In Times of Crisis

Crisis opens us like an earthquake cracking the crust of the earth. A crisis is a time to decide, a turning point. Crisis moments require spiritual responsiveness and open a whole new opportunity for sustained spiritual influence. Crisis is where we learn about our base instincts, because people’s hearts are torn open, what is inside comes out, and new truths and values may enter in.

Of all the formative influences in people’s spiritual lives, the experience that is the most influential is crisis. People never forget a heartrending, danger-ridden passage—a true crisis—and what they learned about faith during and after that time. The most deforming experiences in life often turn out to be the most formative.

The Ministry of Presence

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.

The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

—Exodus 33:14

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

—Psalm 34:18

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

—Psalm 46:1

God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”

—Hebrews 13:5–6

Helping people at a time of crisis is founded on the ministry of presence—of being there, in full awareness, responsiveness, and empathy. For any leader who is an activist at heart, the ministry of presence can seem 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 deathly flames, a policeman can put a criminal behind bars. These kinds of assistance in the face of crisis seem valuable to us. Leaders like to fix things.

But when crisis first breaks, it is not about fixing. Spiritual life and influence 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 the most important thing: his presence. He made his presence tangible in the form of the tent called the tabernacle. “Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them” (Exod. 25:8). The tabernacle reminds his people that God chooses to live in and among them. He calls home whatever we call home—even if it is no home. 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.

God keeps pitching tents, staying with people. Summing up the ministry and mission of Jesus, John said: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14). The word dwell in this verse means to pitch a tent, an obvious allusion back to the wilderness wanderings. Here is the same God doing the same thing. He lives among us. His presence matters. And so does the presence of people exercising spiritual influence.

We must put out of our minds any feeling that just “being there” is pitifully inadequate. If you’ve ever been in a crisis, you understand how important is the presence of others. In spiritual leadership we are called all the time into situations we cannot fix. No one can reverse the stillbirth; no one can compel a serial adulterer to love his spouse; no one can undo a bankruptcy. What we can do is help people take next steps, or enlist the help of others. But the first thing in response to crisis must be this: go there, be there, care. Leaders are often called to help people out of their own helplessness.

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

—Psalm 121:1–2

The measurement of the ministry of presence consists in thousands of people in thousands of situations who have said to a leader: Thank you for coming. Thank you for being here. And they will remember that for years to come.

When we perceive the need and respond by closing the gap, our presence may be what carries people in crisis across the chasm. That is the call of spiritual influence in that moment, at that time. People appreciate the simple ministry of presence because aloneness and isolation are among the most painful spiritual experiences.

Speaking with Care

Christian character requires us to use discretion in the words we use (Prov. 18:13). Discretion is the quality of taking care so as not to cause offense unnecessarily. Leaders who use discretion are like surgeons who go into an operation with that uppermost value of the ancient Code of Hippocrates: “First: do no harm.”

Some leaders make their mark in the world by speaking with provocative, blustering language. They make a big noise, and they keep doing it because it always turns heads. They may take their boisterous ways into crises. They may even get on the evening news. The indiscreet leader may even want to offend. He is always looking for effect. Either that, or he is too lazy to guard his words or too unskilled in using words in the first place. Some people just should not open their mouths.

Speaking into crisis is an extraordinary privilege and a great responsibility. When people’s hearts are torn open, there is a window of opportunity for the right words to plant deep truths because—in that fleeting moment when people are wounded by crisis—they are looking for something or someone beyond. Something ultimate. Something that saves. But that window closes very quickly. The funeral is over, and twenty-four hours later everybody is back to work. The World Trade Center collapses and millions of people are aghast, church attendance jumps up for two weeks, maybe three or four. But then life goes on. Our attention span is very short.

But subconsciously people will have a spiritual memory of times of personal, family, or national crises. These moments are not really forgotten. When people remember that crisis, and also recall one wise, truthful, and grace-filled thing a leader said in the middle of it, then they will know they can get through the next crisis.

From Spiritual Influence: the Hidden Power Behind Leadership.