In one of the spiritual gifts lists, Romans 12:8, the apostle Paul essentially says, "If you have the spiritual gift of leadership, lead with it, and lead with all diligence." I've come up with a partial list of what spiritually gifted leaders do if they develop and use their leadership gifts.

1. Leaders cast a God-honoring vision.
Spiritually gifted leaders live in such a way that God invariably ignites within their hearts a compelling idea, a heartfelt yearning for some part of God's kingdom to advance. They start thinking about it, dreaming about it, and praying about it. Pretty soon, they start talking about it. They have lunch with someone and say, "Could you imagine what this part of the kingdom would be like if … ?"

I took the board of directors at Willow Creek to some inner-city ministries that we're funding and providing volunteer help for. We were in an empty warehouse; it must have been 95 degrees. The humidity was incredible. But the person leading this ministry stood and ...