Spiritual Leadership - Chapters 19, 20 & 21 - Reproducing Leaders, Perils of Leadership & The Leader Nehemiah

As mentioned in the last chapter, a leaders goal is to develop someone to be ready to replace them when the leader leaves or moves on with the company. Training new leaders is mentioned to be a delicate task. Why are we training? In our case we are training disciples to go out into the world to preach/teach the Gospel. In the business world, training a potential leader also takes delicacy and precision as to not overwhelm or intimidate, but to ensure that they developing the future leaders potential. Leadership training cannot be done in masses, it requires patience and careful planning. Disciples are developed one at a time.

No one is immune to temptations. When selected to be a leader one should remain humble. Being overly proud can be a hindrance to others. How are we going to react to someone who did not get the position? What if another individual is chosen over you for the role? Does criticism, given or received, lead to resentment or self-justification? Again, why are we doing this? We are here to train disciples. We cannot fall into the trap where one's ego gets in the way. Jealousy is another pitfall that we have to watch out for. Someone else may get the position you wanted, but you must remain composed and not become jealous.

The worst thing about leadership is that not everyone is going to like you and they are entitled to their opinions. Being popular can have the negative effect. Being popular can lead you down a slippery slope to failure. Too popular and your authority will be overlooked as a joke. No one will take you seriously when it is time to be serious. Jesus warned in Luke 6:26, "Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way." Even the apostles made mistakes that had to be corrected. Many Christians have fallen for temptation. The work for God is a long road that can lead you to become frustrated. You must remember the reason why you are doing what you are doing.

Nehemiah was a man of prayer. He showed true concern for the welfare of others, even more so his enemies noticed. He had incredible foresight and was able to plan ahead against the opposition. Nehemiah really fits into the description of spiritual leader in every meaning of the definition. Nehemiah built faith from his people by not dwelling in whats impossible to do but to dwell on God's for the glory of his kingdom. He faced opposition without forcing violent confrontation. He took insults and was ridiculed but continued to keep his head held high and his eyes wide open. How many of us could do what Nehemiah has done from a leadership perspective? Many are too quick to cast stones. What if we had a positive attitude no matter what the circumstance? What if we prayed over everything? Isn't it our goal and our duty develop our relationship with Christ anyhow? The only way to develop that relationship is through the power of prayer.

This was the last blog post of the study Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Saunders. This is not the end of the series. Spiritual Leadership is the first book in three book series. The Spiritual Discipleship and Spiritual Maturity studies will be posted here at a later date. The next study we will be diving into is one of my favorites. It is called Epic: The Story God is Telling. This study will start next week Lord willing. The study is fairly short and is a quick read. There are 4 acts to the book with a prologue and epilogue. We will start with the prologue. Here is a sample of what is to come with this new study.