Can you lead others further than you yourself have come? Can you? Are "the people" always limited by their leader's vision, growth, intensity? We've all said this little phrase to prod leaders--especially pastors--to get their act together. The saying is a common truism. But is the truism true? Is it impossible to lead the people ahead of yourself? Are all churches limited to the level of their pastor?

First lets say a word about further and farther. Most motivational speakers really mean to say farther not further when they use this saying. Farther refers to length of distance. Atlanta is farther North than Miami. On the other hand further means "to a greater degree" or "additionally" and has more to do with time or amount, which is why we give further study to an issue or we say the meeting should be I by now. Get it? (Hey, I teach at a liberal arts college.)

But these two terms are relevant to our question.

Consider farther, first. Farther is about distance. If you are leading a group of ten teens on a hike you can't lead them farther than you yourself have come. That is, if you are first in line, and you are hiking slowly, you start puffing and huffing then collapse on the ground soaked in sweat, with your eyes rolling back into your head as the teens mill about waiting for you to catch your breath… you can't lead the group farther than you yourself have come. The teens are limited to the distance of the leader in front of the hike.

Farther uses walking or hiking as a metaphor for leadership. Leading to them is about getting more miles, dollars, numbers, distance. To them the leader is the one in front of the pack. The followers stay in line behind the leader. People who see leadership this way generally believe the "fastest walker" should lead--because to them leading is being out in front. They say things like, "Lead, follow, or get out of the way." People using the farther model of leadership see the leader's job as getting somewhere first and having others follow you there. They especially like Moses as their model and are always talking about "going up to the mountain to get a vision." People with this model of leadership use this saying the most (though they almost always use further not farther, which they really mean.

But can the leader of the teen hike get one of the