Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders

Week 13: Review & Reflection — The Shape of a Spiritual Leader

Review your notes, journal entries, and underlined passages from the entire book, Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders.

This final week is an invitation to look back across the whole journey — to name what God has done, confess what still needs to change, and commit to carrying this forward.

Discussion Questions

8 questions

1.Looking back across the entire book, which single chapter or idea had the most impact on you? What was it about that chapter that struck you so deeply?

2.Sanders' overarching argument is that spiritual leadership flows from spiritual character, not from skill, status, or strategy. How has your understanding of leadership changed — or been clarified, challenged, or confirmed — through reading this book?

3.Sanders places prayer at the center of everything. Honestly assess your prayer life now versus when you began this study. Has anything changed? If not, what is the real barrier?

4.Sanders draws heavily on the lives of historical leaders — Hudson Taylor, Samuel Brengle, John Hyde, David Livingstone, and others. Which of these figures has stayed with you most vividly? What specifically do you want to emulate from their life?

5.The book covers costs — loneliness, criticism, suffering, sacrifice. Has your willingness to pay those costs grown through this study? Is there a specific cost you now feel more prepared to bear?

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Closing Prayer

Full guide

Lord, we close this study with gratitude for the saints and servants whose lives have shown us what Spirit-filled leadership looks like. We are more aware of how far we have to go, and more convinced that You are the one who must take us there. Take everything we have learned and make it not merely knowledge, but transformation. We give You our leadership — such as it is — and ask You to make it Yours. For Your glory, the good of Your church, and the sake of a watching world. Amen.

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