Christian Leadership Alliance
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The Four Faces of 'Leadership'
Ezekiel 1, Ezekiel 10, and Revelation 4 - Paralleled by the Four Gospels
This article provided by the Engstrom Institute.
Scriptural concepts help leaders understand who to be (the ontological) and what to do (the axiological). I believe that all of us are leaders in one area or another, whether that is in the home, in the workplace, in the neighborhood, in the church, or in the government, and as such this article is helpful for everyone to understand the complexity of leadership.
Ezekiel in Ezekiel 1 and 10 as well as John in Revelation 4 describe the four faces of the 'living beings' that they saw. While there are some differences between these three accounts there are sufficient similarities to allow us to consider them as a complete description. By 'sufficient' I mean that in Ezekiel 10, Ezekiel records that the living beings that he sees are " . . . the living beings that I saw by the river Chebar" (Ez 10:15). We find in Ezekiel 1:1 that Ezekiel was by the river Chebar when he described the four 'living beings.' John, in Revelation 4, describes 'four creatures' and the Greek that we translate 'creature' (zoon) means 'living being." It is my premise for the article that the four faces of the living beings represent four modes of 'being' and 'doing' in how we should represent Christ in our leading others.
The Four Faces of the Living Beings
Although Ezekiel and John's descriptions of the four faces do not match exactly there are strong similarities. When we consider the variances in the Hebrew and Greek, the similarities of the passages outweigh the differences. In each of the following four sections I will present the similarities and differences of the four faces found in the three passages: (a) lion, (b) ox, (c) human, and (d) eagle.
The Face of a Lion
Ezekiel and John describe one of the faces as that of a lion. Scripture refers to lions metaphorically as a depiction of Judah itself (Genesis 49:9); strength (Judges 14:18, Job 10:16) hiding and waiting for an opportunity (Psalms 10:9, 17:12, Hosea 13:7), confidence in the face of adversity (Proverbs 30:30, Amos 3:8), and for Jesus (Revelation 5:5). The image of a lion brings to mind (a) royalty (the King of the Jungle), (b) a sense of order and process, (c) power, and (d) unwavering focus. We see these same elements in the Gospel of Matthew. We see Jesus' royal lineage (Mat. 1:1), the process of preparation (Mat 3:13-14), His unwavering focus on God's calling (Mat 11:27), and the power of God's elect (Mat 8:8, 8:27, 10:1).
There will be times when each of us will need to operate in the 'Lion-mode' of leadership in which we will need to base who we are and what we do on the authority given to us by our superiors and to use the power that we possess to accomplish what God has called us to do. Collins, in his book Good to Great, wrote about 'great leaders' maintaining a 'fierce resolve' in their approach to the organizations that they lead in both task and the vision/purpose. When the 'lion' in the organization speaks – people listen (Mat 8:27).
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