Integrity of Heart…and Skillful Hands

In my last post, I lamented on the congressional scandals involving a powerful politician using his position to take advantage of those under his leadership and care.

But the words of Psalm 78 also make me think about my own leadership. Spiritual leaders need to lead with both “integrity of heart” and “skillful hands.” One of the leadership temptations is to focus on one to the neglect of the other.

I spent several months counseling a fellow pastor who entered into an emotional affair with a woman in his congregation. In the end, it destroyed his marriage and severely crippled his ministry. This was the same guy who led hundreds to become followers of Jesus and the whole church to a greater passion and vision — at the very same time!

And I also know of many guys who are among the most faithful and godly men I have ever encountered. But their leadership has been hampered by a series of bad decisions — not very skilful hands.

In my own journey of late, I’m being challenged by this issue of “skillful hands.” It’s all too easy to strive for excellence in personal integrity, but to not put the same effort into being excellent in my leadership skills.

My prayer for myself today is to become a leader like David — a man who leads with both skill and integrity. God — and the people I lead — deserve nothing less.

The Integrity of Heart…and Skillful Hands by Church Planting Journey, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.