Fruitfulness in Leadership
In Paul’s letter to the Galatian church – one of the early church communities – Paul is addressing the church’s tendency to live according to what we might call the “old ways.” Here, I’m not talking about the “old ways” as in, playing until the street lights come on, but rather, the old ways of living that they had put behind them when they took on their claim of faith in baptism. In other words, the Galatians kept turning to ways that were not of God rather than the ways God desires us to live. So, that then begs the question, how do we know what the ways of God are? Paul tells us when he describes the “fruit of the spirit”:
…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.
-Galatians 5:22-23 (NRSVUE)
When I read this passage in which Paul describes the fruit of the Spirit, I always think of a mirror. Not like one of those full-length ones, but rather a mirror to the soul. When I look in that mirror, do I see these fruits? While I’d like to say that I always do, the truth is, there are times when some are missing from my life. It’s in those moments that it becomes important to not simply dismiss it as human imperfection, but to strive to grow in those areas of fruitfulness until they become more present. Quite simply, as someone who claims my Christian baptism, I owe it to my neighbors and my communities to be as reflective of the fruit of the Spirt as I’m able.
In the coming weeks, as we make decisions about who will be in positions of leadership in our communities, our state, and in our nation, as well as in many other aspects of our lives, it is my hope that we are looking for the presence of the fruits of the Spirit. It is my hope that those to whom we entrust the obligation of leadership would seek out these fruits of the Spirit. Honestly, I worry that to look for and demand anything else from those in leadership roles would be to find ourselves falling into the trap of the Galatian church, putting our hope and trust in the “old ways” rather than in the ways of God’s Holy Spirit.
May we recommit ourselves to the ways of God’s Holy Spirit, recommit ourselves to our own correction when our fruitfulness becomes a bit incomplete, and may we ask the same of those we invite into positions of leadership.
Peace,
Pastor Brian
Pastor Brian
