Blind Men and an Elephant

I spoke on Spirit-Empowered Leadership at the ?Reunion Conference of the Alumnae Body of the Baptist Students Fellowship. The following are extracts of the lecture.

In the book The Elephant in the Dark," there is a parable of a group of blind men who have never encountered an elephant before and who learn and imagine what the elephant is like by touching it. Each blind man feels a different part of the animal's body, but only one part, such as the side or the tusk. They then describe the animal based on their limited experience, and their descriptions of the elephant differ from each other. The moral of the parable is that humans tend to claim absolute truth based on their limited, subjective experience as they ignore other people's limited, subjective experiences, which may be equally valid. This is the challenge in defining Spirit Empowered leadership (SEL)as people define SEL from their rosy lens.

Isgrigg (2020) noted the problem of defining SEL in his literature review. He observed that some defined SEL from a transformational servant leadership angle rather than charismatic empowerment; some define SEL as being spiritual or ethical rather than focusing on the power or person of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Leader; some others define SEL as the "nurturing of spiritual synchronicity in the practice of Leadership and creating space for spirituality in workplace environments.

Isgrigg (2020) found five common characteristics defining SEL: 1) Spirit-filled Leader- SEL begins from the Leader's spiritual life, and it is a qualification for choosing a leader in Christian circles, e.g. Stephen was chosen to lead because he was Spirit-filled. 2) Spirit dependent – A leader must be dependent on the Holy Spirit for guidance, direction and receiving a vision. The Leader must obey instructions like Paul, who was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, and Jesus, who did not speak of his own accord or can do nothing by Himself, relying on the power of God. 3) Spirit-moved Leader: This is a leader that the Holy Spirit first leads; therefore, he can lead others. The Bible declares that the holy men of God spoke and led the Israelites, being moved by the Holy Spirit. Paul tells the Galatian believers that as they have received life by the Spirit, now keep in step with the Spirit. This call for adaptability, being always ready to move with the Holy Spirit in constant connection. 4) Spirit-Gifted Leader: The Leader allows the Holy Spirit to use their gifts to affect people positively. The Leader considers that all gifts are from the Holy Spirit and distributes them to each one, just as he determines.5) A Spirit-confident leader- An assertive leader who takes a God-given initiative and runs with it against all odds because God gave the vision, e.g. Nehemiah building the wall despite the taunts from Sanballat and Tobiah.

Gary (2021) defined SEL as a spiritual experiential social process in which we take initiative with others to accomplish God's purposes for our generation through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Each definition of SEL in peer-reviewed writing is only a part of the elephant in the dark. One definition cannot fully describe SEL as we cannot fully fathom the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a leader; hence, there are diverse definitions for SEL. Paul noted that the Holy Spirit has diversities and operations, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. For example, as a lawyer, I have seen the Holy Spirit guide me in resolving complex matters; at other times, He gives oratory skills to influence other lawyers and judges.

We should not be blind men groping in the dark to define SEL from our limited prism. We should see all parts of defining SEL as a whole rather than sections. SEL is a multi-faceted diamond of inestimable value and can only be described rather than defined. How do we limit SEL in our lives, families, workplaces or businesses?

There is an urgent need for more Spirit-empowered leaders in Churches today. National studies sponsored by Discipleship.org and Exponential show that 95% of churches do not have a disciple-making culture to produce next-generation leaders, and 93% do not reproduce naturally supernatural lifestyles in Leadership. The inertia in discipleship and leadership development has created a lukewarm spiritual climate and immature leaders not led by the Holy Spirit. To be a Spirit-empowered leader, you must have a Spirit-empowered natural supernatural life.

Absalom & Absalom, (2022) opined that there are four critical areas of the Spirit-empowered natural supernatural life:1) being filled with the Holy Spirit, 2) hearing God's voice, 3) compassion for and healing the sick, 4) passion and moving in a naturally supernatural mission for the lost. A church becomes unspiritual and carnal where these traits are absent, leading to discord, division and dissension. Paul was concerned about the sensual, unspiritual nature of the Corinthian Church, which we see in the Church of today: "For as long as there is jealousy, strife and discord among you, are you not unspiritual, and are you not walking like ordinary men [unchanged by faith]? ( 1 Cor 3:3)

Angeline et al. (2023) described the profile of a Spirit-empowered leader as follows: 1) has experienced Spirit baptism with its accompanying signs. 2) passion for expanding God's kingdom, 3) values biblical training and/or theological education, 4) raising Indigenous leaders, 5) whose influence is acknowledged by people regardless of gender, ethnicity, or status, 6) flexibility in their leadership style, adjusting to the need of the situation and constantly sensitive to the Holy Spirt, 7) persevere amid struggles and conflict with a fortitude inspired by he Spirt for the fulfilment of God's Kingdom purpose.

Spirit-empowered leaders are the light in the dark ally where ?Blind men are groping and seeking for a leader. We urgently need more Spirit-empowered leaders to develop other Spirit-empowered leaders to succeed them and spark the revival fire in the Church. Why do we have few discipleship training programs, succession planning, and leadership development programs to raise emerging Spirit-Empowered leaders today?

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References

Absalom, A., & Absalom, H. (2022).?The Empowered life: Practical ways to demonstrate naturally supernatural lifestyle.?Exponential.

Angeline, Lora & Timenia, (2023). Asian Journal Of Pentecostal Studies. A Profile of a Spirit-Empowered Leader: Embudo & Apts Press, Leonora Catipon. 5-18.

Disciple Making Study – Discipleship.org, Exponential and Grey Matter Research – March 2020

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Gary, Jay (2020) "Spirit-Empowered Leadership: Exploring Three Dimensions,"?Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology: Vol. 5: No. 2, Article 8. DOI:?https://doi.org/10.31380/2573-6345.1173

?Isgrigg, D. (2020, November 1). Toward Spirit-empowered leadership distinctives: A literature review.?Spiritus, 5(2), 199-216.?https://digitalshowcase.oru.edu/spiritus/vol5/iss2/6/

Blind men and an elephant (n.d.). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_men_and_an_elephant

Javaherbin, M., Jala?l al-Di?n Ru?mi?, M., & Yelchin, E. (2015).?Elephant in the dark?(First edition.)

Zondervan NIV Study Bible (K. L. Barker, Ed.; Full rev. ed.). (2002). Zondervan.

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