The Leadership Vocation as Formation

Introduction

Paul writes in his letter to the Colossians: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”

You are all here because you are leaders. Someone somewhere saw in you some sort of leadership characteristic. They — and you — might not even be able to define it. I know it’s been a challenge for me. In many ways, I have been thinking about leadership for the better part of ten years. I remember being in your shoes: A campus leader who felt an innate calling to help other students in some way. For me, that looked like serving as a student ministry leader. For you, that looks like serving as a resident assistant. Whatever it was, I felt the call to lead.

So what does that even mean? What does it mean to lead? Before we get to a definition of leadership, I want to spend a couple of minutes breaking down what I mean by calling. How many of you have heard of the term ‘vocation’? What does it mean? Vocation comes from the Latin word ‘vocare’ meaning to call. So while jobs come and go, calling will pretty much stay the same throughout your life — especially if we are talking about things like ‘leadership’ or ‘service.’ When I talk about leadership, first and foremost I am talking about a vocation, a calling. Like I said a moment ago, it’s this inner dialogue that says, “I don’t quite know how to put my finger on it, but I know that I am called to lead.”

Now, some of you might be thinking right off the bat: “That’s not me; I am not called to lead.” This is when it’s important to get on the same page about our definition of leadership, then. I want to put a definition in front of you that I hope is helpful: Leadership is the self-emptying service shaped by Christ for others’ flourishing. And if that’s our definition of leadership, then that probably includes each of you. This is a definition that is different than a cultural definition of leadership which might value influence, control, and success. I would posit that this definition — this self-emptying service shaped by Christ for others’ flourishing — is rightside-up leadership. And all of you are called to this. Someone — be it a pastor, parent, or on-campus leader — saw in you this definition and made that known to you. It’s why you’re an RA. It’s why you’re a go-to student here on campus.

So leadership is less of a set of principles or ideals or characteristics and more of a calling. A vocation. A vocation of self-emptying. A vocation of sacrifice. A vocation of being spiritually formed by Christ. And that’s really what I want to talk with you about tonight. You are called to be a leader. And your vocation as a leader is one way that you are being formed. In other words, I want you to see your leadership as a means to an end. The temptation is to see leadership as the end; in fact, the end-all-be-all. “If I can just make it to this leadership position, I will have accomplished everything and everything will fall into place.” There’s nothing wrong with godly ambition or goals, but leadership is not defined by a position or a title, but a posture and a tool. Leadership is taking the posture of a servant, emptying oneself to glorify God. That’s how it’s a tool as well: We leverage our leadership to glorify God in ourselves, our churches, our families, and our communities.

So leadership, which you are all doing, is a calling. I will argue that all of you are called by God to lead here at HLGU. And if vocation is a call from God, then how we respond shapes our inner life—either toward surrender and trust or toward resistance and self-reliance. If we surrender to the calling of God on our lives, and if we trust him in his sovereignty to call us and give us a vocation — specifically the vocation to lead — then we will see our vocation as spiritual formation.

Vocation is a Context for Spiritual Formation

If you are in Christ, you have been made into a new creation. That’s a promise of Scripture. But you are also continuing to be made new every day. That’s the process of sanctification, being made holy. We can also call that spiritual formation, the process of the Holy Spirit working within you to make you more like Jesus everyday. We need to consider two pitfalls of this spiritual formation. One is what I call the monastery mistake and one is called the marketplace mistake. With monastery thinking, one can only be made holy — we can only be spiritually formed — by retreating from others into a monastic lifestyle and separation. In other words, real life and work and relationships are distractions from holiness. With the marketplace mistake, one sees that success, busyness, or achievement is formation. In other words, doing more for God equals becoming more like God.

We see these pitfalls and acknowledge. In different seasons of our lives, we may be more tempted in one way or the other.

Vocation Reveals and Refines

Vocation is for Others but Forms Us

Christ is the Pattern