Monday, August 07, 2006
Spiritual Leadership 101
Introduction:
This summer we have talked a lot about Romans 12, and how every Christian is called to be a living sacrifice who makes it a priority to use their gifts to serve others and build up God’s kingdom here on earth. Being an active Christian is a command, not an option. That means that everyone who accepts Christ becomes a spiritual leader to someone in some aspect of the ministry, like it or not, whether you have a formal position or not. (Remember, there are actually no high or low positions in the body of Christ – every job is equally important, because God has given us different gifts and different callings—thus we can’t compare ourselves to each other). As long as you are using your gifts, playing your part in the church body, representing God, you become a spiritual leader to somebody. And it is very important to understand how crucial it is to exercise this spiritual leadership in the proper, biblical way. Thus, this sermon is applicable to everyone – and if you don’t think it is, then I would ask you, why aren’t you actively using your gifts to serve in the body of Christ? I realize the title sounds a little academic, but don’t worry, this sermon won’t be a dry analysis of organizational structure. We are going to examine some fundamental principles of spiritual leadership -- some basic things that all of us should know and practice if we want to please God and grow as spiritual leaders while serving Him.
1) VISION
(Read Habakkuk 2:2-3)
Write down the [vision] and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the [vision] awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.
One of the most important aspects of spiritual leadership is to understand God’s vision for the church, and to constantly help point people towards it. God blesses each church with different talents, ministries, and areas of emphasis, to reach the people that He is calling them to reach. For us, He has given us the vision of reaching out to make an impact in the Fresno community by being a multicultural, Bible-centered ministry that stresses applying God’s Word to everyday life, equipping and encouraging each other (“iron sharpening iron”) to spread God’s Word and live obedient lives with the eternal perspective in mind. It is essential that we never forget the big picture of what we are here for – and it is the job of spiritual leaders to articulate that vision and help encourage people to strive towards it, and when distractions come, to help the members re-focus on it. Vision reminds us that we’re not just here to gather together, have fun, feel good, and go home. We should always be thinking about how our purpose is to be used by God to make an eternal difference in the lives of others, and everything we do should be connected to that.
The Bible says that without a vision, the people perish. Although we may not die physically, we definitely risk dying spiritually by lacking the sense of direction that comes from God’s vision. Without staying focused on the big picture, it’s easy to forget why we do what we do – to get caught up in the tasks themselves without remembering Who we are doing it for, or how it is contributing to building God’s kingdom. A spiritual leader must constantly ask themselves how each activity contributes to the overall mission, and make sure that valuable time and resources are not spent on things that don’t connect (for example, ask: “How does this event/activity help people apply God’s Word to their daily lives or encourage them to have a closer personal relationship with God?”). The vision for a church, is like the thesis statement of an essay (all the body paragraphs must connect to it, or else you risk getting off-topic) – all actions, events, and activities should advance the vision. The spiritual leader must constantly help others understand the vision, and encourage others to stay focused on it. Without a vision and leaders to reinforce and illustrate it, the church ends up doing random things that lead nowhere in particular, instead of following God’s pathway towards His highest purposes.
Let me back up a minute and talk about where this vision comes from – it must come from God, or else you are just chasing after human goals and dreams (and His plans are so much better than ours – the Bible says “His ways are higher than our ways, His thoughts are higher than our thoughts”). God must be the author of the vision, and you can check that by matching it up against the Bible. The vision will always be consistent with Biblical principles, or else it is not from God. God and prayer should be at the center of everything a church or a spiritual leader does. It is not up to us to dream dreams for God and call our own plans His plans – we must constantly pray and seek God’s guidance in everything we do to make sure we are using our time and resources in ways that please Him and further His kingdom, and that fulfill the calling He has given us. That is why it is essential that spiritual leaders take plenty of time to have a quality prayer life. God often guides, directs, instills, and reaffirms the vision through prayer.
