The Leader and His People

AS I APPROACH this sub­ject this morning I am conscious of the fact that I personally fill a position of leadership and that I am speaking in general to an en­tire congregation of leaders, who represent the fields and institutions that constitute this entire movement. And not a few today believe that a large segment of our leadership at the present time will have the privilege and responsibility of leading this people into the Promised Land. What a glorious privilege; what a solemn and sacred re­sponsibility! No other position of leader­ship in state or society can in anywise com­pare, because a call to leadership in this movement is a call for a man or woman to fill the world's greatest need.

One of the greatest needs in all history has been leaders. When God wanted some­thing done He called and depended upon leaders. Sometimes He found them, some­times He did not. I think one of the most deplorable situations depicted in all the Bible is found in the history of Israel as recorded in Ezekiel 22:30: "And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none." In studying the con­text we find that there had come into Je­rusalem almost every wickedness known— idolatry, flagrant violation of God's law, Sabbathbreaking, adultery, profaning of sacred things, and even the shedding of blood. This had caused a great gap—a great breach—between God and the peo­ple. Conditions were so bad God was ready to destroy the people. But before resorting to this extreme measure, He looked for a leader to stand in this breach, to fill this gap. The sad part of it is, He found none.

Through its history God has looked down into this old sin-cursed world calling for men and women to fill a gap as leaders. In Israel's day it was Moses; before Christ it was John the Baptist; in the early church it was Paul; in Reformation times it was Luther, Huss, Jerome, and other men of God. In the early days of this movement it was the Whites, Bates, An­drews, and others. In this day it is Elder Figuhr, his associates in the General Con­ference, and literally thousands of others, including you and me.

When we want leadership in an institu­tion, in a particular industry, in one of our schools, in a conference, a district, a church, et cetera, we begin to look for a particular type of person with very definite characteristics and qualifications—a super person. Every leader here this morning knows exactly what I am talking about. How often the change of leadership in an institution, an industry, a conference, a dis­trict, or a church has changed the trend from that of failure to success! It is esti­mated that 4 per cent of the world's popu­lation, because of highly developed powers, act as guides for the rest of the world. What a solemn responsibility!

Inasmuch as I have referred to some of the great leaders of the Bible along with others, I am taking the position that the leadership in the cause of God today is to compare with that of Bible times, of Refor­mation days, and the early days of this movement. When Moses was instructed by God through Jethro to appoint leaders over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, he said, "Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness"

(Ex. 18:21). Of John the Baptist it is said, "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a wit­ness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe" (John 1:6, 7). The explanation for John's suc­cess is simple, the record says, "I saw, and bare record that this is the son of God" (John 1:34).

When looking for men in the early church to take positions of leadership in an endeavor to lessen the work of the twelve, the instruction was, "Look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business" (Acts 6:3). I think the secret of the apostle Paul's success could be found in two verses: "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God" (1 Cor. 1:18). "For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2).

From these instances could we settle for less in consecration and qualifications as we seek leadership for the cause of God to­day? Surely we want men who "fear God," men full of truth, those that "hate covetousness." They must be "men sent from God" to bear witness of the Light. We must have men filled with "the Holy Ghost and wisdom," men who are determined to know Jesus Christ and Him crucified— those who will bear witness that Christ is the Son of God and Saviour of the world.

This is what God wants today as He calls for leadership in His cause. "The greatest want of the world is the want of men—men who will not be bought or sold, men who in their inmost souls are true and honest, men who do not fear to call sin by its right name, men whose con­science is as true to duty as the needle to the pole, men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall."—Education, p. 57. "What the church needs in these days of peril is an army of workers who, like Paul, have educated themselves for useful­ness, who have a deep experience in the things of God, and who are filled with earnestness and zeal."—The Acts of the Apostles, p. 507.

