EXCERPTS

Chapter 5: Becoming a Spirit-Led Leader

Spiritual leadership is both a guided and a guiding journey. Guiding others can sometimes be a difficult and demanding task. Leading a congregation can at times be like sailing a ship into the wind. We face resistance from within from our own drivenness, fear of failure or rejection, and lack of competence and confidence. And we face resistance from without from a culture that has become skeptical about organized religion, that often views the church as irrelevant, and that is pulled away from the church by a multitude of competing activities. These inner and outer forces of resistance make guiding the church difficult at times. We may feel as though we are trying to sail a ship through the desert. We have all the right equipment on board and our sails are raised fully to the wind, but the resis¬tance of the sand beneath us makes guiding the church seem impossible at times.

When sailing a ship into the wind, a technique called “tack¬ing” is required. Tacking means steering the ship at an angle to allow the wind to fill the sails, which propels the boat forward. To stay on course, the ship must be tacked left and right in a zigzagging pattern. To help navigate the ship, the tallest mast will sometimes have what is called a “telltale” fixed at the top. This telltale is like a miniature weathervane that shifts freely to indicate the direction of the wind. The telltale is especially helpful for novice sailors like me. By watching the telltale, I can easily see which way the wind is blowing and adjust the sail and tiller accordingly. If I head too much into the wind, I won’t catch as much of it in the sails, and I am likely to slow down or stop altogether. If I am approaching the wind at too much of an angle, then I am likely to be blown too far off course or, worse yet, tip over. Only by watching the telltale will I know at what angle to steer the ship to maximize its power.

God has given us the Spirit as a kind of internal telltale—a spiritual guidance system. If we are seeking to follow the Spirit’s lead, as we strive to make progress against the things that impede fruitful ministry, the Spirit will let us know which way we need to go. If the Spirit is telling us that we are guided too much by our own egos, drivenness, fears of rejection, lack of competence or confidence, and overcommitment, and are therefore moving in the wrong direction, we need to listen to the Spirit’s prompting and be willing to tack, or shift our course, and begin living and leading differently.

As those who follow the Spirit’s lead, we have a responsi¬bility to help others discern and follow the Spirit’s guidance in their own lives. This means we need to see ourselves as guides for those we serve. We need to help others slow the pace of their lives enough to hear the still small voice of God.

When considering this role, we need to remember that the work we do is like sowing seeds in the soil of the human heart. Jesus reminds us of this in one of his parables:

“The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come” (Mark 4:26–29).

The seeds sprouted and grew without the farmers help. Because the church is a living organism, made up of uniquely created people, we as leaders can only do so much by our own power and initiative to organize, shape, or grow it. Perhaps the most effective thing we as leaders can do is to foster the kind of environments where people can more easily receive the seeds of God’s love and grace.

:: back to top

:: back to Excerpts