Exalted Idea of Position Dangerous—Sometimes a man who has been placed in responsibility as a leader, gains the idea that he is in a position of supreme authority, and that all of his brethren, before making advance moves, must first come to him for permission to do that which they feel should be done. Such a man is in a dangerous position. He has lost sight of the work of a true leader among God’s people. Instead of acting as a wise counselor, he assumes the prerogatives of an exacting ruler. God is dishonored by every such display of authority and self-exaltation. No man standing in his own strength is ever to be mind and judgment for another man whom the Lord is using in His work. No one is to lay down man-made rules and regulations to govern arbitrarily his fellow laborers who have a living experience in the truth.—Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 491.
ChL 33.1
Leadership is not Lordship—No man is ever to set himself up as a ruler, as a Lord over his fellowmen, to act out his natural impulses. No one man’s voice and influence should ever be allowed to become a controlling power....
ChL 33.2
I am instructed by the Lord to say that position never gives a man grace or makes him righteous. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Some men entrusted with positions of responsibility entertain the idea that position is for the aggrandizement of self.—Medical Ministry, 164, 165.
ChL 33.3
Not to Judge or Rule—It is dangerous work to invest men with authority to judge and rule their fellow men. Not to you nor to any other man has been given power to control the actions of God’s people, and the effort to do this must be no longer continued.... God has been dishonored by the education that has been given to the churches in Southern California in looking to one man as conscience and judgment for them. God has never authorized any man to exercise a ruling power over his fellow-workers; and those who have allowed a dictatorial spirit to come into their official work need to experience the converting power of God upon their hearts. They have placed man where God should be.—Letter 290, 1907, pp. 2, 3 (August 29, 1907).
ChL 33.4
The Conference President and Authority—It is a mistake for a conference to select as president one who considers that his office places unlimited power in his hands. The Lord has instructed me to tell you that you do not know when to use authority, and when to refrain from using it unwisely. You have much to learn before you can do the work of a conference president intelligently. You are to bear in mind that in the cause of God there is a chief Director, whose power and wisdom is above that of human minds.
ChL 33.5