3 Temptations of the Christian Leader
They're not what you think they are.

By editor Kevin A. Miller

Temptations become even more difficult to resist when I don't
recognize them. Oh, sure, I can spot bank robbery and adultery
and murder. But certain evils fly in under my spiritual radar
because they don't look evil; they look like something good. It
takes spiritual discernment to realize that something I eagerly
want and pursue may actually destroy or weaken me and my
ministry.

The late Henri Nouwen names three such temptations in his
insightful book, In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian
Leadership:

1. The temptation to be relevant.

2. The temptation to be popular by doing something remarkable.

3. The temptation to be powerful in your leadership; to lead
   rather than be led.

This week you and I probably will be sent brochures promoting
conferences that will help us and our churches do precisely this:
become relevant, do something remarkable, and lead boldly. Such
conferences offer many helpful insights, and I've benefited from
some. But pause and reflect on the fact that Jesus regularly
refused to do miracles on demand (John 6:26-31), that he asked
many of the people who did receive his miracles not to talk about
them (Mark 5:41-43), that he said some things almost certain to
drive people away (John 6:53, 60, 61). And ultimately he was led
away, like a lamb to the butcher.

I don't like those facts. I want to be relevant, a leader who
does something remarkable. The question is, Why?

The answer, if I can peer through the murky silt and see the
bottom of my spirit, is that I want to be liked, noticed,
significant. I thought my drives were all about ministry for God,
but it turns out they're only a little about God and a whole lot
about me.

As Nouwen puts it simply and piercingly: "The question is not:
How many people take you seriously? How much are you going to
accomplish? Can you show some results? But: Are you in love with
Jesus?"

Do I love Jesus? Really? If the answer is "mostly" or "somewhat,"
what has displaced my first, full love? Maybe a desire to be a
Christian leader who does something relevant and remarkable.

But if the answer to "Do I love Jesus?" is an unqualified yes,
then no matter how uncertain and frustrated I am, no matter how
insignificant and unremarkable the current ministry, God will one
day tell me, with equal certainty, "Well done!"

--Kevin A. Miller is editor at large of Leadership Journal
(http://www.LeadershipJournal.net). To reply, write
Newsletter@LeadershipJournal.net.