Serving Bread

A great leader nurtures his or her relationship with God. The leaders in the Bible I respect the most have a close relationship with God (I am thinking of Moses, Joshua, Jesus, and Paul). When I read historical biographies of Christians, I am often most impressed by the ways that they make space to pray, hear from God, journal and study the word on their own.

And it seems to me, that even the secular world tries to scratch at the surface of nurturing the soul. Stephen Covey in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People basis his principles on the idea that all leaders must set aside time to set their priorities straight.

But a key insight for me has been that a leader must nurture his or her relationship with Jesus at all times. Quiet Times come and go in my life, and my passions and a sense of authority seem to correlate with how well I feel connected with Jesus. The more I receive from Jesus, the more I feel confident into the things that Jesus calls me. The less I receive from Jesus, the less passion I have to go through my day or week.

In recent times, I have been trying to wake up before my daughter and wife to devote uninterrupted time in prayer and study. What I have noticed through this discipline is that I find myself more and more in love with Jesus. And apart from the insights on life that God may be giving me, I am simply excited to be with and receive from Jesus.

If my life is to glorify God and to invite others to magnify God, I want to be sold on Jesus. I want to know that God is God and that all things pale in comparison. And this is not just about my vocation or career, this is about what it means for me to enter into the calling of God. It just so happens that my vocation allows me to invite students into the glory of God.

Leighton Ford in Transforming Leadership, describes leadership through Jesus, writing, “So the leader rises out of the water of Jordan and walks out of the desert, knowing that his priorities are to hear God’s word, worship God’s greatness, await God’s time” (page 47). My time with Jesus is precious. If I go through the tasks of leadership and ignore hearing God’s word, worshiping God’s greatness and awaiting God’s time, I know I will lose passion for the things of God. I will simply feel like another pawn in God’s economy.

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