leadingEveryone loves a good communicator.  Someone who is able to take deep Biblical truths and make modern applications wows crowds and creates buzz in local churches. Good communicators will always draw a critical mass on Sunday.  Their ability to teach common ideas, as well as create and answer tension in uncommon ways, sets them apart from their contemporaries.  Yet while “able to teach” is one of the 1 Timothy 3 qualifications for being an overseer, it is not the only, or the most important, qualification on the list. The Bible says, “Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach (1 Timothy 3:2).”

I know of churches that have been willing to give a “pass” on the other areas because of a pastor’s ability to teach.  Yet if we examine that list, “able to teach” is one of the few descriptors that deal with the external. The focus here seems to be on the internal. So maybe God is more concerned about what’s happening in my heart than He is with what happens on the stage on which I stand? Before we can be the leaders God has called and equipped us to be, we must be vigilant to lead ourselves.

While I’m not the first to write on this subject, it is certainly beneficial for all of us to revisit the concept often.  Leading ourselves is the most practical, and the most difficult, leading we will ever do. It seems simple enough, yet we all know of great leaders who fall morally, ethically, or both.  Ed Newton, my accountability partner, and I always remind each other that we are “only one step away from stupid.”  I know that I am fully capable of any, and every, sin under the sun.

Some of the basics that I have found to be vital in leading myself are: spending quality time in the Word, spending quality time in prayer, and guarding my heart and mind.

In leading myself, I cannot move forward or grow as God intends without quality time in the Word.  Maybe we should spend less time reading the books of those who stand on Christianity’s largest platforms and spend more time reading from the One who gave man the ability to speak. Do we really hunger to hear from Almighty God when prepping for a message, or are we content to wade ankle-deep in a bottomless and borderless ocean of human wisdom and truth?  In eighth grade, I remember hearing one of my leaders say, “It’s better to read one verse a hundred times, than a hundred verses one time.”  Quantity time in the Word will never outweigh quality time. I know I can be guilty of spending time with my wife and kids without spending quality time with them. I can be physically present but a million miles away in thought. Is it possible that while reading God’s Word, my eyes skim the page and my heart ponders my to-do list?

In leading myself, I also need to commit to spending quality time in prayer.  I’m grateful that the church I grew up in has a prayer chapel that is occupied more than it’s vacant.  Most days, you can find someone inside praying every hour of the day.  I love to hear someone who has a deep walk with Jesus pray.  It’s different, isn’t it?  It’s passionate and real.  It’s not filled with Christian catch phrases and clichés.  It’s coming from a life of deep devotion and faith.  When they pray, it’s almost like they really believe what they’re asking of Creator God.  Not just at bedtime, dinnertime, or crisis time, but do I spend quality time in prayer, talking and listening to God?

Finally, in leading myself, I must be vigilant to guard my heart and mind. Proverbs 4:23 tells us, “Keep (guard) your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”  In the seabed of my life, what are my greatest desires?  The motivation for everything we do is found in our hearts.  It’s a tell-all book that most of us hope will never be published; yet God calls us to guard it.

King David tells us in Psalm 101:3, “I will not set my eyes before anything that is worthless.”  I think he knew a thing or two about looking at that from which he should have averted his eyes.  David rose to notoriety and power quickly, and his fall is one of the most storied events in Scripture. Yet God calls him a man after His own heart? I believe this is because David knew how to repent.  He poured out his heart to a forgiving God when he allowed his heart and mind to drift. While God’s grace is always available, my prayer is that we would never have to walk in the devastation of sin and separation.

We see every sort of evil, death, and sexuality every single day in our society.  As A.W. Tozer once said, “Americans have lost the ability to blush.”  Nothing shocks us anymore, because we have numbed our hearts and minds with a constant barrage of sin.  We call that which breaks the heart of God “entertainment,” and even pay a premium to view it.  We must be more vigilant in guarding our hearts and minds.

I’ve noticed something about myself, and maybe the same is true about you. When I get busy, the best things in my life suffer. Eating right and exercising, time with family, and time with God are the first things to go. I cannot lead anyone else well if I’m straying from God’s best for my life; and God’s best for my life is a life privately devoted to Him long before I go public for Him. If we’re to lead well, we must first lead ourselves.