Part 2 – The Surrendered Leader

NOTE: If you have not already, I recommend reading Part 1 before reading this article. This is part 2 in a 4-part series.

As mentioned in the Introduction, I am called as a man to be a godly leader, which means I am to be a surrendered leader, a strong leader and a servant leader for the benefit of my wife, my children, my church and my community. The latter two roles of male leadership are contingent on the first. In other words, I must be surrendered before I can be strong, and before I can learn to be a servant leader. The word “surrendered” has to do with my spiritual condition, whether I am surrendered to God in salvation as well as in sanctification. Since the latter should come naturally after the former, this article will deal mainly with the former.

Am I surrendered to God in salvation? Am I born again? Jesus said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Seeing the Kingdom of God is like seeing the forest AND the trees. Until I saw the truth of who God is, and who I was in relation to God, I was blind to what it really means to be a strong leader, and a servant leader. In fact, I was blind to all that is real and all that has any meaning in light of eternity; until I got ahold of the reality of how lost I was, without the saving grace of God upon my life.

I find it interesting that Paul uses the word “quit” in 1 Corinthians 16:13 when he discusses the strength and power of biblical manhood. When I consider the word “quit,” the word “surrender” naturally comes to mind. While this may or may not be related to the context of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 16, there is certainly a principle of surrender at work that must be understood as a foundation for becoming a true man of God.

For decades I lived my life, believing I was a man of God. I prayed a prayer as a young person, and for 31 years I was convinced I had what I needed, that I was seeing the Kingdom of God before me. I wrote off my life-long battles with anger, fear and ungodly appetites as the normal struggles of walking with Christ in a fallen world. In reality, I had not truly surrendered; I had not yet genuinely yielded my flesh, that tendency to advocate for my own needs and wants first.

This concept of self-surrender and self-denial goes against the grain of what is promoted in modern American society. Even today’s American Christians often misinterpret the command, “love your neighbor as yourself” to mean that we must learn to love ourselves before we can effectively love others. The truth is, I have no problem with loving myself, it’s loving God first and loving others more than self that are the struggle. Being a surrendered leader does not begin with loving myself. On the contrary, it is YIELDING my whole self, turning from my sin and all that is me toward Christ IN REPENTANCE AND FAITH that is the first step toward a whole life that is surrendered to Him and seeking Him first, dying daily more and more as I grow into the image of Christ my Lord.

If you are not sure where you stand with God, whether you are born again, please contact me. I would be glad to share with you from the Bible how you can know that you are truly able to “see the Kingdom of God.”

John C. Lawton – John@JohnCLawton.org

Part 3 – The Strong Leader is now available here.