As much as I appreciate the miracle working power of coconut oil when it comes to dry skin and split ends, I am sad to say that saturating the events of last year in coconut, castor, olive, or even tea tree oil will not change them or make them go away.
Regardless of your political identification, we can likely all agree that this last election cycle left us all somewhat worried and disappointed. Regardless of your stance on which lives matter, we can all agree that the death and racial tension that rose like a tide in our Nation this summer was exhausting, and strenuous on interpersonal relationships. There were more dead bodies featured on the evening news than are generally featured in a standard episode of Law & Order.
Most of these events have faded from the news cycle and some have faded from social media, as hashtags and public interests today are fleeting. The fact is however, many of the events of last year have far reaching effects that will be seen and experienced into 2017. I say this not to pull you down from the elation and hopefulness that fill January, but to challenge you to assess where you have been placing your hope.
As Christians, Christ, and Christ alone must be our source of hope. To place our hope in anything less is idolatry. Neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton; neither #BlackLivesMatter nor #BlueLivesMatter; neither coconut oil nor keratin treatments are going to solve the problems that face us nationally as Americans or in our own personal lives.
Thankfully, we serve a God that is never stuck or surprised. There is no human induced precariousness from which He cannot maneuver us to bring forth deliverance. The workings, doings, and decisions of mankind are not a surprise to our maker (Psalm 139:2-4). In the face of crisis and oppression, God is always prepared with a plan. There is always a Gideon, David, or Amos waiting in the wings for God to release their assignment. There is always a Joseph, Daniel, or Noah being prepared to lead, and lead well.
There is always a Samuel or a Jeremiah or an Anna waiting and positioned to hear the voice of the Lord.
As you walk into the fullness of what 2017 is going to be, I encourage you to be prepared to listen and obey the call of God for your life. Do not say that you are too young and do not be afraid of how you’ll be received (Jeremiah 1:4-10). In every place that you find yourself, you have the capacity and opportunity to be the leader that the situation demands. In your own sphere, you may not be the boss or the manager, you may feel like you are completely invisible, or even unnecessary, but in 2017, the Lord is reminding you to lead from wherever you are. No matter your level of education, employment, or ability the Lord is simultaneously preparing and calling you to lead, even if that means leading from behind. Here are five things to consider, as we all venture forth with resolution of leadership:
1. God, not you, determines your eligibility.
When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you mighty warrior (Judges 6:12).” Gideon’s first response to this encounter was to he ask why the calamity in which he and his people had found themselves had happened if the Lord was with him. This question of “why” has an amazing way of blinding us to the miraculous. Gideon couldn’t accept this miracle of the greeting that was given him because he had allowed the unpleasant circumstances around him to say something about the Lord that was not true. In Gideon’s case it was that the Lord was absent. Perhaps when you look around at your life, your current situation echoes back that God has overlooked you, that the Lord is not good, or that His grace is not sufficient. However, none of these things are true. The Lord is with us, and no matter the circumstances in which we find ourselves, we cannot be separated from His love (Romans 8:35-39).
The Lord’s response to Gideon however, is an instruction, not an explanation. Gideon himself, is to be God’s response to the oppression that the nation was experiencing. Unconvinced, the mighty warrior retorts by telling God that he is the weakest in his family and his family is the weakest in their clan. God, again does not respond with explanation, but simply states that He will be with Gideon (Judges 6:1-16).
Like Gideon, we can sometimes count ourselves incapable. Worse than comparison is this tendency to evaluate our capabilities against an unwritten list of requirements that we can never satisfy. We think people who are stronger, more educated, born to other families, or simply are not us to be better equipped for the task. God, however says that the only qualification we need is His say so.
Gideon was literally the weakest of the weak. Gideon was literally enough to be used by God to deliver His people from oppression.
2. You don’t have to wait until you are older (or more accomplished).
The Bible describes Samuel in his early ministry as being before the lord a boy wearing a linen ephod (1 Samuel 2:18). Jewish historians approximate that Samuel was just twelve years old when the Lord called him personally to be His mouthpiece.
Our concern must be in obedience to God, and not in social structures. The Apostle Paul admonished his young protege Timothy not to allow people to look down on him because of his age, but to instead set an example for others in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity (1 Timothy 4:12). Millennials, we can all stand to follow this piece of advice in its fullness.
The time to step out in obedience to God is always now! Perhaps more than previous times in history, the Lord is calling his mouthpieces to arise and speak forth what He has been showing them. If you are in the situation, you may be tempted to respond similar to Gideon, by writing the list of reasons why you cannot go and do what the Lord is saying. Perhaps you are saying that you aren’t well spoken enough, popular enough, or even old enough. If that is the case, I want to remind you of God’s response to Jeremiah. Before you were even formed, you were chosen. The Lord’s word is in your mouth. Do not be afraid of their faces. Do not say you are too young (Jeremiah 1:4-10).
