There seems to be a lack of back bone among many Christians in many churches and denominations today. Has the whole "ostrich stick your head in the sand and hope it all goes away" thing ever actually been beneficial? (Yes, I know that ostriches do not actually stick their head in the ground.)
What ever happened to pastors, denominational leaders, and lay leaders in the church who were courageous, gracious, and prophetic? My call is for us to return to a time when people lived with a love of God that produced a conviction and resolve to live for Him, serve Him, and glorify Him!
So take a few minutes and reach around and feel for a back bone. If you can't find one, there are spines available from the anointing of the Holy Spirit! What does it look like to have a spine or back bone? Well, here's a few observations...
1. They are willing to make sacrifices. They will pay the price for what is true or right. Their political agenda, their preferences, and their material things have been laid on an altar in an act of worship to God. It's not about self, it's about being led by the Spirit. It's not about personal gain, it's about faithfulness to Jesus. Are you willing to go where no one else will go? Are you willing to do what no one else would do? Are you willing to give up what no one else will give up? Real spiritual leaders are willing to make sacrifices.
2. They are willing to address the real problem. If there's an elephant in the room the person with the back bone will point it out. Too many boards, committees, or 'think tanks' dance around the problem because no one wants to "get their hands dirty." Real leaders will not ignore the problem by setting up straw men (or 'scare' crows) but work to solve the problem. This is about more than identifying the problem. Any critic can identify a problem. Rather this is about problem identification for the sake of problem resolution.
3. They are willing to stay the course. Leadership in the church that seeks to move forward into the future will often meet resistance in the form of questioning the validity of the decision made or whether it was actually "God's will." This can create hesitation in leadership which leads to a lack of confidence. Being confident that you are leading in the context of the Holy Spirit is important. That does not mean you should disregard the concerns of other Christians along the way, but it does mean we cannot allow God's vision to be derailed by detractors. God's will does not come with a guarantee everyone will be happy about it.
4. They have integrity. Integrity is character when no one is looking. They are the same person wherever they are and whatever they might be doing. They never say things to certain people and different things to other people. What they believe is what they say. What they live is what they are at all time. Real spiritual leadership lives in purity so that they can operate in power. They are not checking which way the wind is going and then deciding their principles. They have principles and allow them to guide their life.
5. They believe in accountability. They reject lack of accountability for themselves, for others, and for the church. Those who are always complaining about being accountable to others are generally part of the problem. Holding others accountable is rarely a comfortable or popular thing to do, but it is always the right thing to do. Lack of accountability resulting in lack of leadership back bone leads to scandals in the church much like the sexual abuse which has rocked the Roman Catholic church. John Stuart Mill said in 1867: “Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.”
6. They are not afraid to rock the boat. Spirit filled leaders with a back bone do not initiate change to rock the boat, but are not afraid of the boat rocking. They regularly find themselves swimming up stream and in direct opposition to cultural trends or pop theology. Spiritual leaders are not working to protect the traditions of an organization, but to promote the Biblical mission. Those that make a difference do not seek to manage an organization, but through the Spirit of God lead the church of Christ. No more bondage to popularity or polls. Not afraid of labels people put on them. It is just part of the territory for a leader with a back bone.
7. These leaders are able to be clear and direct. Much leadership within churches today is about maintaining the status quo, or at least trying to maintain unity (even to the neglect of Biblical truth or sinful behavior). The only real unity the church should adhere to is unity in Christ. Too many prophets today find that they preach and respond to people like a politician. People leave our churches regularly wondering where the church stands on any issue. But this is not the case for leaders with a spine. They are prophets who speak and lead with clarity of intent, belief, and mission.
8. Real spiritual leaders are willing to take risks. They are not about creating "safe" spaces, refusing to adapt, becoming stagnant, or preserving the present status quo. Those with a back bone see the mission clearly and are moving toward it always. They realize that kingdom work comes with a price. There is personal cost to being part of harvest work. They are willing to forego the comfort of some for the transformation of others. For them, faith rarely leads to comfortability.
9. Leaders with back bone are decisive. I do not mean that they are intentionally divisive (though they may be), but they are definitely decisive! When they are in line with what God's Spirit is doing, they will not get off task. Real spiritual leadership does not straddle the fence. Much like Nehemiah in the Old Testament, they do not want to come down off of the wall when they are doing God's work. They stick to core values, vision, and mission.
10. They provide clear direction for the future. They articulate where God is directing His church and point people to that vision. It is when there is no vision for God's people that they perish! There is unrest, divided priorities, people on the fringe promoting tangents. And this unrest and division results from lack of clear direction and vision. If no one knows where the church is going and what it is suppose to be doing, they are distracted by others who promote their own agenda.
"A piece of spaghetti is 'pliable' and easily surrenders to the slightest pressure. A piece of steel is inflexible and rigid. Men don't build with spaghetti, but they do build with steel." C.W. Fisher
So what do you think?
So what do you think?
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