Grrrrrrrr....

In my 27ish years of life I would say that I have probably met and worked with more people than most people who are in their 40’s.  Working in the ministry and in mission’s leads you to places you would never think and introduces you to people that you would never imagine meeting.  Most of the people are nothing short of awesome, however, you sometimes meet those people who make you go Grrrrrrrrr.  No person in this world makes me go Grrrrrrrrrrr more than a false leader. 

You might be asking yourself, “Self, what is a false leader?”  Well, let me just tell you what the Meredith Cleveland definition of a false leader is.  A false leader is a leader who leads people, but leads them in the wrong direction.  Who are leading?Whether it be a small child who convinces all the kids in their cabin to have a pillow fight after being told not to or it is a teenager who leads peers to bullying another person or it is an adult who claims to be a good leader, but their example is not worthy of following, not matter the case, it makes me go Grrrrrrrrr.

Why does it cause me to go Grrrrrrr?  It causes me to do this because I know the “leader” is better than that.  Clearly they have shown that they can be a leader because they have shown a group of people that they are worthy of being followed.  However, they are leading them in the wrong direction.  I know that the “leader” is better than that.  If they were to get on the right track they possibly could change the world in a good way!  The problem is that the false leaders think they are doing a good thing.  They do not think that they are wrong or that they are leading people astray.  Well let me just give all you people out in the world of GLAM a nice little Public Service Announcement:  You’re wrong!  Whether you are leading a group of 1,000 or just 1 person, you are wrong!  [End of announcement]

Now, you might be thinking to yourself, “Self, (cause everyone totally addresses themselves as self!) wow, Meredith is being super harsh and judgmental today!”  I honestly can say to you that I am not meaning to be.  I simply feel the urgency to aware people of one thing; if you are not working with God, you are working against God.   Did you catch that?  Let me say it again…If you are not working with God, you are working against God.  In other words if you are not leading people towards God, you are leading people away from God.

Jesus states this fact VERY clearly in Matthew 12:30 when He says, “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.”

I don’t know about you, but the last person on this earth I want to be against is God.

 Whose way are you leading toward?The moral of this blog is not to condemn those, but to allow you the opportunity to think about your life.  Who are leading?  What direction are you leading them in?  Are you working with God or against God? These are some tough questions to ask yourself, but it’s worth the pain of soul searching to come out on God’s side. 

I want to end with one of my favorite quotes on leadership.  Take a minute and truly think about it.  You might not consider yourself a leader, but you more than likely are leading someone whether you realize it or not.  What direction are you leading them?

 "A leader leads by example, whether he intends to or not."