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The Essential Element of Leadership
In The Lord's Churches
Written by Dr. Lester Hutson

Copyright - Lester Hutson - 1986
This material is copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced without the express written permission of Dr. Lester Hutson.

The Essential Element of Leadership In the Lord's Churches

Unit Two

Chapter 17

True Leaders Are Consistent

I Corinthians 15:58

"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."

Oh, consistency, thou art a rare jewel! It is extremely hard to be consistent, and it is doubtful that any of us are fully consistent. Very few people follow for long those who often and unpredictably reverse themselves without rhyme or reason. Consistency is a basic component of all good leaders. It should be noted that we are speaking here of consistency in a good sense. One can consistently do wrong and keep things in trouble. One can be consistently inconsistent. A broken clock is very consistent, and there's amazing consistency in a graveyard. So, this discussion is about consistency in a Godly approach and holy lifestyle.

I'm saying Godly leaders must be consistent in right things and that inconsistency in right living is a great enemy to leaders. It will undermine effectiveness right away.

Faithfulness and dependability

With the idea of consistency comes the idea of faithfulness and dependability. When someone or something is consistent, you know what to expect and can conduct yourself accordingly. The rotation of the earth is very consistent. It takes twenty-four hours for the earth to make one full revolution on it's axis. Because of this consistency the whole world conducts its affairs upon the basis of a twenty-four hour day. Watches are built to reflect this consistency, mathematical calculations depend upon its exactness, astronauts go in and out of space depending upon this consistency, television networks schedule accordingly, and business and industry operate upon its strength.

Likewise, the earth revolves around the sun once every 365 1/4 days. Again, the whole world banks on this consistency. Light travels at fixed rate of speed, as does sound. Study an atomic table. You'll find each basic element has a fixed weight as well as other never-varying characteristics. Elements in various unions all have very predictable characteristics. The fixed laws of science are based on total consistency in the natural universe.

Suppose periodically, without warning or predictability, the earth rotated fully on its axis in ten hours. Suppose it took ten hours one day, 30 hours three days later, and 23 1/2 hours every now and then. Think what such erratic behavior would do to the whole system of world activities. Clocks would become useless. Plans involving time would be a joke. If years were not exact in their length, the four seasons would soon be destroyed.

Should atomic weights, the speed of light, and other scientific facts start to vary, you could never be sure that two plus two would equal four. Physics, biology, chemistry and all the exacting sciences could exist no more.

Consistency means faithfulness, trustworthiness, uniformity, sameness and continuity. People who are consistent are not always reversing themselves and acting in odd, illogical ways. People who are consistent are predictable. They can be depended on.

One of the great qualities or aspects of our God is His consistency and faithfulness. I Corinthians 1:9 says God is faithful. That's why we know that every one who believes on the Son is saved. That's why we know that all of His children who confess their sins are forgiven of their guilt. That's the basis of all our future hopes, His return, our new bodies, our eternity with Him.

God says, "I change not," in Malachi 3:6. Hebrews 13:8 declares "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever." Even ancient King Darius, the Persian, said, "He is the living God, and steadfast forever," in Daniel 6:26. His love never varies. His justice is without contradiction. His laws are always the same. Psalms 119:86 says, "All thy commandments are faithful."

Every attribute of God is 100% consistent, and He is the greatest example of all in what every child of His, especially leaders, should be.

Scriptural examples

In scripture, God's most effective servants were always very consistent people. You can't miss the consistency in Daniel. For example, he was a man of consistent prayer. Everybody knew it. Because his enemies knew his regular prayer life, they knew that could entangle him by getting a law passed against prayer, which they did in Daniel 6:4-9. Yet Daniel 6:10 says, "Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime."

Note well the last four words of verse 10, "as he did aforetime." We're talking consistency, folks. What a testimonial to Daniel you'll see in Daniel 6:16! The king of Persia said to Daniel, "Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee." Not only did the king respect Daniel's God, he did so because of the consistency he'd seen in Daniel for so long.

Galatians 3:9 tells us Abraham was faithful. Even God gave testimonial to his consistency in Genesis 18:19 when he said, "For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him."

Paul referred to Timothy, "who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord," in I Corinthians 4:17. He also called "Tychius, a beloved brother, and faithful minister in the Lord," in Ephesians 6:21. Even the runaway slave, Onesimus, gained such consistency in the Lord that Paul called him "a faithful and beloved brother," in Colossians 4:9.

Look at all the great Bible heroes and heroines, and you'll see that the more consistent they became, the more useful they were to God: Joseph, Moses, David, Paul, Simon Peter and all the rest.

