Last week’s post was about authority in ministry. It was aimed primarily at Christian leaders and included a warning against a perverted version of authority gained by power grabbing instead of service.

I quoted a favorite verse in that post. Hebrews 13:17 reads like this:

“Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.”

Last week I focused on the second half of the first sentence, “they keep watch over you as those who must give an account.” It’s a sobering challenge for the leader to remember that he must honor God with every decision, every initiative, every conversation, every confrontation.

But obviously this verse has a message for followers as well as leaders, and I want to give a little space to that message here.

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Everyone knows a leader’s job is to lead. But both leaders and followers sometimes get confused about what leadership should look like. Often the question—as well as the conflict—comes down to the word authority. I’ve done quite a bit of thinking about the place of authority in a Christian leader’s ministry, and I can summarize my conclusions with two sentences:

Servant leaders gain authority through action.

Dictators demand authority through power.

Unfortunately, too many leaders or would-be leaders try the second strategy instead of the first. This is the main reason the whole idea of “authority” has gotten a bad rap.

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Everybody’s afraid of something, and that’s not always bad. Fear of falling keeps us away from the edge of a cliff. Fear of wrecking (or getting a fine) stops us from ignoring a red light.

But when fear drives how you lead, your ability to lead will suffer. Here’s what I mean.

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