What level of authority have you achieved? (78-4)
Yesterday’s devotional looked at the respect generated by Deborah’s character and actions. With respect comes authority. Read Judges 4.
In general leaders exercise authority on five levels:
- Positional authority - this is the lowest level of leadership and comes from titles and job descriptions. People follow because they think they have to. Deborah had positional authority as a prophetess but we never see her use it. During my time in the Marine Corp, I saw every office use positional authority from time to time but only those officers that were inept used it consistently over a long period of time.
- Personal authority - as a leader’s team learns to trust them, they begin to follow because they want to. In Judges 4 people sought out Deborah’s influence. Even though personal authority is a step above positional authority, positive relationships alone cannot create lasting leadership.
- Success generated authority – at this level, influence grows and respect increases because of what the leader and their team has accomplished together. The team begins to follow because of the contagious momentum of accomplishment. Deborah’s success as a judge benefited her when she called for an army to attack the Canaanite King Jabin. Many leaders find a comfort zone at this level of authority because so many of the goals are being accomplished and the team is generally in unity and easy to work with. Success generated authority, however, does not generate life-changing impact on the team and lasting success.
- The mentor’s authority - this is the authority a leader experiences when they help their team to reach their potential. Deborah helped Barak to reach his God-given purpose. Leaders who move to this level change their focus from inspiring and leading followers to developing and leading others.
- Character inspired authority - leaders who spend their lives developing individuals and organizations make such an incredible impact for so long that people follow because of who the leader is. Deborah is described as “mother of Israel.” I saw this level of authority in a personal way during my 18 years with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Dr. Graham, Cliff Barrows (Dr. Graham’s right-hand man), Dr. John Corts (President of the BGEA during most of my years with the organization) and Joel Aarsvold (Chief Financial Officer) were all men who had character that inspired my total devotion. This level of leadership only comes from consistent character development over a long period of time and God’s grace.
Identify the level of authority you have achieved in your quest to be an effective godly leader. Write a single paragraph with action steps that you are willing to pray about and commit to the Lord and that you are willing to do rather than talk about so that you can move to the next level.
