewardship is about their interests, their ego, and their power. Often, they do not see it, but those around them do.

In all of this, ego is the enemy. Ego is about me and my interests, and to the extent that we focus on retaining our power and authority or arranging things for our interests and agenda, we are stewarding ourselves, not a mission or on behalf of an organization and its staff. 

There are four characteristics of those who are true stewards rather than faux stewards.

One: they think mission and something greater than themselves, talk about that mission, and encourage the whole organization to align their work around the accomplishment of that mission. It is not about themselves but about something greater than themselves.

Two: they lead from a place of great humility. This means that they bring others into the decision-making process, don't need to get their own way, admit when they are wrong, are non-defensive, open, and take differing opinions easily. 

Three: They share decision-making, power, and authority in appropriate ways, giving these to other competent people rather than hoarding them for themselves.

Four: They genuinely care about people around them, and their words, interactions, and actions reflect that care. Ego-driven people care about themselves, while humble leaders care about others. 

If you lead others, take a moment to reflect on this issue of stewardship and the four markers of those who are true stewards. All of us can improve, and this is an issue that leaders need to be aware of on a regular basis. 

Putin is the new Stalin

 

I have come to the conclusion, with considerable unhappiness that Putin is the new Stalin and just as President Xi is taking China back to the days of Mao, so Putin is taking Russia back to the days of Stalin. And in both cases, those were dark days where many suffered unjustly. Why do I suggest this. Consider the following which come directly out of Stalin's playbook.

Those who disagreed with Stalin paid for that disagreement with their lives, imprisonment (Siberia) or torture. The same is happening under Putin. He has killed his enemies in Russia and outside of Russia, has imprisoned thousands and even a statement of opposition to the current war can get you fifteen years in ugly Russian prisons. And, like Stalin he seems to care not what the rest of the world thinks.

Putin, like Stalin dresses actions with a veneer of judicial "fairness." Time and again, charges against his political enemies have been decided before a trial which is simply window dressing.

Subordinates would not tell Stalin what they really thought for fear of their jobs or lives. Neither does it seem that Putin's people are willing to speak truthfully with him if it means disagreeing with him.

Stalin was willing to kill people indiscriminately to accomplish his purposes without an ounce of remorse. He starved the Ukraine killing millions, and shot those who got in his way, or that he thought might get in his way. Putin used these kinds of tactics in Chechnya, Syria and now in Ukraine. People's deaths don't bother him. Shelling hospitals and schools and residential areas is a war tactic. Millions of refugees does not phase him. He will do whatever he needs to in order to accomplish his ends. Without apology and without conscience. There is a ruthlessness to both men that defies logic or humanity.

Putin, like Stalin is a liar to the core of his being. Both believe that the more you say something untrue the more the population will embrace the lie. And in many cases that is what happens. It is impossible to believe anything that Putin says and the same was true of Stalin.

Stalin tightly controlled the media in order to ensure that his party line was the one line that was communicated. Putin does the same thing and has essentially shut down any independent media in the country by passing laws that lie about the war or the country or its leaders. Of course the definition of a lie is whatever Putin does not want to hear.

Putin sees himself as a Tsar - one who is all powerful, always has the final say and whom no one can cross. While Stalin would not have thought of himself that way, he cultivated the same result by ruthlessly eliminating any and all rivals. Putin, like Stalin is consumed by his legacy and power.

Both men were and are deeply suspicious of people of faith. Stalin closed the churches and imprisoned or killed pastors. Putin has co-opted the Russian Orthodox Church for his own political purposes and has made the lives of evangelicals very difficult. The Orthodox church has made a Faustian bargain with Putin and benefits monetarily from that bargain (or did till the ruble became worthless). Evangelical Christians who will not make such a bargain are harassed, denied building permits or the ability to minister as they desire.

Both Stalin and Putin are characterized by an utter lack of any sense of righteousness. For them it does not exist. What matters is raw unadulterated power. Period. Anything or anyone that gets in the way of that power or their personal will can be sacrificed at will.

What characterizes both men is the utter disregard of what the world thinks of them. Apart from wanting to be feared, they are willing to engage in war crimes, killings, corrupted judicial proceedings and blunt force to get their way regardless of world opinion. It takes a very cold and ruthless heart to go there but that is what we are dealing with.

Ambition, money, power and ministry

Ministry not only attracts those who have a deep passion for God and the spread of the Gospel but it can also attract those who have personal and selfish ambition, are driven by money or power and who find ministry platforms a convenient means of realizing their ambitions.

Why choose a ministry platform? Because it is relatively easy to hide behind a facade of spirituality and ministry. It is just another platform to use for their own purposes and believers are not always as discerning as they ought to be.

There are signs of those who are more about ambition, money and power than they are about humble service.

World changers
I am always cautious about Christian leaders who are going to "change the world." Now I am a guy who loves great vision and we are praying that God would allow us to impact 100 million people with the gospel in ReachGlobal. But that is going to happen through indigenous movements in specific areas of the world as God works. No one can "change the world." Jesus will when He returns but grandiose claims are often more about the personal ambition of the one making them than they are about Jesus. I can impact corners of the world through the Holy Spirit. I cannot change the world.

Power brokers
I am always cautious about Christian leaders who broker power, are unaccountable to others and who make major ministry decisions by themselves rather than through team. Power is a dangerous thing and does not leave one unscathed. The healthiest leaders surround themselves with accountability through boards, team and live with great personal humility demonstrated through service to others rather than through power. When I don't see that I am very cautious. The more power one exercises autonomously the more dangerous it is to them and to others.

When it becomes about money
I deeply believe in Christian stewardship and live that out. When, however, ministry becomes more about money than anything else, where there is an emphasis on what money can do or when a leader has not used money with integrity beware. I have had a situation recently where I did an online ministry seminar for an individual before I did my due diligence by checking him out on the web. After all, many prominent names were attached to his "ministry."

When I Googled him I found that he was under several federal charges (regarding money) and was in litigation with a number of churches who charge him with defrauding them of half a million dollars. In addition he has a string of unpaid bills. It is a long list of financial issues. Yet his ministry is all about raising one billion dollars for ministry and he advertises himself as one who can help ministry find those dollars. Of course he will not take my content down because he is making money on it.

In another case in a church I am familiar with the theme became more and more about money and the pressure to give went up and up. Eventually the leader left and has since declared bankruptcy. 

Personal ambition, power and money are warning signs to beware because they can hide behind spiritual language and be lived out in the name of ministry. The ministry veneer does not make them OK.

The truth of the matter is that we often allow behaviors in ministry that would never be tolerated in the secular workplace and the sad thing is that those behaviors are often coated with a veneer of spiritual language that others find it hard to press back on. Bad behavior is bad behavior but it is worse behavior when it is coated in a spiritual facade because one is using the Holy to cover the unholy.

We are far too reluctant to confront unholy behavior in ministry settings under the guise of "grace." Grace, however does not allow sinful behavior. Rather it forgives sinful behavior when it has been confronted or acknowledged.

Jesus told us to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Wisdom is about recognizing what is spiritual and what is hiding behind a mask of spirituality. It is also about being aware of our own motivations in ministry because none of us are immune to what can happen when left to ourselves.