How true it is that God has not changed! His plan remains the same. His message is the same. His standards have never been lowered; therefore, the need for leaders and a special type of leaders has never lessened, in fact, as we are at the place where time is ending and eternity is beginning, the need is even greater. Surely the char­acteristics and qualifications of leadership in the cause today should be comparable to that of any era in the history of the work of God. After all, that which makes our cause great is not our plan of organi­zation, nor the extent of our territory, it is not our buildings or institutions, nor is it our great resources—it is its godly men and women. Every true leader in God's cause with the foregoing characteristics and qualifications will in this day, as in the past, have an insatiable desire to be a true leader, a success.

To be a successful leader one must have followers—no sheep, no shepherd; no members, no church; no church, no con­ference; no conference, no union confer­ence; no union, no division; no division, no General Conference.

Every winter I like to hold some church officers' councils. I have prepared a chart in the form of a pyramid that I use in my eleven-o'clock service. The foundation of this pyramid is the member, next is the class, then the church; following, as we go upward, is the conference, then the union conference, the division, and at the top, or the peak, is the General Conference. I put everything I have by way of appropriate scriptures, Spirit of Prophecy quotations, et cetera, into an endeavor to help the church see the importance of the individ­ual member in the structure of this organ­ization. It could not be otherwise, and I think it is good to let the people know that the success of this work depends upon the individual members. It is their attitude, their consecration, and their loyal support of the cause that is the determining factor in the success of the movement.

In my presentation I like to point out that the failure of support on the part of even one member, or more so, of one church officer, affects to just that degree the work of the whole denomination. How forcefully the apostle Paul pointed this out in 1 Corinthians 12, as he likened the church to the human body! How clearly he made his point that all could not be the head, the hand, or the foot, but that each one has his place, and each one is de­pendent upon the other. Paul recognizes that the body has to have a head, but that head is also dependent upon the hands, feet, et cetera. And to be certain that we would not misunderstand or overlook his point, he said, "But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him" (verse 18). Then to re-emphasize so that there be no ques­tion about his position, he added, "Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are neces­sary" (verse 22).

How forcibly this was brought home to me upon my first visit to the Danish-Norwegian church in New York following my appointment as president of the Greater New York Conference. It was a cold Sabbath morning with a biting wind. Upon entering the church I found it en­tirely empty—not a person in sight. As I walked slowly across the back of the church, wondering why no one was there yet for Sabbath school, a door opened ahead, of me and out stepped a man. We proceeded toward each other and upon meeting I extended my hand and said, "My name is Bunker." He extended his hand and instead of giving me his name as I ex­pected, he just smiled and said, "Yust the yanitor." I smiled, gripped his hand a lit­tle tighter and again repeated my name; he smiled and again replied, "Yust the yanitor." I never did get his name. After informing me that the Sabbath school had changed time, the "yanitor" went about his duties and I sat down to review my Sabbath school lesson and sermon notes. But for some reason I could not get my mind off the "yanitor." I observed that the church was immaculately clean; it was warm, even though very cold outside. Everything was in readiness for the people to worship there in comfort that Sabbath day. As I reflected, I thought—no janitor, no heat; no heat, no people; no people, no sermon. Before the service that morn­ing I concluded that the "yanitor" was the most important person in my congregation. Every true Christian leader must never forget that his following is made up of rich and poor, bond and free, educated and uneducated, strong and feeble. But it has pleased God to call and place all of these. In other words, a leader is the leader of all the people, not just of a select seg­ment. Paul said, "I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise." This was to a great degree the secret of Paul's success.

One of the first lessons that a leader must learn in order to be a success is that he must have the confidence of his follow­ers. No one can help another until he has gained his confidence. Sermons, counsel, and exhortation are useless without confi­dence. Therefore, a leader should leave no stone unturned to gain the confidence of his constituents. I believe the greatest fac­tor in gaining confidence is that of influ­ence. We want our followers to accept and follow our counsel, our plans, our exhor­tation, and our guidance. Then how care­ful we should be to make sure that our life and conduct is such that they can follow us. Our conversation, our actions, and our relationships to one another should in every respect tend to inspire confidence, to encourage and lift up spiritually.

