Leadership According to Matthew in the Bible

Character Matters

“Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on a rock.” Matthew 7:24 

This verse could be and probably is the cornerstone verse of many a great leader. If it is not I believe it should strongly be considered. A founder of an organization; an architect; or a political leader has to make some strong choices on what he or she builds their words and actions on and there are enough examples of people who have built their organizations on sandy land. Even well meaning human services organizations, Pastors of blessed mega-churches; or ministries are in danger of being washed out to sea all depending on their choices on where to build their, firm or church, city, state, or ministry. Is it on solid ground with the cornerstone being the Word? Or is it on our own island built on human decision which can easily be carried out with the strong pull of the undertow? 

From a pure business stand point it is easy to see where some of the mightiest corporations lost their bearings. In the history of corporate America you need only to look at the business page headlines to see what companies were built on a solid rock and which were not. The majority of corporate America is built on something other than Biblical principles and when you look at the shipwrecks of careers, lives, and entire corporations that were not able to withstand the wind and the rain because they were built on the flimsy material of the dreamer’s mission rather than that of the creators design. Enron comes to mind as a current example. 

Founded on bottom line principles without understanding that risk, ambition and personal gain became justification in “playing with other people’s money” blinded the corporation’s executive staff and Enron was battered by the storm. This led to falsifying records, distorting actual numbers, and eroding all of the company’s credibility. Foolish men will build their houses on a sand bar.