Reading and the Spiritual Leader

M2 Breakfast

2 March 2013

The Call of Spiritual Leadership

“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or blemish. In the same way, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church. . . . Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. . . . Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” –Ephesians 5:22 – 6:4

Sobering Statistics

• About 19 percent of church-going Protestants read the Bible everyday.

• About 40 percent read the Bible once a month or less.

Source: LifeWay survey and study from 2012: http://www.lifeway.com/Article/research-survey-bible-engagement-churchgoers

Why Men Don’t Read

1. They don’t know where to begin.

2. Visual allurements are more appealing.

3. They think it’s a waste of time.

4. They lack literary discipline.

Christian Disciplines

• Prayer … individually … with family … with church body.

• Scripture reading and study.• Scripture memory.• Ministries … acts of compassion.• Relationship-building … witnessing …

disciple-making.• Giving … stewardship.• ???

Who We Lead

Why We Lead

“Every Christian family ought to be as it were a little church, consecrated to Christ, and wholly influenced and governed by his rules.” –Jonathan Edwards

Why Spiritual Leaders Should Read Good Books

• We are people of the Word.

• Spiritual benefit.

• Intellectual growth.

• Deepening convictions.

• Fellowship with great minds.

“We have more leisure today than ever before in history, but many people claim to have no time for reading. A spiritual leader cannot use that excuse.” --Oswald Saunders in Spiritual Leadership (c. 1967)

How We Should Approach Books

“How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.” –Psalm 36:7-9

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created . . . all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” –Colossians 1:15-17

True Literacy

Literacy is the act of reading books through a Christ-centered worldview, with

the aim of discovering truth, goodness, and beauty, leading to life change,

pleasure, and worship

(Tony Reinke, “The Pastor and His Reading,” 2013)

Potential Reading Priorities

• Reading Scripture• Reading to know and delight in Christ

• Reading to kindle spiritual reflection

• Reading to initiate personal change

• Reading to pursue vocational excellence

• Reading to enjoy a good story

(Tony Reinke, Lit!, 2011)

Not Just Christian Books …

“If we reflect that the Spirit of God is the only fountain of truth, we will be careful, as we would avoid offering insult to him, not to reject or condemn truth wherever it appears. In despising the gifts, we insult the Giver.” –John Calvin

Final Thoughts

• Think seriously about what you read … think seriously as you read.

• Read with a spirit of obedience.

• Read with humility.

• Read with purpose.

“A leader’s reading is the outward expression of his inner hungers and aspirations.” –Oswald Saunders