Here’s part 2 from the Band of Brothers related topics we are talking about.

“The best leaders always lead the charge and got just as banged up as the grunts.”

OK so many of you, leaders, know that this sounds right but does it make sense?

Some of the leaders that might come to mind for you could be:

  • Brett Favre, you either love him or hate him, but you got to respect him!
  • Yoda.  Yes, the Master Jedi was a but kicker when it came to carvin up the baddies.
  • Maximus Decimus Meridius.  Definitely not one to let his men take a sword thrust for him whether it was leading the Roman army or a bunch of rag tagged gladiators.
  • How about Dave Ramsey?  Here’s a guy who is a millionaire and he still won’t use a credit card!
  • OK for you pacifists out there how about Gandhi.  Lead by example to the end.  Of Course would not have worked for me I like to eat too much:)
  • Oh, and we cannot forget Mother Theresa.  Probably did more work for the needy in a week than most of us will do in a lifetime.

The point here is out of all these leaders all of them practiced what they taught.  It is living out, in front of your followers, what you believe.  To sum it up in a word it is called INTEGRITY.

The church is a place where we need leaders filled up with this God awing sense of integrity.  Our leaders need to be elbow deep in their ministries serving with their folks not just giving orders.  This is where the rubber meets the road and leaders worth their salt start to stand out.  Leaders with integrity don’t change rules to suite their needs they follow them relentlessly setting the example.  Because these rules are the things the leader believes in.

I have had the honor in working for some guys with high integrity.  And I believe that at Oak Leaf we have leaders with some of this God awing Integrity.  Your Lead Pastor is one of them.

Integrity doesn’t make someone a good leader but you can’t be a leader worth following if you don’t have it.