3. A leader will expose an issue by offering a solution.
Joseph didn’t simply dream dreams and sit in prison. He commanded influence and used his gift whenever and wherever it was needed. When it placed him before Pharaoh, Joseph did more than simply interpret the troublesome dreams. The leader offered a solution. This solution proved to be the very breakthrough that Joseph needed. He was promoted to second in command of the land of Egypt and made directly responsible for executing the plan which he proposed.
Joseph’s solution not only spared the nation of Egypt from certain ruin in the face of famine, but it also led to the complete realization of the dreams of Joseph’s boyhood and allowed him to provide for his entire family (Genesis 41-47).
4. Leaders lead from where they are.
Suddenly gaining that amount of responsibility could have proved jarring and burdensome, but Joseph was prepared. He had availed himself to leadership in the various places where he had found himself, growing in and exercising his grace for leadership.
Potiphar saw that the Lord was with Joseph and as a result placed him in charge of all that he owned (Genesis 39:1-6). When he transitioned from being enslaved to being imprisoned, the Lord was still with Joseph and Joseph was still a leader. Now however, instead of managing only the affairs of one household, he was responsible for all of the prisoners and the happenings of the jail (Genesis 39:20-23).
Leadership is influence, and that is exactly what the Lord gave Joseph the ability to do. The presence of God on his life caused people to favor Joseph in a way which they expressed by handing him responsibilities.
Joseph, it seems, made a conscious decision not to allow the circumstances of his life to hinder his leadership. Even while serving as the second in command, eating a meal with Joseph would have been considered an abomination to the people of Egypt (Genesis 43:32). Instead of wallowing, protesting, or starting a movement, Joseph leveraged this knowledge of the Egyptian culture and used it to the advantage of his family when they appeared before Pharaoh. All the land of Goshen was given to the Israelites because Egyptians found shepherds to be detestable (Genesis 46:33-34). It was here, in Goshen, where Israel grew from a family into a nation.
5. Leaders understand the culture, but don’t get caught up in it.
Remember, Jesus ate with tax-collectors, but he never became one. While it is important to know and understand the audiences to which we speak, it is also important to maintain our identities. We cannot expect to reach people where they are if we do not know where they are.
The Apostle Paul is a shining example of understanding the culture of his audience, but never getting swept up into it. He crafted his delivery of the Gospel in a way that addressed the popular beliefs and practices of the people who made up his audience (Acts 17:16-34). Like Paul, we too are commanded to be untainted by the world (James 1:27).
When King Nebuchadnezzar besieged Judah, he brought young men into his service and subjected them to three years of instruction on the language and literature of Babylon. During this time of learning, Daniel and the three Hebrew boys made a decision not to defile themselves by eating food from the King’s table. They opted instead to consume only vegetables and water.
God blessed these young men by endowing them with skills, knowledge, and wisdom of all kinds. To Daniel, the Lord also gave the ability to interpret dreams. Each of these men was eventually promoted to a prominent position of authority within the Kingdom of Babylon. As a result of their unwavering commitment to living holy lives, Nebuchadnezzar proclaims that anyone who speaks against the God of the Hebrew boys will be killed and their property destroyed (Daniel 1-3). This is influence at work. This is a level of leadership available to us all.
By simply living their lives, these men were able to bring God glory on a national scale. The Lord was also able to display His power by delivering Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace and Daniel from the lion’s den (Daniel 6). These leaders were willing to stand their ground and hold onto their convictions to the very point of their lives. They stood up for what was right according to the Lord in the face of huge opposition. Like Joseph they were the enslaved minority and like Samuel they were young. Yet, we know that Daniel influenced not only King Nebuchadnezzar, but also at least two other kings.
Although considered great within the pages of scripture, none of the men discussed were great within the contexts of their lives. They were ordinary until God called them, and even then, most were still oppressed. Each however, made the determination to manage the influence that God had given them and to obey the instructions which the Lord spoke to them.
In 2017, I am challenging you and myself to do the same. Whether from the confines of your cubicle, the umpteenth row at church, or in the routine of parenting, we can each choose leadership. We can also each choose to set our hope and our hearts on the Christ who is above and not on the turmoil swirling around us.
Leadership is not a destination and it is not a position. Leadership is a consistent opportunity to do the work of the Lord and to inspire others to follow Him. We don’t have to stand on platforms or soapboxes. We don’t have to have it all it together. We simply have to decide to lead and to walk toward Christlikeness. As we do, the leadership will blossom, grow, and succeed. We can each, daily, exercise the influence that the Lord has given us to effect change in our nation, generation, and the world. Young adults, consider this your invitation to rise to higher heights and to swim at deeper depths.
In 2017 it is time to arise and to shine. In 2017 it is time to hope and to pray. In 2017 it is time to hear and obey. Always, it is time to lead from the very positions in which we have found ourselves.
AUTHOR: CRYSTAL BROCKINGTON
Crystal Brockington is a Young Adult Leader at Christ Church and a student at Dallas Baptist University (Online!). She enjoys writing, singing, and playing with other people’s children. Follow her shenanigans on social media @CTBrockington
