Christian Leadership is not possible apart from the power of the Holy Spirit. Inviting the Holy Spirit supercharges our leadership and brings us to a journey of witnessing the work of God in our life and in the lives of the people that we are leading.
1:45 – Leadership as a Gift
- Romans 12:3-8
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
4:37 – Spiritual gifts come from the word grace. These are specific graces that God gives to individuals.
5:06 – Three (3) clarifying remarks for this topic:
- Do not confuse spiritual gifts with personality.
- They are not hard and fast personality types.
- We believe in developing our talents and our personality. We believe we’re hardwired a certain way by God. But tests like spiritual gift tests, personality tests, strengths tests are just approximations. There’s so much more that defines us than just these grids. But we can use these things as conversation starters or opener, not as a closer or concluding statement.
- You are who God says you are. You are what the Bible says you are.
- We shouldn’t take it as what we should do.
- Spiritual gifts do not prescribe what we must do. It’s better to think that they describe the work of God in our lives.
- Don’t say “I don’t have the gift for this… for that…” but instead, ask God for His grace to help you to do what He is asking you to do.
- Don’t make a weird category for “spiritual” things.
- The gifts of prophecy, miracles, and discernment are spiritual. That’s true, but so are the gifts of encouragement, service, comfort, and even administration. All of it is spiritual. All require the power of the Holy Spirit.
13:30 – Go and serve. Ask God for the spiritual gift. You might not be that good of a leader right now, but you can ask God for His grace to lead in whatever situation you are in. Interestingly, God gives that grace in tandem with a situation that requires it. So don’t sit passively waiting for it. Get out and serve.
14:55 What is the spiritual gift of leadership?
- Ms Jiji Concepcion’s definition of the spiritual gift of leadership: it is the spiritual gift that gathers, organizes, and empowers the other spiritual gifts to work together for God’s glory and in service of others.
- The gift of leadership only works with other people’s spiritual gifts.
- For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. (Romans 12:3)
- How are you using your gift today? How has your gift helped other people fully realize and actualize their own gifts?
- The gift of leadership needs to be done with energy.
- Leaders, we have given our service when it’s done with energy, with passion, and with zeal.
23:56 – Leadership is a SPIRITUAL gift.
- God’s Spirit applies to all of life.
- Ask the Holy Spirit and invite Him to help you in every situation that you are in. We need His power for EVERYTHING. And the Holy Spirit wants to be involved in everything that we do.
- If you’re in Christ, your leadership isn’t small. It isn’t mundane. You need His power. It’s necessarily supernatural.
33:16 – When we say Leadership and Faith, we are talking about Leadership and God. What does God have to do with my leadership? In Christ…
- When we lead, we reflect the creative power of God with which He created the world. We were made in His image so we have that ability.
- When we lead, we do this in the model of God the Son, who rejected the worldly symbols of leadership and redefined greatness as service. Our leadership becomes great when it serves.
- When we lead, we need the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit because it’s spiritual, no matter how secular, mundane, common, or tedious it may seem. We are spiritual beings and therefore, the Holy Spirit empowers us.
The ENC Leadership Podcast is hosted by Joseph Bonifacio.
