Why Patience Is A Particularly Difficult Virtue For Leaders To Develop!

Running shoes are more comfortable than work boots. Getting our way, winning an argument, and keeping the machinery running at all cost is much easier than, gracefully waiting, speaking with seasoned words, and allowing a certain amount of failure to come about because of the flaws of ourselves and others. It is much easier to end a problem and have closure, with the desired results or not, than it is to suffer long and endure. Patience is only learned through the trials of “thorns and thistles”. Many leaders would rather run away than to weather the storm. One can conclude that unless a spiritual leader is willing to afford themselves discomfort, denial of self, and getting our agenda passed, they will never learn the virtuous quality of character known as patience.

The Positive And Negative Aspects Of Anger In Leadership!

On the surface, it seems that anger and leadership only mix in a dictatorial environment. While it is true that dictators, whether ministers or CEO’s, often have anger as a fault, being righteously indignant is a quality that all spiritual leaders need. A classic example of this would be when Jesus drove the money changers from the Temple with a whip. No level-headed person would overlook the fact that Jesus was angry. His anger was not sinful. It did not overrule His emotions where He lost control of His temperament. His righteous passion for the dignity of the Temple, including all of its functions, caused Him to conclusively end the deceitfulness of those who were in violation of God’s Law. Thus, He was angry at their sin. This anger led Him to serve His Heavenly Father in a constructive and holy way! Every leader of God’s people must have anger as a spoke in the wheel of their character.

Just as anger can help a man deal with a disturbing situation and keep him in the battle until the smoke clears, it can also hurt him; costing him everything. There are high stakes in this arena of anger. A hot-headed man, who is always boiling over, will not mature in character. Rather, he will regress and eventually lose the respect of those with whom God has placed into his care. Anger can behave much like a termite does in wood. On the inside, inch by inch, the core is being eaten up. After a while the signs show up on the outside. Sooner or later, the structural integrity of the building will collapse. So it is with the spiritual leader who fails to utilize anger in the right way.

Is There A Place For Humor In Leadership?

Humor is essential to sound leadership. The ability to take the edge off of a sharp comment or the acknowledgment of a failure through a tactful jest can be both helpful and befitting to those around. Serious people can learn to be funny by prayerfully maintain dignity of character, while aptly poking fun at themselves. The ability to balance jest and retain character is a fine line. Many a preacher has lost his influence by too candid of humor. Likewise, many able men of God have minimized their usefulness unknowingly by being too serious. The man of God must keep humor in his tool chest; pulling it out only when needed and promptly replacing it so as to retain sound influence.

Leaders in any forum can be helped greatly by managing a good sense of humor. Dirty jokes, foul language, and racial overtones must be avoided at all costs. Whether in the business world, barber shop, supermarket, or the local city park, all leaders must be careful to use proper etiquette. Leaders need the respect of those they are leading. If they sever that cord, then they risk loosing the momentum they had in their project, hinder the potential of their subordinates, and lose credibility. Bottom line... leaders should tastefully use humor to their advantage.

Can A Leader's Vision Be A Hindrance?

A person who is a visionary can be so caught up in the “end” that he forgets the “now”. By this I mean that a leader who has vision must be able to see “it” in the end, but be able to clear a road for people to make it there. It is true that your best leaders were those who saw things others did not. Many times, however, a leader has made the mistake of forging ahead and leaving his subordinates behind. When this happens he has ceased to be a leader, and, in effect, become a loner. A leader can turn vision into a reality, but he has to adjust for the wind. Thus, vision can create a vacuum if one is not careful to balance vision with realism.

US Political Vacuum

Where is the leadership once demonstrated by the United States? It seems that whatever landscape you put us in, LEADERSHIP is not a description of the vista. We can blame Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. The fault does not necessarily lie in the party itself, but in the individuals that make it up. Just as we would conclude that guns are not evil, but people are, so we propose that the party is not the real problem, it is people. Yes, the ideology of the various political entities are vastly different and some are far behind enemy lines seeking to bombard the beachhead entrenched by our founding fathers. Yet, the people who line the rosters of these groups are the reason we are in this black hole!

