The Legacy of Spiritual Leadership

(I Shared this message during Philippine Missionary Fellowship,Inc. National Bi-Annual Conference in Cavite City, Philippines)

A STRONG ORGANIZATION FOUNDED BY GOD
Philippine Missionary Fellowship, Inc. is a mission-organization founded in 1957. It is now 46 years old. Members, workers, leaders and sponsors have come and go but the mission of the Lord is continuously growing and doing mightily in the sight of God. At present, there are 260 workers in the mission field and 500 churches were established in around 20 provinces nationwide. We can imagine how the Lord blessed PMF with leaders who ran the organization with success. I believed that PMF is truly a strong organization established not by the great men alone, but the Lord.

The lack of potential leaders is not founded in the Scriptures. This is merely a speculation. Some think that PMF has no potential leaders who can lead the organization the way it was led by the former leaders. While others think that they can never run the mission due to lack of leadership training and skills.

J. Oswald Sanders, in his book “Spiritual Leadership” told that 85% of spiritual leaders are made through the influence of others. They became effective leaders because of the training and experience they gained from the past and improve in the present. The body of Christ is made up of great leaders that are gifted in every area of the ministry. The Holy Spirit had given them so much talents and gifts that every one will become useful and contributor to the growth and success in the body of Christ. In reality, leadership crisis in a strong organization is the product of leadership who carries the leadership whenever they leave. They never lay any foundation to build great leaders for the future, nothing more and nothing less. A legacy of a leader, according to Maxwell, is “created only when a person puts his organization into the position to do great things without him.”

SIMPLE TIPS IN PRODUCING LEADERS

Choose Potential Leaders Around You

“Choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and Wisdom… They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit”(Acts 6:3,5).

Spirituality coupled with wisdom

Selection of kingdom leaders must not be influenced by worldly wisdom, wealth, or social status. The prime consideration is spirituality. Selecting leaders apart from spiritual qualifications always leads to unspiritual administration. Although spirituality gives wisdom for a leader but being spiritual alone is not enough. Wisdom given by God acquired through outpouring of the Holy Spirit or through education, according to Luke, is a pre-requisite for successful leadership. John R. Mott, a world leader in student circles, believed that “a leader is a man who knows the road, who can keep ahead, and who pulls others after him.” Spiritual leaders blend with natural and spiritual qualities. Even the natural qualities are supernatural gifts, since all good things come from God.

Personal Integrity

Paul spoke of his failures and success with openness that few of us are prepared to copy. Even before his conversion he served God sincerely (2 Tim. 1:3) and with great personal integrity. Later he wrote: “In Christ we speak before God with sincerity” (2 Cor. 2:17). This quality of leadership was part of God’s law for the Israelites