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Christian Leadership
making advance moves, must first come to him for permission to do
that which they feel should be done. Such a man is in a dangerous
position. He has lost sight of the work of a true leader among God’s
people. Instead of acting as a wise counselor, he assumes the preroga-
tives of an exacting ruler. God is dishonored by every such display of
authority and self-exaltation. No man standing in his own strength is
ever to be mind and judgment for another man whom the Lord is using
in His work. No one is to lay down man-made rules and regulations to
govern arbitrarily his fellow laborers who have a living experience in
the truth.—
Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 491
.
Leadership is not Lordship—No man is ever to set himself up as
a ruler, as a Lord over his fellowmen, to act out his natural impulses.
No one man’s voice and influence should ever be allowed to become a
controlling power....
I am instructed by the Lord to say that position never gives a man
grace or makes him righteous. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of
wisdom.” Some men entrusted with positions of responsibility entertain
the idea that position is for the aggrandizement of self.—
Medical
Ministry, 164, 165
.
Not to Judge or Rule—It is dangerous work to invest men with
authority to judge and rule their fellow men. Not to you nor to any
other man has been given power to control the actions of God’s people,
and the effort to do this must be no longer continued.... God has been
dishonored by the education that has been given to the churches in
Southern California in looking to one man as conscience and judgment
for them. God has never authorized any man to exercise a ruling power
over his fellow-workers; and those who have allowed a dictatorial
spirit to come into their official work need to experience the converting
power of God upon their hearts. They have placed man where God
should be.—
Letter 290, 1907
, pp. 2, 3 (August 29, 1907).
The Conference President and Authority—It is a mistake for
a conference to select as president one who considers that his office
places unlimited power in his hands. The Lord has instructed me to tell
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you that you do not know when to use authority, and when to refrain
from using it unwisely. You have much to learn before you can do the
work of a conference president intelligently. You are to bear in mind
that in the cause of God there is a chief Director, whose power and
wisdom is above that of human minds.