Leadership is influence, so if leadership is influence a leader must live a life that moves others to follow. If a person says he is a leader and no one is following, he is not really leading; he is only taking a walk. What, then, are the sources of influence? There are illegitimate sources and legitimate sources.
- Illegitimate Sources of Influence:
- Position – Previous generations have tended to equate influence with position. In spiritual matters, people trusted their ministers and offered them reverence as a matter of course. School teachers, professors, bosses, and overseers in general were automatically respected because of their position. But this is no longer true.
- Power – There was a time when dominant business leaders such as Henry Ford could bully labor movements and make arrogant statements, such as, “Customers can have a car in any color they want, as long as it’s black.” John D. Rockefeller said he would operate as he pleased and “The public be damned.” That time is past.
- Personality – It has been said that if you can’t get what you want automatically (position), or if bullying doesn’t work (power), you can always turn on the charm (personality). Numerous churches have ultimately dismissed their pastors with the sad commentary, “We loved our pastor. He possessed a wonderful personality and was a great Christian. He just couldn’t lead.”
By themselves, a high position, great power and charming personality are not enough to constitute spiritual leadership.
- Legitimate Sources of Influence:
- God’s Approval. The first and foremost test of legitimacy for spiritual leaders is God’s authentication. How does one attain God’s authentication? The key lies not in what the leader can do but what God can do through him. Some spiritual leaders try to be more committed. All a leader can do is to surrender to God’s purposes in his life. A noted leader has said “God is not looking for busier pastors but broken pastors.” There is a great difference between a personal determination to try harder and a complete surrender of one’s self to God’s purposes. All spiritual leaders have a point in their lives when they no longer “commit” to God what they choose to do, but who surrender to God to do all He wants them to do. : The late great Stephen Olford said to me, “I once was drifting and uncertain of my future when the Holy Spirit spoke to me saying, Stephen, will you say anytime, any place, any cost I will follow you?” Then he continued, “When I heard these words I fell on my knees and surrendered all and the whole world invited me to minister to it.”
- Intimate Fellowship with God. Spiritual leadership flows out of a persons dynamic, vibrant intimate relationship with God. No person can be a spiritual leader if he is not meeting God on a regular basis, in a profound and life changing way.
- Integrity/Character. Previous generations were not generally aware of their leaders personal lives. Prominent politicians lived immorally, like Franklin D. Roosevelt and John Kennedy. So called spiritual leaders hid their shameful life styles. But today secular and Christian leaders know that integrity must be paramount in the life of a leader. Integrity means being consistent in one’s behavior under every circumstance, including those unguarded moments. A fellow pastor confided to me recently that a certain pastor was being asked to resign his church. I asked why, and he replied, “Because of the way the pastor lives in his home, especially the way he treats his wife.”
- Successful Track Record. Leaders cannot demand respect, but they can and must earn it. Paul wrote young Timothy that the way to get older people to respect him was to be a pattern in his speech, behavior, in love, in attitude, in faith and purity – even to “outlive” the members of his church (1 Tim. 4:12). Well did R. G. Lee say, “You can’t live skim milk during the week and preach cream on Sunday.”
- Preparation. At the close of his autobiography, Billy Graham wrote, “I have failed many times, and I would do many things differently. For one thing I would speak less and study more.” Billy preached to more people than any preacher in history, yet he acknowledged that if he had been better prepared, God might have used his life to an even greater extent. Excellence in any area never comes out of mediocrity and lack of preparation.
- Most students of history have concluded that Robert E. Lee possessed the most influence of any leader in American history. Even when the Civil War was lost and it was futile to resist the vastly larger and better equipped Union Army, Lee’s soldiers were prepared to continue fighting if he would give the orders.
What inspired such loyalty to Lee? It was certainly not his rank as general. Other generals did not enjoy such loyalty from their troops. Nor was it Lee’s ability to court-martial traitors. The key to Lee’s influence was Lee himself. Lee’s soldiers followed him, not because they had to, and certainly not because it was easy, but Lee’s soldiers followed him because of who he was. I need not say more to those of you who aspire to be effective spiritual leaders in the Kingdom of God, do I?
Some of the insights above were taken from Henry and Richard Blackaby’s book,
Spiritual Leadership: Moving People Onto God’s Agenda. I highly recommend it.