Being a Leader - Part 4

Worship Leaders by John A. White Contributing Writer February 08, 2012

Since our scope is on emerging leaders, we will leave this discussion of maturing leaders for another time. Nevertheless, it needs to be said that maintaining your spiritual health is of primary importance in every stage of leadership. This includes maintaining a balance between ministry and personal spiritual maintenance and a balance between relationships where you exert influence and where you submit to others influence. This is exactly what Jesus did. As leaders our attention is drawn to Jesus' ministry and conversations and sometimes we overlook His periods of rest, solitude, isolation, and recreation. I like the saying "How can you expect to do the things Jesus did unless you do the things that Jesus did."

We maintain our physical health by disciplined exercise, rest and diet and regular medical check ups. We maintain our emotional health by monitoring our feelings, talking to friends about our feelings, learning about our own emotional response and excising personal disciplines and boundaries that control the influences of people and life events around us. In the same way we maintain our physical and emotional health through discipline, we maintain our spiritual health through spiritual disciplines. These include:

1. Bible study - daily reading with reflection and times of personal exegetical Bible study.

2. Daily prayer with an emphasis of being silent for a time to allow your inner voice to communicate with the still small voice of God,

3. Worship (both corporate and private).

4. Fellowship (this includes time with the general body of Christ and with a close circle of friends).

5. Solitude and isolation where you spend extended time alone and away from people.

6. Ministry where you give from the resources you've received.

7. Temporary self-denial to break the grip of the world from your character and identity (food, money, work, sex for married couples, etc.).

Before leaving the topic of spiritual disciplines, we should understand that it is impossible to do every discipline every day, every week and every year. Emphases change with respect to your life needs and the spiritual seasons you may be in. As an example, if you are in a summer spiritual season focusing daily or weekly on the disciple of isolation will be counter productive. While this discipline should not be forgotten, an emphasis on ministry and fellowship would be appropriate. On the other hand, it would equally counter productive to emphasize the discipline of ministry in a spiritual season of winter; it would be better to focus on solitude, isolation, temporary self-denial and prayer.

To summarize, Godly leadership is a manifestation of the internal gifts and characteristics within God's sovereignly chosen leader that are express in the context of a group fulfilling its mission. Not only does God choose His leaders, He also empowers them to fulfill His call in their lives. However, with the call of leadership, comes the responsibility to live according to the principles found in 1 Timothy and Titus. Although at times if is difficult, the emerging leader must have a clearly defined sense of calling and recognize the reassurances of their leadership. Reassurances come in many forms, from being very spiritual and perhaps subjective in nature to being very tangible and concrete. Leadership is strengthened by continued service and obedience. Finally, leaders are to look for the gift and call of leadership in others. The effective maturing leader will find themselves developing leadership gifting in others.

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