All leaders are obviously human and make mistakes. If we put them on a pedestal when they fall off we will be disappointed. In saying that, it is a high calling to be a Church leader and the privilege of being so means there are higher expectations and rightly so.
In John’s day there was a particular church leader who had been giving him great concern and now he calls him out. It is helpful to us all in that what John sees we should all see and give a wide-berth to such leadership and to call it out as John does.
“I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us. So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.” (3 John 9-10)
Here are 5 things to look out for.
The Diotrophes leader:-
- Loves to be number one. They love to have the authority over people. They love to be in charge. They love to dominate. There is a huge difference between being gifted and willing and loving the position. Good leaders love Jesus more than they love their position and it is obvious that they do.
- Gossips. They spread rumours about their own leader (John) and even the community they lead. They seem to love the politics of situations. They come alive with information.
- Is egocentric. They refuse to see any other point of view other than their own. They refuse to welcome into their circle others who will not say YES to their ideas.
- Is an enforcer. They create rules in order to create the culture that they want to build which is centred on their own opinion. “I did it my way” is their theme song.
- Is a narcissist. They lead through the tactic of divide and conquer. They create fear of separation/isolation with their victims in order to control them.
We are thankful that the Bible teaches against such leadership, highlights them and warns us all to run away from such bad leadership.
Missions Paul 