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Spiritual Leadership
Jun 25, 06:40 PM
“But David to Saul, ‘Your servant used to keep sheep for his father; and when there came a lion or bear and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and smote him and delivered it out of his mouth.’” ~1 Samuel 17:34-35
There is much written and taught about leadership these days. One would think that with so many people both in secular and sacred work giving themselves to leadership development, we would have better leaders. The church is desperate for them. The political area is all but devoid of genuine public servants who are true statesmen, male or female. The political system has become so corrupt, especially in the U.S. that no one with any real qualities of leadership would dare to enter the fray. Politics are downright mean these days. Why would anyone want to involve themselves in it? Those who do get into it rarely say or do anything that manifests any real courage or selflessness. There is no one on the scene that has the ability to bring people together and build consensus. Even if they tried, the fanatical factionalism that dominates the political scene would be their undoing.
In the Church, leaders are rare because the ministry tends to attract the broken and weak into its ranks. Too many people retreat into the ministry rather than responding to any real call. Perhaps they need to be validated or want to feel clean or whole. There are ways of doing that which don’t involve being responsible for the spiritual well being of others. There is an element of brokenness in all of us, but true leadership first requires the raw material of a person with a reasonably well integrated sense of themselves. Good leaders know their strengths and weaknesses. Because of that, they do not have to build the kingdom around themselves. We all have an element of ego which motivates us, but the best leaders leave their egos at the door. They are able to keep pride and selfish ambition under their feet for the sake of the common good.
The second most important ingredient is inner strength. Paul prayed that God might strengthen us with might through His Spirit in our inner most beings. (Ephesians 3:15) Too many people in leadership positions are racked by fear and insecurity. A weak person in a position of power or authority is a very dangerous thing. A person who is internally weak will compensate by a show of external strength. There are those who have exerted influence, for better or worse, simply by the sheer power of their will. Such people may develop organizations which have a season of success, but they will rarely empower others to continue after they are gone. Genuine spiritual leadership does not simply construct successful organizations; they build people, inspire them by the quality of their lives, and empower them to become all that God created them to be.
Wisdom is vital for leadership. Knowledge is helpful, but understanding is better. So much of decision making is intuitive. It involves the nuances of timing and insight. So much of wisdom involves spiritual discernment and the understanding of experience and maturity. Unfortunately, chronology is no guarantee of such qualities. It comes to those who are emotionally and spiritually mature. A lot of it is having the patience to wait and persevere. Absent of the full empowerment of the Holy Spirit, spiritual leadership is impossible.
Above all, great spiritual leaders love the people they serve. They genuinely love them and see them as a sacred trust from the Lord. David learned this as he tended sheep as a boy. When he would see a predator grab one of his lambs, David would go after it and smack the lion or bear on the mouth until it let the lamb go. If that lion or bear tried anything, David would kill it. Hirelings run when the wolf comes. Good shepherds, like good leaders, have the courage, the duty, and the love, to guide and protect what God has entrusted to them.