Do you enjoy water parks? Or, do they make you think of tuna packed in a can, and you’re just one of them?
If you have ever taken a van load of kids to a water park, you know what that is like. As soon as the vehicle is in “Park,” the kids head straight to the water. They can barely stand to listen to all the rules. They just want to hit the water, and they do. As crazy as it sounds, the park is nothing in and of itself. It all revolves around the water.
For all who arrive there, all they can think about is the water. Everywhere you look, people are all about the water. It’s central to everything taking place that day. The towels are set up as close to the water as possible. The coolers are laying at water’s edge. Even those who don’t want to get wet will at least have their feet dangling in the cool and refreshing… water! It’s all about the water.
More Than a Metaphor
So what does all that lead to? Is water really all that important? Does life revolve around water?
Well, in some ways, yes. But there is something else that life revolves around that’s even more important. Colossians 1:15–20 explains it best:
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”
There you go. What a great reminder that Jesus really is the center of everything.
All things created through Him and for Him. All things held together in Him. In everything, He is preeminent. That’s not a suggestion for how to organize your priorities. That’s the reality of how the universe actually works. And everything in our lives, our leadership included, is meant to revolve around Him the way everything at that water park revolves around the water.
Easy to Say, Hard to Live
You may already know this, but do you ever feel like a new student in the never-ending study of surrendering to this truth? The centrality of Christ is easy to say. It rolls right off the tongue. Living your life to its plumb-line is a whole different story.
Leaders especially know this tension. We talk about Christ being at the center of our organizations, our ministries, our families. We put it on our websites and in our mission statements. We open meetings with prayer and close retreats with worship. But when the pressure comes, when the budget is tight, when the decision is complicated, when the team is fractured, what actually drives the next move? Is it Christ at the center? Or is it our own instincts, our own fear, our own need to control the outcome?
I’m not pointing fingers here. I’m including myself in this. The drift away from the centrality of Christ in leadership is usually subtle. You don’t wake up one morning and decide to put yourself at the center. It just happens gradually. One decision made without prayer. One season navigated on autopilot. One priority shift that seemed practical at the time but slowly moved Christ from the center to the periphery.
And then one day you look around and realize that everything is still arranged around something, it’s just not Him anymore. The towels and the coolers are there, so to speak, but they’re gathered around your vision, your strategy, your preferences. The water is still in the park. You’ve just stopped orienting your life around it.
The Pull Toward the Water
However, there is a desire at the heart of every true follower of Christ to throw all caution to the wind and dive into the depths of His love. We know this because of the new identity He gave us: “In Christ.” We are new creations designed to walk in the depths of this living water. It is the very Spirit of God within us that calls us to that water.
That pull is real. Every leader who has tasted what it’s like to lead from a place of genuine surrender to Christ knows the difference. When He is central, there’s a clarity that doesn’t come from your own analysis. There’s a peace that doesn’t depend on your circumstances. There’s a confidence that isn’t rooted in your competence but in His faithfulness. You lead differently when the water is at the center, because you’re drawing from a source that never runs dry.
And here’s the thing about the water park that I keep coming back to: the kids don’t need to be convinced. They don’t need a presentation about why the water matters. They just run to it. They can’t help themselves. There’s something in them that is drawn to it and can’t wait to be in it.
That’s how it should be with us and Christ. Not dutiful. Not obligated. Drawn. When was the last time you ran toward Jesus with that kind of urgency? Not because someone told you to. Not because it was on your schedule. But because something inside you couldn’t wait to get to the water?
If it’s been a while, that’s okay. The water hasn’t moved. He’s still there. Still central. Still refreshing. Still holding all things together, including you.
What Centrality Looks Like in Leadership
When Christ is truly central in a leader’s life, it shows up in ways that can’t be manufactured. Your decision-making has a different foundation. You’re not just asking “what’s the smart move?” but “what does faithfulness look like here?” Your relationships carry a different quality because you’re leading out of overflow rather than deficit. And your team can sense the difference between a leader who is performing a role and a leader who is being led by the living water.
This connects to everything we’ve been talking about in terms of reliable messengers. A messenger’s job is to faithfully represent the one who sent them. But if the Sender isn’t at the center of your life, the message gets distorted. It starts to sound more like you than Him. It starts to serve your agenda more than His purposes. The only way to carry the message faithfully is to stay close to the Source. And that means keeping Christ at the center, not just in theory, but in daily, practical, hands-and-feet reality.
Next Steps for the Leader Who Wants Christ at the Center
Ask the honest question. What is actually at the center of your leadership right now? Not what you’d say in a meeting. What does your calendar, your anxiety, your decision-making process, and your private thought life reveal about what’s really driving you? If Christ has drifted from the center, naming it is the first step toward correcting it.
Run to the water today. Don’t overthink it. Don’t wait until you’ve cleaned up or gotten your act together. The kids at the water park don’t prepare a presentation before they jump in. They just go. Open your Bible today with the posture of someone who can’t wait to get to the water. Sit with Colossians 1:15–20 and let the reality of who Jesus is recalibrate your sense of what matters.
Use centrality as your leadership filter. Before your next major decision, your next difficult conversation, your next strategic plan, ask one question: “Is Christ central in this, or have I moved Him to the side?” That single filter will change the way you lead more than any model or framework ever could. Not because models and frameworks don’t matter, but because they only work properly when they’re arranged around the right center.
Stop getting hung up in the rules. Your original passion for Jesus was probably simpler and more joyful than your current walk with Him. Somewhere along the way, leadership added layers of complexity, obligation, and performance to your faith. Maybe it’s time to get back to the water and just enjoy being in His presence. Not to accomplish something. Not to prepare something. Just to be with Him. Sometimes the most transformative thing a leader can do is remember what it felt like to simply love Jesus without all the extras.
Invite someone else to the water. Once you’re back at the center, look around. Who on your team, in your church, in your circle is standing on the edges, feet barely in, not because they don’t want to go deeper but because nobody invited them? Be the leader who says, “Come on in. The water is everything they said it was. And more.”
Tomorrow is uncertain. Why not choose today to come to the water? Is there the burning desire within you to leave it all aside for a moment and head to the water for one purpose… dive in and enjoy?
Join in. You’ll never be the same.