The Search for Leaders

A MUST READ FOR ALL FIL-UCC MEMBERS
posted by Lily S. Reyes

THE SEARCH FOR LEADERS – Chapter 2
Sanders, J. Oswald, Spiritual Leadership,
Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1967, latest ed. 2007)

No one from the east and the west or from the desert can exalt a man. But it is God who judges; He brings one down, he exalts another. Psalm 75:6-7

Give me a man of God – one man, One mighty prophet of the Lord, And I will give you peace on earth, Bought with a prayer and not a sword. George Liddell

Real leaders are in short supply. Constantly people and groups search for them. A question echoes in every corner of the church – “Who will lead?” Throughout the Bible, God searches for leaders too.

The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people” (1 Samuel 13:14).

“Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search through her squares. If you can find one person who deals honestly and seeks truth, I will forgive this city” (Jeremiah 5:1).

“I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall” (Ezekiel 22:30).
The Bible shows us that when God does find a person who is ready to lead, to commit to full discipleship, and take on responsibility for others, that person is used to the limit. Such leaders still have shortcomings and flaws, but despite those limitations, they serve God as spiritual leaders. Such were Moses, Gideon, and David. And in the history of the church, Martin Luther, John Wesley, Adoniram Judson, William Carey, and many others.

To be a leader in the church has always required strength and faith beyond the merely average. Why is our need for leaders so great, and candidates for leadership so few? Every generation faces the stringent demands of spiritual leadership, and most unfortunately turn away. But God welcomes the few who come forward to serve. “

The church is painfully in need of leaders,” lamented the English Methodist preacher William Sangster. “I wait to hear a voice and no voice comes. I would rather listen than speak – but there is no clarion voice to listen to.”

If the world is to hear the church’s voice today, leaders are needed who are authoritative, spiritual, and sacrificial. Authoritative, because people desire reliable leaders who know where they are going and are confident of getting there. Spiritual, because without a strong relationship to God, even the most attractive and competent person cannot lead people to God. Sacrificial, because this trait follows the model of Jesus, who gave Himself for the whole world and who calls us to follow in His steps.

Churches grow in every way when they are guided by strong, spiritual leaders with the touch of the supernatural radiating in their service. The church sinks into confusion and malaise without such leadership. Today those who preach with majesty and spiritual power are few, and the booming voice of the church has become a pathetic whisper. Leaders today – those who are truly spiritual – must take to heart their responsibility to pass on the torch to younger people as a first-line duty.

Many people regard leaders as naturally gifted with intellect, personal forcefulness, and enthusiasm. Such qualities certainly enhance leadership potential, but they do not define the spiritual leader. True leaders must be willing to suffer for the sake of objectives great enough to demand their wholehearted obedience.

Spiritual leaders are not elected, appointed, or created by synods or churchy assemblies. God alone makes them. One does not become a spiritual leader by merely filling an office, taking course work in the subject, or resolving in one’s own will to do this task. A person must qualify to be a spiritual leader.

Often truly authoritative leadership falls on someone who years earlier dedicated themselves to practice the discipline of seeking first the kingdom of God. Then, as that person matures, God confers a leadership role, and the Spirit of God goes to work through him. When God’s searching eye finds a person qualified to lead, God anoints that person with the Holy Spirit and calls him or her to a special ministry (Acts 9:17; 22:21).

Samuel Brengle, a gifted leader who served for many years in the Salvation Army, outlined the road to spiritual authority and leadership:

It is not won by promotion, but by many prayers and tears. It is attained by confession of sin, and much heart-searching and humbling before God; by self-surrender, a courageous sacrifice of every idol, a bold uncomplaining embrace of the cross, and by eternally looking unto Jesus crucified. It is not gained by seeking great things for ourselves, but like Paul, by counting those things that are gain to us as loss for Christ. This is a great price, but it must be paid by the leader whose power is recognized and felt in heaven, on earth, and in hell.”

God wants to show such people how strong He really is (2 Chronicles 16:9). But not all who aspire to leadership are willing to pay such as high personal price. Yet there is no compromise here: in the secret reaches of the heart, this price is paid, before any public office or honor. Our Lord made clear to James and John that high position in the kingdom of God is reserved for those whose hearts – even the secret places where no one else probes – are qualified. God’s sovereign searching of our hearts, and then His call to leadership, are awesome to behold. And they make a person very humble.

One last thing must be said, a kind of warning. If those who hold influence over others fail to lead toward the spiritual uplands, then surely the path to the lowlands will be well worn. People travel together; no one lives detached and alone. We dare not take lightly God’s call to leadership in our lives.

FOR REFLECTION:

A. God took eighty years to prepare Moses for his leadership task: In what ways has God been preparing you?

B. As you begin this study, what do you understand as the primary qualifying traits of godly leadership?

C. How are you affected by the closing warning in this chapter?