The Pathway to Knowing and Loving God

The work of the living God in the world (the Kingdom of God) appears to be at a critical point in human history. The Church has been here before, perhaps many times. God is doing so many exciting things throughout the earth that it is difficult to keep track of them. The Church of Jesus Christ in the 21st century stands poised for what could well be the greatest days of its history. For example, consider the following:
• Global Christianity grew more in the 20th century than in the previous 19 centuries combined.[1]
• On 27 May of 2012, some 400-500 million Christians from 220 countries united for the Global Day of Prayer.[2] This was, to my knowledge, the largest prayer gathering in the history of Christianity.
• China is exploding with revival as some 25,000-30,000 new people come to Christ daily, according to some reports. Some estimate that there now may be more than 100 million believers in China.[3]
• On the continent of Africa the number of believers grew from 10 million to an amazing 360 million during the 20th century.[4]
• Around the world approximately 174,000 new believers are coming into the Kingdom daily.[5]
• At least 3,500 new churches are being planted every week somewhere in the world.[6]
• The number of churches in India tripled in a period of 15 years.[7]
• South Korea has sent out more than 13,000 cross-cultural missionaries and is sending them at the rate of 1,100 per year.[8]
• In Nepal, over 100,000 Hindus have come to Christ in the past two decades.[9]
• Majority World countries in Latin America and Africa are catching fire with the vision of sending out cross-cultural missionaries en masse. Presently there are more than 100,000 missionaries from the Two-Thirds World.[10]
• Churches in the West are awakening and committing themselves to the missions endeavor with new enthusiasm.
• Church Planting Movements are exploding in almost every part of the Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and Communist worlds.
In spite of all the good news, however, there is a problem looming on the horizon – and it’s a leadership problem. If the problem is resolved, the Church could launch into its greatest era of history. If not, the leadership crisis could greatly hinder what God desires to do in this and coming generations. One of the major questions before us is this: “Will we have the committed, godly leadership necessary to guide the Church of Jesus Christ worldwide during this period of phenomenal growth and expansion?” The answer to that question is not yet clear. As I travel across the globe, it appears that in the Body of Christ we are in critical need of wise, godly, mature, spiritual leadership. I’m confident that this has been true in every generation. However, it seems that we now stand on the brink of a major leadership crisis, in part because of the phenomenal growth we are experiencing. It is urgent that we produce many more excellent leaders who can provide the direction that is needed for the Church at this point in history.
Examples of what happens when leaders do not build genuine spirituality and a deep and abiding commitment to integrity into their lives are so abundant that one hardly even needs to illustrate this point. Nearly everyone can quickly name at least three or four key leaders who have fallen morally and spiritually because this foundation stone was not properly laid in their lives. Almost invariably these moral failures have resulted in the collapse of the churches they served or the ministries they led or at least caused those churches or ministries to decline significantly, both in number and in influence.
A few years ago I had a friend who was an outstanding pastor. He was, in fact, one of the wisest and best leaders I have ever known. Or so I thought. He had built a large, influential congregation which I felt was poised to become a significant force for God in its city and, perhaps, in the nation. It appeared to be one of the strongest churches I have personally seen anywhere in the world. What I did not know, however, was that there was a major problem in this pastor’s spiritual life. The moral foundation in his life was not strong enough to support the congregation he was attempting to build. In a matter of a few brief months, the entire church collapsed because of repeated moral failures in the life of that pastor. Now that local church is no longer in existence. Sadly, this story has been repeated many times over in many different parts of the world.
On the pages which follow, I want to share insights about spiritual leadership from my more than 50 years of attempting to follow Jesus with my whole heart. Much of that time has been spent training leaders all over the world in different aspects of leadership and Kingdom life. For the past 15 years that has involved training more than 100,000 pastors, evangelists, and missionary church planters in the 10/40 Window in how to be more effective at evangelism, intercession, discipling new believers, and church planting among the world’s least-reached peoples. (For more information about this training, please see my previous book entitled World Impacting Churches - Tate Publishing, 2007; revised edition, 2014). It is to that end that I am committed for my remaining years on earth.
Along the way I, too, have made mistakes – some small, some large, some colossal. Some of my sinful actions have deeply wounded family and friends. Some have injured the Body of Christ. My desire is to share from my own pilgrimage some of the vital lessons I have learned and continue to learn about spiritual formation. Had I learned these lessons earlier in life, perhaps I would not have wounded so many people and quite possibly could have accomplished much more for Christ. If the pastor described earlier, whose church collapsed because of his moral failures, had learned these lessons, his church would likely still be thriving and making a significant impact in his country. It is my desire to help other leaders learn from my mistakes before they make similar wrong and sinful choices which hurt people and hinder the advancement of the Gospel. It is my desire to help leaders build a rock-solid foundation for life and ministry, one that will not give way regardless of what happens.