The Bible says that the Lord “spoke with Moses face to face, just as a man speaks with his friend” (Exodus 33:11). Wow…if we could all attain that sort of relationship with God, I believe we could be the godly leaders we want to be. The problem is that this kind of relationship is not really attainable, is it? Or is it?
Quality #2 – Uncommon Communion
In my last post, I introduced you to Dr. Crawford Loritts and his 4 little known qualities of godly leaders. In that post, we tackled the first quality – brokenness. In today’s post, I want to discuss the second quality Dr. Loritts cites in his segment in Dennis Rainey’s Stepping Up video series.
In his segment on godly leaders, Dr. Loritts describes how godly leaders must have a second quality – an uncommon communion with God. Before he describes what he means by this, he goes on to say, “God gives us assignments that are greater than our capacity to meet. There is always a gap in leadership – it is always beyond where you are. God fills in that gap.”
The Gap
This idea of a gap fits perfectly with the idea of brokenness from the last post, but uncommon communion takes this a step further. When we are broken, we see that we alone cannot accomplish the mission God has for us. We see this gap he mentions.
The uncommon communion is our response to this gap.
For most of us, this may not be an easy quality to grasp at first. What exactly does he mean by having an uncommon communion with God? How do I do that? What does it look like? How will I know when I have that quality?
Communion Defined
Before I go any further, let me first define “communion” in this context for you.
Communion:
the sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings with God
Scripture’s Answers
Now, as we have done before on multiple occasions, let’s take a look at Scripture to find our answers to the questions above. I think Dr. Loritts picked a great example in Moses, so we will stick with him.
As I mentioned above, God spoke with Moses as we would a friend. I think that is the perfect example of uncommon communion. I don’t think there was anyone else in the Israelite camp that had that kind of relationship with God.
Moses’ Part
So what exactly did Moses do that, for his part, caused that relationship? First, he made it perfectly clear on a number of occasions that alone, he did not have what it took to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. Moses was clearly broken as it related to his leadership.
But Moses did not only acknowledge that he was broken and unable to lead God’s people. He also acted on this brokenness. Moses pressed into God to make sure He gave him what he needed. This included asking for a mouthpiece (Aaron) and the words to say to Pharaoh (Exodus 3:1-4:31).
Pressing In
Whatever the case, Moses recognized that he was not able to do it on his own and he was determined to make sure God met his needs. Moses pleaded with God, even to the point of aggravating Him (Exodus 4:14). While God did get angry with Moses, I this free and open relationship is exactly what He wants from us.
Even later, Moses continued to plead with and push God to maintain His presence with the Israelite people as they moved. He also pushed God for a glimpse of His glory! Moses was broken, but he was also bold in his relationship with God!
Imitate Moses
The more I look at Moses and his uncommon communion, the more I believe we actually are able to imitate him. In general, Moses did not (normally) make a move without consulting God. Through his frequent interaction with God in the tent of meeting, Moses sought God’s wisdom and direction in everything he did.
For us, uncommon communion looks the same. We recognize our brokenness and see the gap between who we are and the godly leaders God has called us to be. Once we see this gap, we press into God to make up the difference.
We will know we have this quality when we simply cannot imagine making a significant decision without seeking God’s face about it. We will be models of this level of godly leadership when others watch us enter our own “tent of meeting” before making any important decisions.
Do you have an uncommon communion with God?
What action is God leading you to take toward this relationship with Him?
Who are you asking to hold you accountable to taking these steps?
What Would You Invest to Have 50 Biblical Mentors?
Imagine what it would cost to sit down to lunch with more than 50 different leaders to glean their wisdom for life.
- What would it cost you to travel to more than 50 locations?
- How much would you pay for hotels and food?
- What scheduling headaches would you encounter trying to make it happen?
Your costs would easily run into the thousands of dollars if you could pull it off at all. But 17BPS has done it for you.
Now you can have all this wisdom delivered when it is convenient for you for only a fraction of the cost.
Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are snarky, offensive, or off-topic. If in doubt, read My Comments Policy.