section 2 leaders role

Spiritual Leadership

LTCi course 602EBI courses 115 & 224

Friday 4 November 2011

115 - This course focuses on how to teach and practice the principles of spiritual leadership. Topics include the leader’s challenge, role, preparation, vision, character, goal, influence, decisions, schedules, pitfalls, and rewards.


Section 2 - The Leader’s Role

Group Activity: Create a one-page visual summary for what leaders do.Study chapter 2 in BlackabyStudy chapters 3-4 in SandersPrint an article on leadership at: http://www.pastors.com/RWMT/MTArchive.asp


http://www.pastors.com/RWMT/MTArchi




The Leaders

Role


Chapter 3:The Master’s Principle

Mark 10:43-44Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.


Sanders says leader is used only 6 times in the KJV (latest NIV uses it 78x) - more often God speaks of his servant - in the NIV search for Moses and servant together and you get 40 occurrences -this is in line with what Christ taught.In fact Jesus’ teaching on leadership was revolutionary:Servant was low paid, low esteem, low honour = unattractive.Jesus said: servant = greatness = revolutionary idea


Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”Gal 5:13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love.In most churches only a few people carry the load - being a servant does not appeal to most people, we prefer to meet our own needs


http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=gal%205:13&version=ESV;NIV;MSG;NLT#fen-NIV-29176a

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=gal%205:13&version=ESV;NIV;MSG;NLT#fen-NIV-29176a

“You know that those who are regarded as 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,Jesus shows clearly how different his ideas about leadership and the worlds ideas are.James and John got their mother to ask Jesus for the best seats in his kingdom - they followed loved and served Jesus but still did not understand his idea about leadership - Matt 20:20ff


You want glory; you have to take the shame...You want the crown; you take the cross...you want to be master; you have to be servant...Sanders describes two principles from this:The Sovereignty Principle of Spiritual Leadership, summed up in Mark 10:40to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared."


“Honour and rank are for those who have prepared themselves for it, and worked very hard to get it. But here we see the fundamental difference in Jesus’ teaching and our human ideas.God assigns places of spiritual ministry and leadership in His sovereign will.The NLT translates this as:God has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.”Remember Jn 15:16 - take confidence in the fact that God chose you for his work.


The Suffering Principle of Spiritual leadership - Mk 10:38“Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”Te task might appear wonderful - but all those who undertake it must know and be prepared to pay the price - our eyes must be open wide.James and John responded positively - Jesus knew the price they would pay - James would die and John would end his days in isolation.


Only on one occasion did Jesus declare an example for his followers: Jn 13:15 - feet washing. 1 Peter 2:21 offers another example - suffering.21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.Suffering and serving are paired together in our life - follow the example of Jesus and this is what will result.


To suffer and serve in the same way as Jesus did requires more than mere actions - it is spiritual in nature. Isaiah 42 reveals the attitudes and motives of the coming suffering servant - and the ideals of a servant of the Lord - they show us the pattern for our leadership service.

The Spirit of Servanthood


Dependence Isa 42:1“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, Fulfilled in Jesus - who made himself nothing Php 2:7 - surrendering the privileges of God and being dependent on his Father - become empty of self, depend on God, and the Spirit of God will fill us.Approval - my chosen one in whom I delight;God delighted in Jesus - Matt 3:17, 17, 5Jesus delighted to do the Fathers will I desire to do your will, my God;


Modesty - 42:2 He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets.No arrogance or flamboyance was to be found in Jesus - though the devil tempted Jesus to be dramatic, Matt 4:4ff.Jesus was quiet and unobtrusive (not attracting attention) - Sanders suggests this is shown also by angels who cover their faces with 2 of their 6 wings - Isa 6:2


Empathy Isa 42:3A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.Sympathetic to the weak and merciful/forgiving to those who fail. He does not trample on the weak or bruised.Do you “pass by on the other side of the road” when you know help is needed by someone?Do you build up the weak and the downtrodden?Matt 25:45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’


Optimism 42:4 he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth.Leaders are optimistic and full of hope - never pessimistic - the battle is great but we remain optimistic till victory is securedAnointing - I will put my Spirit on him,The qualities we listed are dry and dull until enlivened by the power of the Holy Spirit - it was essential for Jesus, it is for us - Acts 10:38

...how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.


How do you know when you are being a servant?

Can you explain the sovereignty and suffering principles?

Which of the characteristics in Isaiah 42 do you find the greatest personal challenge?