Where is the resounding voice of a "Churchill" like leader? That lone voice in the evening that seemed to calm the restlessness of a wearied people. Where is that courage, and allegiance to the cause of freedom once espoused by Reagan? It seems no single leader is stepping forward. Yes, the swords rattle in the ranks, but no clear captain to rally the troops. Across the land people are polarized by various issues, but not solidified behind leadership.

Is it fear that has silenced the voice of reason? Has vice handicapped the man of the hour? Has bribery, and political favors rendered the choicest among us impotent? Maybe it is self preservation that has closed the mouths of those that would get on the stump and herald forth the message of deliverance to our nation's woes. Whatever it is, we are caught in a powerful vacuum in the absence of vital leadership.

President Obama is our nations leader, so-called. Where is the leadership? All one can see is that of tyranny. Yes, there are many who would follow him off of the cliff, but a growing majority just want to be led. Instilling fear, of varying stripes, into a populace is not leadership. Platitudes, pomp, prestige of image may get one into office, but leadership navigates a nation.

Leadership dictates that when seeking to move into difficult waters extreme caution must be the compass. At the same time, counsel must be sought by ALL resources available. Courage in the face of difficulty will either come from selfish interests or from the consensus of those surrounding you who are firmly embedded in the dictate of principle. In the absence of courage derived from principle, cynical, vindictive, and even tyrannical actions display themselves for all to ponder.

In summary, leadership is needed badly in this nation! Unanimity and solidarity around platitudes will not stop the political vacuum of this great nation. The guiding star out of this black hole is that of conservatism around the founding principles of this country! May someone stand against the grain in Washington D.C. like the bow of a mighty ship dividing the waves in the stormy North Atlantic! May someone rise to the occasion and be counted no matter the cost to their political future! We have no future unless we get some solid, tempered, and genuine leadership back into Washington!

Which Model Of Leadership: Peter Or Paul?

Leadership comes with a high price tag. In either case to pick from, both Peter and Paul’s model came through tremendous suffering, and hardship. If I had to pick one, I would pick Paul’s model. He seemed to have the intellectual capacity from his natural abilities that, when God saved him, were grafted into service for Christ. He tended to be an example of one who led without scandal. He led in such a way that he could say, in the words of the Holy Ghost, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” Paul, indeed, was such a close disciple of Christ that you could say that as you were following Paul you were, in effect, following Jesus for they were “nose to tail” in the road to Glory. Paul led from principle and practiced what he preached, while Peter tended to be more failure driven. In other words, he had so many blunders from his “foot in mouth syndrome” that he led from learning from them. That is not bad, but Paul did not have many instances of that nature. Paul was leading remembering what he was before he was saved and what he had done previously to the church of God. I would like to follow Paul’s model, but I find myself being in a part of Peter’s model of leadership.

Common Deficiencies And Failures Among Church Leaders!

The one problem I face, my own troubled fountain, is also the scourge of most pulpits in this country. I am speaking, of course, of the leader driving the car and not God. We often impose “our” deadlines, “our” agendas, “our” plans, “our” projects, “our” expectations, “our” standards, “our” convictions, “our” dreams, and forget what God wants. We get blinded by our own ambition. Instead of governing as if God was in control and we were simply following His lead… instead of leading our company of soldiers in this battle while following our own Commander-In-Chief, we design our own battle field and its choreography. More often than not, church leaders are guilty of creating our own battles and then providing our own solutions. Basically we take the role of deity and make our church family lowly subjects who slave and provide the money to build our kingdoms. We should instead be the “under-rower”, the servant of all and promote the church family to the status that God sees them as: His Sheep! We would do well to spend time in prayer to find out which way God is going and follow Him!

