The Four Postures of the Spiritual Leader of the Future (Part 4)
These postures are taken from the original ebook, The Four Postures of the Spiritual Leader of the Future, which is available on our website.
———
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.
———
The Preacher - The Posture of Submissive Listening
Leaders must learn to listen—to God, to others and to themselves. Any leader who is unable and unwilling to listen will burn out, be a burden or both. And any leader who is unable and unwilling to spend time in solitude and silence is not worthy of being followed. Luke tells us: “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed” (Luke 5:16). He frequently and purposefully spent time away to be with his Father. A modern day translation for lonely places might be “locations with no Wi-Fi signal or cell service.”
In a world pockmarked with frenzied and frenetic activity, the spiritual leader is called to embrace a counter-cultural posture of receiving, listening, contemplating and reflecting. Without frequent reflection, ongoing self-care and truthful feedback, leaders will get in their own way and thus, ultimately become the problem followers will have to deal with. It is only in quiet contemplation and reflection that we are to hear from God and then, how to guide others.
We need places to purposefully get away to—lonely places—where we can make listening to God and to ourselves a priority. It is how we step our lives in God- reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Jesus listened, he prayed, he proclaimed— often in that order. Even Jesus needed to get away and listen to His Father. If this was Jesus’ regular posture and frequent habit, shouldn’t it be ours as well?
To be faithful spiritual leaders we must act in two ways Eugene Peterson wrote about: to pay attention to God and respond appropriately. We certainly cannot respond appropriately if we do not first pay attention and hear from our Father. And, like the prophet Jonah, we can listen to God and respond inappropriately. But when we pay attention to God (submissive listening) and respond appropriately (active obedience) we live our lives in congruence to the ways of Jesus.
When we have time to get away and listen to God we are able to ask questions such as: What am I hearing from Jesus? What is it Jesus is calling me into right now? In this next season? What am I going to do with what I just heard from Jesus?
When we listen, we choose to give up control rather than grab for more of it (Phil 2). Maybe this is why listening is difficult to do and rare to find in most leadership contexts. It requires a relinquishment on our part. With that, what areas of my life and leadership need to be relinquished back to the care of God?