Do Leaders Begat Leaders?

Ever since (hilariously, in my opinion) being nominated as a Finalist for 'Most Inspiring Leadership Blog' at the Christian New Media Awards, I've been thinking and grappling with this concept of 'Leadership', particularly as it has been baptised/stolen/capitulated-to/adopted/understood in the Church. I will blog in longer form soon, I hope, about some of the problems I think that our culture (it isn't a theology, becuase it is often a-theological, in my opinion) of leadership breeds and facilitates. For now, though, in light of my recent review of Barnabas Piper's superb "The Pastor's Kid: Finding your Own Faith and Identity", I felt this required sharing:

"Like father, like son, right? Dad leads the church; I lead the youth group. Mom leads the women's ministry; I lead a small group. It is so easy to look at the progeny of the pastor and assume they are ready to slide into roles of leadership. And if a PK is anything like me, he will feel a sort of right to those roles; he will adopt the expectation as reality. And we would both be wrong. It is foolish for you to assume I am ready to lead and more foolish for me to deserve to do so"

Barnabas Piper, The Pastor's Kid, (David C Cook, Colorado Springs, 2014), p. 41 

[Kindle Edition: Loc. 300]

This is a challenge to those of us who, in some form, continue to cling to the notion/Doctrine/idea of the Divine Right of Kings.

Just because of who our father or mother is, does not dictate who we will be. That is a powerful challenge to everyone who lives with their birth parents - even as it is especially sobering to Christians engaged in similar ministry to their parents.

Fundamentally, Barnabas makes two powerful points. Firstly is this notion that "I am ready to lead". This is a poisonous lie. Leadership is not about character, gifting, placement or anything else. It is solely about God's timing, placement, and nudging. We cannot assume leadership as a result of relationship any more than we can assume leadership based on inheritance, handover, or our own design. Leadership is not something we inherit or get, rather something we stumble into in God's sovereign plan.

Secondly, this idea that any of us deserve leadership. Leadership of any kind is more than any mere human can do. More than anyone who loves Jesus should aspire to. None of us deserve leadership. None of us get something for nothing - all of us are bought and paid for. At the heart of Christianity is the idea that out of our worthlessness is celebrate an eternal value - not something we earn, but something we are given.

We are never worthy of leadership.

None of us ever deserve leadership.

This thing that we call leadership is not a right, it is a privilege - it is something beyond our skills and outside our plans.

But I don't know what I'm talking about. My father was a lay leader. My mother a local political leader. Leadership doesn't run in the family - I'm hoping I can learn something from their work ethic.

You are a product of your parents - you are not your parent, their hope, or their dreams.

Leaders do not begat leaders.

But what do you think?