The Loneliness of Leadership:
Statistically, there are fewer leaders today due to many reasons but what those who choose not to lead often fail to realize is this: Those who step up and lead are not perfect. Those who choose to lead are not better than anyone else nor think more of themselves; in fact they often struggle with insecurity and doubt more than you know. Those who lead are often maligned, slandered, and opposed by those who would rather criticize than do the hard work of resolving long standing issues that leaders tackle head on. Those who choose to lead suffer from depression as they often wonder if there efforts are worth it. Many leaders fail to see the fruit of their labor in their own lifetime yet they keep working.
Those who choose the lead care more about others and their calling than they do about themselves. And they often suffer divorce and relational conflict because the majority cannot understand why they sacrifice so much to receive so little. Those who choose to lead are often the first to suffer from political, personal, and spiritual attacks because the devil doesn't come after the complacent. Those who choose to care enough to fulfill the calling on their own heart have smaller bank accounts but have larger dividends paid to them by the lives they impact. Those who step in front of adversity and take the brunt of a punishment of a wrong that was not their own understand that they were made to shield those in their influence.
Those who spend sleepless nights on projects, plans, and praying fervently for change in a world that often rejects them will not be forgotten. Those who love while others hate and withhold harsh words in the face of those who spit anger at them are stronger than we realize. Those who lift up the broken only do so because they know that they too were once lifted up by someone else
In closing, if you know a leader who works fervently, know that you only see a portion of their efforts. In reality, they never stop. So the next time you feel like criticizing the leaders around you; take a moment and consider these words mentioned here. Consider that they care about the mission and people so much that they are willing to endure such hardship not for recognition but for the sake of an outcome that only God and they can see.
Support our leaders! Pray for them and their families! Take a moment and look around you. The things you enjoy currently may have been bought and paid for by a lifetime of personal sacrifice. Let us not destroy our future by attacking those who work to improve it.
God Bless,
Andy Starnes
Bringing Back Brotherhood Ministries