Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders
Week 1: Preface & Introduction — The Importance of Spiritual Leadership
Read the Preface and Introduction of Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders.
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Before diving into the substance of the book, Sanders invites us to examine why spiritual leadership matters so desperately — and why the church so often settles for something far less than what God intends.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Sanders opens with a sense of urgency about the leadership crisis in the church. In your own words, why does he believe spiritual leadership is so critically needed in every generation?
2.Sanders draws a sharp distinction between natural leadership and spiritual leadership from the very beginning. What do you understand to be the core difference between the two, and why does that distinction matter?
3.Sanders argues that true spiritual leadership is not something a person seizes but something God bestows. How does this challenge common assumptions — in church culture and in broader culture — about how leaders are made?
4.Think about the spiritual leaders who have most shaped your life. What qualities in them stand out to you? How many of those qualities were things you would describe as 'natural talent' versus something clearly God-given?
5.Sanders wrote this book out of decades of experience in ministry and mission leadership. What is your honest motivation for reading it? What do you hope God does in you through this study?
6.The book is framed around the idea that the church rises or falls with the quality of its leaders. Do you agree with that premise? Where have you seen it proven true — positively or negatively?
7.How does Jesus himself represent the ultimate answer to the leadership crisis Sanders describes? How does beginning with Christ reframe the whole conversation about what leadership is for?
Closing Prayer
Lord, as we begin this study, we confess that we often think of leadership in terms of position, personality, or performance. We have sometimes pursued leadership for our own sake rather than Yours. Awaken in us a hunger for the kind of leadership You produce — born not of ambition but of surrender. Make us willing to be shaped by what we read. For Your glory and the good of Your church. Amen.
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