Natural Leadership Versus Spiritual Leadership

The key difference between natural leadership and spiritual leadership would be that a man’s natural abilities drive him and make room for him. He is driven to “success” by his abilities and desire to accomplish tasks, etc. On the other hand, a spiritual leader is driven by the Holy Ghost to lead. This inward pushing manifests itself in that believer’s life. The spiritual abilities, which may have been dormant for years, suddenly comes to life. They are refined through their use and dependence upon God for their fruitfulness.

I believe a spiritual leader’s natural abilities, which God initially gave him, can be transformed and used marvelously to the good of those with whom he ministers. The abilities in question are simply refined and modeled after the sanctification process carried out by the Holy Ghost. As the aspiring spiritual leader seeks to conform to the image of Christ and follow God’s will, the person of the Holy Spirit grafts the natural abilities in and the leader learns to depend upon God in their use instead of themselves and the ability. Their abilities are soon looked upon as instruments in God’s hands instead of a tool for self edification. The pride, which characterized previous use, soon becomes dormant and the meekness produced by God is soon the arena where the ability is displayed.

What Made Noah A Great Spiritual Leader!

Noah is a great example of a godly, shepherd of people. By the world’s standard he was not a leader of individuals, however the world has the wrong measuring stick. God makes it plain in His infallible Word that Noah was a unique man who had character. It was his character that enabled him to be the leader that he was. I want to share three portions of his character that should serve to instruct us about godly leadership.

First, we should notice that Noah was godly. Genesis 6:8 states that Noah found “grace”. This signifies that Noah was a saved man. The Bible teaches that one who is saved has the righteousness of Christ imputed to their account. This was certainly the case with Noah. Out of his salvation experience, Noah began to apply the godly principles that were taught him by his godly forefathers. The Bible goes on to describe him in verse 9 as one who was “just”, “perfect”, and one who “walked with God”. To me when God describes Noah as “just” He meant that he was righteous and that he performed acts of righteousness. In other words, he served God! “Perfect” means that he was mature or “complete in moral excellencies”. Noah was a man of maturity. This developed as he applied the principles of God’s Word to his life and walk. The terminology that is often used to describe agreement is that of “walking”. Noah is said to have walked with God. In other words, he agreed with God on everything and just followed the leadership of God in his life.

Second, Noah was a man of obedience. I believe that Noah’s obedience in the midst of such perversity is the clearest indication that he was a saved man and that he was destined for leadership. You find that after God gave the instructions to build the ark, the plans on how to build it, and the reasons for the construction, Noah just went right along with it! Genesis 6:22 declares that Noah obeyed “according to all that God commanded him”. As the children’s song says, “Obedience is the very best way to show that you believe, doing exactly what the Lord commands, doing it happily” thus Noah would be a great example of what this means. Noah simply obeyed God. A true leader must be able to obey or he will not be what God intended he should be.

Finally, Noah was consistent. Spiritual leaders must be consistent. For 120 years Noah labored bi-vocationally, through the construction of the ark and through the preaching ministry. The ark and the subsequent travels of the animals to the ark were all an object lesson of the fact that God was doing something and that people must be saved! For 120 years the people derided him and caused him grief. They mocked him, but he kept building and preaching. When it was all said and done, only his family made the ark their place of safety. Some would say Noah failed, but I hasten to point out that God was pleased and that is all that matters. He won his family after all of those years. Many today, as spiritual leaders, overlook their families and win everyone else. May we all seek to win our families as fervently as we do others! If Noah was not a consistent man, he would have never finished the work God gave him to do.

In conclusion, we see that Noah was a great spiritual leader. He had character when no one else did. He sought after righteousness when it was not popular, he labored for God when it was not profitable in the world’s economy, and he sowed the seed of God’s Word in spite of the soil conditions. Character is what enabled him to win his family and be used of God in such an earth changing way!

A Thought!

