Recognize the Image Bearer, Part 2
A Note From Michaela O’Donnell
Dear Life for Leaders friend,
As you read in Tuesday’s devotion, April 1, 2025 was a big milestone for the De Pree Center as it marked 10 years of our Life for Leaders devotional! On a day like this, I am filled with gratitude for the many people who have contributed to this work.
- I am grateful to Mark Roberts who began this work 10 years ago and has remained faithful in his work to help Christian leaders be formed by Scripture.
- I am grateful to the many other writers who have contributed their time and voices to this work.
- I am grateful to the De Pree Center staff who work behind the scenes to make sure these devotionals go out every day.
- And I am deeply grateful for you and the many other faithful readers of our Life for Leaders devotions.
We plan to celebrate this milestone over the next few weeks here and in our newsletters. One way we want to celebrate is to hear from you about how Life for Leaders has impacted your discipleship. We would love it you could spend a few minutes completing our Life for Leaders Audience Impact Survey.
Second, we want you to know that your financial support of the De Pree Center is vital to our effort to produce Life for Leaders in years to come. If Life for Leaders has made a positive impact in your life, we would ask you to consider making a special gift to the De Pree Center: Click Here To Give
Grace and peace,
Michaela O’Donnell
Scripture — Esther 1:13-15 (NRSV)
Then the king consulted the sages who knew the laws (for this was the king’s procedure toward all who were versed in law and custom, and those next to him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven officials of Persia and Media who had access to the king and sat first in the kingdom): According to the law, what is to be done with Queen Vashti because she has not performed the command of King Ahasuerus conveyed by the eunuchs?
Focus
The Savior asked humanity to bow. And although he had every right to demand that all of creation obey their vocation of bowing, after sending requests in the form of others, he took on the form of an entry-level worker and subjected himself to the same request, even to the point of dismissal.
Devotion
Last time, we examined how King Ahasuerus appealed to seven eunuchs and then seven political leaders to find a rule or policy to compel a subject in the kingdom to do what he had asked. Leadership holds the tension of accomplishing tasks that involve getting others to do things they may or may not want to do, whether for tasks that the leader can or cannot do themselves. And they have to do this all while maintaining a balance in which the task’s success is only one part of the overall end goal.
The king had a request. There are numerous reasons to debate the merits of the request. However, fundamentally, the response to the request reveals what a wine-filled king fails to comprehend. It is not simply a king asking a queen, or a leader to a subject, or even a husband to a wife. It is always one image bearer before another image bearer. Leadership that relies heavily on title, policy, or historical precedent as a basis for why something must be done will ultimately run up against a “nah” and require some form of human resource (which often does not see humans as resourceful or human, for that matter).
The Savior asked humanity to bow. And although he had every right to demand that all of creation obey their vocation of bowing, after sending requests in the form of others, he took on the form of an entry-level worker and subjected himself to the same request, even to the point of dismissal. There is a kenosis in leadership that is often lost, in the same manner that we forget that philoxenia (love of the stranger, or hospitality) is also a business practice. A wine-filled king appealed to his subjects and then sought political power, looking for a rule or policy. His leadership (like that of all human leaders, because everyone has inherited the hauntings of the Fall) begs for a better. Jesus, the incarnate better leader, came in a paradoxical form of leadership. Not at us, but with us and for us.
Reflect
What are some of the reasons that the King appealed to the law to address Queen Vashti?
Act
Who do you appeal to in difficult situations? What kinds of responses have you heard from others you lead? Take some time to reflect on how you handle challenging situations within yourself. What are more effective questions to ask when leading in challenging situations?
Pray
God, we need you to lead well. Please help us not to settle for the ruler-to-task or subject relationship, but to remember image-bearing. As we lead, we thank you for your son, the perfect priest, model, and king who empties himself and then calls us to follow him. Amen.
Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: God’s Hidden Hand and Human Response (Esther).
DeLano Sheffield
Author & Business Resource Specialist
DeLano J. Sheffield is a senior pastor and employer engagement manager for Great Jobs KC (formerly KC Scholars) where he fosters connections between people on the fringes and employers in the Kansas City Metro. He advocates for the hiring of people who would not normally have opportunities. De...