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| Will You Pick Up the Phone? |
Being a spiritual leader is
more than a notion or something that one should take lightly. Spiritual leadership is to be taken
seriously, prayerfully and always with God’s guidance. J. R. Clinton, cites that a “Spiritual Leader is one who influences a
specific group of people to move in a God given direction.” Today, there is a great need for effective
spiritual leadership in every community.
Effective spiritual leaders are interested in more than what happens in
their local church, they are actively engaged in their community, helping to
bring about positive change in education and government. There are three specific points,
Spiritual leaders are birthed through God’s will and shaped by personal experiences. God uses the personal experiences and trials of those who are called, to shape, reshape and engage into the affairs of the world. A spiritual leader is one who has yielded to the will of God and is willing to allow God to use them. Spiritual leadership is more than empty and hollow words from a selfish heart of flesh, but it is reflected in the life of one “sold out” to God. We become spiritual leaders by embracing Mark 8:34-36, when Jesus said “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the world, yet forfeit his soul?”
Spiritual Leadership is a Walk
Being a spiritual leader is not just the talk, but it is the Walk. Our walk, the everyday reality, and the things we do, the words we say, the people we encounter, and the life we live. It’s our life at home, in school, on the job, in the church and around the community. Micah 6:8, declares, “He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” In one biblical story, Paul changed his walk after encountering Christ on the Damascus Road. The three days of blindness also helped him to really come to terms with what God wanted him to do. And as a result of his conversion, Paul become a great missionary and helped to establish the church throughout the world. In another biblical story, Jonah changed his walk after spending three days in the belly of the whale. This experience helped him to fully understand the importance of obeying God and to fulfill the mission he was called to do. And as a result of his redirection, Jonah became the instrument that brought deliverance to a nation that was domed to destruction. The point is simple; a spiritual leader has the vision to see the larger picture of what God is doing and wants to have happen.
Spiritual Leadership is God Calling
God is the one who calls, prepares and directs men and women in becoming spiritual leaders. Spiritual leaders serve to up build the Kingdom of God, not the kingdoms of man, for personal gain, groups or for individuals. They serve for the cause of Christ, winning souls, building community and seeking justice. God looks for the right person, at the right time to do the right thing. When God has moved in history, He has usually used human leaders. Some of these biblical leaders have included Joseph, Moses, The Judges, David, Elijah, Daniel, Nehemiah, Peter, The Disciples, Paul, and Timothy.
Christ dying for the world and the sins provides each of us an opportunity to become spiritual leaders in this 21st Century. We are the called out, a royal priesthood, a holy people who eagerly await the coming of the Lord. For the Lord is looking for a people, a church that is living holy, in precept and by example, reaching the lost, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, standing against injustice and proclaiming the good news to every nation. It has been said that some are born to lead, while others have leadership placed upon them. Either way, if we desire to become a spiritual leader we must allow God to work through us to fulfill His will for all mankind. We must seek the leading of the Holy Spirit, become anointed, use our gifts and walk by faith. God is on a mission in this 21st Century and is looking for spiritual leaders.
The question is …Will you answer the call?
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