The Battle of Staying Awake

I live just a hair over one mile from the Campus. Traffic for me is found during the school year when I get behind a bus or as the 15 cars line up at the one (Dread! They are adding another this year!) traffic light that I have to go through. My trip goes from 5 minutes to 9 or sometimes 12 minutes. There was a day though that I travelled 25 miles into downtown Hot-lanta (that’s Atlanta…) every morning. Some 2 or more hours of driving a day in insane traffic and tired…oh, I was so tired.

Have you ever looked up at a sign on the highway and thought, “Exit 129? 129? Wait, I just go on at exit 100…oh no…” and then rolled down the window and stuck your head out with your cheeks flapping like a Retriever’s. Somehow we actually drive in the conscious world, or is that sub-conscious world, while we have entirely shut down our mind and appear unconscious in the process. How does that happen? It is kind of like a computer going into sleep or hibernate mode. Nonetheless, there are many a successful unconscious driver, factory worker, customer service representative and executive.

Unfortunately there are many sleeping spiritual leaders as well. Keith Green said it well in his song, “Asleep In the Light”,

Do you see, do you see
All the people sinking down
Don't you care, don't you care
Are you gonna let them drown
"Oh bless me Lord, bless me Lord"
You know it's all I ever hear
No one aches, no one hurts
No one even sheds one tear
Cause He brings people to your door,
And you turn them away
As you smile and say,
"God bless you, be at peace"
And all heaven just weeps
Cause Jesus came to your door
You've left him out on the streets
Open up, open up
And give yourself away
You see the need, you hear the cries
So how can you delay
The world is sleeping in the dark
That the church just can't fight
Cause it's asleep in the light
How can you be so dead
When you've been so well fed
Jesus rose from the grave
And you, you can't even get out of bed
Oh, Jesus rose from the dead
Come on, get out of your bed
How can you be so numb
Not to care if they come
You close your eyes
And pretend the job's done
You close your eyes
And pretend the job's done

There is a Battle of Unconsciousness that leaders fight at different points in their leadership. This battle is part of the over war on spiritual leaders. It involves a lack of care. It exhibits a sense of tiredness and focus on ease. Ultimately though, it is just like driving unconscious – no matter the cause (predominantly, boredom and mindless repetition) the spiritual leader is mentally asleep at the wheel. She teaches just like always and he shows up for the counseling appointments. The answers move from inspired to canned. He looks through old messages and methods instead of desperately seeking direction like in the old days. There is no fire. Friendships and fellowships are awesome but that mind shaking, earth changing prayer and mission have faded. Conference after conference, meeting after meeting, lesson after lesson all blur into an unconscious driving experience.

The Church is gypped.

Susan conquered this well and so did Linda and so did Travis – I did as well. Susan got out her prayer rope and wore it to remind her of her once constant prayer focus. She cut out the unessential and focused on the essential. Linda went to Haiti and found a world full of people spiritually and physically starving while they lived in huts. Travis went to a prayer retreat and learned to pray. Crazy? I know it sounds weird but praying along with others and practical instruction got him to wake up to God’s voice. I went to Nicaragua and lived for ten days in Candida’s family’s house. It was that year that I sat beside an old woman, laying in her waste and dying, praying that God would heal her and realizing that I wasn’t sure that he would.

Spiritual leadership is edgy not boring. Spiritual leadership is cutting edge not boring. Spiritual leadership realizes that even the smallest detail has a purpose if called of God. Spiritual leadership is looking for God in the cloud (Numbers in the Bible) and following Him. Spiritual leadership is anything but sleepy – or is it.

The Church is being gypped but more importantly – the unsaved are being gypped. Spiritual leaders should not only build up and protect the saved but reach the lost. There are people dying, really dying out there, while we sit in ministerial and church traffic falling asleep at the wheel.

Are we conscious of the needs across the street? Are we conscious of the impact that spiritual leadership should be having? Are we awake?