Would you please tell my husband to lead?  I will follow, if only he will step up.

That’s the essence of a recent email from a desperate wife.  She was kind.  Her statements were respectful.  But her whispers shouted great frustration.

Passivity among men is of epidemic proportions.  This is nothing new.  Adam stood by and watched Eve eat of the forbidden fruit, shrugged his shoulders, and then ate it with her.  That was the beginning, and now the sons of Adam have this passivity gene embedded in their DNA.

So when Paul wrote to Timothy, he never assumed a holy ambition among those who were called to lead.  He never assumed men would be naturally motivated.  And he did not assume those who were motivated to lead would be encouraged to do so.  Instead he wrote:

It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do—1 Timothy 3:1.

Before Paul outlined the “qualifications” for credible leadership that are so prominent in this portion of Scripture, he first established key truths about the motivations for spiritual leader that are often overlooked or deemphasized.  Here they are:

Spiritual leadership is essential.

Paul said, “Listen up.  This is true.”  The need for spiritual leadership is as desperate as ever.  It was essential for the early church and it is essential for the church today.  Paul knew that committees don’t lead and that teams don’t lead.  Ultimately, a leader leads, and churches and families want to follow.

Spiritual leadership is ambitious.

Steven Furtick dove into the issue of ambition in a great article just recently.  Read it here.  But Paul used the word “aspire.”  It means to “stretch oneself out in order to accomplish something”…like a mountain climber attempting to summit Everest.  Unfortunately, many men are comfortable chasing small goals with maximum effort, while they simply stare at big, eternal goals with lazy, “what-if” curiosity.  Spiritual leadership is aggressive, expectant, and exciting.

Spiritual leadership is excellent.

It’s a “fine work.”  It’s an eminent work, a beautiful work.  Perhaps Nehemiah illustrates this truth as well as any biblical leader.  He left the comforts of Susa because the work in Jerusalem was worth his life.  Spiritual leadership may seem obscure and even menial at times, but ultimately it is the only work that matters, and it is still worth your life.

Spiritual leadership is difficult.

Maybe this explains why men resist stepping up to the plate.  Although it’s a fine work, spiritual leadership is work.  It demands more than measurable, visible, and instantly rewarded behavior.  Instead, it confronts and exposes the attitudes of the heart and constantly requires more than we are capable of producing in our own strength.  It calls us into battle with a defeated enemy who still takes cheap shots.  And spiritual leadership done right leads us beyond token volunteerism and into total surrender.  That’s labor intensive.

So what about you?  What are your aspirations?  How will you embrace God’s call on your life?  How will you use your life for the only cause that counts?  Will you, man of God, lead?

I’d love your comments and interaction in the comments section below.