I have been soberly reminded of the fact that true spiritual leadership is as scarce today as million dollars bills are. Up until now, I have simply looked at the person who fills the position as a spiritual leader. It is apparent to me, at this point, that not every occupant is a true spiritual leader of men. God has a hard time finding leaders because men either will not yield themselves as pupils in His “school of hard knocks”, or they indulge in sin so much that they are in no condition to lead others because of their testimony. Still others feel that they only need training and a diploma to serve. Human education is simply not enough to equip an individual. God makes the spiritual leader through the sanctification process of the Holy Ghost maturing the servant into the image of Christ. The spiritual leader is always learning, even while holding an office and edifying his peers.

Comparison Of Leadership Qualities: Secular, Spiritual!

The leadership qualities engrained in our society today seem to be diametrically opposed to what Christ taught in Mark 10:41-45. The business world says: work hard, study hard, aim high, and do whatever it takes to get there. The intent behind these axioms is far different than their nobility suggests. Pride and lording over others is not a sin in the eyes of the business world. Commanding the actions of others is a desired end. Getting the most for the least effort is championed when it comes to maintaining your level of achievement.

Christ’s teachings are far different than what our business world pushes. Christ said that we are not to lord over our peers, but we should be their best servant. The estimation of greatness, according to Jesus, is not found in how many people serve you, but how many you are serving. Christ set the example for anyone who wants to be a “great” Christian. He exemplified greatness by giving His life for all. Therefore, all who want to be great must give their lives in service for others from a heart wanting to bring glory to God.

God Molds The Man!

True spiritual leaders are made in God’s divine mold. When Jeremiah was told to go to the potter’s house, it was for more than just a casual visit. God wanted him to see that He was molding Israel and she was not responding to His hands. I believe that there is a great parallel in molded clay and the training process that God puts men through before they may take “center stage”.

Consider, if you will, how so few people are truly leading. Why is that? It is due, in part, to the mentality that leaders are produced by human methods, and by the issuing of diplomas. Sure God may use colleges, and universities to help educate the leader, but spiritual leadership is not derived from a collection of facts and a great ability to disseminate truths to people. One needs good training and teaching from those in the arena of leadership. However, we should not assume just because someone has sat under the tutelage of another spiritual leader that they have somehow been knighted as a spiritual leader.

God puts a man through a process that starts years previous to their debut in the public role as spiritual leader. Somewhere in the background a soul has desired to put first “the kingdom of God and His righteousness”. As this soul learns to let Christ be Lord of their lives, as they continue day by day being “conformed to the image of His Son”, and as they learn from their mistakes maturing into a responsible God-fearing individual, then God brings forth a vessel sanctified and meet for His own use.

When a group of people accept leadership derived outside the aforementioned program, then they have settled for “Sauline” and not “Davidic” leadership. God uses people who make themselves available in the smaller duties. As they progress by proving their integrity, faithfulness, and their God-given abilities, God may promote them into more responsible positions. The holding of different positions, and carrying out of specific duties, in and of themselves, do not make the man, but serve to shape him. Again, God matures his man through these performances. The aspiring leader must grow their beard of maturity. As a potter molds the clay, God creates the spiritual leaders little by little on the wheel of life.

Why are spiritual leaders in such short supply today?

True spiritual leaders are in short supply and always have been. Numerous times in the Scriptures we find God looking or asking someone to look for leaders. Seldom is there success. A noteworthy passage which depicts this very dilemma is found in Ezekiel 22:30 which states, “And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.” With all of God’s power, knowledge, and being every where present, no person was found. What a sad commentary!

There are many reasons why leaders are in the extreme minority, but I will mention just two: the sin of man, and the ease of taking the back seat. Let’s start with the sin of man. Think about it! Man would rather sin and enjoy its short-lived pleasures than to deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Jesus. Even Christians, who have some knowledge as to what it takes to be a God pleasing leader, would rather indulge in their self will than to constrain their lives in a divinely ordered path.

