Leadership questions

What makes a good leader?

What makes a good leader in a home?

In his outstanding and classic book, Spiritual Leadership (purchase the original edition, if you can find it), Oswald Sanders asks a series of questions that reveal the character of a natural leader.  They are good questions for all leaders — whether they lead in the context of the church, the home, the workplace, or a civic organization.

• Does he do little things well?
• Has he learned the meaning of priorities?
• How does he use his leisure?
• Has he intensity?
• Has he learned to take advantage of momentum?
• Has he the power of growth?
• What is his attitude to discouragements?
• How does he face impossible situations?
• What are his weakest points?

Let me turn those questions into spiritual queries that examine the heart of a man’s fellowship with God:

• Is he faithful in little things (Lk. 16:10)?
• Do his decisions reflect a heart that values the eternal over the temporal (Mt. 6:25-34; 1 Pt. 1:23-25)?
• Does he use his fleeting time with wisdom (Ps. 90:9-12; Eph. 5:15-16)?
• Does he love Christ more than all (Jn. 21:15-17; Mk. 12:30)?
• Is he submissive to the will and Word of God — is there a richness to his life because of God’s Word (Col. 3:15-16)?
• Is his spiritual progress evident to all (1 Tim. 4:15)?
• Does he consider it joy when he encounters trials (Js. 1:2-4)?  Does he bless God when he is afflicted with trouble (Job 1:20-22; 2:9-10)?
• Does he trust God (Prov. 3:5-6)?
• In his weakness, does he depend on Christ’s sufficiency (2 Cor. 12:9)?

These kinds of questions obviously suggest the principle of self-examination, which evokes two corresponding principles that must be maintained:  1) I must be faithful to ask questions that reveal the character and content of my heart (and ask God to reveal my heart to me; e.g., Ps. 139:23-24); and 2) we are all prone to be self-deceived about the conditions of our own hearts.  That is, I will more readily see the sin of others than I will my own sin — unless I am vigilant about self-examination and unless I delight in the gracious correcting words of others (Prov. 27:6; 1 Thess. 5:14; Js. 5:16-20).

So, ask the questions of yourself, and ask someone who loves you and is spiritually discerning (a godly spouse is a great place to start) whether these attributes are evident in your  life.