Being Led By The Spirit As A Leader-Part 3

 

        The reality of living in a spiritual battle often becomes even more apparent when we are leading others, especially spiritually. I can think of numerous times where I, or people around me, were heavily involved in helping someone, standing up or the truth, or participating in a major outreach and felt backlash from a series of things going wrong. I think of the music ministry I am a part of with my brothers. It feels like whenever we are preparing for a series of concerts, we automatically have a much harder time getting along and resolving conflict. This just happened a couple of months ago and by brother observed that he felt like Satan was tying to divide us because of what we were planning to sing and share about in these concerts. I think this is something every leader should be aware of if they are facing conflict within a ministry; sometimes the problem is not the people but rather evil forces trying to disrupt what God wants to accomplish through us. This makes prayer and unity all the more important within and across teams and groups. I believe Jesus’ affirmation of His disciple’s authority in Luke 10:17-20 confirms the power we’ve been given through the Holy Spirit. This passage says:

"Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.' And He said to them, 'I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.'"

 As stated, this power shouldn’t make us rejoice but rather remind us of verses like Romans 8:31b where it says, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” When we are living and serving in the mission and purpose to which we’ve been called, truly nothing, including Satan and the power of darkness, can stop us. But, this doesn't mean we shouldn't be constantly on the lookout, aware of our surroundings, and prepared to do battle for the Word of God. We are indeed called, as Christians, to be prepared and as a leader, the stakes are only higher.

        Ephesians 6:12 goes along with these ideas when it talks about the fact that we are not in a battle against flesh and blood but against the powers of darkness. I think it’s important to have conversations with the teams and groups we lead about the spiritual battle we are in and to be aware of how that effects the world around us. Looking at Jesus’ life though, I think there are two approaches that should define our interaction with the enemy. First, Jesus was constantly in communication with the Father and continually spent time praying, fasting, and meditating on the Word of God. As a leader, it is critical that we are actively, consistently, and thoroughly engaging with the source of truth in order to be able to stand against the lies we must combat. Secondly, Jesus was never reliant upon Himself. Even though He was God, He still used Scripture and called upon His Father in moments of testing and trying. It can be easy for me to become comfortable with my abilities and strengths but no one is infallible and incapable of making mistakes. Just yesterday I read about a respected leader within a Christian school who was fired due to misconduct allegations between him and a student. What had started with good intentions of helping a couple of girls who felt isolated and alone, led to a situation where boundaries became muddied and the school was forced to dismiss him to protect their reputation. Obviously, Jesus was God but He also knew He was human. We must recognize this too and be fully reliant upon the Higher Power we’ve been given.