INTRODUCTION
This quarter edition is thefirst edition of The Christian News Today. The theme for the quarter: THE REVIVAL THAT WE ALL NEED is a revelation targeting the total Christian life. We started this series with THE CHRISTIAN LIFE EXPERIENCE.
So the first month of this quarter edition – establishes the foundation of the Christian Life; as the life built up on the ministry of life. We further establish that the ministry of the Word of life and the ministry of the Spirit of life is: THE MINISTRY OF LIFE. These two are the basic ingredients of revival that generate life in the general body of Christ, the Church and the individual Christian life. The effect of this is growth, qualitative and quantitative growth.
The ministry of life which is both the generation of life and the release of life sets in motion a chain of life transformation experiences, covering the Christian business life; the work which is divinely committed to the individual Christian to do, be it by calling or by career.
This same life transformation chain of experiences also cuts across the Christian leadership life. By the ministry of life, the Christian life is built up. And as the Christian matures and grows, he is conscious of his purpose. And to fulfil that purpose,he must consciously walk through the full circle of purpose. Then, the Christian man understands perfectly that success in life is the fulfilment of purpose by walking in purpose with your message, your ministry and your mission.
Remember there is a chain effect on the total Christian life which is not only limited to the Christian business life but also cuts across the Christian leadership life.
So the ministry of life gives birth to walking in purpose and walking in purpose gives birth to walking in dominion. The ministry of life builds the Christian life while walking in purpose result into success in our business life. Our business life has to do with achieving a profitable end with our God-given potentialities and gifts. Whereas walking in dominion is living out our leadership role and maximizing our potentialities that the Christian man may have a life-fulfilling experience.
This third month is the concluding part of this edition: The Revival That We All Need. Walking in purpose has produced in us another greater consciousness which is walking in dominion.
WALKING IN DOMINION is a leadership concept. It is total futility to seek dominion without walking in purpose. Purpose, naturally, sets us in place of dominion. When you walk along the pathway of your purpose without deviating, certainly, you will find yourself at the top of the ladder of authority and power. When you are in purpose, you are in charge.
It is purpose that establishes dominion. Knowing well what to do and doing it well makes you a master in your field. And the master is in control. He has what it takes to be a master. Living a purpose-oriented life qualifies you for dominion.
The master concept in this sense is not the same as the world concept, but rather, one who is in charge by reason of his continuous walk along the path of his destiny. Brethren, we need to find our bearing in life and stick to it.
Walking in dominion is to be rightly positioned in the place of your charge. Because it is only in the place of your charge that you are in charge and nowhere else. After creating man after his image, the Creator placed the man in the Garden of Eden and gave them charge, or the right of dominion. Saying: ‘’have dominion.’’ Genesis 1: 28.
Though the right of dominion had been given to man, which he lost to Satan. Yet, the same dominion has been restored in Christ. But it is a different thing to have dominion and another thing entirely to walk in dominion. Succintly, walking in dominion is living in the reality of the dominion that has already been given.
And I say again, that it is your walk on the path of purpose that takes you away from the realm of ‘’having dominion’’ to the realm of ‘’living in dominion.
The moment there is a consciousness of dominion, there comes an overwhelming sense of leadership on the man walking in dominion. The reality of dominion has awaken him to a part of him that is yet to be explored. It is the leadership traits and the leadership role lying dormant and untapped.
What we need to do in this concluding part of this edition of the Christian News Today, with the theme: The Revival That We ALL Need, is to sensitize us To The Leadership Principle And Concept, by bringing to us heavenly information which is given to us by revelation of The Basic Fundamentals Of Leadership. May you be blessed indeed as you read.
WALKING IN DOMINION:
By The Basic Fundamentals Of Leadership.
How else can one begin to learn the concept and the principles of a subject matter if not from the very basic and fundamental of the same subject matter. The principle and the concept of leadership is no exception to this reality of learning.
Leadership begins with the consciousness of dominion. The moment there is a realization of dominion, the quest and the pursuit for leadership begins. It is an error to thrust leadership role on anyone who is yet to understand the unique role of man in creation. Man was created to rule and to govern the earth by exercising his God-given right of dominion.
