God's calling to ministry will have a greater influence on you than simply changing your activities; it will change your personality, your character, your priorities; it will change your life! Here we can see that having a "natural" gift of leadership may, in fact, be a disadvantage; those who are "natural" leaders may tend to draw on their "natural" abilities and charisma, rather than the spiritual gifts bestowed upon them to function in their calling.
Let's take this one step further by considering God's redemptive work. Once we were dead in our sins. Unregenerated, we "naturally" produced the fruits and deeds of the flesh. But now, we are alive in Christ and Christ is working in us. Having been regenerated, we have a new nature, a nature of the Spirit which replaces the nature of the flesh. If we, before we were redeemed, "naturally" produced the works of the old nature, shouldn't we as Christians "naturally," produce the works of the Spirit as a result of our new spiritual nature? So it is that God's leader will "naturally" produce leadership as he matures in Christ simply by being who we are becoming in Christ. In other words, leadership is not doing what God wants, it is being who God wants.
There is another form of leadership, one where the leader becomes a figurehead for a group. This type of leadership is characterized by an ability to gather and organize information and represent the group they "lead" before the group's constituents and other organizations. Such leaders frequently are found in business and hierarchical religions. Although they may be good decision-makers, they usually consult with the group to arrive at a consensus before "going public" with any decision. Many times they volunteer for leadership positions because nobody else does. Sometimes they step into leadership because their sense of organization is violated; there is a leadership vacuum. While these leaders can help most groups, they are particularly effecting in leading groups who's mission is their passion.
Through these examples, we see the gift of leadership is manifested in different ways. However, to be effective, the gift of leadership must be exercised and developed within the character of the leader. We will discuss the gifting and development of church leadership and how group dynamics affect leadership expression and style in the next section.
Think About It
1) Leadership is not only God's gift to the church, but also a character trait that manifests itself in our personality. What in your personality do you believe points to leadership traits in your character?
2) Do you believe that leadership is lying dormant in your character waiting for the opportunity of expression?
3) Can you identify in you personality and in what you do or desire to do the emergence of leadership?
4) How does the knowledge of God's call to leadership affect you?
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Experiencing Worship, The Study