We need to get more people interested in positioning themselves to serve the will of God upon the earth and receive kingdom authority to function. The primary message of Jesus was “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”, which is not the same thing as saying “stop sinning, it is time to die and go to heaven”. We know this because of the many parables of Jesus that focused on the kingdom. They were not primarily about dying and waking up in heaven. Let us consider the Parable of the Talents (Luke 19: 11 – 27). The nobleman engaged his subjects in business and then gave them authority over cities upon success. 

The Parable of the Talents is not about dying and going to heaven, but about how we use our work to fulfil our earthly callings. How faithfulness in little will qualify us to be entrusted with even more responsibilities. The person who had done well in business was rewarded and given authority over cities. This means that their influence expands from trade and commerce and into governance as well. We cannot interpret this authority granted in Luke 19:17 as just spiritual, but must see it as some kind of governmental authority over those cities. God holds the power and authority over cities and can give it to whosoever He wants. 

Authority over cities and nations are available in God, but it is only granted to those ready to serve at that level. You can receive the authority over a city or a nation, either within a part of their economy or governance. We need to remind ourselves often that the only area of reality upon which human beings can exercise any authority is upon the earth. We cannot take up responsibility and watch the heavens, for example. God has the power over the nations, and he has some plans for the nations as well, what is missing are the stewards that are ready to receive the kingdom authority to function effectively on earth.

At what exact point does a problem cease to be a problem? The point at which our understanding of it is more than our ignorance about it. This is a very important principle to keep to heart. Our problem-solving approach must be defined along these lines. There are several ways people currently approach problems, but the right approach is whichever ones demystifies the problem and increases our understanding of it. Emotions do not solve problems. Throwing money at a problem does not necessarily mean the problem would be solved. The passing of time does not automatically solve problems. Problems cease to exist when knowledge increases. 

Today’s society seems to have emphasized buying solutions as opposed to developing solutions. We tend to forget that money does not inherently solve problems. Money is a token that is exchangeable for the time of someone that can solve the problem, or to acquire the solution in a productized form. This strategy works for most people, but must never find an ally in the watchman. A watchman must never be deceived into thinking that over time or by spending money, the problems will go away. The correct application of knowledge is what will deliver you permanently from any problem or unsavoury circumstances you may find yourself in. 

Today is a good day to list out every problem or unsavoury circumstances you may be facing. A problem is the difference between what you want and what you currently have. What you are going to discover as you begin the task is that for a lot of situations in your life, you don’t like it, but you would struggle to clearly define what you actually want. On the other hand, you would discover that certain things are not the problems you thought they were. These all highlights your level of ignorance about the root causes of what you have considered to be problems all along. Stop tackling problems out of ignorance, aim for an understanding first. When you understand it thoroughly, it ceases to be a problem.

Jesus said this in his prayer: “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This phrase comes along so early in the Lord’s Prayer that we have to assume it is of high priority to the Lord. The kingdom comes when the will of the Father is done on earth as it has been fashioned in heaven. We can deduce from the Lord’s Prayer that Christians should probably pay more attention to seeking out and understanding the will of God on the earth and getting into alignment with that. The Lord’s Prayer does not emphasize an escape to heaven. 

With some research, a studious person realizes that the phrase “kingdom of heaven” is not the same thing as “heaven”. The kingdom of heaven in modern language is best communicated as God’s system operating on the earth. A kind of socio-economic framework that is fair to all concerned and empowers everyone to do their best work that glorifies God. There might be some debate about what Jesus meant when he began to preach: “Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is at hand”, but we know for a fact that it is wrong to dumb it down to “stop sinning! Get ready to die and go to heaven”. 

It is very clear that God has designs for the world. We cannot afford to lead a life that is detached from the present reality and escape in our imagination by fantasizing about heaven. We are supposed to pray, understand and take actions to align the world around us with thoughts, ideas and frameworks that originate from heaven. You should take responsibility for your world and watch over it as a watchman. The prayer “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” implies that the earth is not perfect, but in any given situation, God’s purpose and solution can be worked out.
Bottom-line: there is a will of God that needs to be done on earth. Who is best positioned to execute the will of God?

Deep down within our heart, there is this rebuke to “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15 ESV). These kinds of ideas seem to suggest that Christians have nothing to do with the world. They should rather retreat into their shell and look forward to someday getting airlifted into heaven. However, this paints a very incomplete picture. We know this because this idea is in direct contradiction with other portions of scripture. Our mission is not to love the world and blend in, rather, we are supposed to love the world so much that we save it.

