1 Timothy 4:15-16
"Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers."
It is quite obvious that a hypocrite is unqualified to guide others toward attaining higher character and integrity. You cannot give what you do not have. No one respects someone who talks a good game but fails to play by the rules. What a leader does will have a greater impact on those he or she leads than what the leader says. A person may forget 90% of what a leader says, but never forgotten is how the leader lives.
The Johnson and Johnson company once had in their mission statement that employees would “operate with honesty and integrity” Several weeks before a major incident involving Tylenol, the president of Johnson and Johnson sent a memo to all the presidents of divisions in the company asking if they believed in and were abiding by the mission statement. All the responses came back affirmative. Shortly thereafter a problem developed with some Tylenol and within an hour of the Tylenol crisis, the president of the company, knowing it was a $100 million decision, ordered all capsules off the shelves. When reporters asked the president how could so easily and rapidly make such a major decision, his reply was, “I was practicing what we agreed on in our mission statement.”
There is simply no substitute for a man or woman of consistent character. This doesn't mean that he or she will be perfect. In fact, the Bible doesn't call for perfection in leadership. It calls for leaders to be seen as consistent in Christlike character. Paul instructed Timothy to be diligent in following biblical teachings. "Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress" (1 Tim. 4:15).
There is simply no substitute for a man or woman of consistent character. This doesn't mean that he or she will be perfect. In fact, the Bible doesn't call for perfection in leadership. It calls for leaders to be seen as consistent in Christlike character. Paul instructed Timothy to be diligent in following biblical teachings. "Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress" (1 Tim. 4:15).