Chapter 4:Natural and Spiritual Leadership

1 Cor 2:1, 4And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God...My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,


“leadership is influence, the ability of one person to influence others to follow his or her lead”

Sanders


“leadership is the capacity and will to rally men and women to a common purpose, and the character which inspires confidence”

Bernard Montgomery(military leader)


“leadership may be defined as that quality which inspires confidence in subordinates as to be willing to accept his views and carry out his commands”

Fleet Admiral Nimitz


Gen Charles Gordon: “What is leadership, and how is humanity divided?”Li Hung Chan: “There are only three kinds of people - those who are immovable, those who are movable, and those who move them!”


John R Mott (student ministry leader)“a leader is a man who knows the road, who can keep ahead, and who pulls others after him”


PT Chandapilla (Indian student leader) defined Christian leadership as a vocation that blends both human and divine qualities in a harmony of ministry by God and his people for the blessing of others.


President Harry S Truman,“A leader is a person who has the ability to get others to do what they don’t want to do, and to like it.”


We have to understand that the natural and spiritual gifts we have are all a gift from God. Our natural gifts reach their greatest effectiveness when they are employed for the glory of God.Having said that spiritual leadership transcends personality and natural gifts - it is influence saturated by, and in, the power of the Holy Spirit. The leader is controlled by HSp and that then flows through them into the life of followers.


Spiritual leadership requires a spiritual power which never comes from yourself it is sourced in God - you then influence people only because the Spirit of God works in and through you to a greater degree than in those you lead.You can only lead people on a road you have travelled yourself - you do not point the way you lead the way.


DE Hoste, general director of the China Inland Mission, is accredited with saying,“It occurs to me that perhaps the best test of whether one is qualified to lead, is to find out if anyone is following.”


Are leaders born or made?

Biblically argue for or against:Leaders are born and called by God from the womb


The answer has to be both:Leaders have some quality about them which comes straight from God, yet, there are also many skills involved in leadership which can be learned, cultivated or developed - sometimes such skills lie dormant until a crisis calls them out.Opportunity and timing can bring to birth a leader. This is not by chance - consider Joseph (Gen 37-45) The following table contrasts natural and spiritual leaders:


Natural Leader Spiritual Leader

Self confident Confident in God

Knows men Knows God

Makes own decisions Seeks God’s will

Ambitious Humble

Creates methods Follows God’s example

Enjoys command Delights in obedience to God

Seeks personal reward Loves God and others

Independent Depends on God


A person might not become a great leader at the moment of conversion - but often God releases the gifts from then onwards. AW Tozer wrote:“a true and safe leader is likely to be one who has no desire to lead, but is forced into a position by the inward leading of the Holy Spirit and the press of circumstances...


“there was hardly a greater leader from Paul to the present day who wasn’t drafted for the task, and commissioned by the Lord to fill a position he had little heart for...the man who is ambitious to lead is disqualified...the true leader will have no desire to lord it over God’s heritage, but will be humble, gentle, self sacrificing and altogether ready to follow when the Spirit of God chooses another to lead.”


Montgomery outlined 7 qualities essential in a military leader, which are appropriate to spiritual warfare:1. Avoid getting swamped in detail2.Not be petty3.Not be pompous4.Know how to select people to fit the task5.Trust others to do a job without the leader’s meddling6.Be capable of clear decisions7.Inspire confidence


John Mott, a leader of students, asked questions about leadership development in young people. Ask do they:1. Do little things well2. Have they learned to focus on priorities3.Do they use leisure well4.Are they intense5.Do they know how to exploit momentum6.Are they growing7.Do they overcome disappointment and “impossible” situations8. Do they understand their weaknesses


John Geddie, went to Aneityum in 2848 and worked there for 24 years. It was said of him,“when he landed in 1848, there were no Christians, when he left in 1872, there were no heathen”

What is the effect of your life on the people you have been with - and on those you leave behind?


Acts 6:3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”We know this is referring to what we commonly call deacons - the job of ensuring the poor are properly taken care of.Their great quality was to be full of the Spirit.Not easily defined - but easier to recognise when it is not there.


And what does this say about the people who preach and teach the word of God?Spiritual goals can only be attained by spiritual people using spiritual methods.How would our lives, and those of the people around us, if we were continually filled with the spirit of God?Sanders “The secular heart and mind has no leadership role in the church.”


John Mott said of spiritual leadership, that it is...“Leadership in the sense of rendering maximum service; leadership in the sense of largest unselfishness; in the sense of full hearted absorption in the greatest work of the world; building up the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.”


What qualities do you look for in a leader? Do you show these?What “natural” leadership qualities do you believe God has built into you?Looking back at the table of natural and spiritual qualities - where do you fit in?