Watching your world and taking responsibility for moulding it and steering it towards a better future is not worldliness. It is advancing the very same mission of Jesus. Jesus famously said: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:17 ESV) The word translated save here can also be understood to mean deliver the world or heal the system of the world. The charge to “love not the world” seems to be the very opposite end of the popular John 3:16 that starts with the famous words: “For God so loved the world…”. It is confusing to be on a mission to save a world you are supposed to have nothing to do with.

It is quite important to understand this perspective that Christians possess the grace to change the world. Therefore, you should take responsibility and team up with others with an aim to save the world, deliver it and correct whatever has gone wrong with the world. Whenever the world goes astray, it is up to the watchman to rise to the occasion. You have to love the world in order to be concerned about it, however your loving and likeness should not be materialistic. The mission is to steer the world towards where God wants it to go.

One of the greatest mental blocks that stops people from taking up a responsibility to watch their world is their desire to die and escape to heaven. The great escape from a life of poverty, sin, greed and lust. Why should anyone bother about the world when it is going to perish anyway? If the ultimate reward for living a holy life is death and an escape to heaven, then it would make sense to focus on that. However, the bible does not teach us to sit still and wait for our death and escape to heaven. There is obviously no rush to blow the trumpets and airlift the saints to heaven. 

It is not hard to see that the purpose of life is not solely to die and go to heaven. The Bible is filled with stories, parables and instructions about how we can positively affect our world, shape it and make it better. The mind-set that one would die and go to a better place is nothing more than escapism. You are seeking distraction and relief from your unpleasant realities by fantasizing about a better future that requires you to do nothing. A heavenly reward for irresponsibility, foolishness and mediocrity. It is easier to simply escape to heaven rather than deal with the daily mess of the real world. 

Looking forward to someday dying and waking up in heaven is not exactly a problem in itself. However, we must understand that God is interested in our wellbeing right now on earth. There is no genuine prophet of God in the bible that rationalized sickness, pain and suffering by consoling the people that they would be airlifted to heaven in no time. They rather prayed and God took away every sickness, pain and suffering immediately. God raised strong leadership on earth as needed to steer the nations towards a prosperous future, they were not airlifted to heaven. 

You cannot serve effectively as a salt and light of the world if your sole obsession is to die and go to heaven. Your purpose in Christ is not death and escape to heaven. This is about allowing the life, nature and character of God to flow through you in order to make an impact in the world today – right now.

The true purpose of leadership is to channel the energy of everyone towards a single purpose. The big idea here is that together, each person will achieve more as a part of the team than if they were working alone. It is impossible to achieve massive success single-handedly, you will have to work with others. You need a lot of knowledge, insights, perspectives and power to succeed at something massive. A person cannot single-handedly achieve this and must work with others. Leadership is what enables us to come together in order to collaborate at a scale that matters. There is no other way to achieve great things.

When people come together without effective leaders to help oversee the efforts, it usually fails. Renowned leadership expert, John C. Maxwell, said it best: “Everything rises and falls on leadership”. You could pay people or bribe people to come together towards a defined outcome, but you would never get anyone to perform at their best when money is their primary motivation. You can coarse or threaten people into working together, but the beauty of leadership is to define the vision, and get people cooperating in harmony. A leader must be able to channel the spiritual energies of the people and focus it on a common goal.

The true purpose of leadership is to help people transcend their personal limitations and breakthrough into an environment where anything is possible. It is the job of the leadership to provide the foundation required to maximize the productivity of everyone involved in the project. An understanding of service is required to achieve this. Leaders that do not understand service and do not see themselves as stewards cannot inspire the same in others. And when nobody is working as a true steward to the vision, the work fails to break new frontiers. Whenever we work together in harmony and unity, that is when the impossible becomes very possible. It is up to you, the leader, to make it happen.

The Watchman must seek a thorough understanding of leadership and servitude. If the goal is truly to serve as salt and light of the world, these are the twain pillars upon which it all rests. Leadership without embracing servitude is arrogant, selfish and ultimately brings destruction. Servitude without sparing some thought for leadership is naive and too complacent to keep a watch over anything. You have to take the lead while understanding you are nothing more than a servant. It is like taking up service to something higher than yourself and leading others to come along with you. 

The Watchman teams up with God for the collective good of the community. There is servitude towards God, the community and the grand vision we are heading towards. This sense of serving something higher than yourself is the key idea towards understanding becoming a leader and a servant. You draw strength, inspiration and grace from above and then channel it towards the problems and circumstances you have been called to change. In the absence of this calling towards serving a greater good, leadership is egocentric and fuels an ambition instead. Ambition might not be inherently evil, but when everyone pursues their ambition, the collective interest cannot be advanced. 

