Building Excellent Spiritual Leaders
Introduction
The challenge today is to prepare and build leaders who will have what is needed for tomorrow. We must build leaders who do more than talk about __________. Talk is always cheap.
Efficiency is doing things right. Effectiveness is doing right things. __________ is doing the right things in the right way and for the right reason. Leadership in the church tends to become a position of power that is granted to people who get results. People who can raise attendance and raise money are often honored and pushed forward in leadership. Character, spiritual maturity, and godliness are often __________ but play no formal role in the selection, cultivation, and honoring of leaders.
1) GREAT LEADERS
The history of the Christian church is full of the stories of courageous believers who stood up for their faith against great adversaries.
The history of the church is the biography of many great preachers and leaders.
These great leaders made a lasting impact on the Christian faith because they were great followers of Jesus Christ. Great leaders are known for specific qualities, for example:
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2) QUALITIES OF A SPIRITUAL LEADER
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3) DEFICIENCIES IN NEW MINISTERS
The crisis of leadership deficiency may well be our most pervasive problem within contemporary Christianity. Jesus majored in leadership training and we must also follow His example and make training and personal development a high priority.
Deficiencies in new ministers tend to center around:
- __________
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4) RESPONSIBILITIES OF A MINISTER
A minister must clarify the exact nature of God’s call. Is the call of God to a lay ministry or to a clergy ministry? We must understand and affirm God’s call upon our lives.
If we are to accept responsibility for our ministry before God we must affirm the call by:
- making a __________ to the guidance of God’s Word.
- keeping a __________spirit.
- having a ___________ conscience.
- establishing proper _______________.
- keeping our affections fixed on eternal __________.
- allowing Jesus to be the __________ of our lives.
- following the _______________ of the Holy Spirit each day.
- keeping our ____________ pure.
- winning __________ for Christ.
- praying _______________.
5) A MINISTER’S SELF-EVALUATION AND SPIRITUAL INVENTORY
As ministers we are to examine ourselves in order to understand how God needs to work in us in order to make us the person we ought to be (2 Corinthians 13:5).
As Christians our love must be _______________ and __________.
We should never lack in __________ but we should be burning with the Holy Spirit.
We are to live in harmony with one another and never act haughty or high-minded.
Ministers must also live by an even higher standard. We must be __________ of Scriptural behavior. 1 Timothy 4:12b says, “…set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” We as leaders are defined not just by what we accomplish, but most importantly by who we are.
Evaluate yourself in the following areas. Give yourself a score of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.
- Knowledgeable _______
- Energetic _______
- Enthusiastic _______
- Positive _______
- Friendly _______
- Decisive _______
- Efficient _______
- Visionary _______
- Passionate _______
- Ethical and moral _______
- Dependable _______
- Disciplined _______
- Motivating _______
- Communicative _______
- Spiritual not carnal _______
- Achieving _______
- Committed _______
- Growing _______
- Confident in faith _______
- Encourager _______
Add your score for all 20 items. There is a possible score of 100, which would be the highest possible. Use this self-evaluation to identify your weakest areas for further prayer, study, and attention.
A dynamic ____________ ____________ with Jesus Christ is still the answer to our greatest needs and weaknesses. We must proclaim the message of Jesus Christ; He is the solution to all the plagues of our day:
- For fear,
- For worry,
- For hurt and rejection,
- For emptiness,
- For worthlessness,
- For greed and selfishness,
- For hatred and prejudice,
- For bondage to habits,
- For rebellion and stubbornness,
- For self-sufficiency,
(Adapted from Red Sky in the Morning, page 180)
CONCLUSION
Building excellent spiritual leaders is not an easy task. Excellent spiritual leaders are people who understand the maturing process and know how to submit to God’s authority and practice authentic holiness of life. Leaders can never use authority properly unless they know how to submit to authority.
Leadership requires perseverance, clarity of vision, and a profound faith in an active God. Excellent leaders endure trials, recover from backlash situations, engage in spiritual warfare, discern spirits, and function in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Leaders have a tendency to cease developing and growing once they have reached a certain level of skills and ministry experience. It may be that you have the capacity to become an excellent leader. In order to bring you up to this quality of leadership, God may challenge you to stretch yourself beyond your present level of faith. Ignorance of how God develops leaders causes some to get discouraged and drop out when faced with growth challenges.
Affirm your call to ministry, clarify your theology of ministry, focus on being not doing, reflect on what God is doing in your life, and trust God to bring you through the stages of leadership development.
