CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP
“A leader is an ordinary person having extra ordinary
determination”.
Spiritual leadership is not simply
having the name ‘Christian’, rather it is following Jesus Christ is one’s call,
depending on His strength, reflecting His character and thereby influencing
others to do God’s will. Jesus Christ is the sole motivation of a spiritual
leader. People in any community will definitely know who is a spiritual leader
by the way the leader relates to God and to others. His/her spirituality is
reflected in the way he/she handles works, crises, criticism and success.
Spiritual leadership is a journey with God. Therefore, one can grow in
spiritual leadership by giving attention to God’s Word and the Holy Spirit, as
well as to other spiritual colleagues. A spiritual leader has a great influence
on his/her organization, church and country.
Many assume
that if you have a position in spiritual field you are automatically spiritual.
There lies the greatest danger, both for you and for those who look up to you.
A position in Christian leadership does not make you spiritual and if you think
you are spiritual because of your position, you deceive yourself. Self-deception
is a great sin.
I.
MEANING OF SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP
Leadership is a power of influence.
Leaders influence others through different ways. A leader may have multiple
qualities to influence others. Majority of them influence others just by their
personality. Many young people rally around film actors or actresses because of
this attraction. Some influence through their oratorical skill. Yet other
leaders attract people by their great acts or extra ordinary efforts. Mahatma
Gandhi and Martin Luther King are some among them.
There are 2 types of
leadership. Good Leadership and Bad Leadership.
One can have
a negative influence on people and
we call him a bad leader. One who has a positive
influence is a good leader. One who has a positive influence for God is a
spiritual leader. He has the mind and the spirit of Christ in him and his whole
concern is doing with God wants him to do. He wants others to join God’s
purpose revealed to him. Eg: Nehemiah. He loved God and God’s people; he was
moved by the brokenness of God’s people; he gave himself to fulfill God’s
purpose in rebuilding God’s city and its people; he invited others to join him
in fulfilling God’s purpose.
Nehemiah’s qualities as a leader-
1. He was a man of prayer (Nehemiah 1:4).
2. Man of burden and obvious vision (2:3)
3. Man who sharing vision and stands for unity (2:5)
4. Man of pre-calculation(2:8)
5. Man of Confidence (2:20),
6. Man who encourage others to fulfill the vision (4:6;14ff)
7. Man of hardworking to fulfill his vision-commitment (4:14-20).
8. Man of solidarity (unity) (2:17, 18).
Spiritual leadership is a matter of heart. It is not a skill rather
it is a passion born out of a sense of belonging. A spiritual leader belongs to
Christ. He has Christ in his heart. He is born again from being his own to
being in Christ. Thus he wants to fulfill Christ’s purpose in his life. His
allegience is first and foremost to Him and not to any earthly authority or
desire. His mission is to invite others to join God’s purpose.
A spiritual
leader understands that Christ is the
one who calls people to leadership. Jesus called the first 12 disciples, he
called Paul and he continues to call people to follow him. Jesus said to the
first disciples, ‘follow me and I will make you fishers of men’ (Mt. 4:19). The
first disciples turned into mighty spiritual leaders that turned the world
upside down because they were willing to follow. It was not their academic
degrees or their high-powered training in leadership ideas beause they grew up
in backwaters fixing their nets and fishing rather they were willing to listen
to the one who called them and followed him.
Therefore, a spiritual leader is
a follower.
A spiritual leader understands that God gives the tasks to each leader. Not
all are given the same task. When Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, he
mentioned the office of apostleship, prophecy, evangelism, pastoring and
teaching as given by God (Eph. 4:11-12).These are given not as privileges or
honours to play with but as responsibility to build God’s Kingdom. When a
leader operates on the basis of his own abilities and knowledge, his own
scheming and earthly supports, he may fail.
A spiritual
leader also knows that he is a co-worker
with God (I Cori. 3:9), nothing less nothing more. In other words, a
spiritual leader does not own the ministry for its belongs to the Lord. He
doesnot take credit for his achievements for it is God’s doing.Jesus said,
‘apart from me you can do nothing’ (Jn. 15:5b). His job is to be faithful. In
everything the Lord’s will take priority and the Lord gets the glory. The heart
of spiritual leadership is summed up in the saying of John the Baptist in
relation to Jesus Christ,’He must become greater, I must become less’ (Jn.
