7. Every spiritual community needs someone, official or unofficial, to guide them toward Jesus.

(Before looking at the questions below, take a few minutes to think about this statement. Invite Jesus to speak to you about what He would like you to notice.) 

How do you react to this statement? Do you agree? Or does it seem too authoritarian or rigid?

Try to imagine being one of Jesus’ disciples when He lived on earth. What would appeal to you about following Jesus as leader?

If the primary goal of your life is to deepen your relationship with God, how could other people help guide you on that journey?

What do you think is the most important characteristic of a small group that functions as a spiritual community? How could a leader work to build and protect this characteristic?

This statement may cause some people to push back or disagree. When we think of typical church-based small groups of eight to a dozen people, it may not seem that there needs to be leader. Having a leader may seem authoritarian and we naturally resist being told what to do. Whether one agrees with this statement or not, it is worth giving serious consideration. There are several reasons. First, we see it modeled by Jesus. Now of course no one would want to compare themselves to Jesus, and rightly so. 

But if we consider that Jesus, as human, was the greatest leader, smartest thinker, and most strategic planner that ever lived, then perhaps we might want to think about the model of community that Jesus created. Jesus’ life and teachings certainly had a major impact on His disciples. But the model of community He created also was significant, and the disciples reproduced this model in the early church. 

Some would say that it was this model of a spiritual community, guided by those who had experienced and learned it from Jesus, that formed the space for the teachings of Jesus and His Spirit to transform not only individual lives, but an entire culture. The spiritual communities that shaped the early church and changed the world, were intentionally formed by a leader, or leaders, who shepherded and guided the group into a deeper understanding of and relationship with God. 

The role of the shepherd or leader was a critical element in the success of the early spiritual communities. 

The character and gifting of the leader is an important topic that cannot be fully developed here but a few general comments can be made. 

• Jesus invited His disciples to consider Him as their friend. As “friend,” Jesus was still the leader of His spiritual community of disciples. His friendship didn’t compromise His leadership, rather it enhanced it. In a spiritual community today, every leader should lead out of friendship. 

• Jesus modeled servant leadership when He washed His disciples’ feet. In the same way, today’s leaders of spiritual communities should lead as servants. 

• Jesus also led by example, showing His disciples what it looked like to walk with God, to live in God’s Kingdom, to love unconditionally and to model the fruit of the Spirit. In these ways, Jesus created a model for what leaders should first be, and then do. 

Another reason each spiritual community needs a leader is that someone needs to take responsibility for protecting the spiritual space in which the community gathers. Leaders protect the space in several ways. They help the group to keep the focus of conversation on each person’s spiritual journey by avoiding trivial or theoretical diversions. They create an environment for people to share by asking questions rather than dispensing information. They encourage diversity. And they care deeply for the spiritual and physical needs of each person in the group. 

Finally, every spiritual community leader will, like John the Baptist, seek to decrease as they increase Jesus by consistently calling the group to look to Jesus, to seek answers from Him and His Spirit, and to follow Jesus rather than themselves. This is the role of shepherding or leading that Jesus invited His disciples to reproduce. 

Spiritual communities that are led by this kind of leader will have a better chance of experiencing the abundance Jesus promised than communities without a leader.