Gospel Leadership

The following is a summary of a presentation done by David Riddell, one of our World Team Leaders in Europe, about Gospel leadership:

• A Gospel leader always goes back to the basics. As John Newton said, our hearts are 'prone to wander' and we always need our heart warmed by the Gospel. In the midst of busyness, are the 'eyes of our understanding' on the Lord or are we overwhelmed by the 'stuff' in our lives? The Gospel leaks out of us everyday! We must put it back in! After all, we work, but we work because it is God who works in us, changing our minds and emotions so that we regain our spiritual balance, enabling us to live for the praise of His Name (Phil 2:12-13)
• A Gospel leader asks God to help him or her be willing to lead out of weakness, not out of their strength. Are we willing to let God help us give up the idol of having to control life and live out of our human resources apart from Him? Is our model of a leader the charismatic CEO or someone who really sees his need for Christ? Even people in the church do not want this kind of leader!
• The Gospel leader needs to be willing to take risks. While we often criticize Peter for his lack of faith when he was trying to walk on the water, he at least stepped out of the boat. What does risk-taking look like for the Gospel leader? Just a few ideas: the willingness to lovingly confront and stretch people, to stand for what is right but recognize our own personal failings.
• Leaders living out of the Gospel should reflect an attitude of humility. Both Peter and James remind us that God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. John the Baptist acknowledge that "He (Jesus) must increase; I must decrease." Paul tells us in Ephesians 4 that we must be "completely humble."
• Gospel leaders feel the pain of this sinful world. The more the Gospel works on us, the more we realize we are family. It will drive us to Christ for more grace and draw us to one another in mutual interdependence. It will help us feel the heartbeat of God for the lost sheep which surround us.

The Gospel leader will begin reflecting these characteristics as he aligns himself and herself with our Father. Such attitudes and actions will flow out of workship, going back to the basics, longing for a time of solitude to let God change ungodly attitudes, to learn to live and even rejoice in weakness, to take risks, to walk humbly before our God, and to embrace the pain of this world, knowing that our Savior sustains us and helps us look beyond the pain to the hope that lies before us.