10 Days to Better Spiritual LeadershipSample

Paul embodied principles of leadership and described it in his letters. He certainly thought the life of individual believers and churches ought to resemble a solid foundation on Christ (1 Corinthians 3:9–17). Looking at Paul’s life, we can see leadership all the more clearly.

The reputation of a great leader grows with the years. Surely Paul’s moral and spiritual greatness is all the more evident the more he is studied and analyzed. A. W. Tozer called him the world’s most successful Christian. It is sheer irony and miracle that God would select one of the most aggressive opponents of the early Christian movement and make him into its most outstanding leader.

Paul was uniquely equipped for the major role to which God called him. A present-day parallel to this amazing man would be someone who could speak in Chinese in Beijing, quoting Confucius and Mencius; write cogent theology and teach it at Oxford; and defend his cause using flawless Russian before the Soviet Academy of Sciences. By whatever comparison, Paul was certainly one of the most versatile leaders the church has known.

His versatility is apparent in the ease with which he adapted to various audiences. Paul could address statesmen and soldiers, adults and children, kings and royal officials. He was at ease in debate with philosophers, theologians, and pagan idol worshippers.

Paul had a brilliant grasp of the Old Testament. He studied under the influential rabbi Gamaliel, and as a student Paul was second to none. His own testimony records: “I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers” (Galatians 1:14).

A natural leader by any measure, Paul became a great spiritual leader when his heart and mind were captured by Jesus Christ.

Paul did not appoint elders in every place on his first missionary journey. He sometimes waited until a later visit when questions about spiritual development had been clarified by time and experience (Acts 14:23). Timothy was converted during Paul’s first journey, but not ordained until the second journey.

“It is the mark of a grownup man, as compared with a callow youth, that he finds his center of gravity wherever he happens to be at the moment, and however much he longs for the object of his desire, it cannot prevent him from staying at his post and doing his duty,” wrote Dietrich Bonhoeffer. That is just what a new convert finds difficult to do. Steadfastness is a characteristic that accompanies a growing maturity and stability.

Maturity is shown in a magnanimous spirit and broad vision. Paul’s encounter with Christ transformed him from a narrow- minded bigot into a full-hearted leader. The indwelling Christ enlarged his passion for others, broadened his view of the world, and deepened his convictions. But even in Paul’s case, these changes took time.

The importance of the above requirements for leadership in the Christian church are recognized even in secular circles. If the world demands such standards of its leaders, the church of the living God should select its leaders with even greater care.