If the entire human race has lost dominion in the first Adam, yet in the last Adam which is Christ’; God has restored dominion to all that are recreated in Christ. Dominion is your heritage as a Christian and all we need to walk in dominion is to simply occupy our leadership role.
When the nation of Israel came out of the bondage of Egypt unto the place God has prepared for them to dwell, one of the promises the Lord made with them is the restoration of dominion characterized by occupying the leadership position in the realm of affair in the world setting. ‘’ And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath;’’ Deuteronomy 28: 13.
It is part of our covenant heritage and benefit to experience the position of headship, but the making of it all is the Lord through our conscious walk with the Him.
So, we begin the walk of possessing our covenant heritage of leadership by getting established with the basic fundamentals of leadership. I want to discuss four basic fundamentals of leadership. These four are:
- POTENTIAL
- PERSONALITY
- POSITION
- POWER
Some define: Leadership by potential; this is leadership by ability. Others define: Leadership by personality; this is Leadership by nature.
Whereas to another: Leadership is by position; this is leadership by status.
And finally there are those who define: Leadership by power; this is leadership by influence.
But leadership is all-encompassing – a combination of Potential, Personality, Position and Power.
It is my greatest pleasure to take us through these four basic fundamentals by which leadership is established.
DEFINING LEADERSHIP BY POTENTIAL
The world seeks out leaders and settles for leaders with the relevant potentialities to lead. People are given the leadership role based on their ability to lead. Leadership ability in this sense refers to the basic qualifications needed for the position of leadership in question.
Leading by potential is what I call leading by ability. Ability is the strength to perform a task. There is no human who is completely proficient in all areas of human endeavours. But life is communal mutual and complementary such that your proficiency is my deficiency and your deficiency is my proficiency. To the end that we live for each other.
Nevertheless, we all have our own individual potentialities; it is our personal strength to achieve an end or a goal. To understand leadership by potential,we need to understand what actually is the make-up of our strength and our weaknesses in relation to our ability; what you can do well, what you cannot do well and what you cannot do at all.
Human ability can be grouped into two: Natural Ability and Acquired Ability. Natural ability is your God-given potential. It is your natural endowments, what you are born with. The reality is that, natural endowment is divine equipping; naturally given for excellent performance in the individual lifetime. There is divine equipping spiritually given. This is by the power of the Spirit of God.
So, everyone is naturally endowed by the Creator but not everyone is spiritually endowed. Spiritual endowment comes by the power of God to give the necessary ability to perform divine task. But our focus is not on spiritual endowment now, but on natural endowment.
Our discussion at this time is centred on the natural ability and the acquired ability that make up the potential or the ability of any individual. While the natural ability is naturally given by God, the acquired ability is personally acquired by man.
While it is true that the natural ability may not be sufficient to lead, yet it is the primary and major potential. And though the acquired ability is not the lead potential, it is still essential potential.
As stated earlier, the natural ability is the God-given potential that you are born with, by which you are to excel and occupy your divine destiny; such as your gifting and your talent. Acquired ability at the other hand are skills, training and learning acquired in areas of specialization towards enhancing better performance in our different roles in life and destiny.
For instance, the gift of writing, be it creative or inspirational is a natural ability, not everyone is naturally gifted to write. At the same time as natural as it is, it is necessary for gifts to be supported with acquired ability to enhance maximal output. The gift is in us, we are born with it. It was given to us for the primary purpose of fulfilling our destiny, yet the impact may not be really felt without the input of the acquired ability.
Without mincing words, for leadership attainment, it is imperative that natural ability should follow a process of maturity and manifestation. For maturity to take place, there is a period of discovery and development; while that of manifestation is known as the period of deployment. So, the entire process of natural ability for leadership attainment from maturity to manifestation is:
By discovery- The the knowledge of the inherent ability; such as gifts and talents lying dormant and untapped.
By development- The development by nurturing, practicing, learning and training on the talent, the gift and other related fields needed to support and maximize the usage of the natural ability. At this point, all the learning and the training are acquired ability to support my inherent natural ability.
By deployment- This is the release of the discovered and developed natural ability; enhanced and supported by the acquired ability through specific channels, institutions and structures put in place for effectual maximization.
