Spiritual leadership is one of those nice, amorphous, high sounding Christian terms. It’s rather like the weather: “everybody’s talking about it, but nobody’s doing anything about it.”
I don’t think the term is in the Bible, so is there such a thing at all? And, if so, does it matter?
Here’s a picture of what spiritual leadership looks like in a congregation. You can turn this into a Bible study by looking up the references and jotting down what each passage says about our subject. Better yet, go through this material as a team or a class.
(1) Spiritual leadership looks like Christians using their lives, informally, to inspire the believers around them to live godly lives.
See Romans 15:2 & 14 – What can a “normal church member” do for those around him/her?
I Thessalonians 1:5b-7 – Explain the Apostle Paul’s view of the importance of the “imitation” of more mature Christians.
I Timothy 4:11-16 – Can you think of someone – not necessarily an official church leader – who set a powerful and godly example for you to follow?
Hebrews 10:24-25 – Describe how Christians can help each other as they are gathered together.
(2) Spiritual leadership looks like Christians, using their lives, to inspire others to do right in times of crisis.
Matthew 18:15-20 & Galatians 6:1-5 – How are normal Christians supposed to respond to the serious sins of their fellow believers?
Acts 9:26-29 – Describe how Barnabas spontaneously responded to the rejection of the newest believer in Damascus.
Acts 27:21-26 & 33-38 – How did the Apostle Paul spontaneously, unofficially, respond to a terrifying crisis at sea?
(3) Spiritual leadership looks like an official church leader taking responsibility, as part of a team of leaders, to seek and find the will of God for a congregation.
Acts 13:1-3 – How did the spiritual leaders at Antioch seek and find the will of God for their church?
Acts 15:1-29 [Notice the mention of “elders” in 15:2, 4, 6, 22] – What was the role of the “elders” of the Jerusalem church in the resolution of a profoundly important theological question.
(4) Spiritual leadership looks like an acknowledged church leader taking responsibility, again, as part of a team of leaders, to make sure that their congregation IS what it is supposed to BE and DOES what it is supposed to DO.
Acts 20:17 & 28, I Timothy 5:17-22 & Hebrews 13:7 & 17 – Do a little digging into the TITLES used for these church leaders and the TASKS implied by these terms. Besides the implications of the titles themselves, what else do these passages say about the responsibilities of those who lead congregations?
(5) Spiritual leadership looks like an acknowledged church leader taking responsibility, as part of a team of fiduciaries1 for the moral and theological purity, the spiritual health, the integrity, the soundness and the mission of a congregation.
I Thessalonians 2:5-14 – What did the Apostle Paul’s unnamed co-workers join him in doing for the new converts at Thessalonica?
I Thessalonians 5:12-14 – What were the church’s newly chosen (!), official, local leaders expected to do for their congregation on an ongoing basis?
Titus 1:5-11 – Zeroing in on vs. 9, what were the elders on Crete supposed to DO with their godly character and their sound theology?
I Peter 5:1-4 – Describe the kind of loving leadership the Apostle Peter wanted to see from church leaders.
Matthew 28:18-20 – What should be the role of a church leader in a congregation which is not actually making disciples of Christ?
Revelation 2:4,5, 2:14-16, 3:1-3, 3:19-20 – What do you think the role of a church leader should be in a congregation which needs revitalization or repentance?
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1A “fiduciary” manages funds or other assets on behalf of another. In a church, board members have the fiduciary duty of taking care of that which has been entrusted to them by the congregation.
Next Week: What spiritual leadership DOESN’T look like in a congregation.
