[This article is part of the “spiritual leadership today” study/discussion. For all articles in the series, click the Spiritual Leadership tab at the top of the page. To have them delivered, subscribe to The Brook Letter]
Spiritual leadership is tested in the face of crisis. And crisis is the moment when spiritual leadership is most needed. The very word “crisis” means the time to decide, the turning point.
Crisis moments are times that come up in every leader’s experience that require spiritual responsiveness, and open a whole new opportunity for sustained spiritual leadership. Crisis is where we learn about our base instincts. Crisis is a defining moment made possible because people’s hearts are torn open. What is in people’s hearts will come out, and new truths and values may enter in. Crisis opens us like an earthquake cracking the crust of the earth.
Of all the formative influences in people’s spiritual lives, the experience that is the most influential is crisis. People may remember an inspiring teacher, a loving parent, a soul-mate, a conference that precipitated a call, a church where they learned the essential truths of the faith. But the thing people never forget is when they went through some kind of heart-rending, danger-ridden passage–a true crisis–and what they learned about faith in after the earthquake.
This is ironic. The most deforming experiences in life often turn out to the most formative. Why is that? Why do some of the best things get built only after we have been torn down? And what can we tell people about the help of God at a time of crisis?
Time and again in the Scriptures, what God says in times of crisis is: I am here. I will not abandon you. You are not alone.
Spiritual leadership involves monitoring the spiritual needs of the people we are leading.
It is impossible to overstate how important that is, and how it defines the response of spiritual leadership in a time of crisis. For any leader who is an activist at heart, the hardest thing is that it seems like too little. Almost an insult. How can just “being there” be meaningful and effective? What does it accomplish? An emergency room physician can revive someone whose heart has stopped beating, a fireman can extinguish destructive flames, a policeman can put a criminal behind bars. These are the the kinds of assistance in the face of crisis that seem valuable to us. Leaders like to fix things.
But when crisis first breaks, it is not about fixing. Spiritual life and leadership can make a life-changing difference when the earthquake of crisis hits, but it often comes in the form of the ministry of presence.
When the Hebrew people were wandering in the desert wilderness for years–anxious about water, food, enemies, disease–God offered one thing: his presence. It was made tangible in the form of the tent called the tabernacle. “Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8). It is not that the Creator of the universe needed a tent to live in–the tent was the symbol and the touchpoint for the presence. The tabernacle says this: God is above our lives, but he chooses to live in and among our lives. The tabernacle is God saying: what you call home, I call home, even if it is no home. The wilderness, and the tabernacle with the wilderness, says: our lives are always on the move as we walk and search and battle and plod. Our one hope is that the God of heaven above is with us. Look at that tent over there. That was God’s idea, not ours.
[To be continued… HERE]
What do you think?
. It has been my experience that true leaders are found through crisis. We as humans tend to follow those that are stronger than we perceive ourselves to be. And because we have this tendency we often make mistakes. We will often choose leaders based on what they promise or how much they can boast. True spiritual leaders respond to crisis well because of what they already believe.
I have seen countless “crisis moments” throughout my career as a firefighter/paramedic during the past 21+ years and the common thread seen in the lives of people who are thrust into the middle of them is the question of “why?”. Very seldom have I seen the reaction of “it must be in God’s Plan for my life” as the realization of what is taking place occur in the victims. Much more often the cry of “why me?” or the occasional “Lord help me!” seems to be the reaction given during the intial stages of duress in crisis. It is most encouraging as a Christian in these times to offer few words of solace and compassion to the families of those affected. Leadership in crisis can come from any level of position or placement in society by those willing to offer themselves in action or just by “being there”.
Having experienced my own crisis moments ans spending a lifetime meeting people in crisis I agree with the basic premise of presence! Real leaders are first availiable to bear the pain of those they lead. Words are not the most effective burden bearers. Being there to share the emotional turmoil of crisis, not knowing why, but being present lays a foundation for future contact.
Are there good systems set up for when people are in crisis? Does the church of today walk along side of people during a crisis? What if the crisis is long term? Do we train volunteers how to be there for the hurting? Seems like people are most open to Christ durning a crisis. How many resources (time, money, people) are allocated to respond to people in crisis? Or is chuch leadership to busy creating & running programs to respond to the hurting?
Kristen, I think you touched on a very good point. How many people are in it for the long haul? I see a lot of people who will come to the “rescue” but very, very few are willing to endure the long haul-including churches. It takes a lot of time and sometimes money to endure the long haul situations. All too often I see churches and organizations lose interest and are on to the next crisis.
Rick and Mike and Joe – thanks for the reinforcement. It rings true.
Kristen and Sue – The pointed question is to the point, for sure. I sincerely hope that a lot of people will take a fresh look at spiritual leadership and realize that we simply can’t let programs shield people. How will we possibly stand before Jesus and try to excuse ourselves. Thanks for anchoring the point. We’ll come back to it next week.
Going through the fire of crisis and difficulty burns off the dross and comes out pure gold – no shortcuts!
Whatever other help is needed or desired, the thing of first importance is to find comfort in Jesus’ presence. In the story of the calming of the storm, the disciples cried out, “Lord, save us.” Jesus said, Don’t worry. I am here. I am with you. I care. Even when my being asleep (read, “silent”) made you think otherwise.
I appreciate an illustration I heard from another source. A leader and a crisis is like a teabag and a cup of hot water. When a leader is put into a difficult situation whatever is inside comes out and permeates the entire environment. We can’t wait for a crisis in order to start to develop our character. Rather, our character is being formed day in and day out – circumstances only reveal what’s beneath the surface.
Great post Mel and I look forward to reading other articles.
If possible, I suggest a comment section where you are able to do specific replies to individual comments, rather than a comment section that simply drops down from older to most recent.
Some other blogs that use this layout are:
http://www.marlataviano.com/faith/bigger-than-big-nicholes-story/#comments
http://michaelhyatt.com/take-your-organization-to-the-next-level.html#respond
I know that this type of layout helps keep comments ordered and fuels more in-depth and specific conversations.