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The Bible says in Romans 10:17 that Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So what do you speak to your followers, is it your word or the word of God? Is it wisdom or words that will crush their Spirit? And how do you speak to them, the reason your followers do what they do is because they have been reproducing and replicating what they have been listening to. If you say they are good for nothing, they will actually proove to you that they won’t amount so much in life. If you motivate them; there won’t be limit to what they can achieve. Do you focus on their strengths with your words? You must note this as a leader. So therefore follower ultimately becomes a product of what he has been listening to overtime.
When you speak as a leader do you impact grace? What do people receive when you speak? Are your words word of encouragement or a word that could make them feel like life is not worth living? We can represent Christ from the way we speak and from the kind of words that comes out of our mouth. It determines if people will come close to you or not. Jesus built up His disciples for 3 and half years with words and nothing else. No wonder they could turn the world upside down with the same word that was given to them. Apostle Peter at a point challenged the authority of the land. He said “whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than God, you judge. For we cannot but speak of the things which we have seen and handled of the word of life.” What does this mean?
This word of Christ became flesh, it became so real and vivid that they didn’t just hear they also felt it, they experienced it, they saw it perform wonders, saw it as something that could enthrone and dethrone, it was the very life and they couldn’t keep it. No wonder when they got to the beautiful gate they had a word that was much more valuable than gold and silver. And when they gave it to the lame man, he jumped on his feet and began to praise God. Prophet Jeremiah said your word is like a fire shut up in my bones that I can’t keep to myself. What you produce, and how you produce what you produce is directly proportional to the kind of words you have digested and retained.
Oh how powerful this word can be.
Get the word, the very word, it is both a weapon of mass destruction and a weapon for peace, it puts a man in command, each time this word comes forth, it either settles a man or unsettles a man. Whichever fruit it produces it will be for your own good. It is to shift your mind and make it tilt towards God and have the very life of Christ.
We have been charged from the Holy Scripture that the words we speak should be seasoned with grace, words that edify and the only instrument to accomplish this task is the tongue. The tongue is a powerful instrument to speak the word, if not tamed can destroy a destiny and when its controlled it can equally build a people, an organization, and a nation.
If your followers cannot live a Holy life it is because you haven’t spoken enough about holiness, if they cannot exercise faith it is because you haven’t been speaking about faith. You cannot give what you don’t have, you cannot show expertise on a road you have not followed before. Wisdom requires that you should be courteous. Similarly it is more easier to speak what you have experienced than speaking about what you just know or read about, in whichever area of their life they have failed it is because you the leader has failed woefully. Your failure becomes their failure, your weakness becomes their weakness. Where you are heading to will also be their destination. When a student is perfectly trained he becomes like his master. And I will add to this; when a perfect master trains a student who is willing and ready to learn perfectly, with the perfect words he becomes just as perfect as his master or even better.
Let us examine John6:67-69.
“Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
I would like to use this analogy to drive home this particular point here. What you speak as a leader is like a sieve, the good followers pass through the sieve holes, this means that they apply the word, they meditate on it, they receive it with meekness but the bad followers are like the chaffs that hang on the sieve finding it difficult to pass through, it means they are not useful, they are thrown away. This set of followers resist and deflect the word vehemently so much so that they cannot profit anybody including themselves. They are casted out.
What you speak as a leader can serve as a sieve used for separating what I call “chaff followers” from the good ones. The word you speak as a leader ultimately determines who follow you or who leaves you. A follower may choose to see your word as a treasure or may see your word as horror or hate speech. Whichever ways he or she decides to see it, it doesn’t affect the integrity of that word.
A similar scenario occurred when Jesus spoke to His followers and the bad ones abandoned Him and left. But when He turned to the twelve He asked them ;why haven’t you gone? And peters reply was amazing. See what he said to whom shall we go? What does this mean? It implies loyalty. We are loyal to you, there is no better place outside of you, there is no life without you, peter understood that working out of God’s word would mean heading for self destruction and the reason why they decided to stay with Christ is because “you have the words of eternal life” this means that there was a kind of word Jesus was speaking to them.
They were not loyal because of their masters eloquence or oratory skills. The words carry power. It gives them light, it gave them life. It had the capacity to produce not just immediate results but perpetual results. Peter understood that this same words can set captives free, break chains and liberate a sinner and console the heavy hearted. Peter also concluded that statement in verse 69 by saying besides “you are Christ the Son of the living God.” Will it not be foolishness to abandon the very messiah for something else? Would you abandon Christ because the truth is hurting you? He is the Son of a living God not a dead god. Death is waiting for you if you choose to leave the son of the living for the princes and rulers of this world and of this age which the same Jesus had judged and condemned for eternal damnation.
If you choose to follow Christ, you will be seated with Him in heavenly places far above principalities and powers. Peter understood this. Jesus said the words that I speak to you are Spirit and they are life every other word profits nothing. There is no efficacy in other words outside mine. Now do not forget that apostle peter also mentioned eternal life. He understood that the word had the ability to secure their future, they were sure that they would not be doomed if they follow Him not just follow but most importantly, their eternal life is guaranteed.
What kind of word do you speak as a leader? What kind of word have you chosen to listen to as a follower? Very important.
Would you rather not stay with the one whose word can lead a man to eternal life? Don’t follow the crowd to go away, choose to stay with Christ, cherish His word. Let it penetrate every fiber of your being. Remain in Christ with Him and your victory is guaranteed.
I pray that would be our experience in Jesus’ name. Amen.
[Centre for New Dimension Leadership]
