Years ago, a sweet lady in our church handed me a little slip of paper to encourage me on my journey. I unfolded it and it read:
God doesn’t call the qualified; he qualifies the called.
I’m not sure who said it originally, but I’ve heard and repeated it many times since.
And then, as I was re-reading J. Oswald Sanders’ classic work on Spiritual Leadership, I stumbled across this paragraph:
“Often truly authoritative leadership falls on someone who years earlier dedicated themselves to practice the discipline of seeking first the kingdom of God. Then, as that person matures, God confers a leadership role, and the Spirit of God goes to work through him. When God’s searching eye finds a person qualified to lead, God anoints that person with the Holy Spirit and calls him or her to a special ministry.”
I think the distinction we sometimes miss is that God welcomes everyone into his family, entirely by grace and on the basis of the blood of his Son, Jesus, without respect to any qualification in us. We’re all welcome—every last broken one of us.
But when it comes to leadership, God bestows influence and authority on those who have proven to be faithful stewards of smaller responsibilities.
In other words, leaders must be prepared.
But what does that mean? What kind of preparation is pre-requisite to being used mightily by God?
• It’s not simply a matter of education—plenty of men and women with no formal education have changed the world.
• It’s not simply a matter of time—the Apostle Paul preached days after his conversion (though he did then go to Arabia for three years of study under Jesus).
• It’s not simply a matter of position—leadership is influence, with or without a title.
It’s a matter of having a heart fully surrendered to God.
Notice what Sanders points to as the sign of a person ready for God’s full anointing as a leader—“someone who years earlier dedicated themselves to practice the discipline of seeking first the kingdom of God.”
God raises up and blesses and anoints those for great impact on the world those who have sought the kingdom of God first and foremost in their lives.
I’ve been guilty, at times, of building my own little kingdom. Without realizing it, a few steps in the wrong direction spiritually places us at the center of our own universe. There, our objective becomes building a life all about our comfort and accomplishments.
But when we realize and acknowledge that King Jesus alone belongs on the throne and as loyal subjects, our prime objective must become the ushering in of the kingdom of Jesus all around us.
If you want to lead, seek more of Jesus. And seek more for Jesus—more souls in need of him and more glory for him.
Brandon Cox is the lead pastor of Grace Hills Church in Rogers, Arkansas, the editor and online community facilitator of Pastors.com and a coach to leaders, pastors and church planters. This post was originally published on BrandonACox.com.