2) SERVANTHOOD
(Read Matthew 20:25-28)
Jesus said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
This is what Jesus reminded His disciples, when they speculated about power and position. Remember that we are called to live sacrificially for the sake of others, and to follow the selfless example of Christ (washing the disciples’ feet, etc.). Out in the world, leaders are measured by how many people they rule over. In God’s kingdom, leaders are measured by how many people they serve. If you want to talk about true leadership, don’t show me how many people run around serving you – show me how many people you serve, and then we can see how much of a leader you are. Spiritual leadership is not based on power, prestige, and authority – it is based on service, sacrifice, and humility. A spiritual leader is motivated by love, not power. It is our love for God, and our compassion for our fellow man, which gives us the strength and motivation to have a servant’s heart as we carry out our God-given assignment.
God is the master of His house and we are the servants. We have to remember that we are not in charge, God is. We don’t even control the guest list – the servant’s job is to humbly serve whoever the Master invites to His house.
3) EXCELLENCE
(Read Colossians 3:17)
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
A spiritual leader is called to set an example of excellence – to do everything in a way that brings honor and glory to God, because like it or not, we represent Him in everything that we do. Thus, spiritual leaders should not do things half-heartedly, carelessly, or with no attention to detail. Even something like the way you set up a room for Bible Study is a reflection on God, and shows how important we consider His work (or not). We should do everything as if we are doing it for God Himself. A spiritual leader striving for excellence will be diligent, hard-working, organized, punctual – not lazy, late, slothful, and quick to give up on a difficult task. A spiritual leader will make sure things are neat, orderly, and well-organized. It is sad when Christians put in more time, effort, and quality into their work at school or their job than they do when they are doing eternally-important tasks for Christ. We should give God our best efforts and our best talents, not just the leftovers after giving your best to the world all week. Remember that being called to serve God is a privilege, not a duty, and we should treat it that way. As a spiritual leader you are doing eternally-important work, which means we should treat it even more carefully than worldly tasks. When serving God, it’s not for pride or money, it’s for the sake of saving lost souls and building God’s kingdom. It is literally a matter of life and death, and when we remember that it should motivate us to strive for excellence in how we serve the Lord. Don’t cut corners on eternally-meaningful jobs.
4) COMMUNICATION
I Corinthians 14:40 tells us that everything in church should be done “in an orderly way.” Communication is crucial to eliminating confusion and chaos, and coordinating the various parts of the church body as we pursue God’s vision together. Just like in the human body, the various parts communicate through nerve impulses and signals from the brain. In the church body the leaders must constantly facilitate communication to keep the body moving in the same direction, to encourage the various parts, and for one part of the body to let the other parts know what it’s doing. Clear communication helps coordinate planning and action towards the vision, so that we don’t lose our sense of purpose as a church body. It is important that spiritual leaders take ample time to discuss important issues with each other, pray with and for each other, and keep each other fully informed of what’s going on in their area of leadership. (Speaking of prayer, remember that it’s important that we communicate frequently with God, not just our fellow human members.) The early church in the Book of Acts set a great example of communication – they gathered together daily to eat, talk, pray, and do God’s work together. In today’s society it may not be feasible to be physically together on a daily basis, but with technology like cellphones and the Internet there is no excuse not to stay connected and communicate.
Another big part of communication involves encouragement. We can obey Hebrews 10:24-25 and encourage each other daily through communication. (This is a great passage about spiritual leadership…) Part of leadership is helping bring out the best in others, and spur others on to action…
(Read Hebrews 10:24-25)
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage each other – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Communication for the sake of encouragement is especially important in the realm of spiritual leadership, because leadership is not an easy road to travel (in fact, it paints a target on your back for Satan!). As a leader in the church, it is very encouraging to me to hear frequent reports from other leaders in the church about what they’ve been doing for God, and how God has been moving in their area of ministry. For me personally, it reminds me that I’m not alone on this journey towards God’s vision. Leaders must take initiative in constantly reminding their fellow leaders, as well as all of the members, that we are all in this together. It brings a sense of spiritual camaraderie that would otherwise be lacking without regular communication (Satan wants to make us feel isolated and discouraged).
