Obedience is not truly tested when we agree with the expectations placed upon us; it is revealed when we willingly submit to authority even if it goes against our desires. But this also means leadership is only proven when we’re willing to make decisions others don’t naturally agree with. In fact, our leadership is shaped through our ability to tolerate this resistance.
Of course, it’s easy to comply with things we already want to do. And leadership likewise appears easy when we’re simply giving people what they want. But just as our submission is only tested when we disagree; our leadership is only tested when we make decisions others resist. And this means leadership requires the courage to be unpopular.
For instance, we’re not leading when we simply give our wife and kids everything they want. Life can certainly be easier in many respects when we do, but it’s a failure of leadership to merely reflect their desires in our decisions. True leadership requires us to guide them toward what is right even when they don’t like it and give us grief.
We can see this in the life of Christ who was okay with people being upset with him and even walking away from the hard truth he taught. To be sure, he wasn’t simply trying to be antagonistic or to otherwise throw his power around. But he was also not willing to compromise what was true and good to merely win the approval of others.
In the same way we must grow in our ability to tolerate resistance. While we listen and seek to understand the other, we accept the weight of our responsibility to make the hard and unpopular decisions.
In the end, the strength of leadership is forged in resistance and the courage to stand firm on our convictions rather than merely seeking the approval of others.
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