In the upside down kingdom of God:
The wisest theologians know they are fools.
The strongest leaders know they are weak.
The greatest saints know they are sinners.
A limp become the mark of God’s Presence.
A thorn in the flesh becomes the vehicle of strength and power.
Suffering is received as a “grace disguised.”
This is good because God uses the foolish, weak, sinful things of the world (1 Corinthians 1:26-31). First he fills them with His presence, love, grace, wisdom and strength. Then he turns them loose into the world that is . . . to change it into what it is meant to be.
- To nullify the things that are.
- To turn an upside down world right side up.
- To heal the hurts.
- Repair the brokenness.
- And reverse the curse of the fall.
This is the work of leadership.
We are so easily fooled by the great, strong, impressive, charismatic, the good looking. We assume, surely this is the kind of person that God wants to use. And who are we? We are none of those things. What can we do but sit on the sidelines and observe.
Then God comes along and selects the youngest son, a shepherd and anoints him as the future King of Israel (1 Samuel 16).
Then Jesus comes along and calls fisherman and tax-collectors to become followers so they one day may become apostles and prophets of God!
“The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)
It’s an Upside-Down Kingdom we have received. It is a Servant-King to whom we have given our allegiance. Now we are sent out in His Name to work and lead in the same way He did (John 20:21). This stuff is worth pondering and praying through.
Brian Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
