Christian Leadership Qualities

• The Christian leader has a clear vision: Vision is compounded of two complimentary things, namely a deep dissatisfaction with what is and a clear grasp of what could be. It begins with indignation over the status quo and grows into the earnest quest for an alternative… One might say that apathy is the acceptance of the unacceptable, whereas leadership begins with a decisive refusal to do so. How can we tolerate what God finds intolerable?
• The Christian leader feels deeply about his vision. It is not enough to see the present situation as displeasing to God and to discern how it could be changed. We must also feel both indignation and compassion.
• A Christian leader seeks support from both God and human beings. Prayer and action are not alternative options. Nor are they incompatible with each other. They belong together, and either without the other is dangerously unbalanced.
• A Christian leader develops a realistic plan. They become thinkers, planners and workers. People of vision need to become people of action… In true leadership vision and action, a dream and a plan go together.
• A Christian leader attracts a following. Indeed, the very word leader implies this. The leader takes the initiative, but he persuades others to join him. Of course, some leaders in history have been strong individualists. The authentic leader, however, inspires people to follow his lead, for he sees his task as a corporate enterprise.
• The Christian leader refuses to be discouraged. Once a work of God begins, opposition can be expected. The forces of reaction muster, and hostility comes out into the open. Indeed, discouragement is the chief occupational hazard of a leader.

John Stott, 2006, Through The Bible Through The Year, Abingdon: Candle Books, p.129-131.