[This is part of a series on “How Do I Develop an Apostolic Leader?” You can read the other posts here.]
By Chris Nichols
“Recently a pilot was practicing high–speed maneuvers in a jet fighter. She turned the controls for what she thought was a steep ascent – and flew straight into the ground. She was unaware that she was flying upside down.
This is a parable of human existence in our times – not exactly that everyone is crashing, though there is enough of that – but most of us as individuals, and world society as a whole, live at high-speed, and often with no clue to whether we are flying upside down or right-side up. Indeed, we are haunted by a strong suspicion that there may be no difference – or at least that it is unknown or irrelevant.“ – The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard
Too often apostolic ministry is equated with high energy and speed. Hire people who are risk takers, set them off into the unknown, set goals for them to reach, and simply wait for the results. Too often, those we send end up off the road (or flying into the ground like our pilot in the parable). We never intend it, but we can come to accept a high rate of failure as normative. When they crash and burn we simply write it off to personality (“you have to expect blow ups with those kinds of gifts”) and hire someone to take their place. If we aren’t careful we begin to believe that being apostolic can never be synonymous with depth of character and soul. We let people fly off with little or no inward training and development to help them know when they are indeed flying upside down.
Disciplines of Spiritual Life
In a generation when the gospel frontiers appear more and more foreign to our Christian sensibilities, it is critical that we raise up and hire apostolic evangelists to cross the boundaries with Christ’s message. Yet, even as we draw them into ministry, we must at the same time give them the disciplines of spiritual life that ensure they learn how to fly straight and recognize which way is up. Being apostolic must be accompanied by spiritual depth.
How do we ensure that happens? By designing and leading a spiritual culture that demands everyone invest in their interior world with God. Ministry communities that intend to be missional must model for their staff personal and corporate practices that encourage intimacy with God and partnership with one another. Spiritual formation must be taken seriously. Practices involved in formation need to be requirements not simply recommendations. Leaders should insist that teams invest in formation retreats where practices like personal, guided silence, prayer, meditation, and corporate prayer and discernment are practiced. Time away from the field of ministry ensures that missionaries are given the opportunity to learn how to meet with and hear from God, watch others go deep with Him, and wrestle with their own brokenness in ways that lead to healing and renewal. It is not just a good idea. It is essential for any ministry that desires a healthy apostolic environment to be established.
It Takes Practice
I have been interested to watch spiritual formation practices gain popularity among protestant evangelicals over the past decade. What our Catholic brothers and sisters have been doing for centuries have been “re-discovered” and there are now numerous resources available. The engagement with Ignatian and Benedictene spirituality is encouraging and can only be a help to all who are seeking to break new ground in ministry. However, unless these forms are observed with integrity and rigor, they will become just another spiritual fad. The spiritual formation practices our apostolic ministries need literally require practice. It takes repetition to learn them and discover their value and are nearly impossible to engage in on your own. This is especially true for those whose gifts lead them to be highly active. If there is not a community that requires their participation in individual and corporate Christ centered reflection their calendars will fight hard to squeeze that kind of activity out.
If you are a leader of a ministry that is seeking to break new ground for the gospel, you must lead that ministry into a depth of corporate experience with Christ at the center. It is both your responsibility as an elder of the ministry and the way to ensure that quality, lasting, Jesus focused worked is accomplished. We must change the parable so that those we ask to fly fast and hard can fly with integrity, purpose, and in the right direction.
How may God be asking you to engage him deeper in the formation of your inner life?
[This is part of a series on “How Do I Develop an Apostolic Leader?” You can read the other posts here.]
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A word in season. Thanks for the gentle kick!! It is so true that we must rest in God but the demands of apostolic ministry can push the quiet spirituality out of the window because it doesn’t appear to clear the task list. It is a question of priorities, even reorientation of them.