Redemptive Leadership

redemption: the act, process, or an instance of redeeming; to free from what distresses or harms; to free from captivity by payment of ransom through sacrifice; to extricate from or help to overcome something detrimental; to release; to free from the consequences of sin; to change for the better; to exchange.


The Theory

Leadership is influence in relationship. There are countless theories of leadership, though many are hailing Servant Leadership as the most Biblical. If it is Biblical is it universal? If universal should it not apply to the influence military leaders have in their spheres of influence as well? With so many military ministries (and even secular institutions) now advocating Servant Leadership as the model best describing Christ-like leadership I felt compelled to contemplate what really is being advocated. After two years of academic study focused on this model I have learned that there is not one common, universally accepted definition; the spectrum of understanding when using the term spans from secular presuppositions to those with well-meaning Biblical intentions. However, I have become skeptical that no matter where it is that an individual’s worldview resides in relation to servant leadership theory their understanding of the concept is most certainly incomplete, or at a minimum insufficient. The fundamental issue stems from the failure to disassociate the means of leading from the ends of leadership. Put it another way, the problem resides in the confusion that serving others as a leader (or leading others as a servant) is the culmination, the end state and focus of the essence of leadership. I submit, that there is more based on Jesus’ statement of His primary reason for serving saying, “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life for the redemption of many” (Matt. 20:28, the Greek word lutron is translated as ransom paid to redeem or redemption). Jesus was a Lutron Leader - a Redemptive Leader. I would submit that's exactly what kind of leader we should endeavor to be and it's the exact model I am going to take some time to write about this week. I believe it to be the best model to effectively and adequately capture Christ-like leadership. If you have questions or comments, as always, leave a post and I will be sure to try my best to address them. Lead to Redeem!

The Owner's Manual

"Watch your life and doctrine closely." (1 Tim. 4:16)

A few days ago I wrote of our need to study people, understanding the underlying basis for their decisions.


To do this best you should do it in accordance with the Bible. After all, everything in the Navy is IAW some reference rather it be a technical manual (NSTM), maintenance card (MRC), or operational sequencing system (EOSS, CSOSS, etc.). So, lead IAW BIBLE. While the bookstore is overflowing with leadership books we would do well to remember that the best book on leadership is the Word of God. Study the Bible - no text better describes, defines, and depicts the reality of the human condition. If you want to lead people, you must know people. If you want to know people, you must know the Bible. After all it is the "owner's manual" given to us by the Manufacturer. If something was wrong with my vehicle and I needed to correct it where would I look? What if I wanted to maintain or improve it? The first place I would look would be the owner's manual. (This isn't a great metaphor because the Bible is completely adequate with regard to people.) With a vehicle the company that designed it has put out some basic information on that particular model to inform the owner of the essential and necessary information that the owner should know. The Bible is the Designer's Book for communicating the essential and necessary information to understand the nature of the creation, particularly His greatest creation - men and women. However, unlike an owner's manual for our stuff the Word of God tells us about the Creator as well. With regard to leadership it also describes the model and perfect example of the greatest Leader that ever walked the earth - Jesus. So, while there are biographies and autobiographies of good human leaders - the Bible (the WHOLE Bible - from cover to cover) tells us about Jesus Christ. Read it daily! - "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." (Josh. 1:8)

60 Second PhD in Leadership

This is worth the time.

Little Book of Leadership Powerpoint

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Paul's Laws of Motive

Law: a rule, principle, or fundamental condition regarded as governing the relationship of an element in the structure of something to the other elements therein contained.

