There is a difference between a leader and a tour guide. A tour guide’s job is to show people what they want to see. A tour guide will take people where they want to go. The guide will explain all the questions they have and make sure they arrive safely back home where they started. A leader’s job is very different.

A leader’s job is to show people what they need to see.
These sights are not always welcomed and are not always desired. Jesus had to command His disciples in John 4:35 to look for “The fields are already ripe for harvest.” People do not see what they need to see naturally. Someone must reveal to them what matters. However, as people see what they need to see they are able to become what there were designed to become.

A leader’s job is to take people where they need to go.
Some of the places people need to go are not always where they want to go. No kid wants to go to the dentist, but if the parent is a good leader they will take the child there anyway. A leader’s job consists of taking people to the places where God can develop them and use them to accomplish His mission. These places are not always attractive, but are monumental in the development of God’s plan.

A leader’s job is to tell people what they need to hear.
One of the ways a person can qualify themselves as a disciple is by demonstrating their ability and desire to hear what they don’t want to hear. Proverbs 9:8 says, So don’t bother correcting mockers; they will only hate you. But correct the wise, and they will love you. A leader will never make the impact they are intended to make unless they are willing to speak the truth people would rather avoid.

A leader’s job is to take people to a place they have never been.
A tour by definition indicates that you will eventually arrive back where you started. However, leading is about taking people past the point of no return into a new level of living. This process requires embracing risk and trusting God.

Today’s Challenge: Realize that before you can lead you have to follow. Are you willing to hear, see, go, and change beyond what is comfortable and familiar? Realize that you are also called to be a leader in God’s Kingdom. There are those around you who God wants you to lead towards Him for salvation and there are those God wants you to lead in service for His Kingdom.