Reality sets in

Compare what we are discussing here with the preachers, dads and other Christian leaders you know. Sad to say, but in far too many instances, there's an enormous gap. Pastors are hot and cold, on and off. Sometimes they preach good sermons; sometimes they preach duds. Their attitudes are often unpredictable. Week after week and month after month it's hard to find a consistency. Things go along pretty well for awhile, then there's a big blow-up. Their disposition changes.

In other cases, they're downright whimsical with the church. They never seem to get on any definite course of development, numerical or spiritual, and stay with it. They never develop a consistent missions ministry, or music program or system of administration. Things stay in a state of flux. A sort of fickleness and frivolous spirit prevails. Things are always out of step. Yet, many pastors wonder why folks don't want to follow them, and they blame everything and everybody but their own inconsistent selves.

Likewise, the inconsistency within homes has led to the demise and ruin of many a child: no consistency in discipline, inconsistency in honesty in parents, double standards at church versus home, no consistent financial policy at home, inconsistencies in interpersonal relationships, erratic support of the Lord's church, and the list could go on a long time.

Similar applications could be made with departmental church leaders, teachers, older brothers and sisters in the Lord, Christian businessmen and all areas of leadership.

Fixed positions

Consistency or faithfulness is the product of true commitment to fixed positions. To be consistent, a Godly leader must have convictions that certain things are absolutely right because God says they are, and he must be committed to God's positions trumping or overriding him regardless of the circumstances. We're talking here about people believing in the fixed positions of God and yielding to them.

For example, when one is truly committed to honesty because it is of God and right, you'll find consistent honesty in that person. His fixed position on honesty will make for consistent honesty in his speech and practice.

A young boy is reported to have been on a witness stand in a very important trial. The cross-examining attorney was trying hard to break down his testimony, but to no avail. Finally he looked the ten year old right in the eye, and with an intimidating stare asked,

"Boy, did your daddy tell you what to say when you came here?"

The little fellow said, "Yes, sir, he did."

The cocky attorney gleefully said, "Ah ha! Just what did he tell you to say?"

The little boy meekly replied, "Sir, he just told me to tell the truth."

Commitment to fixed positions produces a consistent testimony, consistent answers to scientific problems and consistency in every other area where such commitment exists. If you believe in pure math, you can get consistent answers to math problems. If you are committed to a good compass, you can consistently navigate the world. If you are committed to truth, you'll be consistently honest. If you are truly committed to Biblical principles of finance, you'll have a consistent economic policy. If you really believe in what the Bible says about forgiveness, you'll never hold a grudge and consistently work out your problems with others.

Once you come to God's fixed position on authority, you'll find yourself uniformly submitting and humble and constructive, be it in church government, home government or political government. Once you believe honest work is God's way, you'll never be lazy and slothful and a waster, but you'll be consistently trying hard.

Finally, commitment to the true God above will bring you eternal life. Yes, consistency comes out of commitment to fixed positions, and for a Christian, those positions are God's positions, as set forth in the Bible, the Word of God. A firm faith in the unchanging Word of God is the only way to bring real stability and consistency to your life. David said, "I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies," in Psalms 119:59.

True commitment to forgiveness, humility, truth and integrity begins to put you in a predictable mold. People learn what to expect and are not afraid to follow.

Ephesians 4:11-16 illustrates this truth particularly well. Verse 14 says, "That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and cast about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive." The phrase "tossed to and fro" is the Greek word kludonizomai (kloo-de-nid'-zom-ahee) literally meaning "to surge; to fluxuate." The idea is that of the mighty seas in a storm. The destructive powers of a surging, raging sea is enormous. The ever-beating wave action is so erratic and unpredictable.

Unpredictable surges of any type can be disastrous. Just ask a computer operator who has experienced a sudden surge of power right in the middle of data work. The question is, how can a believer avoid the "tossing to and fro" or the erratic, conflicting inconsistency in his life?

From Ephesians 4:11-12 you will see that before the completion of the scriptures, God gave certain men special gifts to stabilize the saints. Then, in verse 13, you will see that once the scriptures were completed, they became the source of unity, faithfulness, or consistency among believers. Commitment to the scriptures keeps people from inconsistently being "tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine." Commitment to the fixed positions of God in the scriptures puts people on a firm, straight, consistent course in life.

