How Does One Become a Spiritual Leader?

The Lord seeks out men for spiritual leadership.  When God finds a man who fits His spiritual requirements, and is willing to pay the full price of discipleship, He uses him to the limit despite his patent shortcomings.(18) "Service to which God calls must not be refused because of a sense of unworthiness or inadequacy." (65)

"God is always at work, unpercieved by men, preparing those of his  choice for leadership." (211)

"No theological training or leadership course will automatically confer spiritual leadership..."You did not chose me, but I chose you and appointed you" (John 15:16)" (25)

"If a man possessing great gifts will not place them at the disposal of  God...He will take a man of lesser gifts that are fully available to Him  and suppliment them with His own mighty power." (214)

The road to spiritual leadership. Samuel Logan Brendle stated:

"It is not won by promotion, but by many prayers and tears.  It is   attained by confessions of sin, and much heartsearching and humbling before God; by self-surrender, a courageous sacrifice of every idol, a bold, deathless, uncompromising and uncomplaining embracing of the cross, and by an eternal, unfaltering looking unto Jesus crucified. It is not gained by seeking great things for ourselves, but...by counting those things that are gain to us as loss for Christ.  This is a great price, but it must be unflinchingly paid by him who would not be merely a nominal but a real spiritual leader of men, a leader whose power is both recognized and felt in heaven, on earth and in hell"(21)

Dr. A W. Tozer stated:

"A true and safe leader is likely to be one who has no desire to lead, but is forced into a position of leadership by the inward pressure of the Holy Spirit and the press of external situation. ...I believe it might be accepted as a fairly reliable rule of thumb that the man who is ambitious to lead is disqualified as a leader.  The true leader will have no desire to lord it over God's heritage, but will be humble, gentle, self-sacrificing and altogether ready to follow as to lead, when the Spirit makes it clear that a wiser and more gifted man than himself has appeared."(36)

Source: J. Oswald Sanders "Spiritual Leadership"