Spiritual Leadership

Servant Leadership School

March 16, 2003

Small Groups

Accountability – I asked you last week to do two things besides the reading and homework. Break into small groups and share.

Quiet Times – What are you reading in your Quiet Times? How many times this week did you have a Quiet Time?

Serving – Share one thing that you are doing to serve in the church

John

Teach for 5-10 minutes

Chapter 8 – Essential Qualities of Leadership

(pg. 51) “God prepares leaders with a specific place and task in mind.”

Discipline

Before we can conquer the world, we must first conquer the self.

Those who rebel against authority and scorn self-discipline – who shirk the rigors and turn from the sacrifices – do not qualify to lead.

Vision

“Seers” – people who have seen more and farther than others – persons of faith, for faith is vision.

Vision involves foresight as well as insight. Seeing what lies ahead.

pg. 56 – “I find that the constant inspiration gained by looking at the goal is the chief thing that helps me to persevere.” – Thornton

Vision includes optimism and hope (not pessimism).

Vision leads to venture – taking steps of faith.

Study Question #2 How can vision create problems?

If a vision isn’t practical. If a vision is too far ahead of the people and the leader isn’t patient. If all there is are ideas without any sense of implementing the vision.

Wisdom

Heavenly discernment. The right application of knowledge in moral and spiritual matters.

Decision

When all the facts are in, swift and clear decision is the mark of a true leader. A visionary may see, but a leader must decide.

The spiritual leader will not procrastinate when faced with a decision, nor vacillate after making it.

Illustration: A young man beginning his work with the Coast Guard was called with his crew to try a desperate rescue in a great storm. Frightened, rain and wind pounding his face, the man cried to his captain. “We will never get back!” The captain replied, “We don’t have to come back, but we must go out.”

Courage

That quality of mind which enables people to encounter danger or difficulty firmly, without fear or discouragement.

(pg. 60) Not everyone is courageous by nature. Some people are more naturally timid than Luther. But whether we are bold or reticent, God calls leaders to be of good courage and not to capitulate to fear.

The Holy Spirit gives us courage.

While others lose their heads, leaders stay the course. Leaders strengthen followers in the middle of discouraging setbacks and shattering reverses.

Humility

Humility is the hallmark of the spiritual leader.

A leader’s humility should grow with the passing of years.

Being able to handle comments like when people call you “great”.

Robert Morrison of China (pg. 62) wrote, “The great fault, I think, in our missions is that no one likes to be second.”

Integrity and Sincerity

Paul spoke of his failures and successes with an openness few of us are prepared to copy.

Transparent character.

Illustration

Heart transplants and commitment
Pope John Paul II was needing a heart transplant. There was much concern throughout the
Roman Catholic world. Everyone gathered outside of the Vatican screaming and waving their hands. “Take my heart, Pope, take my heart!” Well, the Pope didn’t know what to do, so an idea popped into his head. He asked everyone to please be quiet for a few minutes and he told all of them that he was going to throw down a feather. Whoever the feather landed on, he would take their heart for the transplant. Pope John Paul II then threw the feather down upon the people. Everyone was still screaming and waving their hands, “Take my heart, Pope,” but with one difference: they were leaning their heads back and blowing the feather back into the air. “Take my heart, Pope (blow), Take my heart (blow).”
A leader needs to mean what he says.  Follow through.

Chapter 9 – More Essential Qualities of Leadership

Humor

Humor is a gift from God which should be controlled as well as cultivated.

We can grow in humor, but we need to be careful to use it appropriately and carefully.

After being criticized for including humor in a sermon, Charles Spurgeon replied, “If only you knew how much I hold back, you would commend me.”

For me, the temptation is to throw in every joke I hear.  But if the joke doesn’t fit the place in the message, you have to take it out.  Sometimes a joke will fit a point, but the joke comes at a time in the message where humor doesn’t seem appropriate, you have to can it.

A.E.Norrish: “You will never lead others far without the joy of the Lord and its concomitant, a sense of humor.”

