How you live provides impact to your spiritual leadership …

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It was back in 1997 that USA Today reported the following …

    “Scientists now say that a series of slits, not a giant gash, sank the Titanic. The opulent, 900-foot cruise ship sank in 1912 on its first voyage, from England to New York. Fifteen hundred people died in the worst maritime disaster of the time.

    “The most widely held theory was that the ship hit an iceberg, which opened a huge gash in the side of the liner. But an international team of divers and scientists recently used sound waves to probe the wreckage, buried in the mud under two-and-a-half miles of water. Their discovery? The damage was surprisingly small. Instead of the huge gash, they found six relatively narrow slits across the six watertight holds.”

What’s the moral of the story? Small damage, invisible to most, can sink not only a great ship but a great reputation.

We can be reckless with our reputations, especially those of us who are spiritual leaders, and especially in the 21st century when we’re so constantly connected to others. It’s interesting to observe how some leaders use social media; it’s not uncommon for some to share far more about their habits of beer drinking than personal Bible reading.

But being a spiritual leader is far more than a job with a 40-hour work week. Part of leading spiritually is living out in front of others what you teach as a real faith lived and exercised by you. Your own life becomes a living example of what you teach behind a pulpit on Sunday mornings.

That kind of life calls for us to voluntarily edit our lives for the sake of others, as well as for our own good in our personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul helps us better understand how we, as leaders, should live our “private lives” when he wrote directly to a spiritual leader …

“As for you, Titus, promote the kind of living that reflects wholesome teaching,” Titus 2:1.

Paul would add to his instruction to Titus …

“In the same way, encourage the young men to live wisely. And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching,” Titus 2:6-7.

A preacher got on a bus and discovered he had been given too much change. When he was getting off the bus, he told the bus driver who replied, “I know”.

“Why did you give me too much?” asked the preacher.

“I was in church yesterday and heard you preach,” replied the driver. “I wanted to see if you were worth listening to.”

“… Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching,” Titus 2:7b.

Spiritual leader, is that how you’re living your life?

Scotty