3 Temptations of the Christian Leader

Temptations become even more difficult to resist when I don’t recognize them. Oh, sure, I can spot bank robbery and adultery and murder. But certain evils fly in under my spiritual radar because they don’t look evil; they look like something good. It takes spiritual discernment to realize that something I eagerly want and pursue may actually destroy or weaken me and my ministry.

The late Henri Nouwen names three such temptations in his insightful book, In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership:

1. The temptation to be relevant.2. The temptation to be popular by doing something remarkable.3. The temptation to be powerful in your leadership, to lead rather than be led.

This week you and I probably will be sent brochures promoting conferences that will help us and our churches do precisely this: become relevant, do something remarkable, and lead boldly. Such conferences offer many helpful insights, and I’ve benefited from some. But pause and reflect on the fact that Jesus regularly refused to do miracles on demand (John 6:26-31), that he asked many of the people who did receive his miracles not to talk about them (Mark 5:41-43), that he said some things almost certain to drive people away (John 6:53, 60, 61). And ultimately he was led away, like a lamb to the butcher.

I don’t like those facts. I want to be relevant, a leader who does something remarkable. The question is, Why?

The answer, if I can peer through the murky silt and see the bottom of my spirit, is that I want to be liked, noticed, significant. I thought my drives were all about ministry for God, but it turns out they’re only a little about God and a whole lot about me.

As Nouwen puts it simply and piercingly: “The question is not: How many people take you seriously? How much are you going to accomplish? Can you show some results? But: Are you in love with Jesus?”

Do I love Jesus? Really? If the answer is “mostly” or “somewhat,” what has displaced my first, full love? Maybe a desire to be a Christian leader who does something relevant and remarkable.

But if the answer to “Do I love Jesus?” is an unqualified yes, then no matter how uncertain and frustrated I am, no matter how insignificant and unremarkable the current ministry, God will one day tell me, with equal certainty, “Well done!”

—Kevin A. Miller is editor at large of Leadership Journal. To reply, write Newsletter@LeadershipJournal.net.

P.S. I strongly encourage you to read Nouwen’s little book in its entirety. It has more insights than most books three times its size. To order at a discount, go to http://www.ChristianityToday.com/shopping and under “Books,” quick-search for the book’s ISBN: 0824512596.