{"id":20827,"date":"2000-11-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2000-11-15T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/2000\/11\/15\/leader-or-spiritual-leader\/"},"modified":"2000-11-15T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2000-11-15T00:00:00","slug":"leader-or-spiritual-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/leader-or-spiritual-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"Leader\u2014or Spiritual Leader?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A<\/strong>t a conference sponsored by my friends at Leadership Network<\/a>, Henry Blackaby pointed out the gaping\n\t\t\t\tdifference between being a leader and being a spiritual leader.\n\t\t\t\tBlackaby, well-known for his workbook Experiencing God (written\n\t\t\t\twith Claude King), identified signs of an authentic spiritual\n\t\t\t\tleader. Maybe you’ll find these as probing as I did. Here are my\n\t\t\t\tnotes:<\/p>

— “A spiritual leader is one whom God entrusts with other people\n\t\t\t\the calls.” Are other people being drawn into ministry because of\n\t\t\t\twhat they see in you?<\/p>

— A spiritual leader teaches people to fear God. “When you lose\n\t\t\t\tthe fear of God, you lose the fear of sin. When you lose the fear\n\t\t\t\tof sin, you’re of no use to God.”<\/p>

— A spiritual leader knows God and knows the way of God. A\n\t\t\t\tspiritual leader knows when God is speaking. He knows where God\n\t\t\t\tis going and follows him. As Jesus said, “My sheep know my voice,\n\t\t\t\tand they follow me.” A truth that runs from Genesis to Revelation\n\t\t\t\tis that God speaks to his people. They always know the one\n\t\t\t\tspeaking is God and they know what he’s saying.<\/p>

— A spiritual leader does not lead the people of God outside of\n\t\t\t\tthe ways of God. A spiritual leader does not violate the ways of\n\t\t\t\tGod. He cannot accommodate. God will honor that. And God will\n\t\t\t\tdeal severely with those who say they’re following the ways of\n\t\t\t\tGod but are not.<\/p>

— A spiritual leader, when he needs help, turns to God. Many\n\t\t\t\tturn to worldly wisdom, but the worst moment in Israel’s history\n\t\t\t\tis when they asked (1 Sam. 8), “Make a king to judge us, like the\n\t\t\t\tother nations.”<\/span> God’s people were called to be different, to not\n\t\t\t\tbe like the nations, and asking for a king was to reject God, who\n\t\t\t\thad led them into battle and provided for them.<\/p>

— A spiritual leader takes the Word of God with absolute\n\t\t\t\tseriousness and obeys the commands of God; then teaches people\n\t\t\t\thow to obey them.<\/p>

The bottom line, says Blackaby: The way God works is totally\n\t\t\t\tdifferent than the way the world works, because the goals are\n\t\t\t\ttotally different. If you want to build an organization, human\n\t\t\t\twisdom will do it, but if you want to reveal the ways of God, you\n\t\t\t\thave to use God’s ways.<\/p>

—Kevin A. Miller is editor-at-large of Leadership Journal. (To\n\t\t\t\tsubscribe to Leadership, go to www.LeadershipJournal.net<\/a>.) To\n\t\t\t\treply to Kevin, write Newsletter@LeadershipJournal.net<\/a><\/p>

Sign up for the Church Leader’s Newsletter<\/a> and receive a new article plus useful information in your inbox every week!<\/p>