Let us move on to the second reason. I have no statistics, but my experience has been that a vast majority of church members would rather someone else do everything. If one takes on responsibility, then that means they are accountable to someone. Few want to tie themselves down for this would hinder “their” time. Taking the oversight means that one will be criticized openly and privately. Seldom does one come forth in spite of this issue. It is easier to play “arm chair quarterback”, than to catch the ball and run in for a touchdown. Most want to sit back and someone else take the heat. Thus, it is evident that many hinder the working of the Holy Ghost in their lives which limits the supply of spiritual leaders!

Is Spiritual Leadership An Honorable Ambition?

There are several reasons for which most today would think that seeking spiritual leadership is not an honorable ambition. Firstly, the mindset of many today see the pulpit, and chairs of spiritual leadership as being accompanied with lavish perks, prestige, praise and the admiration of the masses. They see the results in the business world where leadership is often driven by these self-serving incentives. Many would thus conclude that for someone aspiring to be a spiritual leader they would, in fact, reveal a somewhat covetous heart.

Secondly, many believe that one should always be asked to fill a position, or, in the very least, the vacancy should fill itself. People should be available, but should never seek out opportunities. There are many casualties in our modern day church where individuals sought places of leadership, who, in years subsequent to their exaltation, showed their true colors. It is no wonder that many swerve away from those who are seeking out responsibility.

Lastly, many view the word “ambition” as a somewhat dirty word in the realm of spiritual things. It is okay, on the one hand, to have ambition to make it financially to support your family, but it is taboo if one should have ambition to serve in a leadership role in church. This misconception is common and has some merit; however, we must understand that ambition which is camping around the glory of God is a “mighty force for good”. It is understandable that ambition which hovers around self, and pride is not good, but is, in fact, evil!

In summary, one must clearly see that ambition which is centered on God’s glory is certainly acceptable, while ambition for spiritual leadership which is from a selfish and self-promoting heart is sin. The Apostle Paul’s statement in I Timothy 3:1 is not advocating someone seek a place of leadership from a sinful motivation. Rather, Paul is encouraging qualified men to take the reigns of leadership. It is hard for us to comprehend this in our day because we do not understand what the bishop faced when he did assume the leadership role in the local assembly. His only reward was a plethora of persecutions, ranging from verbal attacks to martyrdom. Thus we can conclude that if a man did desire to lead under those harsh circumstances, it would be very unlikely that he would do so from a self serving heart. Therefore, desiring to be a bishop is “an honorable ambition”.

An Early Experience

Several years ago, a man in my home church wanted to start a new Wednesday night class. He wanted to take the seventh and eighth graders that had aged out of our King’s Kids program and try to develop them further. The class was approved by my pastor and this man needed help. I wanted to be a part of this class, but felt unsure about what to do. After my inquiry, and answering his questions, he was willing to use me.

Having some issues with a man I was helping in another class, I felt like leaving, but was undecided as to how to make my exodus. I did not want to just up and quit, but I ended up doing that very thing. Being a co-leader of this new class was appealing to me. Looking back I feel like it was just flesh, and when I vacillated in my decision to help in the new class, my co-leader “to be” stated in a very convicting way that I needed to be in much prayer. He further stated that I should not be a part of this class if God was not in it. Never before had I someone to speak to me in this way about making a decision.

I knew little about prayer, being I was only a 2 year old Christian. Whether or not I was a young Christian should not have had a bearing on my knowledge of prayer, but it did in this case. I did not have complete assurance about helping, but I did help a week or two anyway. What resulted shames me to this day! I quit on the new class and ended up helping very little in the old class. I just got side tracked by something good, and missed out on the best God had for me. I learned a lot through this experience and I hope that I have been edified by it.

Leadership

Leadership is a topic many like to speak about, but very few exemplify. I may be considered this way myself. I find that when great leadership is absent, bad leadership prevails. Someone will lead, and people need the best.

The purpose of this blog is to speak about leadership in various senses. I have a lot of material regarding the subject of Spiritual Leadership that I will post first. Political Leadership and Military Leadership will be subjects down the road.

I am excited to get this going and value your thoughts!