So, we have a process in place, and our target is to fulfil destiny by playing our leadership role effectively. Considering leadership by ability, which is our potential; as that which determines our level of accomplishment in leadership, our target is maximizing our potentialities.
Maximizing potential is a major key for leadership attainment. The best person to get the job done, of course, will always be the one that is well equipped. Certainly, the one that is well equipped is that individual that is more equipped. There is no limit to learning. The fact is you may be loaded with gifts and be full of talents and yet be tossed aside for the man that has developed himself overtime by acquiring special abilities to perform the task better.
Your relevance in life is determined by your learning and your continuous learning. So talents are never enough even at considering our potential to perform task and duties. There are acquired natural abilities that must accompany my inherent gifts, if I am to remain relevant in the society. And let me say this; leadership can only be achieved by your relevance, the more relevant, the more capable you are to lead.
For maximum potential output, we need to make ourselves relevant. The structure in place today is definite to become obsolete tomorrow. So what do we do? We upgrade with time.
Looking at leadership by ability as your potential by both natural and acquired abilities to attain and fulfil your leadership role. We say natural endowments, which are your talents and gifts discovered and developed are combined with your intellectual capacity through scholastic achievements and continuous learning; alongside with special training for skills acquisition and professional training, all sum up your potential for leadership.
This is leadership by ability. It is your potential to perform maximally specific task or duty at your disposal or in your charge by which you are assumed qualified to lead. The question then arise, can both natural and acquired abilities perform the unique role of leadership?
Remember that our goal in this feature of the Christian News Today is to lay the foundation for the learning of leadership concepts and principles, upon which further teachings will be laid. The foundation is established as the four corners of a building structure, as well as like the four pillars raised to carry the imposed load of the building structure.
Beloved, it is the four basic fundamentals of leadership. Come along with me for the exploration of the second corner piece and pillar of foundational leadership principles.
DEFINING LEADERSHIP BY PERSONALITY
The world in search of leader settles for a leader with potential, but they soon realized that leading by potential is not enough. Having the capacity to get the work done is not sufficient to fulfil the role of leadership. At the other hand, God, in search of a leader among men, did not settle for potential but rather settle for a person.
The Lord is always searching for a man; not for men but for a man. Neither is the search for a group but for an individual. It is necessary to have some Bible references to establish this fact.
In Jeremiah 4: 25; the Lord lamented: ‘’ I beheld, and lo, there was no man.’’ Again in 1 Samuel 13: 14, ‘’ the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart.’’ And again in Ezekiel 22: 30, ‘’ And I sought out for a man among them…’’
It is apparent that the leadership potentialities exceed the potentialities or the abilities discussed earlier. The natural ability by reason of natural endowment and the acquired ability by reason of intellectual achievement and professionalism seems not enough to qualify anyone for leadership role. The leadership potential extends beyond all these. The leadership potential is a personality.
That leadership is more of who you are by nature than what you have by ability is not debatable. The scripture gives us something very practical about this, it says: ‘’ The children of Ephraim being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.’’ Psalm 78:9.
They were armed, they have the right weapon for the battle; yet in the day of battle there was no confidence in any of them to confront the battle. Success then cannot be determined by merely possessing talents and striving relentlessly to improve on your ability by acquiring degrees and skills. It is first of all the person you are that will determine the person you will become.
It is good to be equipped for leadership with both natural and acquired potentialities. But the decisive factor and the overall determinant of leadership is not your potential by your ability but your potential by your personality.
The nation of Israel came out of four hundred and thirty years bondage in Egypt by the manifestation of the great power of God. They were well equipped with great promises for a great future. And what confidence and assurance can one has that can be greater than that which comes from the consciousness of the presence and power of God so real?
The pillar of cloud, the pillar of fire were living proofs of the glory of God in their midst. What more do they need to posses their heritage as promised by God to them? ‘’ And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shall not be beneath….’’ Deuteronomy 28:13.
Now, that’s a promise of headship. And whatever is needed to accomplish this heavenly role on earth has already been released unto man. But nothing can be done for the man without the man. Everything has been done for the man, yet the man has done nothing about himself.