3:30).
Spiritual leadership is the journey of
growth. Luke recorded, ‘and Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour
with God and men’ (Lk. 2:52). The scope for growth is endless and lifelong.Paul
began his journey with Christ on the way to Damascus and ends with a
satisfaction (II Tim. 4:7-8).
Human beings
use only 10-12% of their potential’ said by William James. This is true in the
sense of our spiritual growth. We have the potential to mature into the
likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ. We can do this not by our own strength but
by the power of the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit controls us, we bear His fruit
(Gala. 5:22, 23). One of the mis interpreted verse from the Bible on today is
Jesus told his chosen people whom he trained to be leaders of his movement that
they can do more than Him (Jn. 14:12). It just means you have to influence the world
and do whatever He did within a short period. Jesus’ had only short period in
this world, but you chosen have enough time to more than my ‘short period’.
A spiritual leader must know that he is
weak on his own. It doesnot matter how great a spiritual giant you are
rather you will battle temptations and unless you are careful, there is always
a possibility of a fall.In Christ we have the victory. With Him, there is
strength to overcome and influence the world far beyond our own abilities.
II.
The Motive for Leadership
For the
people of the world, there are many motives in wanting to be a leader. Majority
of them want money, power and prestige. Yet still others desire leadership to
enjoy the pleasures the world offers. For the people of God, these can never be
the motives. In fact, there have been many spiritual leaders, who started well,
but fell because they were not careful. For a Christian leader, the motivation
comes from the love of God and man. The love for Christ compels us not to live
for ourselves, says Paul (II Cori. 5:14). He believes then with all his heart
that he must get closer and closer to this Lord (Phil. 4: 10-11). The victory comes in knowing, believing and
walking with Jesus Christ.
The motive
for spiritual leadership also comes from loving
others. Jesus Christ looked at the people and felt pity for them for they
were like sheep without a shepherd (Mt. 9:35). A spiritual leader should have a
motive is always influence others to come out of their struggles. Paul led with
a motive to win the approval of Jesus Christ. When the motive is pleasing Jesus
Christ and doing his work, His vision becomes ours; His mission becomes our
pre-occupation; His glory our hope and we do not count the cost. The first 12
disciples of Jesus left all for Him. Paul suffered much for the sake of Christ yet
he said… II Cori. 4:17-18).
III.
The Marks of Spiritual leadership.
How can you know whether a leader is spiritual or not? It is not someone
claims about him. Rather his life demonstrated by his actions and reactions in
daily living. It really is in relationship to God, to people, crisis and
success. One can identify a spiritual leader by is life of integrity toward God
and fellow being. Paul expressed it in Colossians 3:12-14 (read the passage). Compassion. Kindness, humility, gentleness,
and patience are the unmistakable characters of a spiritual leader. Paul
did not say, you must cultivate these virtues so that you become God’s chidren,
rather he said, because you are God’s children, you must demonstrate these
virtues. If you see a leader with a loving attitude to others, you can be sure
he is a good leader. By the same token, any unloving attitude toward others
will disqualify a person from being a spiritual leader regardless of his
position or claim.
Our relationship to God defines our
spirituality. We can
hide our trueselves, thoughts, desires, priorities and goals from people but
not from God. Our relationship to people
also define our spirituality.Life is relationships.God created man so that he
lives in relationship. We relate people
at home, at school, work and in many areas of our lives. The expressions of
spirituality must be consistent in all areas of life. Spirituality begins at
home for everyone and especially for a leader. I Tim. 3:5 say managing a family
mean taking care of every member because it is valuable to a leader.
The work place is another area
where spirituality or the lack of it is demonstrated. As spiritual leaders, we
also have to deal with people in our communities.the people of the world watch
us and they expect the same loving attitude, patience and forgiveness in our
dealings with others. Think of Jesus when He was suffered on the Cross. He
forgave those who put him there. He loved them. People watch our character to
know whether we bear the marks of spiritual leadership.
Another arena of spiritual
leadership is in the area of crisis.
