You are a follower.
You read that right. You are a follower. You can’t help it. Don’t worry…I’m a follower too.
Truthfully, I like to follow. I want to pay attention to people who I value and trust. I want to know what they are thinking. I want to know what they are learning. I want to see where they are going. Following great leaders (from a distance or near-by) inspires us to do great things.
Are you following leaders worth following?
If the truth is we all follow, we should ask ourselves this question more often –
Who am I following?
Are they someone worth following?
I speak of following in the most general sense possible. Following your boss at work. Following an author/blogger/pastor online. Following a friend on Facebook. Are these people leading you to a better place?
It’s an important question to ask. If you don’t ask this question on a semi-regular basis, you could end up following someone headed someplace you don’t want to go.
The not so famous Amasa
David in the Bible had a son Absalom. Later in David’s life, Absalom attempted a coup. It worked for a few weeks. During that brief reign as king, Absalom appointed his father’s general’s cousin as his own general. His name was Amasa (2 Samuel 17).
Amasa was a follower of Absalom. By all accounts, Absalom seemed to be a pretty winsome fellow. He tended to gather a crowd, so Amasa wasn’t alone in following Absalom. Amasa, though, put his money on the wrong king. He chose to follow the wrong guy. Several weeks or even days later, Absalom was killed in battle by David’s army.
Amasa goes down in flames almost as quick as he rose to power. Why? Amasa followed the wrong guy.
What happened?
Amasa made a poor choice, followed a lesser leader, and he paid the price with his life. We too are making choices on what leaders we follow. While it might not cost us our life, it could cost us a job, a marriage or just hours and days of our lives. None of those are really great options.
What happened with Amasa, and how can we avoid his mistakes? I’ll be honest…we have no idea on the exact reasons Amasa made his decisions, but I can make conjectures.
Here are 3 ways to pick a better leader –
1. Examine your motives.
For Amasa, following Absalom included a better place in life than following David. Had Amasa towed the party line, he would have been just another grunt (or a little better) in David’s army. Here he is promoted all the way to general.
If we aren’t careful, we can choose to follow someone out of our own selfish motives rather than a person who is truly a great leader. There is nothing wrong with wanting to get ahead in life. There is a problem when you sacrifice great for good.
2. Know what you believe.
I wonder if Amasa’s values really lined up with Absalom’s? Was it a relationship of convenience?
This is so much more clear to me now than it was even 5 years ago. I want to follow people who have the same core values I have. I want to listen to, learn from and follow people who value family and relationships and God and creativity and leadership.
3. Have clear goals for you life.
When you know what you want, it’s easier to know who you need to follow.
Truthfully, this is probably what got Amasa in trouble. He most likely had a goal to be general. However, he placed this in front of #1 & #2. When your heart is pure and you are following someone who shares your beliefs, then you can work on learning from them to fulfill your goals.
Who are you following?
It’s okay. Be a follower! However, make sure you are following people leading you where you really want to go.
Who are you following?
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