Books, seminars and information about leadership are prolific. There are common elements to the administration of any organization—casting vision, handling budgets, managing people; but if an organization is engaged in a spiritual task—whether a church, mission organization or denominational entity—fulfilling its objectives requires spiritual leadership.
There is a fine distinction in being a spiritual leader and leading spiritually. A verse that has been a constant reminder to me of the necessity of being in touch with God for needed wisdom and guidance is Isaiah 30:1-2: “Woe to the obstinate children, declares the Lord, who carry out plans that are not Mine, who form an alliance but not of My Spirit, who go down to Egypt without consulting Me.” Too many times we make plans and determine our direction and actions, assuming because we couched them in a perfunctory prayer that God is leading when, in fact, He has nothing to do with our decisions.
Isaiah 11:1-4 puts into a spiritual context those elements that are common to any leadership role. Although this is a Messianic reference, it is relevant to others called to lead in a spiritual task. There is a need for (1) knowledge—having information and awareness of reality; (2) understanding—insight and perspective on the situation and challenge; (3) wisdom—discernment of the options and their potential outcomes; (4) counsel—guidance in the process and implementation of action plans; (5) strength—the ability and courage needed to lead.
Most effective leaders in any endeavor would have a good mix of these characteristics, but note that it is the Spirit of the Lord that gives each one. They must come from God for leading a spiritual task. But more important than all is the fear of the Lord! That’s what motivates and keeps one obedient to God’s will and guidance. But note, the passage concludes—“He will not judge by what His eyes see, nor make a decision by what His ears hear, but with righteousness…and fairness” (Is. 11:3-4). That’s the distinction of the spiritual leader. Decisions and plans come from the Lord, not innate ability and insight.
Obviously, to lead spiritually one must be a spiritual person with a leadership role. That means recognition of a compelling need to seek the Lord in prayer and an insatiable thirst for God’s word. It is tragic, as surveys and research have revealed, that so many pastors and those in leadership roles become so busy that they neglect time with the Lord in a quality quiet time of devotion. How arrogant and presumptuous to try to fulfill a role on His behalf without regularly and consistently seeking the face of God and His hand of guidance and wisdom!
My friend, Crawford Loritts, has written a valuable book on Leadership as Identity in which he denotes four essential characteristics of spiritual leaders: brokenness, uncommon communion, servanthood and radical obedience. God will keep truly spiritual leaders broken so that pride cannot emerge. A sense of unworthiness and inadequacy will keep one humble and on their knees. There is a communion with God that goes beyond that which is normative for others, a servant heart and passion to be obedient regardless of the cost, criticism or misunderstanding.
A critical aspect of leading in a spiritual task is how to lead spiritually. One can be a spiritual person, but it is not a matter of wearing one’s piety on one’s sleeve or invoking a personal revelation from the Lord and then expecting everyone to follow submissively. It has got to go beyond the weekly sermon exhortation and impersonal presentations in staff meeting to a relationship of influence. One may not be a “people person” in terms of extroversion, but the people being led must know you care. Leadership does not flow from isolation in the office to an occasional public proclamation, but in relationships. Time must be spent with people sharing one’s heart, understanding their role, the challenges they face and praying for their needs.
Credibility for leading a spiritual task comes when people observe a leader roll out new programs and plans with sensitivity to its impact on those affected. They observe one who is willing to listen to others and build consensus rather than dictating decisions from a position of authority. They see initiative balanced with patience, vision balanced with pragmatism and confidence balanced with humility. When a leader is criticized it will never be accompanied by self-defense or vindictiveness, because it is not about them but the God they serve.
Effective spiritual leadership comes when it is evident one’s vision comes from God; when that is the case one’s passion becomes contagious. A spiritual leader is able to stay focused and is resistant to seductive distractions that would divert the task. He is driven to spiritual disciplines that enable him to be a worthy recipient of God’s wisdom and counsel. He recognizes that discouragement, perceived setbacks and failure are times when God is teaching needed lessons and providing opportunity for growth. Personal desires, comforts and aspirations pale in comparison to the joy of sensing a partnership with God and serving Him.
“Credibility for leading a spiritual task comes when people observe a leader roll out new programs and plans with sensitivity to its impact on those affected.” Hmmmmmm. Great quote, but I’m not for sure this has been practiced in reality at the IMB. George Patton once said, “no good decision has ever been made from a swivel chair.” Dr. Rankin I think this is a great idea, but it may be near impossible when speaking to large organizations such as the IMB. I for one don’t remember ever being asked my opinion on IMB decisions and policies. Not that this is bad, but at the same time I don’t know if it is even a remote possibility. I don’t think this is your fault. I believe once you become the top person in an organization that naturally one will lose touch with the groundpounders as we call them in the military. In this case it would be missionaries. The way one organization took care of this issue was by creating a group that complaints could be funneled to and the complaints were confidential. That way the person who made the complaint would not face any problems with leadership. At the time they started this they thought their organization was at the top of its game, but soon realized there were some serious weakenesses in the way things were being done and employee morale was being seriously impacted negatively. Maybe this would be a great IMB tool, but prepare yourself for what may be said.
Spiritual sensitivity is the key. “Tony’s” remarks on the last blog post were a good introduction to this post.
Mark makes some good points above too.
I believe that the most effective measure taken to create a spiritually-sensitive life as an individual, a team or a giant organization is prayer. If there is not a prayer-culture there will not be a constant spiritual emphasis or sensitivity.
The question I must ask, and the leadership of a team, church or organization must ask is how much time do I invest in prayer? What measures do I take as a leader to enlist my team, church or organization in prayer projects? Are there constant prayer events, prayer facilities available in the work place, reminders, encouragement to pray that remind myself and others of our dependency upon prayer?
How much time during the “working hours” is taken to step away and pray for obstacles encountered during the course of doing our job? Are those under our leadership encouraged to do this in such a way as to help them recognize that this is as much a part of doing their job as responding to emails? If Mark’s comments ring true it could be due to weaknesses in this regard.
I never feel that I pray enough. Fortunately, our family does have a very effective prayer network that is truly involved in praying for us. I think that our prayer supporters often help shore up those times when I may not be intentional enough about praying. We do understand our dependency upon God’s power and that He DOES respond to concerted prayer so we share our prayer needs and then give our supporters rapid updates on the way God has responded to their prayers for us. But how can one pray enough?
Excellent post, Doc. Good job, as usual.
Sadly, while I see many of these characteristics in senior leadership within the IMB, there would seem at times (many times) to be a rather large drop in these things once we get down to the affinity leader level and below. Brokenness, uncommon communion, servanthood and radical obedience are missing from the leadership structure within some affinities. Sharing one’s heart? Real relationships? Initiative balanced with patience, vision balanced with pragmatism and confidence balanced with humility? Hmm….not so much.
This is not a blanket critique leveled at each and every leader below the senior leadership level. There are those who do embody these things. Far too often, though, our leaders on the field fall woefully short of these goals.
As for me, how do I rank? If I am going to point my finger at others, I should be willing to examine my own life. I’m doing decently, I think, but lacking in prayer. I, too, become distracted by life and forget just how much I need and enjoy His word.
I think I can look past my leader’s failure to pray; my empathy does that for me. I can live with mistakes and flaws; mine are no better nor worse. I think what pains me about your article is how true it is, and how frequently these things are need, and how often my leaders tell me the same things without embodying them for a moment. Heck, they don’t even seem to try.
Even so, good job. This is the ideal, and it is for this we should strive.