II Timothy 3:15-17 says the scriptures will "thoroughly furnish" God's people "unto all good works." These scriptures were called by Jude, "The faith which was once delivered unto the saints," verse 3. That faith, once delivered, is precisely what Paul was predicting in Ephesians 4:13 when he said the early Christians would have specially empowered men for stability only until "we all come in the unity of the faith." The "unity of the faith" in Ephesians 4:13 is the same as "the faith once delivered" in Jude 3.

Today, if one is going to have consistency in his life, he is going to have to commit to the faith once delivered, make it his own guiding code for life, and submit to it through thick and thin, regardless of the circumstance. The more he does that, the more consistent, dependable and predictable he'll be. The people who reject and refuse to embrace fixed principles cannot possibly be consistent. Relativity is the opposite of absolute, and people who make decisions relative to the situations they face will constantly be reversing and contradicting themselves and be about as consistent as a twig tossed to and fro by a raging sea.

I'll tell you, inconsistent pastors are smiting themselves. So are inconsistent dads and bosses and others. Inconsistency says the heart is not fixed on unchanging principles, for out of the "abundance of the heart" come the words and deeds of life, which will either be consistent or inconsistent. It's only when the heart is fixed on the sovereign, unchanging truths of God that the life is consistently right. No wonder Peter wrote of resisting the devil, "steadfast in the faith," in I Peter 5:9. That's the only way anybody is going to be steadfast.

There is no steadfastness outside "the faith once delivered to the saints." Get in the Word. Let God, through it, be your master. Once you let Him guide you through His Word, your life will come into a straight, consistent line that anyone can see, just as the Persians knew what to expect from Daniel at prayer time.

Taproot of trust

Consistency is the taproot of trust, which is the most vital ingredient of all in the leader-follower relationship. Once people begin to see you repeatedly responding right under situation after situation, they begin to believe that's the way you'll respond the next time. Trust! It's a delicate thing. It can be crushed with one inconsistent blow, and it may take years to rebuild it to even half of what it was. Trust cannot be bought nor demanded. It must be earned, and only genuine consistency earns it.

You can't lead people if they don't trust you. You may as well face it. Intimidation won't get you a true following. It may get you what you want for a little while, but the followers will sooner or later bolt on you if they do not follow because they want to follow. That's the reason pulpit whippings are so foolish. That's the reason parents who control their children only by force are already in trouble even if they don't know it. That's why bosses who intimidate never get good production. People don't really follow and support those they don't trust.

Nothing destroys trust like inconsistency. You let a preacher pay most of his debts, but get turned into the credit bureau over one he didn't pay, and that one bad debt will make him an untrustworthy risk to every other merchant and to all his church members who hear about it. Let parents ignore the wrongs of their kids until they get mad, then give a beating, and I'll show you kids who don't trust their parents and who won't long follow their leadership. When people in a church learn you are treating them royally to their face, but talking against them behind their backs, that inconsistency will destroy their trust or confidence in you.

Why do people trust cars? Consistency! Why do people expect the sun to rise every morning? Consistency! What makes mates trust mates? Consistency! They've learned over the years to trust because of the consistent faithfulness they've seen.

Oh, Christian leaders, be faithful! Be consistent! Your people must see it, or they won't follow. They must learn to trust you, to depend on you, and only consistency on your part will convince them. Your promises won't do it. They must see consistency in you. As a faithful or consistent servant, you have this promise in Psalms 31:32, "The Lord preserveth the faithful."

God's call

God knows that consistency or faithfulness is vital to leadership, so over and over, He calls on his servants to serve Him faithfully and consistently. He says in I Corinthians 4:2, "Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful."

Hear Him in I Corinthians 15:58, "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."

He warns against our becoming erratic and inconsistent in II Peter 3:17, when He says, "Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness."

Paul said the main reason God called him into the ministry was his faithfulness or consistency. Listen to I Timothy 1:12, "And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry."

When it came to who should be entrusted with leading the work of God, Paul told Timothy, "And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to reach others also," in II Timothy 2:2.

God tells us to be always consistent, "faithful unto death" in Revelation 2:10. Then, this great promise of God is made in Psalms 101:6, "Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me."

The ones who consistently do right are the ones He lets serve. If you want to gain His approval as a leader, you'd better quit acting like a trick knee. You'd better become consistent and trustworthy. We already know that when the servants of God stand before Him to receive rewards for their service, it will be those who served Him consistently who will hear Him say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant," as in Matthew 25:21. Both at the judgment and now while we serve as mortals, consistency pays off with huge dividends.

Do you want to be a good leader? If so, among other things, get consistency into your system. You'll never make it as an effective leader if you don't.

"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"