The world tells us leaders are the men with the biggest platforms, the loudest voices, or the most influence. Jesus tells us something entirely different.
Before He ever told His disciples to lead, He called them to follow.
That means your success as a leader is not measured by how many people follow you. It's measured by how faithfully you follow Him.
Too many men are carrying the weight of trying to build a name for themselves while neglecting the One they claim to represent. We worry about saying the right thing, making the right decision, or leaving the right legacy, but forget that God has never asked us to control the outcome. He's asked us to be faithful.
The truth is, you are already leading someone.
Your wife is watching.
Your children are watching.
Your friends are watching.
Your coworkers are watching.
Even the people who don't know Christ are watching how you respond to success, failure, temptation, pressure, and pain.
The question isn't whether you're leading.
The question is where you're leading people.
If your eyes are fixed on Christ, you'll never fail as a leader because you'll always be pointing people toward the One who never fails. That doesn't mean you'll never make mistakes. It doesn't mean you'll never stumble. It doesn't mean every decision will work out the way you hoped. It means your direction remains true because your eyes remain fixed on Jesus.
That's what it means to be an AXEbearer.
An AXEbearer doesn't carry an axe because it looks impressive. He carries it because there is hard work that needs to be done.
He clears a path through confusion so others can see truth.
He cuts away compromise before it spreads through his family.
He breaks down barriers that keep people from Christ.
He shoulders burdens that weaker men avoid.
He stands between danger and those God has entrusted to his care.
He doesn't wait for someone else to step up.
He becomes the man God is calling him to be because he understands that someone else is depending on his obedience.
An AXEbearer doesn't lead from the front because he craves recognition.
He leads because he's walking so closely behind Jesus that others can safely follow his footsteps.
That's the kind of man our homes need.
That's the kind of man our churches need.
That's the kind of man our communities need.
That's the kind of man this generation desperately needs.
So stop asking if you're qualified.
Stop waiting until you feel ready.
Stop believing the lie that someone else will do it.
Pick up your cross.
Carry the burden.
Clear the path.
Hold the line.
And follow Jesus so faithfully that everyone watching your life can see exactly where the path leads.
Because you cannot fail as a leader when you're faithfully following the greatest Leader who has ever lived.
PRACTICAL APPLICATION
Choose one person your life currently influences. Instead of asking how to impress or control them, identify one way you can follow Jesus more faithfully in front of them this week. Lead through obedience, service, integrity, and consistency rather than through image.
REFLECTION
If someone followed my example this week, would my life actually lead them closer to Jesus?