A Teachable Spirit

I have been asked many times what I regarded as the most important characteristics of a developing leader.  That is a difficult question to answer as there are so many areas of life and character that are necessary to be a servant of God. A servant's heart is critical as well as humility.  Of course, the Call itself should be essential and is a mysterious thing. It is something the burgeoning leader must know for certain they have heard from the Lord.  When the true call of God has been heard then little can stop the journey of Christian ministry though avenues of preparation may be varied.  However, when I am pressed for one critical part of ministry qualification I must always answer that it is teachableness.  Teachableness coming from a motivation of the heart is a pure and beautiful thing.  Nothing motivates me more as a minister in my 70's than to be asked to mentor a younger minister.  I like to know them before I commit and see the motivations of their heart.  If they are on a career path primarily and just trying to gain knowledge or reference for their resume, I try to graciously decline.  However, if I see humility and a desire to grow in their knowledge and effectiveness in God in order to serve God's people, I am always blessed to be a part of their journey.  

We all in ministry embark on that journey as a servant of the Lord.  The child like pliable mentality that we had at the beginning of our journey must remain with us our entire life.  Recently I asked a Christian, "so tell me what is the Lord dealing with in your life these days?"  Their response seemed to be one of surprise and perplexity.  They said, "the Lord dealing?"  I thought by now you would have it!"  In other words you should get to a point in your walk with the Lord where you don't need His dealing and adjusting.  That would be nice, I suppose,  but it doesn't work that way.    God never shows us the completed picture of our lives.  He never shows us all that will be required, all that will need to be changed in our lives.  It would be too much!  We couldn't take the shock!  His plan to guide us along His path is one of ever increasing personal internal formation from glory to glory. Conforming us every day into the image of Jesus.  It is a slow but certain process.  Only the teachable can see it an only the humble will allow it.  The proud stop hearing the voice of change along the way.  They think sermons are for others and discipleship is something for the less mature.  This is probably even more important for leaders because we are tasked with caring for the Church, the Bride of Christ. We must deal with her gently and with compassion as Jesus himself does.  Regular adjusting by the Lord is the only way we can remain in tempo with the Lord and His mission in the earth. 

I pray today for humility to find us through personal repentance and that a teachable spirit be restored to us His Church.