Cedarville Magazine Fall 2015

13 / 38

sure everyone has heard a good definition
of leadership.”
Regardless of your role in life, you can
exercise biblical leadership, Wood affirmed.
“An average person has a sphere of 40
people,” he said. “In that sphere, however
humble it may seem, think of yourself as a
leader pursuing influence and providing an
example. It’s not about speaking on stage, or
being a boss, but about seeking to influence
others for their good, their maturity in
Christ, and their flourishing.”
A right view of leadership begins with
stewardship. “It’s the idea that everything
is from God,” Burns said. “Students usually
think they’re going to earn positions. Yes,
that’s part of it. But the employer or the
board is the one that says, ‘Yes, I want you
to be the CEO.’ Every position we will ever
have in life has been given to us by humans
and by God.”
For Rachael Tague ’16, who serves on
the Executive Board for the Stevens Student
Center information desk, that idea has been
revolutionary.
“I was class president for three years and
I enjoy being able to have a say,” Tague said
with a smile. “God gave me this position to
honor and glorify Him. It’s not something I
should take lightly. The people around me
have also been given their positions by God.
I need to respect where they’re coming
from.”
The Student Life definition of leadership,
and all of its ramifications, is discussed
by each organization on campus as it
trains leaders for the coming school year,
whether the leaders be tour guides, club
leaders, RAs, HeartSong teammembers, or
Discipleship Council participants. Then in
January, Student Life puts on a two-day CU
LEADership Conference where the biblical
message about leadership is emphasized
through plenary speakers and workshops.
The 2016 conference will be January 22–23
.
“I went to a conference session last
year led by Dr. [Jeremy] Kimble [Assistant
Professor of Theology] where he talked
about Jesus as a leader,” noted Carly
Conley ’17. “He showed different aspects
of Jesus’ leadership, as a shepherd, as a
king, and as a humble servant. Then he
broke that down to how we should lead
if we’re working at the help desk, or as
an organization adviser, or as a barista
at Rinnova.”
Rodrigo Reis ’16 led a group of
nine leaders last school year as part of
Discipleship Council. “I learned from CU
LEAD that discipleship is supposed to
happen everywhere at any time,” he said. “It
is a lifestyle that requires the leader to walk
close to Christ, filled with His Spirit. That
pushed me to cultivate with Christ a life of
prayer and daily meditation on the Word of
God. I knew and still know that I need to be
filled in order to pour in the lives of others.”
Abigail Hile ’16, an RA in Printy Hall,
said the January conference challenged her
to reflect on the outcome of her influence.
“Paul tells people to ‘imitate me as I
imitate Christ,’ and that was a difficult
question to process in my own heart,”
Hile said. “If the girls I was leading were
to imitate me and follow my doctrine,
manner of life, purpose, faith [as in 2 Tim.
3:10], would that make them look more like
Christ? Or more like sinful Abigail?”
Before the end of each academic year,
nearly 1,000 student leaders meet for a brief
session in their respective organizations to
pray for people they will influence during
the next school year. This is meant to propel
them to pray throughout the summer.
“Leadership begins with prayer, because
prayer is the first and most important
way you can serve other people,” Wood
explained. “We urge our student leaders to
humbly get before the Lord and seek His
direction and guidance about how to really
steward, influence, and serve. He’s the one
who taught us how to do it, so we need to
rely on Him to make it happen.
“Equipping students to lead in a way
that stands on the four core values and
emphasizes prayerful serving will set them
up to make a lasting impact in the world,”
he stated.
And that’s the kind of change that could
shore up the foundations of a society that
keeps slipping into sinking sand.
Clem Boyd is Managing Editor of Cedarville
Magazine.