As a great nation with great potential to be on the lead in the world, they still lack the courage to take up the leadership heritage. What then is the problem with this nation? It is who they are and not what they have. You can have all the ability in you to perform a task and still fail woefully because you lack the right personality potential to get it done.
Their confession of themselves reveals who they are, they say: ‘’ We are not able’’ Numbers 13: 31, and again: ‘’ We were in our own eyes as grasshoppers and so we were in their eyes.’’ Numbers 13: 33.
What kind of mentality is this? It is nothing else but the grasshopper mentality. Leadership is who you are. It is the leadership mentality born out of total conviction of your divine status as the head and not the tail that makes whatsoever ability in you or acquired by you to be effective.
Myles Munroe in his book titled: The Spirit of Leadership, defines leadership as ‘’ a unique mental attitude that emanates from an internalized discovery of self, which creates a strong, positive, and confident self- concept and self -worth.’’
This unique mental attitude is known as the spirit of leadership. Our response to life challenges, crises, disappointments, and stress reveals the personality of the man. A strong positive personality with great confidence and faith when confronted with impossible situations and challenges will inspire others and give hope in the face of great odds. A particular leadership attitude of purpose and passion is recreated or reproduced in the followers.
The spirit of leadership must first be born in the heart of man. It is a personal revelation within that separates leaders from followers. For unless there is a change in the spirit, there can never be a change in the nature and character of the man. This personal revelation produces a change in the very spirit of the man.
It is this internal change of mental attitude that manifests without as definitive characteristic and nature, known as the leadership personality.
So, the leadership spirit born in the heart of a man manifests as the leadership personality in the acts and ways of a man.
The concept of leadership has been accepted by most corporations and organizations in the society, to be what you have rather than who you are. The emphasis has always been the acquisition of abilities and the display of talents and gifts. This concept does not yield the ultimate production target, and the corporate goals unattainable. It places limitation on organization growth.
You may function with your talent ordinarily as a man, but what distinguishes you and single you out of the common folks is your personality. And leadership has to do with standing out by exceptional personality by which both the natural and acquired abilities are disposed.
Genuine and true leadership should not be seen as the result of educational achievement, learning skills, memorizing formulas. Neither is it by initiating methods or training techniques, it is the attitude of the heart that determines the act of leadership.
Imagine a situation where someone is given the opportunity to be the manager of an organization. He has the right degree with a good budget and all the right staff to achieve the company’s goals and targets, but then what if this same manager of men and resources lacks initiatives, and at the same time has no confidence in himself to face challenges and solve problems.
If this same manager has not discovered the latent leadership potential inherent in every human spirit, he can never achieve the optimal organization goals and targets, despite all the resources at his disposal.
There is a spirit that keeps pushing the man on that can never settle down to methods and tradition, but rather explores new territories and ideas. It is the spirit of leadership.
The true leader to fill the vacuum of leadership is that individual with the personality born right out of the womb of the spirit of leadership. Attitudes and certain characteristic qualities such as patience, persistence, self-discipline, courage, initiative, teamwork and innovation are some of the personalities that reveal the birth of the spirit of leadership within.
DEFINING LEADERSHIP BY POSITION
The reality that all men must face in life is the fact that life is a journey that begins somewhere, sometimes, towards a particular destination. And for every destination, someone must be appointed to take charge of the wheel, otherwise there is no journey and the destination definitely unachievable.
Every organization and corporation exist because there is a mission based on vision. The society is a collection of people and groups of people with different vision and mission. We all exist for a purpose, while the purpose must be the vision and the mission, without taking charge and responsibility,the vision is but a mere night dream far from the daylight of reality.
We have a mission because we have a destination. But the question we need to answer at this point is: who exactly is in charge and who takes responsibilities, who lays out the plan, sets the goals, the target and at the same time gives instruction and direction towards the execution of the plan in a corporate setting? A leader, of course.
This is where defining leadership by position comes in, but there is quite a lot of misconceptions when defining leadership by position. This conceptions must be clarified that we may stand firm on that exalted platform of leadership.
Defining leadership by position is believed among many to be strictly for men chosen or elected to occupy a particular office or position. These men are given the charge and the responsibility of the leadership of the organization they have been chosen to preside over.