As you can imagine, one of the fruits of good communication is unity. And I’m not just talking about unity for the sake of unity, to just feel good and enjoy each other’s company (we could do that out in the world, just having a pizza party together or something!). If the only thing our unity accomplishes is a warm fuzzy feeling or just having a good time together, then we’ve become no better than a social club – we might as well just start a bowling league or a fraternity instead of a church. What sets us apart as followers of Christ, and spiritual leaders, is that when we come together it’s to accomplish eternally-meaningful objectives. I’m talking about a sense of unity for a purpose – unity that is harnessed and channeled into collective, cooperative action to fulfill God’s mission/vision for the church. Communication leads to unity but it should not stop there – the unity built is spiritually pointless unless it leads towards people getting more actively involved in doing God’s work together and thus moving towards the ultimate vision. It is essential that spiritual leaders use communication to develop not just the church body’s enjoyment of simply spending time together, but to develop the enjoyment of DOING GOD’S WORK AND ACHIEVING GOD’S PURPOSES TOGETHER. That is how the church body is set apart from a social club – and it’s imperative that spiritual leaders play a strong role in clearly communicating the purpose of each activity to members, to keep us all on one accord working diligently towards God’s vision for us.
Conclusion:
You know, the harvest is ripe and the laborers are few. We are on an exciting path towards God’s vision – to do God’s work, God’s way, and achieve God’s results. There are so many opportunities in this ministry to step up and exercise spiritual leadership to help build this ministry and thus spread God’s kingdom here on Earth. I hope and pray that each member will commit and dedicate themselves to developing these biblical leadership qualities, and to influence others to get more involved as well. We each have unique gifts, and thus unique aspects of ministry for us to step up and be a leader in that area. You may not have some high formal position in the church body, but just know that God sees you as a leader (the “light of the world” – if that’s not a leader then what is?) and you need to start seeing yourself as a leader and realizing what a difference you can make for God here on Earth (and in our church body).
This summer we have talked a lot about Romans 12, and how every Christian is called to be a living sacrifice who makes it a priority to use their gifts to serve others and build up God’s kingdom here on earth. Being an active Christian is a command, not an option. That means that everyone who accepts Christ becomes a spiritual leader to someone in some aspect of the ministry, like it or not, whether you have a formal position or not. (Remember, there are actually no high or low positions in the body of Christ – every job is equally important, because God has given us different gifts and different callings—thus we can’t compare ourselves to each other). As long as you are using your gifts, playing your part in the church body, representing God, you become a spiritual leader to somebody. And it is very important to understand how crucial it is to exercise this spiritual leadership in the proper, biblical way. Thus, this sermon is applicable to everyone – and if you don’t think it is, then I would ask you, why aren’t you actively using your gifts to serve in the body of Christ? I realize the title sounds a little academic, but don’t worry, this sermon won’t be a dry analysis of organizational structure. We are going to examine some fundamental principles of spiritual leadership -- some basic things that all of us should know and practice if we want to please God and grow as spiritual leaders while serving Him.
1) VISION
(Read Habakkuk 2:2-3)
Write down the [vision] and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the [vision] awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.
One of the most important aspects of spiritual leadership is to understand God’s vision for the church, and to constantly help point people towards it. God blesses each church with different talents, ministries, and areas of emphasis, to reach the people that He is calling them to reach. For us, He has given us the vision of reaching out to make an impact in the Fresno community by being a multicultural, Bible-centered ministry that stresses applying God’s Word to everyday life, equipping and encouraging each other (“iron sharpening iron”) to spread God’s Word and live obedient lives with the eternal perspective in mind. It is essential that we never forget the big picture of what we are here for – and it is the job of spiritual leaders to articulate that vision and help encourage people to strive towards it, and when distractions come, to help the members re-focus on it. Vision reminds us that we’re not just here to gather together, have fun, feel good, and go home. We should always be thinking about how our purpose is to be used by God to make an eternal difference in the lives of others, and everything we do should be connected to that.
