A leader cannot take the trappings without yielding the benefit of the place you occupy. That is why a full leafed fig tree without fruit has no business standing in the space. You will not be a legitimate leader if you don’t rise up to the call of the times – at work, at home, in ministry, and with any group. Validity comes from weaving coherence into different times and seasons.
Jesus could not tolerate hypocrisy. He would not allow people to present themselves as what they were not around Him. And yet He spent most of His time around the weak who ran after Him; misfits who felt comfortable coming to Him to make them whole again; and loved the company of people considered sinners by society as long as they sought His company. He had no problem with people who wanted to get better than they were.
Deborah was a spiritual leader and prophetess in Israel, the Judge and head of government, a military strategist who rose up to the occasion in mustering the nation to war, a poet and collaborator in music, and a woman who identified her womanhood without any belittling or entitlements of gender. Deborah was a woman who threaded and wielded effectiveness in different roles with pure integrity and powerful coherence.