To This End

lead

-verb, used with object

1. To go before or with to show the way;
2. To guide in direction, course, action, opinion, etc.


And so, as I think about the definiton of the word "lead," (the root of the word "leadership), I realize why I feel so confused about leadership with Intervarsity. I was recently asked to become the President of UNCG's Intervarsity Chapter for the 2009-2010 school year. I'm excited but until I looked up the definition of leadership and looked at Colossians, I didn't understand what was missing.

In Colossians 1:29, Paul writes: "To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me."

The phrase "to this end," and the definitions of "to lead," seem to indicate that when you're leading, you ought to have a direction and/or a destination in mind. And so, as members of leadership with Intervarsity, we should be leading people somewhere. But where?

The obvious answer is closer to God. But I think the true answer is so much more detailed and in-depth than just that.