F.J.Hallett: “the most successful leader is the one who possesses a keen sense of humor combined with a clear sense of God’s grace”

If you don’t have grace, your sense of humor can be used to hurt rather than help people.
I think one of the things we need to be able to do is to laugh at ourselves:
Illustration
Eggs and Sermons
A newly ordained preacher and his young wife were talking about being more considerate of each other. The good wife promised that she would stop being so critical of his sleep-inducing sermons. He, in return, promised to honor her privacy and stop looking through her dresser drawers. The preacher was true to his word, and never looked through his wife’s dresser drawers; the good wife was never openly critical of her husband’s sermons; and their marriage progressed smoothly. After 50 years, their children gave a great party to celebrate the golden anniversary of the preacher and his wife. Many people came to congratulate the happy couple, and brought lovely gifts. That evening, as they were putting the gifts away, the preacher saw that his wife had left one dresser drawer slightly open. He tried as hard as he could to withstand the temptation, but he finally opened the drawer and looked inside. There he found 3 eggs, and $10,000.00, in bills of varied denominations. He was greatly puzzled by this, and went to question his wife. “Oh,” she said. “Well, you remember when we spoke of being more considerate with each other all those years ago?” The preacher, feeling profoundly guilty, answered “yes.” “Well,” she continued, “I promised to stop criticizing your boring sermons, but every time you gave a sermon that was a real snoozer, I put an egg into that drawer.” The preacher smiled. “Well, that’s not so bad. 50 years of sermons and only 3 eggs! But what about all that money?” His wife quietly responded, “Every time I got a dozen eggs, I sold them.”
Note:  What’s the point of telling this story?  Don’t take yourself too seriously!

Anger

Study Question #4:  How can anger help a leader?  How can it hurt?

Anger at the right things for the right reasons can do good.  People need to see that you will take action at the things that need taking care of. If I am angry at the hurt others face, and I’m seeking God’s best, then it can be good.
Anger is dangerous when I’m the cause of the anger.

Anger should be at injustice and abuse that dishonors God and enslaves the weak.

Holy anger is open to abuse.

Anger is sinful (pg. 69-70) when: (these are good!)

1.     To favor a resentment or feud, we imagine an injury done to us
2.     An injury done to us becomes, in our minds, greater than it really is
3.     Without real injury, we feel resentment on account of pain or inconvenience
4.     Indignation rises too high, and overwhelms our ability to restrain
5.     We gratify resentments by causing pain or harm out of revenge
6.     We are so perplexed and angry at sin in our own lives that we readily project anger at the sin we find in others

(Why we need to learn grace …)

I’m considering that before someone is allowed into a leadership position over a ministry at the church, they have to pass a test:  They have to have gotten mad at me for something, gotten over it, and have continued in the church!

Patience

Toughest in personal relationships

A leader shows patience by not running too far ahead of his followers and thus discouraging them.

Not being impatient in weakness (GRACE)

Waiting for others to come on board with your ideas:

(pg. 71) D.E. Hoste:
“I shall never forget the impression made upon me by Hudson Taylor in connection with these affairs. Again and again he was obliged either to greatly modify or lay aside projects which were sound and helpful but met with determined opposition … Later, in answer to patience continuance in prayer, many of these projects were put into effect.”

Friendship

Leaders can be measured by the number and quality of their friends.

Drawing the best out of people requires relationship – that requires understanding friendship.

Tact and Diplomacy

Tact: The ability to deal with people sensitively, to avoid giving offense, to have a feel for the proper words or responses to a delicate situation.

Understanding how people feel and react.

Inspirational Power

Inspiring others to service and sacrifice.

Churchill to his cabinet after France fell to the Germans: “Gentlemen, I find this rather inspiring.”

Executive Ability

Learning to organize, keeping things methodic and orderly.

Careful planning

The Therapy of Listening

Genuine listening seeks to understand another without prejudgment.

Leaders who want to show sensitivity should listen often and long, and talk short and seldom.

The Art of Letter Writing

Letters that are encouraging, gracious in compliments, rich in sympathy, but also faithful to correct faults.

The danger is the lack of tone, the dangers of e-mail, people misunderstanding what you’ve written.

Study Question #6:  What leadership qualities do you think are in most short supply among Christians?

Chapter 10 – Above All Else

Spiritual leadership requires Spirit-filled people.

Selection of kingdom leaders must not be influenced by worldly wisdom, wealth, or social status. The prime consideration is spirituality.

The warning of not having spiritual people – a corporation that loses it’s CEO because the board slowly begins to take control and thwart his efforts. The Holy Spirit is our CEO.

All the leaders in the Book of Acts were Spirit-filled.

(pg. 81) “Because they had surrendered their own wills to the Spirit’s control, they were delighted to obey his promptings and leadings.”

The Holy Spirit makes us leaders. He is the one who puts us into ministry.

To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be controlled by the Holy Spirit.

Small Groups

Study Question #9:  Give yourself a report card on your leadership qualities.  Where have you made improvement recently?  Where do you still need some more work?