But can mere title makes the leader? People are placed in prominent leadership positions with impressive titles, and they failed woefully because they do not have the potential and the personality attached to the exalted position of leadership.
We have defined leadership by potential as the natural and the acquired ability to function as a leader. We also define leadership by personality as the unique mental attitude that originates from self-discovery of your natural leadership potential as a man.
Through our understanding of leadership by potential and leadership by personality, we should be able to have the background of leadership by position. It is the combination of potential and personality that makes up the position. Therefore, for every position in life and in the society; be it corporate, social, political or spiritual, it is the disposition that should determine the position and not the other way round.
Your disposition to perform is a function of your potential and your personality. Therefore, when seeking out a leader to occupy the position of leadership, seek out for a man with the right potential and the right personality that suits best the position.
Leadership by position should be determined by your disposition to perform. But we still need further light about the concept of leadership when defining leadership by position. It is a common believe that occupying position of headship in any organization is what makes you a leader.
Leadership by position with the right potential and personality is not limited to the executives, the managers and those in charge of executing authorities and power; leadership by position is the ability to manage, control and dominate your God-given environment. Your position in life is your environment and your environment is your position in life.
Therefore, every human positioning in life is not a place for you to occupy space but an opportunity to make your impact felt by your peculiar talent and gifting. Every one of us was created to lead in an area of gifting. You are not created to be oppressed and dominated. Every human being has been commissioned from heaven not only to be fruitful and multiply but also to have dominion. Let me make this point very clear, that to have dominion is to be given the power and the mandate to rule.
In every human, there is the instinct and capacity to lead. Not because of any designation of leadership by occupying the head of any organization, but because all men already have the leadership mandate through the gift of divine dominion.
There is in every man the capacity to lead, but many are yet to discover this hidden potential. Whether you discover this truth or not, operate in the realm of leadership does not change the reality that you were born to rule. All our ideas about leadership are conceived by the teaching of wrong leadership concepts.
Leadership is not for the exclusive group of people, chosen by destiny to manipulate, control and rule over the less fortunate masses. But (unfortunately), many do not recognize the leadership spirit in them. So, they have no courage and the will to exhibit the leadership trait.
You were created to rule and you don’t have to occupy the position of the head to exhibit this. You have the potential in you, all you need is the passion to release them.
Don’t you know that for every dominion that is given, there must be a domain? Your domain is your environment where your specific purpose and assignment on earth are to be fulfilled. All of us cannot be the overseer or the pastor over the congregation. If that be the case, who will then occupy the office of the evangelist, the apostles, the prophets, the teachers and the deacons?
Likewise, the executive seat of every organization is for just one person. But that does not relegate every other position, neither does it make the man at the lowest cadre less important. Beloved, receive this and let it be established in you that what designates you as a leader is not the so-called title of a leader and the position of headship you occupy, it is your disposition to function in your domain.
The head of man, though is the seat of the brain, the eyes and so on, are where the brain analysis and decisions of matters take place. The brain dishes out the orders and the entire body, the legs, hands and all follow. So, we say the head of man sits at the leadership position while the remaining part of the body are followers.
But then, though the body responds to the head, every individual part of the body is to exhibit leadership in their own domain, their designated sphere of domain. Can the head function without the neck, though the head is the head? It sure needs the support of the neck to function.
We, therefore, conclude that it is not the position of leadership that makes you a leader but your disposition for leadership in your own designated position or domain of leadership by your natural and acquired potential through the leadership personality discovered and cultivated overtime.
DEFINING LEADERSHIP BY POWER
This is the concluding part of our discussion; ‘’defining leadership’’. The three preceding parts which are: defining leadership by potential, personality and position; I would say only creates the ground for leadership by power.
Defining leadership by power is the cumulative effect of leadership by potential, personality and position. What this means is that; when potential combines with personality at the appropriate designated position, there would definitely be positive impact and influence upon the lives of others. The outcome of this is the collective force known as teamwork by which a group of people achieves the desired common goal and objective.
Power is a force that changes things by changing the people. It is also a force that makes things happen by the hand of those who have experienced a change. It takes power to get the work done and to accomplish a task in view.
