A Spiritual Health Check-up for Leaders

Leading others in spirituality can make it easier for leaders to forget their own spiritual health. Here is a tool to help facilitate conversation and prayer on spiritual health. 

Assessing the spiritual health of church leaders (in pairs may be best): 

The goal is not to discover where we've fall short, but instead to find out where we want or need to grow so that our developing leadership of others can stem from our developing followership of Christ.

First, go to the Word and read the qualifications of church leaders: 1 Timothy 3:1-13, 2 Timothy 2:22-26, Titus 1:5-9. What characteristics are your strongest and weakest?

Start with you – How is your personal spiritual hygiene?

1. How would you describe the content and consistency of: 

   1. Your prayer

   2. Your devotional time 

   3. Your taking Sabbath (the fourth commandment) 

   4. Your exercise of grace and forgiveness

   5. *Would you change anything? If so, what and how?

2. Do you need to address a spiritual need in yourself?

   1. Are you struggling with any doubts about what you believe? 

   2. Is there a sin that needs to be dealt with?

   3. Do you need healing from something broken in yourself / family / world? 

   4. *If so, what will you do?

3. How is your faith evident:

   1. In your family

      1. Do you talk about Christ at home? 

      2. What are your family members learning about God?

   2. In your church

      1. No, simply having a leadership role doesn’t count, necessarily

   3. To non-believers

      1. Can you share your testimony of why you are a Christian?

4. How is your love of God and of others?
   1. *When our joy in God or compassion for others falters, those are big indicators that we have a spiritual problem.

You and Others 

1. How clear is God's leading in your life? 
   1. Have you personally experienced God’s leading in the past year?
2. Do you understand how your leadership is helping your church and God’s kingdom?

   1. Do you still feel called to church leadership?

   2. Have your reasons for serving changed? 

   3. Are your spiritual gifts being used? Look specifically at 1 Cor 12-13

   4. Do you see how you contribute among the leadership? 

   5. *Might there be something new the Holy Spirit is asking you to do in the context of leadership?

3. Do you trust those leaders that you work with?

   1. as Christians with firm faith? 

   2. as sincere believers who are “safe” people you can be honest with? (This is affected by confidentiality, humility, and habit)

   3. to follow through on commitments made or assignments from meetings? 

   4. to work together for the church vision? 

   5. *If there is a trust issue, does accountability need to be sought?

4. Leading others

   1. Why do you think others trust you as a leader? Does that match what you would hope?

   2. How do others see you living out what you say?

   3. Where do you need courage to address an issue or make a change?

   4. What do you want to learn about leadership so you can serve more effectively?

Close with prayer for each other (or prayer for the group as a whole).