What Is a Spiritual Leader?

I suppose my definition of a Spiritual Leader may be a bit different from the norm. In a nutshell, I believe it to be "one who leads with spiritual sensitivity." I do not necessarily think a true spiritual leader necessarily has a superior cognitive knowledge of spiritual things, has more scripture passages memorized, prays longer or more often than the next guy, has a degree hanging on the wall, or even leads a larger number of people to Christ. Those can be wonderful examples of good spiritual behavior, but are not always indicative of possessing qualities of true spiritual leadership. I believe a spiritual leader to be a man or woman who sensitively follows the prompting of the Spirit of God. A person in this category is loyal first to following and loving God, while remaining faithfully sensitive to the calling and prompting of God in their lives. Secondly, they are consistently faithful and sensitive to the needs of others. I struggle daily with these priorities, but do realize them to be the basic starting points of my Christianity and the foundations of my faith in action. The list of those I am acquainted with who also exemplify and live out these priorities is relatively short as well. This philosophy of spiritual leadership basically encompasses the two most important commandments, exemplified perfectly by Jesus: Love God . . . . love others. We are commanded to do these things.

One of the things I have the biggest problem with is the lack of true "community" exemplified in the church, in the Christian workplace, and in my very own life. It is a frustrating thing to have people who have been Christians for a large part of their lives . . . . some deacons . . . some Sunday school teachers . . . .some Christian music industry professionals (imagine that!) and even pastors and staff members I have worked closely with over the years tell me they love me and those around them while, truthfully, rarely seeing them make any sort of ongoing effort to build relationships that move beyond the surface. I am just as guilty in this much of the time. Especially when I realize how little I have even attempted to get to know the neighbors on either side of me, much less pray faithfully for them and work hard enough at gaining the respect from them necessary to speak meaningfully into their lives. I (we) have a lot of work to do . . .

God is not impressed with my prayers, nor my reading through the Bible in a year, nor even how many church services I attend. "To obey is better than sacrifice . . . ." Obedience does not equate to working through a checklist of what has traditionally been accepted as doing what it takes to be a "good man" or a "good woman." The total package requires that we exemplify the love of Christ and walk in that love, serving one another. This is true love and true Spiritual Leadership. At least that is the place we must begin . . . in my opinion. As I type this very article, I am sorely convicted of how much more yielded to Christ I need to be, so that His light of love will shine effectively through this broken, human vessel.

I have NO idea why I chose this topic today. We all have things we want (and often NEED) to express. Sometimes, my heart is so full, and I'm compelled to finally do something about it. Blessings to you for being brave enough to dive into my very first blog! Thanks for reading!

Bruce