It is an extraordinary thing what the God of the universe has done on our behalf. It is written all over the Bible and experienced by millions upon millions through the millennia. Jesus illustrated this reality in Matthew 18 when he told a parable (or story) of a middle manager (MM), his boss, and a subordinate of his own. What I want to point out, in the context of this blog, is the toxicity of this middle manager.
Truly toxic leadership always ends badly. This is a type of leadership distinguished by a lack of humility to see and respond to their own failings. Sure, there are "grey" leaders who might be too harsh or somewhere along the line of narcisissm, but they respond to confrontation with thoughtfulness and a willingness to work on their leadership skills. But toxic leadership does not possess this humility.
This is Good Friday. It is called "good" for a good reason. Because of the resurrection of Jesus for the rescue of mankind. But have you ever considered what brought on the darkness of this day that leads to that day? Toxic leadership!
In this second look at the book of James, we will consider the center of toxic leadership. As was noted in part one of this series, much teaching in leadership circles looks at the outward behavior of the leader as the standard. But that isn't the standard for Christians.
The toxic leader will be threatened by the slightest show of strength from subordinates. This was the story of the new king of Egypt in the time following the death of Joseph.
The words Jesus gives to the crowds are hard words, but particularly hard for leaders in their cultural context. What would Jesus do?
There are those leaders who are simply bad. They are toxic to their core and they reap destruction in the workplace. But, there are leaders who begin well and end badly.
King Solomon was maybe the wisest king of all time, How did it all end and what does it teach leaders today?
Our distrust of God is what drives our trust in ourselves. We, in practice, believe that we can make better decisions, control situations better, and get the job done better than the LORD, even if we would never admit that. So too the Israelite leaders—priests and kings and counselors—thought they knew better than the LORD when Zechariah spoke around 500 B.C.
Sixteen-year old Uzziah ascended to the leadership of Judah after his father’s demise and reigned righteously for much of his 52 year rule. However, his arrogance led to his ruin.