To pray for revival in leadership without the personal responsibility of intentionally engaging in the health of that leadership, is form of faith without works.
It’s dead.
And if you look across the landscape of our leaders, that’s exactly how they feel.
Statistically we are losing leaders at an alarming rate. I won’t bore you with numbers although the numbers are staggering. I wont replay stories although there are too many to count.
I just ask you to pause right now and think of the many leaders you’ve known in life who are no longer leading. Men and women who were gifted, charismatic and passionate about a cause, who dropped out of the race long before the finish line.
And left a trail of tears in their wake.
Maybe it was an affair. Maybe it was a secret addiction. Maybe it was overwhelming anger. Maybe it was failure. Maybe that leader even took his or her own life.
You know their story far better than I do and I have my own stories of my own…once gifted leaders who are now a shell of their former selves.
God forgives and sometimes so do we.
Yet we all carry those stories around in our hearts. Sometimes we carry those stories so close to our hearts that makes us unable to trust other leaders in the future.
It pains me because there were times when I didn’t speak up or I should have listened better. Times when I saw such incredible public success but such painful private patterns. Times when I saw questionable actions…but didn’t have the courage to question the action I saw.
I’ve watched men and women lead on empty and eventually burn the whole thing up.
Would anything have helped? I can’t live in the past…woulda, coulda, shoulda. The Holy Trinity of regret has rarely helped anyone.
But we can collectively transform the future.
I often wondered if some of those leaders just needed time and space, a quiet place to rest,a break away from the noise. Our whole family has benefited greatly over the years from the generosity of friends who have blessed us with vacation homes, places to pray, places to play and places to connect deeply with God and each other.
I’ve also wondered if some of those leaders just needed someone to listen. An empathetic ear, safe place of counsel, a non-judgemental friend who had the time to sit and the wisdom to know when to speak.
God has graced Tricia and I with deep men and women of God who aren’t afraid to challenge us and encourage us. Our lives are different because of them.
What if we gave Christian leaders the opportunity to turn their eyes fully upon Jesus? What if we gave them the space to look full in His wonderful face and then offered them the chance to process what they saw?
What if we intentionally engaged in the refreshing and renewal of our leaders? Would we see refreshing and renewal in the land?
Lord willing, my wife and I are going to spend the next 25 years praying AND working towards that end. We are going to open our home and our hearts to weary leaders. We’re going to be inventive in hospitality, empathetic in listening and provide non-intrusive availability to those who are in desperate need of Refreshing.
The writer also says this. “Appreciate your (pastoral) leaders who gave you the word of God. Take a good look at the way they live and let their faithfulness instruct you as well as their truthfulness.”