If I believe anything about leadership, it is this. Leadership begins at home.
But just what does that mean?
I believe that it means that the primary place for leadership to be modeled and for it to flourish is in the context of home life. As a husband it is my responsibility to be the Spiritual leader of my home. That is a topic that I know someone will develop much more fully than I will at this point. But suffice it to say that being a leader in this area is unlike any other leadership role.
But there is more leadership to be modeled in the home. The role of father is also unlike any other. Again, this is way too important to cover this briefly. But here is a tidbit. It has been said that the greatest gift a father can give his children is to really love their mother. Here is leadership by example of the highest magnitude.
We are only scratching the surface of the topic of leadership in the home. And this is obviously only a male perspective. But I am posting this to further probe the various aspects of leadership that we need to explore. The role of wife and mother is equal in significance to that of husband and father. Equal, but very different. And that difference and equality is part of the mystery of how we are made as men and women.
Who will be brave and begin to develop this a little further?
I believe a mother’s greatest example of leadership is uplifting her husband. This is especially true of homes with boys…as I have. They need to see that the wife respects her husband and his leadership. That does not mean that she is a doormat. It also does not mean she can not be an example of spiritual leadership as well. Fathers are overwhelmed with the responsibility of working to provide for the family. They often can not do what used to be done (ie. devotions every evening around the supper table….wish we could just eat supper together anymore!!). But when a mother and father support each other, together they lead the home. Recently one of my sons made the comment that so many people his age look to ‘romantic’ movies/shows for their example of what true love is. His response to that was he didn’t need to look at any movie, he just needed to look at his home. His example came from how his mom and dad loved each other….that to me is what true leadership is!!
Score it this way.
Gary and Patty’s Team – 1
The World’s View of Love – 0
In Ephesians 5:18ff, when Paul treats the subject of leadership, the leading that the husband does is taken from the example of Jesus, who gave himself up for the church, His Bride. The command to the husband was not to lead but to love and to put his wife’s best interests ahead of anything else just as Jesus came “not to be served but to server and to give His life a ransom for many”.