Leaders should not be selected based on outward appearance
(1 Sam 16:7 NIV) But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
Samuel wanted to choose the next leader of Israel based on outward appearance. God, however, chooses leaders based on their heart.
Leaders must first of all seek after God’s heart.
1 Samuel 13:14 (NIV) But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”
1 Timothy 3:25 (NIV) Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, selfcontrolled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)
A person who wants to be an effective Christian leader must first of all realize that his relationship with God is of utmost importance. A Christian parent cannot hope to lead his child in the right way if he himself is not close to God. Likewise, it is impossible for a Christian husband to assume spiritual leadership if his own relationship with God is not right.
Leaders should be without reproach in all areas of your life
(1 Tim 3:1-4 NIV) Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. {2} Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, {3} not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. {4} He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect.
It is difficult to segregate one’s life. It is difficult to fully respect a leader in one aspect if we cannot respect him in another. If we cannot respect him as a good husband and father, it will be difficult to respect him as a church leader as well.
A person who wants to command the respect of the people he leads should ensure that he has integrity in all aspects of his life. He should ensure that he maintains a higher standard than the rest of the group because those who lead will be judged by a higher standard.
(James 3:1 NIV) Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.