Friday, July 13, 2007

Piper on the Marks of a Spiritual Leader

John Piper has an excellent essay on "the marks of a spiritual leader." He divides the topic into two sections: "the inner circle of spiritual leadership," that which makes leadership spiritual, and "the outer circle of spiritual leadership," that which makes spiritual people leaders. There is a great deal of wisdom here--his 22 (!) points were:

Inner circle of spiritual leadership
1. Has as his goal that others will glorify God
2. Loves both friend and foe by trusting in God and hoping in his promises
3. Meditates on and prays over God's Word
4. Acknowledges his helplessness to God (there was a great quote at this point: "All true spiritual leadership has its roots in deseparation").

Outer circle of spiritual leadership
1. Restlessness
2. Optimistic
3. Intense
4. Self-controlled
5. Think-skinned ("we will feel the criticism, but we will not be incapcitated by it")
6. Energetic
7. A hard thinker
8. Articulate
9. Able to teach
10. A good judge of character
11. Tactful ("Tact is that quality of grace that wins the confidence of people who are sure you won't do or say something stupid")
12. Theologically oriented
13. A dreamer ("The spirit of venturesomeness is at a premium today. Oh, how we need people who will devote just five minutes a week to dream of what might possibly be")
14. Organized and efficient
15. Decisive
16. Perseverant
17. A lover (of your spouse)
18. Restful

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