The Four Postures of the Spiritual Leader of the Future (Part 2)

These postures are taken from the original ebook, The Four Postures of the Spiritual Leader of the Future, which is available on our website.

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Much has been made about the actions, attitudes and thoughts of a leader,but I’ve found few books that talk about the importance of the posture of a leader. Our words and actions are crucial as leaders, but as posture has even greater potential. We often overlook posture and its power. Posture, of course, includes our non-verbal body language. But it’s more than that. If our content –our words and actions – communicate what we say and think, but it is our posture that communicates what we believe, value and prioritize. Our posture clearly communicates our motivations – why we are doing what we are doing.

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The Scientist - The Posture of Exploration and Discovering the Truth

Spiritual leaders must live in reality and must lead and serve in the midst of what is true and right—even if it is uncomfortable or unfavorable. Leaders are in the pursuit of truth. Great teachers and leaders are masters of the obvious, but they are also life-long learners who long to discover and grow and learn. It was Jesus who uttered the significant words declaring he was the way, the truth and the life. Truth wasn’t a thing. Truth became a person. And to pursue Jesus is to pursue what is True.

The Christian author and thinker Dallas Willard offered a powerful thought that splintered my mind when I read it: the prospering of God’s cause on earth depends upon his people thinking well. Pause for a moment and ponder that statement. God’s purposes advance in our world when we think well – and thinking well depends upon exploring, discovering and sharing what is True. The posture of scientist, one who is committed to learning, knowing and sharing the truth, is the posture of the Christian leader as well.

The role of a scientist is to seek to explain the mysterious, to communicate the unknown. To weigh the stars as a leader is to attempt to explain and communicate mystery with clarity and courage. As Christian leaders, we traffic in the truth of Jesus and we seek to serve and influence others to follow him, too. We are confident with the truth; we don’t shy away from it. But like all good scientists, we stand in awe of the grandiosity of the world – God’s world – and it keeps us humble. Good spiritual leaders are confidently humble leaders. Which means, we not only possess the truth, but we have to communicate it with clarity, compassion, courage and confidence—and do it in a compelling way.