Power, according to the true leadership concept, is not a brute force, neither is it by oppression, subjection or by the manipulation of people. It is the ability to lead by inspiration and not by manipulation, by influence and not by exercising brutal force on another life. It is to lead others into the discovery of themselves and building up confidence, liberty of expression, self- worth and self-esteem.
Leadership should never be a tool for oppression,but a tool for true liberty. To understand this, we must be able to put leadership by power in the right perspective.
In the book, Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders; there was a discussion about what actually qualifies one as a leader. The author quotes D.E Hoste; the General Director of the China Inland Mission. This was his contribution before the gathering of protestant mission leaders in China: ‘’ It occurs to me that perhaps the best test of whether one is a qualified leader, is to find out weather anyone is following him.’’
No one follows a leader who knows not the way. And it is a general principle that we can only influence and lead others to the extend that we have gone with ourselves. We can only lead on familiar ground. Leadership is not pointing out the way for others to follow, it is to go ahead of others and at the same time take them through the familiar path.
To buttress this point further, I want to quote the definition of a leader given by John R Mott; ‘’ A leader is a man who knows the road, who can keep ahead, and who pulls others after him.’’
The ability of a leader to pull the followers after himself is the effect created by the release of the leadership potential, and the leadership personality within the leaders position of influence. This effect or influence is what I call: Leadership by power.
When we talk about leadership by power, we are simply talking about the ability to inspire, motivate and influence others towards a purposeful goal. It goes beyond the ordinary, to rally men and women together for a common purpose and goal. This is the main purpose of leadership and to do that, we need the power that will not only move the people, but also move mountains and make the impossible possible before us.
Li Hung Chang, an old Chinese leader defines leadership by this statement: ‘’ There are only three kinds of people in the world- those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move them.’’
My belief is that, there is no mover of men who also has not been moved by other men themselves. This is Leadership by Experience. It is not merely by learning principles but by learning from others who also themselves have learnt from others. And of course, the principles learnt must have to become a life experience if we must influence and impact other lives.
President Truman, the 33rd President of the United States, defines leadership as: ‘’ the ability to get others to do what they don’t want to do and like it.’’ Also Lisa Cash Hanson, the CEO of Smuggwugg, defines leadership as: ‘’ the ability to guide others without force into a direction or decision that leaves them feeling empowered and accomplished.’’
Leadership by power is a blend of the natural and the spiritual. Natural leadership combines personality with potential within the domain or position of influence and the effect created by which people are moved towards accomplishing a common goal originates directly from the natural man. He draws men by his personality and inspires the members of the team by his passion generated by the vision conceived right out of a well defined purpose. He also by his potential, which are his natural and acquired abilities, not only performs that which he has gathered others to do. But by his commitment and dedication to the vision and the mission, he influences his followers to pursue a common objective – the vision.
At the other hand, leadership by power from the spiritual perspective reveals a deeper understanding of power beyond the natural. Whereas the natural leader solely depends on the natural strength developed and deployed by his personality and potential, the spiritual leader also depends solely and completely on the spiritual strength generated by the power of God through the Holy Spirit.
The power of the Holy Spirit on the spiritual leader takes over the natural and makes use of the natural to accomplish divine task. The natural leader makes use of his potential and personality alone to achieve the task, but the spiritual leader under the power and the influence of the Holy Spirit undergoes a personality change. By personality change, he becomes a new man, he bears the image of Christ, which is the image of the invisible God.
Under the power and influence of the Holy Spirit, the spiritual leader is overshadowed and taken over. He cannot move others beyond that which he has permitted the Holy Spirit to move him, neither can he take any beyond that which the Holy Spirit has taken him.
The degree by which a spiritual leader has been influenced is the same degree by which he will influence other lives. The same goes with inspiration. He can never inspire anyone except by the degree which himself has been inspired by the Holy Spirit.
In spiritual leadership, we have a leader with the personality ability of Christ by the Holy Spirit. In other words, the person that Christ is, is what he is. And whatever Christ can do and will do, he is also able to do. For in Christ, is the ability to do all things and everything.
