BIBLICAL QUALIFICATIONS FOR SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP

Introduction

BIBLICAL QUALIFICATIONS FOR SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP

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All leadership have some things in common but there are some sharp differences between secular and spiritual leadership ().

Spiritual leadership has its roots in the Bible and biblical criteria must be applied to the selection and training of those who are to be involved in spiritual leadership.

Those who have no time for feeding on the word (personal quiet time, public fellowship like Bible Study etc.) have no basis for being selected for spiritual leadership (,; ).

1. AVAILABILITY AND GRACIOUS WILLINGNESS

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“And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do” ().

Moses is to teach the entire congregation how to walk with God and how to work for God – spiritual walk and work. Those who are not available for teaching and instruction seldom qualify for leadership. How will they know how to behave themselves in the house of God? ().

It is out of this pool of the general population (congregation) that leadership recruits must come from:

“Moreover, thou shall provide OUT OF ALL THE PEOPLE able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens ...” ().

The concept of “out of all the people” is well established in the scriptures (,; ; ; ).

Leadership is not just occupying a position or bearing a title, it is performing a task, it is carrying out an assignment. This calls for availability and willingness.

“Availability is the first ability that God is looking for in people” -- Derek Prince

In the days of God’s power, the people will be willing (). Isaiah needs to respond on the basis of personal willingness (,). Those who are available but not pure are disqualified and rejected (; ).

God is on the search for people who can stand in the gap, who can help bear burdens, who can serve in the kingdom, but the biblical qualifications cannot be compromised! (; ; ; ; ).

There is no need to coerce people to serve, to push them and chase them to complete tasks. Personal initiative and gracious willingness are essential in those that aspire to leadership.

2. ABILITY FOR THE GREAT WORK

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Availability is essential but ability is paramount:

“Moreover, thou shalt provide out of all the people ABLE MEN ... and let them JUDGE the people AT ALL SEASONS ...” (,).

We must match leadership tasks with God-given abilities – Abraham is matched with intercession and spiritual warfare (; ; ), Isaac is matched with planting and tenacious well digging (), Nehemiah is matched with rebuilding the broken walls of Jerusalem (; ; ; ) and Ezra is matched with reviving the collapsed worship structure and infrastructure ().

We must deploy people in areas of their competence. Incompetence will clog the path of productivity and effectiveness.

We need people who are available and able “at all seasons”. We do not need people who are only available when it is convenient for them. Leadership entails making sacrifices of time, talent and treasure! We need those who can be there for us “in season and out of season” ().

We need highly skilled people who can “sling stones at a hair breadth, and not miss” (). We need highly knowledgeable and prudent people who have “understanding of the times, to know, what Israel ought to do” to be in command (; , ,; ; ; ).

3. ACCOUNTABILITY AND GODLY WALK

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“Moreover, thou shall provide OUT OF ALL THE PEOPLE able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens ...” ().

Faithfulness, integrity, honesty, transparency are qualities that are not negotiable in those that must be in spiritual leadership (,; ,; ; ).

These are people who are accountable to senior leadership and recognise their limitations. They are humble enough to refer matters they are not competent to handle to senior leadership ().