The Bible says that without a vision, the people perish. Although we may not die physically, we definitely risk dying spiritually by lacking the sense of direction that comes from God’s vision. Without staying focused on the big picture, it’s easy to forget why we do what we do – to get caught up in the tasks themselves without remembering Who we are doing it for, or how it is contributing to building God’s kingdom. A spiritual leader must constantly ask themselves how each activity contributes to the overall mission, and make sure that valuable time and resources are not spent on things that don’t connect (for example, ask: “How does this event/activity help people apply God’s Word to their daily lives or encourage them to have a closer personal relationship with God?”). The vision for a church, is like the thesis statement of an essay (all the body paragraphs must connect to it, or else you risk getting off-topic) – all actions, events, and activities should advance the vision. The spiritual leader must constantly help others understand the vision, and encourage others to stay focused on it. Without a vision and leaders to reinforce and illustrate it, the church ends up doing random things that lead nowhere in particular, instead of following God’s pathway towards His highest purposes.
Let me back up a minute and talk about where this vision comes from – it must come from God, or else you are just chasing after human goals and dreams (and His plans are so much better than ours – the Bible says “His ways are higher than our ways, His thoughts are higher than our thoughts”). God must be the author of the vision, and you can check that by matching it up against the Bible. The vision will always be consistent with Biblical principles, or else it is not from God. God and prayer should be at the center of everything a church or a spiritual leader does. It is not up to us to dream dreams for God and call our own plans His plans – we must constantly pray and seek God’s guidance in everything we do to make sure we are using our time and resources in ways that please Him and further His kingdom, and that fulfill the calling He has given us. That is why it is essential that spiritual leaders take plenty of time to have a quality prayer life. God often guides, directs, instills, and reaffirms the vision through prayer.
2) SERVANTHOOD
(Read Matthew 20:25-28)
Jesus said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
This is what Jesus reminded His disciples, when they speculated about power and position. Remember that we are called to live sacrificially for the sake of others, and to follow the selfless example of Christ (washing the disciples’ feet, etc.). Out in the world, leaders are measured by how many people they rule over. In God’s kingdom, leaders are measured by how many people they serve. If you want to talk about true leadership, don’t show me how many people run around serving you – show me how many people you serve, and then we can see how much of a leader you are. Spiritual leadership is not based on power, prestige, and authority – it is based on service, sacrifice, and humility. A spiritual leader is motivated by love, not power. It is our love for God, and our compassion for our fellow man, which gives us the strength and motivation to have a servant’s heart as we carry out our God-given assignment.
God is the master of His house and we are the servants. We have to remember that we are not in charge, God is. We don’t even control the guest list – the servant’s job is to humbly serve whoever the Master invites to His house.
3) EXCELLENCE
(Read Colossians 3:17)
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
A spiritual leader is called to set an example of excellence – to do everything in a way that brings honor and glory to God, because like it or not, we represent Him in everything that we do. Thus, spiritual leaders should not do things half-heartedly, carelessly, or with no attention to detail. Even something like the way you set up a room for Bible Study is a reflection on God, and shows how important we consider His work (or not). We should do everything as if we are doing it for God Himself. A spiritual leader striving for excellence will be diligent, hard-working, organized, punctual – not lazy, late, slothful, and quick to give up on a difficult task. A spiritual leader will make sure things are neat, orderly, and well-organized. It is sad when Christians put in more time, effort, and quality into their work at school or their job than they do when they are doing eternally-important tasks for Christ. We should give God our best efforts and our best talents, not just the leftovers after giving your best to the world all week. Remember that being called to serve God is a privilege, not a duty, and we should treat it that way. As a spiritual leader you are doing eternally-important work, which means we should treat it even more carefully than worldly tasks. When serving God, it’s not for pride or money, it’s for the sake of saving lost souls and building God’s kingdom. It is literally a matter of life and death, and when we remember that it should motivate us to strive for excellence in how we serve the Lord. Don’t cut corners on eternally-meaningful jobs.