Life is full of problems and difficulties. When face with a problem unspiritual
person fight, blame other, insists on his rights and expresses his anger. He
unnecessarily spends his precious energy. Laurie Beth Jones calls this ‘energy
leaks’ that sap one’s strength. A spiritual leader quitely reasons things out;
waits in patience knowing that God is in control and commits the matter to the
Lord. It is not easy but it was easy to Job.
The crisis becomes more difficult when it is criticism. Criticism can
come from opponents and adversaries, it can come from churches, church leaders,
from the very people we are trying to serve/close to us. In case of Job it was
correct. A spiritual leader handles any kind of criticism with an understanding
that it is part of the package of leadership.
A mark of spiritual leadership
is also reflected in how a leader handles success.
There is a danger in success for a leader unless he is careful. Many spiritual
stalwarts fell when they were at the pinnacle of their ministries. A spiritual
leader gives credit for all his successes to God. Moses was a great leader..
Before he left the scene, he recited before the people what is known as ‘the
song of Moses’ (Deu. 32). Where he gave credit to God for all that happened in
the history of Israel up to that point.
IV.
Methods of Spiritual Leadership.
Every one would be to learn from
the past. Every spiritual leader had a possibility of going through the
dumps and even falling. Once it happens, the vital relationship with the Lord
makes a person despair, to loose direction and hope. David’s adultery was his
tragedy of falling in his life but he restored. Later he was called as ‘a man
after God’s heart’ (Acts. 13:22). He confronted with prophet, admits his
mistake and repented. Psalm 51 was his confession.
Another way is keeping spirituality for a leader is to have close friends, confidantes and mentors.
It could be a colleague, a friend or a spouse. We are talking here to
accountability. When a person gets into lonliness he is very vulnerable to the
temptation of being invincible. A wise leader will be intentional of being
accountable to those who care for him in order to remind him when he does not
well. Perhaps the best way for any leader to keep his spirituality alive is to
be attentive to God’s voice. When temptation comes nobody should be bother
about their spiritual battles that you have won.At such time, one can lose his
bearings and directions. (eg: Elijah). We hear God’s voice when we spend time
with God in prayer.If anyone could have sustained life without prayer he will
surely fails.Jesus used to spend time in prayer throughout night. Prayer was
the dominant feature of His life and a recurring part of His teaching. Through
prayer moral vision will become sharp and clear.
V.
Impact of Spiritual Leadership.
Mahatma Gandhi, father of our nation, still remembers on
every heart because of his influential
leadership.Gandhi also influenced Martin Luther King Jr of America. King
adopted the non-violence approach of Gandhi in fighting for civil liberty. Leadership is reproductive. Moses
influenced the nation of Israel in liberating them out of slavery in Egypt and
even shaped the nation of Egypt at that time of understanding Yahweh.Moses
influenced Joshua as his successor.Elijah influenced Elisha.
Big leader’s impact people in a big way. These
leaders start small. Nobody heard them until they did something and people
began to notice. Take the examples of Gideon in the Old Testament (Judges 6
& 7) and John the Baptist in the New Testament (Matt. 11:1-19). When God
called Gideon, he felt unworthy but he trusted God, obeyed him and God helped
him to defeat the enemies. He was nobody but become a big leader in Israel
(Judg. 6:34). John the Baptist came to prepare for the coming of the Messiah. When Jesus appeared, he was not sure so he
sent his emissaries to ask Jesus. Having understood that Jesus was the Messiah,
he influenced many people to believe in Jesus (Jn. 10: 40-42).
VI.
Today’s Leadership.
Looking at the Church in India as a whole, we can see failed
leadership. Many are running after money, fame, chair etc. Their intention is futile.
Failure comes through different ways, infidelity, corruption, nepotism,
casteism etc. The sufferers are the people of the church and the Gospel.
The next question is how do we develop spiritual leadership
in India? For the size of Christianity in India we already have formal and
informal training centres of leaders. There are many Seminaries, Bible
Colleges, and Distant Theological Organisations etc. Some are scholar leaders
but only have Academic Excellency. We need scholars with spirituality. A true leader
should have above qualities that we discussed. Let us move forward with a good
leadership qualities that to be Christ like.
‘An optimist seeks opportunity in every calamity and a pessimist seeks
calamity in every opportunity’.
11.