Newton may have his three Law's of Motion, but the Apostle Paul has his own Law's of Human Motive that we would do well to study. Here he describes one of them:

14We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. ¹⁵I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. ¹⁶And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. ¹⁸I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. ²⁰Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. ²¹So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²²For in my inner being I delight in God's law; ²³but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. ²⁴What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Rom. 7:14-20)

Do you believe that? That doesn't really help me feel so good about myself. That's not so positive and encouraging. It certainly doesn't help my personal concept of self-esteem and humanistic identity. However, Scripture never discusses these pop-psychology notions. A true picture of human nature is described (in the first person) by Paul. Believe it! It is the truth! It applied to him and it applies to you, me, and the people we lead - it is a law. Leadership is all about people. Great leaders understand human nature - which is to say the indisputable laws that are at work in them, as well as those that govern the people they influence. You must become a law student, in this regard, to become a better leader. Study people, understand what directs them, consider the common conditions at work in the hearts of men.

Here's the rest of the Good News story - the answer to Paul's closing question: "Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Rom. 7: 25) He is able to triumph over the law of sin at work within his people.

Prayer For COWPENS & CAPT Graf

A great leadership tragedy has gripped the interest and attention of the Navy in general and the Surface community specifically in recent days. There is an enormous amount of stir on naval forums, blogs, and the media over the current relief of the COWPENS' Commanding Officer, CAPT Holly Graf, due to "cruelty and mistreatment" of her Officers and crew. Since this blog is mostly dedicated to (Christian) naval leadership I would be remiss to not add my comments. Clearly, CAPT Graf's conduct, attested to by many who have served/known her, is incompatible with the type of leadership expected and normally practiced in the Surface Navy. I believe this is why the outcry within the community has been so extensive and passionate.

So, my thoughts have been on what should be our response? We would do well to recognize that this type of behavior is rooted in a broken heart. Sin (fear, selfish ambition, pride, control, etc.) drives leaders to abuse their position of authority and consequently those that they have been called to lead/serve. Secondly, we must recognize that each of us have within us the capacity for such actions as well. I know that I am capable of far worse things than those that I have read about occurring under CAPT Graf's command. Realize for the regenerate it is the grace of God that restrains the sin that stems "cruelty and mistreatment" of other people. We too are often cruel toward others and mistreat people as we pursue our own agenda and fight to fulfill our own desires (James 4:1-2). Have you ever acted out in anger? Have you spoken cruelly to another person? Have you belittled those you know? Have you ever struggled to maintain control in the midst of fear and ambition-induced stress? I certainly have (and I am a Christian, supposedly sensitive to the promptings of the Spirit and governed by the principles of the Bible!). OK, maybe not as consistently or publicly as CAPT Graf, but the same source of darkness entrenched in her is resident in you and me. Surely, "but for the grace of God go I" is an appropriate response. Don't you see - Holly Graf is you, Holly Graf is me. We all are deserving of being "fired." What if we were to receive what we deserved? What if we were treated according to our actions, the unseen acts committed when no one is watching, and the secret motives of our hearts? You know what I'm talking about - those things that cause you sleepless nights as you ponder them in the still quiet darkness - laying restlessly in bed in the middle of the night - that you have done, which you wish could be undone. We should be so very thankful that God's grace restrains the effects of the Fall and our sinful flesh. We are not treated according to who we are and what we do.

