Examining the Ground

As we examine the ground upon which our lives are built, we may well discover that the foundations are not as stable as we imagined. We can discover that our sense of personal worth and significance are drawn from other areas, rather than God's desire for our lives. For example, we may find that we have built our lives upon our ministry; that our sense of identity and value comes from our ministry. As a result, we will seek to protect our ministry and to enhance our public profile, giving the impression that our ministry is successful and fruitful. We will draw strength when others recognise and compliment our ministry, and take personal offence even at criticisms of our work and achievements. Because our ministry is the source of our self-worth, we will work hard at maintaining a "˜successful' ministry and let other areas of our lives slip in order to build on this inappropriate foundation. We will tend to use people in order to grow our ministry and disregard them when they cease to be of value to us. We will tend to become resentful and jealous of other people's achievements, and careful to ensure that no one who works for us will have a more significant ministry than ourselves. We will tend to keep others dependent upon us, instead of releasing them to achieve their full potential in Christ. If our ministry fails, for example, through ill-health, then our whole sense of self-value will collapse, leaving us bitter and resentful.

A Biblical example of someone that had right foundations was John the Baptist. He had a successful ministry with many people turning to repentance after walking 20-30 kilometres into the wilderness to hear him. However, John's life was not built upon the success of his ministry. His sense of personal worth and significance came from doing God's will. There came a time in his ministry when many of his followers left him and started to follow Jesus. Here he could have become bitter or poisoned the minds of his followers against Jesus. Instead, because his life was founded on God's will he was able to say, "He must become greater; I must become less." (John 3:25-30).

A further example of a life built on insecure foundations is one built on the affirmation of others: where our sense of identity and personal worth comes primarily from the praise, acceptance and approval of a number of people. This will lead to decisions being made in order to win the praise and approval of the friends, rather than in obedience to the principles and priorities of the Father. Also, we will have a deep sense of inner conflict whenever God calls us to invest in an area of which our friends would disapprove. Rehoboam is an example of someone that had built his life on this foundation. When he was appointed to be king, his subjects asked that he ease the burden of tax and labour that Solomon had placed upon them (1 Kings 12:1-14). In making the decision he rejected the sound advice of the older, experienced counsellors and followed the advice of friends that he had grown up with. The approval of his peers mattered more than making a right decision. Pontius Pilate is another example of a person that cared more for other people's opinions than doing what was right. When faced with the choice of releasing Jesus or Barabbas, he chose to please the crowds instead of freeing Jesus (Mark 15:9-15).

These are just two examples of inappropriate foundations upon which we can build our lives as leaders. Other examples can be based upon:

• Our reputation: our identity is based on others seeing us as successful, whether this is seen as having a large ministry, an influential position or being talked about. Decisions are made by choosing the path that will achieve a more influential status.
• Our possessions: our identity is based on having physical status symbols such as a good home, an expensive car or fashionable clothes. The decisions will be influenced by what will provide the best financial or material reward.
• Our family: our identity is based on family tradition or family culture. Where the decisions are based on pleasing the parents, spouse or children.
• Pleasure:  our identity is based upon how we feel. Our decision-making process is heavily influenced by which choices will be "fun" or "exciting".

Leaders can have a variety of leadership styles which are related to their personalities. For example, some people are naturally task-related (they prefer to initiate and accomplish a variety of projects), whereas others may be people-related (where prefer to build relationships with people). These styles are a reflection of the giftings and abilities that God has given to us. For example, the Apostle Paul could be seen as being task-related, whereas Barnabas was, perhaps, more people-related. While these natural giftings and abilities are a reflection of who we are, they should never be the foundation of our decision-making. Our choices and motivation should always be built upon the secure foundation of doing the Father's will.

Most of us would agree that doing the will of the Father is the most important priority in our lives. However, if we take a close look at our lives, and examine the motivation of our decision-making,  we would find that there are many areas where the will of God takes second place. The values and motivations that we claim drive our lives are not the ones that are truly in place. Also, we may find that the foundations of our decision-making change depending on the circumstances and pressures that we are facing. If we contrast our lives with Jesus' decision-making process, we will find that he consistently chose to go God's way at every decision that he had to face, despite facing hardships, difficulties, and personal sacrifice.