Home Pastors 5 Steps on a Lifelong Path to Spiritual Authority

5 Steps on a Lifelong Path to Spiritual Authority

spiritual authority

As a leader, you can never escape the reality of authority and its reflection on your character.

However, if you can’t handle authority, you will struggle with leadership, and your confidence may be challenged because of the pressures you face.

Authority is the currency through which leaders get things done. Some people prefer to use the term influence, and that word does more accurately describe the innate function of leadership.

Perhaps a helpful way to see how this leadership concept plays out is to compare three closely related words: authority, influence, and power.

Authority is something given to you.
Influence is what you possess within you.
Power is your ability to cause good or harm.

(Excerpt from “Confident Leader,” Ch. 7 on Authority)

The important thing to understand is that authority is always transferred.

The wisest of leaders understand that their authority wasn’t theirs in the first place and steward it with wisdom, grace, and strength of character.

There are two primary sources of authority, God, and man. (Spiritual and organizational) The two are usually integrated. The important thing to remember is that you are never the source of your own authority.

If you forget where your authority came from, that’s often when your leadership missteps begin.

Understandably, much of our leadership training is in the organizational realm, developing our competency in a variety of things from strategy to empowerment.

But we can also develop and nurture our spiritual authority, and truly, the two (spiritual and organizational) should never be separated because we are, in fact, spiritual leaders.

The Path to the Lifelong Development of Spiritual Authority:

Two Notes:

  • The following character traits and practices do not replace competence in leadership; they partner with human competence to bring spiritual power and greater impact.
  • This is a lifelong path, not a finite journey where you “arrive” at a predetermined destination.

1. Spiritual Authority Is Grounded in Humility.

Humility is not related to your place on the org chart; it reflects the disposition of your heart.

To aspire to leadership is an admirable ambition, as long as it’s for the good of others and the glory of God.

Humility comes mainly from a profound awareness of God’s grace and kindness in your life.