Joe Handley
We need leaders today about whom we say, “They were lost in God!” (C.B. Samuel)
A few weeks ago, Asian Access held our Global Leaders’ Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia. It was one of the best summit gatherings of my nearly eight years of ministry with Asian Access! The fellowship and partnership with one another across eleven nations is strong, the sense of community grows year after year, and the mutual support and rallying behind one another is second to none. We had a powerful week together.
One of the highlights is captured in this quote above by C.B. Samuel who helped start Asian Access/India and who serves on our India Council of Reference. Each day C.B. shared about one of our core values and this quote came in reference to our first and primary ministry value: ALL IN with God. We often say that everything in ministry and life flows from “A Love Relationship with God”!
In essence, C.B. shared that we as Church leaders need to be lost in God! Without him, we can do nothing (John 15). He walked us through the Old Testament and the life of a number of characters, highlighting the importance of a walk with Jesus.
Here are some salient and wise points about being a Spiritual Leader:
Six Types of Intimacy with God
- Daniel: Intimacy of the Mind
- David: Intimacy of the Heart
- Moses: Intimacy of Presence
- Jeremiah: Intimacy of Pain
- Abraham: Intimacy of Friendship
- Prophets: Intimacy of the Prophetic Word of God
Which one represents your intentional focus these days?
People in leadership had time for God
- Daniel made time for God. He set his mind on it ‒ not just for ministry effectiveness. He simply wanted to know the mind of God for himself and pursued this diligently:
- Discipline of studying scripture
- Discipline of prayer, praying 3 times/day
- Moses was lost in the presence of God. He took off 40 days to be with God. He refused to proceed without the presence of God accompanying him (Exodus 33).
Not just occasional intimacy with God
Intimacy refers to a consistency of relationship with God. One of the problems in ministry is we can pretend to be intimate with God.
- Daniel was held in high esteem by heaven.
- David was a man after God’s own heart.
- Abraham was considered a friend of God; he was lost in friendship with God.
BEing rather than DOing
This is something we need to redefine. Daniel was selected because he was gifted, smart and capable. He was a man of high character. God even revealed to him dreams about his whole nation. Doing rather than being in God’s presence!
But even with all this, his number one priority was clear: to keep God #1 in his life and not to do that which displeased God. He walked with God … and enjoyed a deep experience with Him. Daniel nurtured this relationship. He set his mind on it, effectively saying, “I have one passion: to know Your heart!”
Mediocracy has no place in relationship with God. One of the problems we have in ministry is that leaders can pick up competence (DOing), but not have relationship with God (BEing)!
Intimacy with God is something people can see in our lives. You can’t hide it!
David had beautiful expressions of his intimacy with God.
- He danced before the Lord.
- He cultivated his experience with God.
- He was a man after God’s own heart.
- His prayers were filled with imagination (Psalm 18).
- He was lost in God, completely head over heels in love with Him.
What do people, especially your children, see in your life? Can they see that you are lost in God? Or something else?
We need leaders today about whom we say, “They were lost in God!”
Are you lost in God? God is asking us, “Do you really, intentionally love Me?” If you are not doing this, you cannot teach your people to love God. It’s learned by examples, whether it’s a leader in the Old Testament or us. Our kids and disciples know how to love God because they’ve seen it modeled before them.
C.B. really challenged me to ask myself, can I go deeper still with Jesus? “Without Him, I can do nothing!”