Spiritual Leadership: Deadly Sins and Saving Virtues Tom Bandy

Spiritual Leadership Helping congregations and individuals realistically assess where they are –Accountability Helping them start to grow in concrete ways –Coaching

The Traveler’s Confessional Used by medieval pilgrims as conversational accountability tool “How much am I enslaved by sins?” “How open am I to the virtues?”

Deadly Sins & Saving Virtues Pride Envy Greed Lust Gluttony Anger Sloth –Faith –Hope – Love –Prudence –Temperance –Justice –Fortitude

Pride Elevating the institution to ultimacy “The world should accommodate to our forms, habits, and mental models” Egotism that mission field can be addressed at church’s convenience

Faith Surrender of the church to the ultimacy of Christ Constant adaptation to the micro-culture of real people Urgency to walk with Jesus into mission, wherever & however Selfless conviction that all that matters is the Gospel, and everything else is just tactics

Envy Desire to be other than what God created you to be Jealous imitation of another’s lifestyle Blaming others for your failures Habitual complaining

Hope Desire to become whatever God wills Conviction that God’s power will bear fruit Owning failure and learning from mistakes Celebrating “getting out of the boat” as a prerequisite for “walking on water”

Greed Institutional or personal desire to possess what isn’t ours Obsession with material security and elevation of “things” to a core value Preoccupation with debt freedom, savings, security, property use, and balanced budgets

Love Institutional or personal audacity to give away life –Risk property, modify plans, and change agendas to bless others Acquiring wealth only for the purpose of maximizing mission Readiness to adore enemies

Lust Abuse of others for personal or corporate satisfaction Desire to control others or make them dependent on us Readiness to use individuals for institutional agendas

Prudence Respect for another’s intrinsic autonomy and worth Readiness to give permission for self-fulfillment beyond institutional commitments Wise balance of self-sacrifice and self-affirmation

Gluttony Consumption, excess, self-puffing Desire to bring people in rather than sending them out Valuing: –Size over quality –Accountability over productivity –Rules over results

Temperance Self-control, moderation, and boundary thinking Desire to shape Christian lifestyle rather than bringing people to church Valuing excellence over (mediocre) excess –trust rather than control Dogged slimming in pursuit of what really matters

Anger Desire to harm or hurt physically, spiritually, or relationally Habitual negativity Twisted, smug joy in retribution, delight in humiliating or splitting adversaries

Justice Desire to redeem toward holistic healing Tough love with a goal of reconciliation Unbearable restlessness in the face of inequality, bigotry, or cultural insensitivity Visionary delight in “both/and” situations and solutions

Sloth Lazy “I don’t care” Lack of discipline Expectation that others (staff? volunteers?) will do your mission for you Unwillingness to grow personally, spiritually, professionally Easy readiness to give up

Fortitude Energy, discipline, & courage to discern, address, and accomplish the mission Passion to grow in every way Risk-taking experimentation to tap hidden resources and accomplish the impossible

On a scale of 1 to 10 … Where is our church? Where am I? Pride ……….. Faith Greed …….... Love Lust ………… Prudence Envy ……….. Hope Gluttony …… Temperance Anger ……… Justice Sloth ……….. Fortitude

Then, two questions: 1.Where is there the greatest need? Ask various groups in/out of the church and compare notes Or ask people who know you Accountability: where are we now? 2.Where do we start first? Coaching: where do we need to go next?

Spiritual Leadership: Deadly Sins and Saving Virtues Dr. John P. Chandler Copy right John P. Chandler 2003