https://youtu.be/Iy28E0ZdfGU

What do you think of when you hear the word leadership? I’ve been thinking a great deal about leadership, and what it means for the role I have leading others where I work, and in a larger context, what leadership means more broadly in our society. For some, the notion of leadership conjures up the image of a strong and powerful person–someone who takes charge, commands a room, effectively barks out instructions and/or knows what to do in tough situations. Certainly, not all leaders are cut from the same cloth or act in ways similar to what was just described.

What is the image that John the Baptist assigns to Jesus—the one who would die for us and take away our sins: a fierce lion, a soaring hawk, an old wise owl? No, none of those. Instead, he shares the image of a gentile lamb. What an interesting contrast! The teachings of our God are not always what we expect. Unlike other rulers, our Lord didn’t wear a crown, didn’t spend most of his time with other leaders and didn’t travel like most.

Dear God, thank you for sending us your Son and for using him to help challenge our understanding of the world. Through the Lamb we learn about true leadership, unconditional love and sacrifice. Amen.

Ryan Anderson, BS ’97, MS ’05, Former LCM Board President 

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

-John 1:29