Leadership can be a whirlwind. The day to day responsibilities and pressures of leading other people produces frenzied souls. Out of the many books on leadership I have read over the years, I can think of few books that speak to this spiritual issue in the lives of leaders like Alan Fadling’s book: “The Unhurried Leader”.
I highly recommend it. Here are 5 quotes from this soul-satisfying book.
“When I plan great events, produce amazing programs, and build impressive structures, I feel a sense of control over the variables that come into play. I can also feel a sense of accomplishment. But when I work specifically for people—serving them as they travel their unique and often bumpy journeys toward holiness and fruitfulness—I feel much less in control because I have less control, and the fruit of my efforts is far harder to assess by any short-term measurement. If my “fruit that will last” is only measured in terms of weeks, months, or quarterlies, I might not be contributing to kingdom longevity the way I could or should be.”
“It would help immensely if we saw our influence – our leadership – as the care of souls. Our most lasting influence in the lives of others is to enable them to become whole and holy in all the ways Jesus invites them. We can’t do that without prayer”.
“It is far to easy to assume that exciting experiences of God are evidence of deeper life transformation or spiritual maturity than is actually true. Profound encounters with God may carve a channel in me for the flow of God’s life through me, but that flow will come as a fruit of my rootedness in the True Vine”.
“We can do our work with great confidence that God’s hand is already fruitfully at work in what he has us doing.
“During those times when we serve only out of our strengths, God will often teach us that we are not to depend on our strengths, but on the God who gives us those strengths. In God’s leadership design, his cause is best served not when we are strong, but when his power fills us in our weakness. After all, when we feel weak, we usually feel dependent. And that is a very good place for learning to abide in God more completely and rely on his strength more fully.”
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