Effective leadership paints a compelling picture of a future the collective would love to be a part of, and then leads them there. An all-inclusive future where no member of the community is left behind is what generates power with the people. So, you serve God by embracing his master plan for the community and then marshal the people and resources necessary for the successful execution of the plan. A leader should not be motivated by money or power. Even if you are running a for-profit business, the desire to serve must be the primary driver. You serve, and you lead; you serve by leading. You serve by taking the lead.

A leader should be hard at work for the ones they have been called to lead and shepherd towards a better future. The Bible says “Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, and your princes feast in the morning!” (Ecclesiastes 10:16 ESV). I think about the “child king” not in terms of age, but in terms of immaturity, lack of education and ignorance. And don’t get me started on the morning feasting. It does not add up. The top priority of a leader, a watchman, is to acquire the necessary strength and fortification for the task ahead. 

Woe unto the land! Terrible things will happen to the people of a nation whose ruler is foolish, and whose other leaders continually party, all day long, every day. This is not the way of effective leadership. A leader should not be given to wine or found to be morally corrupt. When the watchman is driven by their vices and cravings, they stop serving the collective good and co-opt the collective resources towards feeding their personal demons. A leader must be driven by their work and ability to maximize results obtained. There is no room for anyone dominated by coitus, excessive alcohol or weed. 

A watchman must love the mission more than they love themselves. A leader should be primarily driven by love. To Love and care enough about the matters at hand that they are willing to take responsibility for it. And then take on so much responsibility that they are driven by passion to grow spiritually, intellectually and physically until they become strengthened enough for the task ahead. Driven by zeal, true leaders get the best education they can and surround themselves with people more knowledgeable than themselves. There must be a passion for real results. An immature, uneducated leader surrounded by “leaders” who choose vanity over real results is a recipe for disaster. 

There is a lot of emphasis on leadership positions and the perceived privileges associated with such roles. However, the responsibilities and self-sacrifices such roles exact from the bearer do not get much attention. To make matters worse, there are certain people that love to attribute success attained by others to external factors like having some special “connections”. They downplay the effort that has gone into producing the visible results and rather choose to highlight privileges and “connections”, relegating merit to the background. This is the origin of weak leadership; people seeking prestige, privileges and power of the office without any consideration for the work, responsibilities and self-sacrifices such roles demand. 

Leadership must begin from the understanding that one wants to serve more than everyone else. One wants to work ten times harder than every other person. A true leader realizes that they are becoming a better servant every single day. There is this old saying that rings true every single time: “one that is too big to serve is too small to lead”. This implies that good servants would make good leaders if they decide to step up. A good servant must desire to take on more responsibility, that is what eventually separates talented servants from effective leaders. We can deconstruct an effective leader as a servant that is hard at work, figuring out how best to serve, how they can deliver more value and go the extra mile. 

The interesting thing about true leadership is that they do all they do for nothing. A true leader should not be motivated by physical rewards like a bigger paycheck for example. Your stewardship does not really begin until you grow your soul to a level whereby your satisfaction is primarily spiritual. A watchman does not keep watch over a community, city or industry without being persuaded within their own heart. There is no amount of money, physical reward or bonuses that can command the excruciating labour these kinds of performances require. Real leaders work for nothing. This does not mean that they will not be appreciated, or they should be denied their due wages. It merely highlights the fact that they are driven by spiritual desires and not any physical benefits that they enjoy.

The first thing that should be clear about leadership is that it is a call to serve. It is not a way to exert yourself and make others do what you want to do. And it is not about amassing personal wealth in any form. Losing this perspective is a major reason for failure in leadership. If one does not consciously maintain the perspective of “I am here to serve”, you will merely serve yourself with whatever is available. The leader is a servant, the leader is here to serve. 

But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles Lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Matthew 20:25-28 ESV

The “GOD” standard for leadership is simple: are you willing, able and ready to die for the people you hold authority over? If you are not willing to self-sacrifice for them, why should they risk their life and limb for you? A lot of visionary projects die out because the person championing the cause is not selfless enough. People are not stupid, when they see that you are out to serve yourself, they will also hold back and not exert themselves as much as they could. A watchman that wants to succeed must understand this dynamic properly. 

When leadership is selfish and self-serving, everyone looks out for themselves first, and that defeats the purpose of “cooperation” in the first place. Human potential is unlimited because we can communicate, collaborate and work collectively at scale. For that to work, there must be trust and leadership is the key. Without leaders that inspire us to level-up and give our very best to the task at hand, our institutions will not work. We came together in order to tap into our collective energy and resources, but selfish leadership destroys that.