By Chad Hershberger

This post is part of our Leadership of the Disciples blog series. 

There’s a story you undoubtedly heard in church after Easter- the story of Doubting Thomas. We hear it every year. Thomas may get a bad rap because some might feel he is very questioning of Jesus. Why should he have doubts when Jesus presents himself to the disciples? Well, we have the advantage of hindsight and Thomas did not. Thomas is the disciple that provided Jesus the opportunity to bring home the reality of the resurrection for us all. He is the “seeing is believing” disciple. He is from Galilee and is called the “twin” in the gospel of John (John 20:24). We know little of him as he is only mentioned on four occasions in scriptures.

He is labeled as a doubter, but I think he was just a realist. I know that I try to be realistic when I am leading. When we have a big idea, I ask, “How are we going to pay for is?” I had a board member tease me often that I helped him be more practical, but he reminded me not to let that get in the way of dreaming. I see Thomas as a realist, who wanted to be cautious and spoke up and said what we are thinking!

He is also courageous. I bet there were other disciples that were a little more in disbelief than they let on. But Thomas spoke up. He wanted to understand exactly what was going on.

In our ministries, I think we can also use the virtues of Thomas to our advantage. Be realistic, but don’t stop dreaming. Be courageous and speak your mind. I don’t think you’ll be labeled as a doubter, but rather a good leader.