A Leader Needs a Positive Attitude
Scripture Focus...
Romans 1:1, 14-16(NIV).
1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God—
14 I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. 15 That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
Romans is a letter from Paul to the Christian believers in Rome. Paul
is writing from Corinth. At the time of the writing he is preparing for three
important moves in the near future. The Emperor (Claudius) has expelled many of
the Jews and Jewish Christians from Rome. However, not all left Rome. After the death of
Claudius many returned to Rome to now find the Church run by Gentile
Christians. It was inevitable that there would be tension. Paul was moving west
from Greece toward Spain. There were 4 goals in writing this letter: (1) to ask
for support for his work in Spain; (2) to heal the tensions between Jewish and
Gentile Christians; (3) to ask for prayers for his journey to Jerusalem; and
finally (4) to resolve any misunderstandings about his view of the Gospel.
Paul begins this letter by establishing who he is as a
servant of Jesus Christ. A closer translation of “servant” would be “slave”
noting that Paul was honored to be a slave for Christ. Before Paul is a
preacher or an apostle, he was a servant. He was bound to Christ. Paul becomes
more useful for spreading the Gospel because of this servant attitude.
In a world then (as today) concerned about honor and shame,
Paul clearly states that he is not ashamed of the Gospel and his passion and
purpose for spreading it throughout the known world. The message of the Gospel
is for all people.
Note how Paul describes his servant attitude throughout
verses 14 to 16. In verse 14 Paul describes the debt or obligation he owes to
the people. Verse 15 shows his readiness and eagerness. Just as in the past
several posts I described passion and purpose, Paul in Verse 15 gives himself
passionately to message of God by choice. His enthusiasm came in response to
God’s grace. Paul was a despised minority within a despised minority. His
communicating of the message of the Gospel brought God’s power to save
everyone.
The strongest leaders are led by consistency and
authenticity and as such they are led by values, beliefs, and convictions. We
need to take on the servant positive attitude (slave) for Christ. Consider
Rome. Your “Rome” may be work or school or another group. Like Paul we need to
be bold, confident, and fearless in our faith so that we are ready to share the
Gospel. Like Paul we need to communicate with purpose, passion, substance, and
confidence to expand the God’s Kingdom.
Talk About It - Nicole C. Mullen
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