I define spiritual leadership as knowing where God wants people to be and taking the initiative to use God’s methods to get them there in reliance on God’s power. The answer to where God wants people to be is in a spiritual condition and in a lifestyle that displays his glory and honors his name.
Therefore, the goal of spiritual leadership is that people come to know God and to glorify him in all that they do. Spiritual leadership is aimed not so much at directing people as it is at changing people. If we would be the kind of leaders we ought to be, we must make it our aim to develop persons rather than dictate plans. You can get people to do what you want, but if they don’t change in their heart, you have not led them spiritually. You have not taken them to where God wants them to be.
“Spiritual leadership is using God’s methods to get his people where he wants them in reliance on his power.”
Everyone has the responsibility of leadership in some relationships. But my concern in this article is with the characteristics that a person must have in order to be a spiritual leader who excels both in the quality of his direction and the numbers of people who follow him.
Biblical spiritual leadership contains an inner circle and an outer circle. The inner circle of spiritual leadership is that sequence of events in the human soul that must happen if anyone is to get to first base in spiritual leadership. These are the absolute bare essentials. They are things that all Christians must attain in some degree and, when they are attained with high fervor and deep conviction, they very often lead one into strong leadership. In the outer circle are qualities that characterize both spiritual and non-spiritual leaders. What I would like to try to do now in this article is simply explain and illustrate these qualities of the inner circle and the outer circle.
The Inner Circle of Spiritual Leadership
1. That Others Will Glorify God
The ultimate goal of all spiritual leadership is that other people might come to glorify God; that is, might so feel and think and act as to magnify the true character of God. According to Matthew 5:14-16, one of the crucial ways by which a Christian leader brings other people to glorify God is by being a person who loves both friend and foe.
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
This text shows that there is an attitude and lifestyle that is so distinctive that when it appears in the arena of fallen humanity, it gives valid evidence that there is a God and that he is a gloriously trustworthy heavenly Father. When the reality of God’s promises to take care of us and to work everything together for our good grips our hearts so that we do not fall prey to greed or fear or vainglory but rather manifest a contentment and a love and a freedom for other people, then the world will have to admit that the one who gives us hope and freedom must be real and glorious.
2. Love Both Friend and Foe by Trusting in God and Hoping in His Promises
But how shall we attain to a love that is strong enough to bless and pray for its enemies? The answer given in Scripture (and this is the second level in the inner circle) is that trust in God and hope in his promises leads to love. Galatians 5:6 says, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.” That is, when we have strong faith in the goodness of God, it inevitably works itself out in love. Colossians 1:4-5 says, “We heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.”
In other words, when our hope is strong, we are freed from fears and cares that prevent the free exercises of love. Therefore, a spiritual leader must be a person who has strong confidence in the sovereign goodness of God to work everything together for his good. Otherwise, he will inevitably fall into the trap of manipulating circumstances and exploiting people in order to secure for himself a happy future which he is not certain God will provide.
“Trust in God and hope in his promises give us the strength to love others — even our enemies.”
3. Meditate on and Pray over His Word
But how shall we sinners come to have this kind of confidence in God? Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” And Psalm 119:18 says, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” These two texts together show us that faith in God is rooted in God’s word.
When we hear God’s word, especially the preaching of Christ in whom all the promises of God have their Yes (2 Corinthians 1:20), we are moved to trust him — but this does not happen automatically. We must pray that our eyes be open to the true significance of the word of God in Scripture. So, the spiritual leader must be a person who meditates on the word of God and who prays for spiritual illumination. Otherwise, his faith will grow weak and his love will languish and no one will be moved to glorify God because of him.
4. Acknowledge Your Helplessness
But finally, we must ask how a person comes to be willing to spend time with and be open to the word of God. The answer seems to be that we must acknowledge our helplessness. All true spiritual leadership has its roots in desperation. Jesus commended the man who said, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13). Jesus said of his own ministry, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17). This means that the beginning of spiritual leadership must be in the acknowledgement that we are the sick who need a physician.
Once we are humbled to that point, we will be opened to reading the doctor’s prescription in the word. And as we read the wonderful promises that are there for those of us who trust the doctor, our faith will grow strong and our hope will become solid. And when our faith is strong and our hope is solid, all the barriers to love, like greed and fear, will be swept away. When we become the kind of people who can risk our lives, even for our enemies, and who don’t hold grudges and who devote our energies to do others good rather than seeking our own aggrandizement, then people will see and give glory to our Father in heaven.
They will probably want to keep a journal of insights and ideas as they read the word and pray. They will want to read books about the Bible (for example, books by J.I. Packer and Paul Little and John Stott and dozens of other excellent evangelical authors) and about prayer (for example, the eight books by E.M. Bounds). They will want to take a periodic half-day retreat with a Bible and a notebook and a hymnbook. If you want to be a great leader of people, you have to get away from people to be with God.
“To lead effectively, you must be out ahead of your people in Bible study and prayer.”