4) COMMUNICATION
I Corinthians 14:40 tells us that everything in church should be done “in an orderly way.” Communication is crucial to eliminating confusion and chaos, and coordinating the various parts of the church body as we pursue God’s vision together. Just like in the human body, the various parts communicate through nerve impulses and signals from the brain. In the church body the leaders must constantly facilitate communication to keep the body moving in the same direction, to encourage the various parts, and for one part of the body to let the other parts know what it’s doing. Clear communication helps coordinate planning and action towards the vision, so that we don’t lose our sense of purpose as a church body. It is important that spiritual leaders take ample time to discuss important issues with each other, pray with and for each other, and keep each other fully informed of what’s going on in their area of leadership. (Speaking of prayer, remember that it’s important that we communicate frequently with God, not just our fellow human members.) The early church in the Book of Acts set a great example of communication – they gathered together daily to eat, talk, pray, and do God’s work together. In today’s society it may not be feasible to be physically together on a daily basis, but with technology like cellphones and the Internet there is no excuse not to stay connected and communicate.
Another big part of communication involves encouragement. We can obey Hebrews 10:24-25 and encourage each other daily through communication. (This is a great passage about spiritual leadership…) Part of leadership is helping bring out the best in others, and spur others on to action…
(Read Hebrews 10:24-25)
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage each other – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Communication for the sake of encouragement is especially important in the realm of spiritual leadership, because leadership is not an easy road to travel (in fact, it paints a target on your back for Satan!). As a leader in the church, it is very encouraging to me to hear frequent reports from other leaders in the church about what they’ve been doing for God, and how God has been moving in their area of ministry. For me personally, it reminds me that I’m not alone on this journey towards God’s vision. Leaders must take initiative in constantly reminding their fellow leaders, as well as all of the members, that we are all in this together. It brings a sense of spiritual camaraderie that would otherwise be lacking without regular communication (Satan wants to make us feel isolated and discouraged).
As you can imagine, one of the fruits of good communication is unity. And I’m not just talking about unity for the sake of unity, to just feel good and enjoy each other’s company (we could do that out in the world, just having a pizza party together or something!). If the only thing our unity accomplishes is a warm fuzzy feeling or just having a good time together, then we’ve become no better than a social club – we might as well just start a bowling league or a fraternity instead of a church. What sets us apart as followers of Christ, and spiritual leaders, is that when we come together it’s to accomplish eternally-meaningful objectives. I’m talking about a sense of unity for a purpose – unity that is harnessed and channeled into collective, cooperative action to fulfill God’s mission/vision for the church. Communication leads to unity but it should not stop there – the unity built is spiritually pointless unless it leads towards people getting more actively involved in doing God’s work together and thus moving towards the ultimate vision. It is essential that spiritual leaders use communication to develop not just the church body’s enjoyment of simply spending time together, but to develop the enjoyment of DOING GOD’S WORK AND ACHIEVING GOD’S PURPOSES TOGETHER. That is how the church body is set apart from a social club – and it’s imperative that spiritual leaders play a strong role in clearly communicating the purpose of each activity to members, to keep us all on one accord working diligently towards God’s vision for us.
Conclusion:
You know, the harvest is ripe and the laborers are few. We are on an exciting path towards God’s vision – to do God’s work, God’s way, and achieve God’s results. There are so many opportunities in this ministry to step up and exercise spiritual leadership to help build this ministry and thus spread God’s kingdom here on Earth. I hope and pray that each member will commit and dedicate themselves to developing these biblical leadership qualities, and to influence others to get more involved as well. We each have unique gifts, and thus unique aspects of ministry for us to step up and be a leader in that area. You may not have some high formal position in the church body, but just know that God sees you as a leader (the “light of the world” – if that’s not a leader then what is?) and you need to start seeing yourself as a leader and realizing what a difference you can make for God here on Earth (and in our church body).
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It really is a battle, because it's so easy to be short sighted. But narrow is the path that leads to the kingdom, right? It's encouraging to know that our working for Him is for an eternal purpose instead of a lifetime one. And I appreciated how you mentioned priority. May we be those who see and follow this vision! Thanks for the reminder that we all have a function in the church.
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