In speaking to us through His servant, God says, "Every act of our lives affects others for good or evil. Our influence is tending upward or downward; it is felt, acted upon, and to a greater or less degree reproduced by others."—Testimonies, vol. 2, p. 133. Again, "Heaven is watching to see how those occupying positions of influ­ence fulfill their stewardship. The de­mands upon them as stewards are meas­ured by the extent of their influence."— Ibid., vol. 7, p. 282. "Would that you . . . might feel that every step you take may have a lasting and controlling influence upon your own lives and the characters of others."—Ibid., vol. 3, p. 542. Quotations of this type from the Spirit of Prophecy on the subject of influence could be produced a hundredfold.

Let us note briefly some of the principle factors in exerting the right influence and gaining the confidence of our followers. A true leader must not be political. He must not show favoritism, but will treat all of his subordinates in the same way. He must never forget that his subordinates like to see what he can do, not just hear what he knows. To gain respect and confidence there is no substitute for being humble. No one in a position of authority has to be officious. A truly godly leader will be kind and courteous under all circumstances.

In Testimonies to Ministers, page 491, the servant of the Lord points out that no leader in God's cause should feel that he is in a position of "supreme authority." If he does take this position, "He has lost sight of the work of a true leader among God's people. Instead of acting as a wise counselor, he assumes the prerogatives of an exacting ruler. God is dishonored by every such display of authority and self-ex­altation." I like the words of another writer who said, "God is looking for men who are big enough to be small enough to be used of God in a big way."

A leader in this cause must ever bear in mind that his success is absolutely depend­ent upon the support of his co-laborers and his constituents. In other words, their suc­cess is his success. For this reason we should be most careful to never turn a deaf ear to the counsel, observations, and sug­gestions of our fellow workers and good people. Personally, I have always felt that it was a great strength to my work to have both my office door and my ear open to my co-laborers and our church members. Nat­urally, I have had to listen to many petty and uninteresting things. This practice has added many hours to my days and served as a contributing factor to many head­aches. But in terms of support it has paid big dividends. Truly, "we are labourers to­gether with God."

I have thought many times of the phi­losophy of our mutual friend Archa Dart, who says, "It is a lot more fun to win a person than it is to win an argument." For my own personal benefit and the hope that it might help others, I have selected a few choice statements from a "Formula for Personal Progress." I would like to share some of these with you.

Become a sifter and weigher of ideas.

Applaud the contributions of others.

Become one who understands people.

Learn to avoid the poverty of argument.

Learn the rich reward of discussion.

Learn to exchange ideas.

Learn to oppose without giving offense.

Learn to disagree without contradicting.

Learn to welcome concepts different from your own.

No better example of the kind of rela­tionship that should exist between a leader and his people, can be found than that demonstrated in our Lord's great interces­sory prayer as recorded in John 17. This prayer was for His followers, not for the world. Seven different times in referring to His followers He called them those whom "thou hast given me." There probably is no scripture that so sets forth the love of Christ, the mission of Christ, and the bur­den of the Master for His followers as does this prayer.

In showing His great concern for His dis­ciples He said He had given them the Father's words. He had manifested the Fa­ther's name and had kept them in the Fa­ther's name. He couldn't take them with Him, so He prayed that they be kept from the evil of the world. And while here they would be one. In other words, they would be united with Him and united to one an­other. His prayer was that they would do His work while here, then "be with me where I am." That this might be accom­plished, he declared, "And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth" (John 17: 19). Where does the leader in God's cause get his followers? Truly I think we could say, From those whom Thou hast given him. Could we as leaders be content to do less for our followers than our great Leader did for His? Surely we should give our followers the Father's words; we should manifest the Father's name to them. And, above all, we should endeavor to keep them in the Father's name, doing everything in our power to see that finally they be with Him where He is. To this end and for their sakes we should sanctify ourselves. In every phase of life and work the leaders in God's cause should ever be conscious of the great principle and truth that we can­not lead the people unless His presence goes with us.