So, CAPT Graf should serve as a momentary mirror giving pause for self-reflection. Our response should be to recognize that she is not beyond the redemption afforded by the Gospel. God uses times of brokenness to humble people and call them to repent and turn to a real and personal relationship with Him. Surely, CAPT Graf's world has came crashing down around her. Formerly, her identity was found in her career - it has been shattered. May she look to the Lord and be re-created anew as her identity becomes rooted in her relationship with the only Thing that is real and lasting. Finally (or, even better, firstly), let us pray. Pray for Holly Graf. Pray for her to be driven to godly repentance. Pray that this event in her life be the sharp needle that penetrates her hardened heart making way for the silken thread of the Gospel to enter. Pray that this temporary tragedy results in THE relationship that provides the experience of eternal life. Also, Pray for CAPT Marin as he assumes command of COWPENS (remember God has appointed him to this position at such a time as this, Rom. 13:1). He has a great challenge ahead of him and will need divine strength, wisdom, compassion, and discernment as he leads the battered Sailors of the Mighty Moo. Pray for the crew of the ship as they recover; that there would remain no bitterness and their faith and respect for the position of "Commanding Officer" and the Wardroom would be re-established and re-affirmed. Pray for those Surface Warfare Officers and Sailors that read about CAPT Graf that they would reflect on their own leadership style; considering how they can improve their own care for those they sail with. Pray that the culture of the surface community would change. That we would become more transparent and honest in how we lead and by what criteria we evaluate those with the potential for further service as leaders in this great Navy. We have case studies to examine groundings, poor INSURVs, safety mishaps, and tactical mistakes in combat. Yet, rarely do we talk specifically about the multitude of firings and causes for reliefs by senior leaders that inundate the cover of Navy Times. The details are kept secret and the perpetrators never give an account. They are simply and quietly sneaked into a cubicle in the basement of the Pentagon or stashed on a staff until eased into retirement. The next generation of leaders need to know what went wrong, why these CO's were removed, and what specifically made their behavior unacceptable. This kind of conversation must occur if we are ever going to change - to improve for our Sailor's sake. It is my prayer that we will become more transparent and in discussing how to lead and where leaders have failed - emerge as a more healthy community - established in leadership attributes that reflect a heart of service, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, joy, peace, faithfulness, self-control, and ultimately love for our followers.

To Serve w/ An Agenda

The secular world has readily adopted Servant Leadership as viable and effective, yet are we not called to something completely different than mere “value based leadership” by taking care of our people. I would assert that any theory of leadership (Servant or otherwise) is insufficient without Christ as the center. I have been pondering a new model of leadership I describe as “Redemptive Leadership” that is aligned with the premise of being flourish-focused (in the Biblical sense of the word; this will be defined and explored) as leaders. There is much hype in Christian and even secular circles of Servant Leadership based on Robert K. Greenleaf’s work culminating in the popular book of the same name. However, I am proposing that Servant Leadership is limited in scope, not fully representative of Christ-centered leading. The Bible describes the mission focus of the Lord stating, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life for the redemption of many” (Matt. 20: 28). Servant Leadership enthusiasts assert that leaders should serve without an intended organizational goal; they are completely determined to simply serve their subordinates without an expected return. Yet, I submit that Christ had an agenda in serving – to redeem His people, restoring them to all that the Father had originally created them for. Redemption is the exchange of one thing for another; Christ traded His life for those that were condemned and helpless to save themselves, and in so doing restored the fallen creation to an intimate relationship with God. I will explore the implications of His redemption on our ability and intent to lead redemptively in the coming days. Questions/comments?

Prime-Mover Maintenance

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring (ultimate cause) of (your) life. Prv. 4:23

Inside most "small boys" (CG/DDG/FFG surface combatants) are gas turbine engines. Deep inside the recesses of the hull, near the keel, in hot engine rooms lie up to seven of these modified aircraft engines. They are the prime movers that make the propellers push the ship through the water and generate all of the required power for the vessel. They are the heart and soul of the ship - without them the ship is but a piece of dormant floating metal - a lifeless barge. Everyday each engine is provided rest and thoroughly washed with fresh water and a specifically designed cleaning solution. They are complex and delicate machines that must be treated with extreme care and constantly maintained if the ship is going to be able to conduct the mission it is designed for.

The heart is the gas turbine engine of the person. It is complex, delicate, and susceptible to wear and the perpetual build-up of dirt and grime (sin) as it is used throughout the day (Jer. 17:9). Daily the heart should be brought down for maintenance and cleansed in the specifically designed cleaning Solution of the Gospel. Daily, let us examine our hearts in light of the Word and confess the sin that stems from it that we may be completely washed, restored as an entirely new thing, improved for the task that the Lord has for us.

This verse is like a bar of soap for the Christian. "If we confess out sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness." (1st Jn. 1: 9)

Generous in love - God, give grace!
Huge in mercy - wipe out my bad record.
Scrub away my guilt,
soak out my sins in your laundry.
I know how bad I've been;
my sins are staring me down.
(Ps. 51:1-3 Message Translation)