Though we have the ability of Christ by the Holy Spirit to do all things, He will only accomplish by us the role He has appointed for us in life and ministry. So, we have access to Christ personality and Christ potential by the Holy Ghost in spiritual leadership.
But you may ask; what about the personality and the potential of the man? The personality change mentioned earlier does not change the originality and the uniqueness of the leader. It is a change in the nature of man that has been dominated by carnality through the fall of man. And of course, his natural potential is still very much in place, but now under the power of the Holy Ghost where there is a greater expression.
Whatsoever ability we may have originally as man is what we have been created with. And by that potential, we are to lead within our domain or sphere of life. But the Holy Spirit takes this natural ability in us and connects it to the Christ ability in us. That, by this connection, we may have access to unlimited ability within our sphere of leadership. This is the secret of unlimited manifestation and maximization of potential.
The spiritual leader knows very well the power of learning. He spreads and widens his scope of leadership by learning that he may acquire more ability in addition to his natural ability. But he brings all abilities, both natural and acquired under the control of the power of the Spirit of God. That the task to be accomplished may be by God through his Spirit and not by man.
Spiritual leadership is God in man performing a divine task through the hand of man, by the ability which God Himself releases to the man through talents and the gifts inherent in the man, together with all the acquired abilities.
The spiritual leader does not operate as the natural man, but as the spiritual man. ‘’ That which is born of the flesh is flesh: and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.’’ John 3: 6.
The outcome or the work of a spiritual leader is a direct manifestation of the power and the influence of the Holy Spirit over that life in submission to the authority and power of God through the Holy Spirit.
When Zerubbabel was appointed the Governor of Judah, the Lord instructed him by Zechariah: ‘’ This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit saith the LORD of hosts.’’ Zechariah 4: 6.
Spiritual task cannot be accomplished by human ability but the power of the Spirit of God.
In conclusion, the principles and the concept of leadership towards raising leaders in our generations must be founded right on the platform of: ‘’ Defining Leadership.’’ This is the basic of leadership principles and concepts. When the leader understands very well that leadership consists of Potential, Personality, Position and Power, and that on these four corner foundations we are to establish the leadership concept; he is definitely on the path of fulfilling the leadership agenda of God for mankind.
Therefore, I say to you, take possession and have dominion of your divinely ordained domain. Leadership is not a position for the elected and selected elite in the society. Leadership is your heritage in Christ. But it is also a choice that you have to make.
You have the potential, and the personality to rule within your own domain, by which you influence lives positively. Your potential and personality well utilized in the position that you have been strategically placed generate power that inspires and motivates others. This is leadership. And on this platform we are expected to build our leadership concept.
‘’THE REVIVAL THAT WE ALL NEED’’
The aim of this quarter edition is to first of all create a lasting and continuous revival in the body of Christ. To achieve this: ‘’ The ministry of life” by the ministry of the Word of life and the Spirit of life, was our focus and our starting point. That by the ministry of life our individual Christian life may be built up.
When we are built up, beyond a shadow of doubt, increase and expansion must follow. Living and exhibiting the Christian life prepares the ground for a successful life. However, success is not automatic. It is knowing what to do and doing it that produces success. We then move on from the ministry of life to the ministry of the Word of life and the Spirit of life to the application of life.
‘’Your message, your ministry and your mission’’ is the revelation of the living word that we are to apply to achieve an all-round success in life. That by the practical application of the ministry of the Word and of the Spirit, your message becomes your ministry and your ministry becomes your mission.
Finally, success is not the ultimate, but fully maximizing potentialities and living out the fullness of the life of God through the Lord Jesus Christ. That we may function well and live out our divinely-ordained role on earth. And as we fulfill destiny in accordance with the Creator’s heavenly pattern, leadership becomes the life we live and not the title given to us by reason of any social, political and religious status.
Against this backdrop, to develop the latent leadership potentialities in us, we have explored ‘’ Defining Leadership by: potential, personality, position and power.’’
The mission of the Christian News Today is to bring information by revelation for transformation. That by the revelation: We build lives, Raise lives and Raise leaders. These are the three-point agenda for the body of Christ. I sincerely hope that, through this write-up, I have been able to achieve all these in your life. Meanwhile, keep growing, keep rising and keep leading. You are blessed.