When it comes to the private and public life, Christian leadership stands alone. Leadership in the world isn’t so concerned with who you are at home, as long as you get the job done at work and your private life isn’t too crazy, but for Christians it matters a great deal.
There’s one huge danger for us as Christian leaders when it comes to the public and private life, and thankfully, one magnificent solution.
One huge danger: Let the old you creep in when you get home
When you get home from work or study or whatever you’ve been doing, the number one danger for the Christian leader is to do a Homer Simpson: take off your belt and let it all hang out!
“I’m home now so I don’t have to try as hard”
“I’m home now so I get to do what I want”
“I’m home now so I’m the boss and everyone else must do what I say”
But that is not what a real Christian leader does. When we get home, the challenge to be a Christian leader really begins.
Speaking about leaders in the early church the Apostle Paul says to Timothy:
“He must manage his own household well….for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how can he care for God’s church?” 1 Timothy 3:4-5
Our private and public lives are intimately connected. If you can’t be godly at home then you won’t be able to lead in God’s church. If you can’t care for, lead and love the people in your life who are closest to you, then how could you possibly care for those in God’s family.
It’s not just “don’t let the old you creep in when you get home because that’s bad”, it’s also “don’t let the old you creep in when you get home because it will stop you being a genuine Christian leader”
The magnificent solution: The gospel of Jesus makes you a new you all the time
God sees what you and I do in secret. Who we are at home isn’t hidden from Him. He sees our stuff ups and forgives them all. There are no perfect Christian leaders (apart from Jesus Christ) just repentant ones.
Here’s where the gospel really hits home. The cross is the solution to our vacillating, inconsistent Christian leadership. At the cross God not only forgives all our private transgressions, He also makes us new and cloths us with His righteousness. God frees us from the power of sin and makes us new people so that we can live it out all the time. The cross gives us the power to manage our own households, to love, care and lead the ones God has entrusted to us.
So, if you find yourself being a different you at home to the you in public, if the Christian leader you are when others are watching is inconsistent with the leader you are at home, then turn again and receive the guilt freeing, life transforming power of Jesus Christ. Preach that magnificent gospel to yourself every day.
Four tips for being a Christian leader at home
1. Pray on the way home
Whether you’re going home to a family of 10 or its you on your own, the struggle is the same, so pray. The challenge begins when you step through that door home. Or if you’re working at home, when you open the office door.
Here’s my routine on the way home from work. I turn the music off in my car half way home and force myself to pray, “Please Lord help me to love and serve my family now. I’m tired and I’d rather sit on the couch and watch NBA highlights but you’ve called me to love, care for and lead my household so please help me now”
2. Initiate bible reading and prayer at home every day
Allow Jesus to be at the centre of your home life. Let His words dwell richly among you. Read the Bible yourself. Read it with your house mates, or your wife and your kids. Open the bible at breakfast or at dinner. Pray with your household. Use a Bible app – you version, prayer mate, at the table, kids devotions. Whatever it is, just make sure you lead the way. A Christian leader initiates reading the Bible and praying at home.
3. Work hard to make it habit
This stuff doesn’t just happen, it takes regular initiative. I’m not special but thanks to some godly examples and lots of grace, God has given our family the habit of regular prayer and bible times at home. If my wife and I don’t pray and read the Bible together at night then it feels strange. If I don’t read the Bible with my kids each night then they make a point of letting me know “Dad are you forgetting something?”
4. Trust your Father with your home life
Don’t just pray with and for the people in your home. Pray for your own leadership too. If you’re a Christian leader then you are responsible for leading those God has entrusted to your care. But here’s the thing: it’s on us but we can’t actually do it. We need a leader who can. A leader who has power to change people. A leader who even has the power to make dead people alive. He can and will do it, so trust Him. Pray regularly for your leadership at home. Don’t do a Homer Simpson when you get home. Be the Christian leader God has called you to be.
The One Who Leads 