Leaders, there is always someone looking out for you.
I instruct you in the way of wisdom and
lead you along straight paths.
- Proverbs 4:11 (NIV)
On one of my international trips, our flight could not reach its destination and landed in Houston, Texas, due to a technical failure. So, I started searching for another flight to reach my destination. I ran like crazy to every airline counter to find an alternative.
Fast forward a few years. I was preaching in a church in São Paulo, Brazil, and was questioned by a brother asking if I was the one at the Huston airport on that specific date. I responded yes! He said he looked at me the whole time from afar since he was in another area blocked by a glass wall and could not reach and talk to me.
As a preacher in Cuba shared in a sermon, a neighbor approached him one day and asked: "Where do you and your family go every Sunday?" The pastor replied, "We go to church, and why are you asking? He replied, "I see you leave the house through my window every Sunday." That day the title of the message was: "There is always someone at the window looking at you."
Leaders need to be always attentive since they have the task of leading and being an example. Consider Paul's advice to Titus: "Personally become a pattern of good works. In teaching, show integrity and reverence." (Titus 2:7) See also Paul advising Timothy: "Now a servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome, but be gentle toward all, able to teach, patient." (2 Timothy 2:24)
Leaders, we need to be careful as someone is always looking at us. This isn't a reason to be anxious or fearful that we will be subject to the scrutiny of others. Rather, it's a challenge to live and lead with integrity. As we take up this challenge, we can do so confidently because God readily supplies us with everything we need to live lives of integrity.
Antonio Mendes
Church and Ministry Leadership Consultant
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