Being Led Leads to Leading

This week we’ll be thinking some about leadership, particularly the kind of leadership that you don’t hear about in a lot of church circles: learning how to be led by those with less prestige and power than you. According to Ruth 3, that’s where true leadership begins - and it’s how we learn what it means to be a truly influential leader.

To start off with, in this chapter we see Ruth being led by Naomi. In this particular situation, Ruth’s got the influence since she’s young and mobile and marriageable - Naomi is past her prime childbearing years and has not demonstrated even enough energy to get out of the house up to this point in the story. So what does Ruth do? She listens to Naomi. She embraces her wisdom, even in the wild and risky plan that Naomi cooks up. Ruth says to Naomi:

“I will do whatever you say,” Ruth answered. So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do. - Ruth 3:5-6

And then, we see Boaz following Ruth’s lead. Remember that Boaz has all the privilege and power in the setting compared to Ruth, and yet when Ruth (having been led well by Naomi) shows up and tries to lead Boaz to a life more aligned with God’s vision for justice, Boaz actually follows. He says this to Ruth:

“I will do for you all you ask.” Ruth 3:10

Ruth was led. Boaz was led. That’s a crucial piece to their greatness. So this begs the question, right…

How are you at being led by others, particularly by those who are further from the centers of power and prestige in our culture? Talk with Jesus about these things.