Spiritual Leadership, Part I: Preliminaries

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant…. There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. 1 Cor 12:1,4-11

Or, if we don’t like that, we should consider some other words, namely those of the proskomede. Consider all those ranks of saints we commemorate there before every Liturgy:

1. The Theotokos – the one whose holiness and quiet piety we should all seek to emulate.
2. The Forerunner who prepared the way, speaking boldly, and losing his life for it.
3. Of all the prophets, who were alternately exalted and brought low for speaking God’s word to his people. Think especially on Jonah and David as prophets coupled the greatest of manifestations of God’s grace with, at times, profound flaws of character.
4. Of the holy Apostles, which are in themselves an absolute picture of the diversity of gifts and, perhaps more importantly, of weakness and sin. Consider St. Peter in his moments of greatness and of weakness, plus James and John “the sons of thunder”, compared to John, the disciple whom Jesus loved.
5. Of the holy hierarchs, among whom we have John Chrysostom and Basil the Great, but likewise Cyril of Alexandria, who was notable for the (ahem) rather heavy-handed way he dealt with his opponents. Others we know of by their brilliant articulation of the belief of the Church but who were rather less noteworthy for their effective episcopal leadership.
6. Of the holy martyrs, including several soldiers by name, and, by extension, those like St. Nestor whose hymns commemorate not his spiritual victories but his military ones.
7. Of the holy monks and nuns, most of whom need little introduction.
8. Of the holy unmercenary healers, a group that is often forgotten.
9. Of Joachim and Anna, and of the several equals to the apostles, who, in many cases, brought the Faith to people through translation, writing, and even imperial decree.

If there is anything negative in this list, I want it not to be construed as casting aspersions on our holy fathers and mothers in the Faith, but rather, to paraphrase St. Paul, “if he can save me, he can save you.” Which is to say, God’s strength is made manifest in weakness, and he works through the broad spectrum of the charisms he has bestowed upon his creation.

Our goal as spiritual leaders should be to help those who have placed themselves under our leadership to develop the gifts that they have. If we place a single vision of piety on them, we distort the fullness of Christ’s gifts to us. Worse, it leads to despair and, in some cases, even the loss of faith. Therefore, I return to the assertion that we must lead with a flexible mind, discerning the gifts and weaknesses inherent in each person given unto our care. As the canons themselves make clear, our goal is the salvation of the person, taking all of the factors into account:

It behooves those who have received from God the power to loose and bind, to consider the quality of the sin and the readiness of the sinner for conversion, and to apply medicine suitable for the disease, lest if he is injudicious in each of these respects he should fail in regard to the healing of the sick man. Trullo 102 (bottom of page)

Such discernment is not always easy, but it is absolutely necessary. It will also color how we go about interacting in the general spheres of leadership.

Next time: The first sphere of influence.

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