Perhaps the simplest definition of spiritual leadership is that it is influence: influencing the attitudes and actions of others toward God. You and I should have a vision for the entire world. But we can’t minister to the whole world. We ought to have a ministry to a small group of people given to us by God as our special responsibility.
Well, you say, like who? You start with your family—your spouse, then your children. How about your parents, other relatives, and of course the people you work with? Just look around. God has given you all the people you need to have a ministry. The question then becomes, are you revealing God to them, as Jesus did to His disciples? And what does it mean to reveal God?
Those around us should see evidence in our lives of growth in love and holiness. Love is an unselfish concern that freely accepts another and seeks his good. And holiness, I believe, begins with humility. “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). No one can have spiritual influence if God is against him. But God gives His grace to the humble.
The essence of spiritual leadership—influencing others toward God—is that “we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Corinthians 4:5).