Copyright © 2000 by the author or Christianity Today\/Leadership<\/em> Journal.Click here<\/a> for reprint information on Leadership<\/em> Journal.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At a conference sponsored by my friends at Leadership Network, Henry Blackaby pointed out the gaping difference between being a leader and being a spiritual leader. Blackaby, well-known for his workbook Experiencing God (written with Claude King), identified signs of an authentic spiritual leader. Maybe you’ll find these as probing as I did. Here are Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"tax_ctp_authors":[2212],"tax_ctp_books":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[154],"tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory":[],"tax_ctp_field_guides":[],"tax_ctp_format":[131],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[156],"tax_ctp_tags":[3613,3761,4132,4354,4679,5065],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-20827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tax_ctp_authors-kevin-miller","tax_publications-leadership-journal","tax_ctp_tags-church-leadership","tax_ctp_tags-dependence-on-god","tax_ctp_tags-hearing-gods-voice","tax_ctp_tags-leadership-styles","tax_ctp_tags-prayer","tax_ctp_tags-spirituality"],"acf":{"scripture_references":null},"yoast_head":"\nLeader\u2014or Spiritual Leader? - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Henry Blackaby on the difference.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/leader-or-spiritual-leader\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Leader\u2014or Spiritual Leader? - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Henry Blackaby on the difference.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/leader-or-spiritual-leader\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2000-11-15T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/ogimage.png?resize=1200,628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kevin Miller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CTpastors\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CTpastors\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/leader-or-spiritual-leader\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/leader-or-spiritual-leader\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"CMS Admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/person\/85018388509706870f1ad6829069e1a3\"},\"headline\":\"Leader\u2014or Spiritual Leader?\",\"datePublished\":\"2000-11-15T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2000-11-15T00:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/leader-or-spiritual-leader\/\"},\"wordCount\":465,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/leader-or-spiritual-leader\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/leader-or-spiritual-leader\/\",\"name\":\"Leader\u2014or Spiritual Leader? - CT Pastors\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2000-11-15T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2000-11-15T00:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Henry Blackaby on the difference.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/leader-or-spiritual-leader\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/leader-or-spiritual-leader\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/leader-or-spiritual-leader\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Leader\u2014or Spiritual Leader?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"name\":\"CT Pastors\",\"description\":\"Timeless wisdom for pastors with forward-thinking solutions\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Christianity Today\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"caption\":\"Christianity Today\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CTpastors\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/person\/85018388509706870f1ad6829069e1a3\",\"name\":\"CMS Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b746e0581dc75423e361301b595167f5234d819bbff5b0a82621db777cbfeb9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b746e0581dc75423e361301b595167f5234d819bbff5b0a82621db777cbfeb9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"CMS Admin\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Leader\u2014or Spiritual Leader? - CT Pastors","description":"Henry Blackaby on the difference.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/leader-or-spiritual-leader\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Leader\u2014or Spiritual Leader? - CT Pastors","og_description":"Henry Blackaby on the difference.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/leader-or-spiritual-leader\/","og_site_name":"CT Pastors","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors","article_published_time":"2000-11-15T00:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":628,"url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/ogimage.png?resize=1200,628","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Kevin Miller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@CTpastors","twitter_site":"@CTpastors","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/leader-or-spiritual-leader\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/leader-or-spiritual-leader\/"},"author":{"name":"CMS Admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/person\/85018388509706870f1ad6829069e1a3"},"headline":"Leader\u2014or Spiritual Leader?","datePublished":"2000-11-15T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2000-11-15T00:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/leader-or-spiritual-leader\/"},"wordCount":465,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/leader-or-spiritual-leader\/","url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/leader-or-spiritual-leader\/","name":"Leader\u2014or Spiritual Leader? - CT Pastors","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website"},"datePublished":"2000-11-15T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2000-11-15T00:00:00+00:00","description":"Henry Blackaby on the difference.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/leader-or-spiritual-leader\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/leader-or-spiritual-leader\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/leader-or-spiritual-leader\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Leader\u2014or Spiritual Leader?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/","name":"CT Pastors","description":"Timeless wisdom for pastors with forward-thinking solutions","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization","name":"Christianity Today","url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg","caption":"Christianity Today"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors","https:\/\/x.com\/CTpastors"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/person\/85018388509706870f1ad6829069e1a3","name":"CMS Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b746e0581dc75423e361301b595167f5234d819bbff5b0a82621db777cbfeb9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b746e0581dc75423e361301b595167f5234d819bbff5b0a82621db777cbfeb9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CMS Admin"}}]}},"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/leader-or-spiritual-leader\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Leader\u2014or Spiritual Leader?","url":"http:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/leader-or-spiritual-leader\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/leader-or-spiritual-leader\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":""},"articleSection":"Uncategorized","author":"Kevin Miller","creator":"Kevin Miller","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"CT Pastors","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2000-11-15T00:00:00Z","datePublished":"2000-11-15T00:00:00Z","dateModified":"2000-11-15T00:00:00Z"},"rendered":"<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"wp-parsely-metadata\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"headline\":\"Leader\\u2014or Spiritual Leader?\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.christianitytoday.com\\\/pastors\\\/content\\\/leader-or-spiritual-leader\\\/\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.christianitytoday.com\\\/pastors\\\/content\\\/leader-or-spiritual-leader\\\/\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"\"},\"articleSection\":\"Uncategorized\",\"author\":\"Kevin Miller\",\"creator\":\"Kevin Miller\",\"publisher\":{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"name\":\"CT Pastors\",\"logo\":\"\"},\"keywords\":[],\"dateCreated\":\"2000-11-15T00:00:00Z\",\"datePublished\":\"2000-11-15T00:00:00Z\",\"dateModified\":\"2000-11-15T00:00:00Z\"}<\/script>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/christianitytoday.com\/p.js"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","byline":{"writer_byline":"Kevin Miller","writer_byline_override":""},"primary_category":null,"secondary_categories":[],"featured_video":null,"related_articles":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20827"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20827\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20828,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20827\/revisions\/20828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_authors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_authors?post=20827"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_books","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_books?post=20827"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_categories?post=20827"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory?post=20827"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_field_guides","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_field_guides?post=20827"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_format?post=20827"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_multimedia","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_multimedia?post=20827"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_point_editor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_point_editor?post=20827"},{"taxonomy":"tax_publications","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_publications?post=20827"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_tags?post=20827"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_topics?post=20827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}