47 Conclusion Literature and news media regularly draw attention to the character flaws within Christian leadership, revealing a great need for leaders to focus on developing Christlikeness and prioritizing faithfulness and endurance. Martin Niemöller serves as an example of an imperfect Christian leader who endured great difficulty because he sought to remain faithful to the Lord. God has repeatedly used difficulty to develop the character and maturity of leaders. This is proven true in Niemöller’s experience with adversity, though his maturing took decades to reach a level modern readers might affirm. Nonetheless, he provides an example of a complex, flawed leader who sought to faithfully endure a crisis in his generation. His is a cautionary tale revealing that a crisis of character is, unfortunately, nothing new in history. Every generation must determine to pursue Christlikeness through submission and obedience to God. They must strive for greater self-awareness and a biblical approach to life balance. They must join together as a biblical, loving, and transformative community, seeking to enable each other to be good and faithful servants. The leadership of Martin Niemöller is both admirable and broken, much like every other Christian leader. Much can be gained from studying the life of an imperfect leader such as this. He teaches modern leaders to consider the importance of pursuing self-awareness and the incredible harm of not dealing with one’s ‘dark side.’ The study of his leadership also provides practical insights to support a leader’s desire to have an enduring, Christlike leadership. Seeing the strengths and the flaws in a world-renowned Christian leader challenges the modern Christian leader and offers “the hope that we, too, might rise above our worst instincts.”60 Notes 1 A notable example of this is the famous Hebrews 11 passage which applauded the faith of persons whose lives were marked by difficulty, mistakes, and obedience. 2 Don N. Howell, Servants of the Servant : A Biblical Theology of Leadership (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2003), 296-8. CHARACTER FORGED IN ADVERSITY
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