Reverence in Leadership


Proverbs tells us that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. This type of fear is not being scared, or fearful of what will happen, nor is it distrust or terror of God. Rather, it is reverence and awe that fuels our worship and faith.

Why is this so important in church leadership? It is all about Who we lead others to!

Reverence is the understanding of the wonder and majesty of our incredible God, who transcends time and space, and who is bigger than the entire universe He created, yet, He personally knows and loves us with deeper and more love than we could ever comprehend. We need to keep this on the front burner of our mindset as we lead and manage His Church. Reverence to God is how we are to live, lead, disciple and teach the people God brings us! If not we, are being reverent only to ourselves, ideas and goals, keeping Him out of the loop of our lives and church. This is a prime factor for why many churches are in decline. There is no leading to the incredible green pasture of our Lord, just wallowing in the past, pride, apathy and infighting.

Read leading is directing others to a destination, what is yours? Is it to be on the path that Christ has laid out? Is it moving others in the love and care and learning on that journey of faith? If not, what are you doing?

In the Old Testament, the stipulation of this ‘fear’ was put to the Jews so they follow God and stick to the Covenant. The Covenant, we have now is grace; the stipulation is that we accept it by faith. The growth of our fear (awe) is the response with gratitude to His Majesty.  Thus, reverence will enable us to take the incredible knowledge of His Majesty, and applying it to our lives first, so we will walk with confidence in our Lord, and as we lead operate with respect to Him in our teaching and administration, and to the others around us whom He knows and loves.

Reverence leads to real worship and effectual leadership because we can acknowledge whom God is, and respond!

This is the only way we can lead biblically and effectually, to surrender our will to Christ as LORD! As His created being, saved by His grace from a destiny we created and deserved, we have an obligation to give Him all of our honor, all our praise, and all our adoration. This is the reason for the primary purpose of our saved lives–to give God the glory that is rightly due Him.

Why must we? Because He is the Holy, Sovereign, the Creator (Duet. 7:21; Neh. 4:14; Psalm 48:1; 86:10; 95:3; 97:2; 145:3; Dan. 9:4; 1 Cor. 13:12; Heb. 12:28,29)!

Too many Christian leaders have neglected the basics of the faith, replacing it with new teachings and trends, or neglect good teaching all together. They forget who God is, and who we are in Christ. If we do not know who God is and what our call and responsibilities are, then how are we to grow in our faith, in maturity, and in character, not to mention in leading others in the direction of God’s call? We can’t!