Where Have All the Leaders Gone?

I remember doing a magazine interview years ago with Brian Stiller.  He had just left his position as national director for Youth For Christ Canada, and was executive director of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.   He would later go on to become president of Tyndale College.  (I’ve since told Brian that he has really lived three lifetimes.)

On that day, Brian told me about the great number of leaders who stepped up after World War II.   He told me about the various ministry organizations that were founded in those years including Trans World Radio, World Vision, etc.   He said the problem today is that the current “leaders” are simply doing “maintenance” of those organizations.   There is not that same maverick spirit.   And that interview was over twenty years ago now.  I wonder what Brian thinks of many of our current Christian leaders.

After interviewing Brian Stiller, I wrote a piece on leadership.   I began by noting how in summertime, children will often play “school.”  The job of schoolteacher is in many ways self-perpetuating; everyone has had exposure to the role.   Then I asked if it’s possible that some of us are just playing “church.”

In today’s link, J. Lee Grady, editor of Charisma laments three specific traits that he sees lacking in today’s generation of Christian leaders.  Lee breaks away from obvious leadership qualities and looks at deeper, underlying spiritual qualities.   I see Lee as the ‘conscience’ of the Charismatic and Pentecostal sectors of the Christian world.  These are words worth considering.   Continue reading here…

Photos:  top – Brian Stiller, bottom J. Lee Grady

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