Overcoming the Dark Side of Leadership

There is a problem of leadership failure in the Christian community. Ted Haggard joins a proliferation of significant leadership failures in the last twenty-five years. A list of individuals that includes Jim and Tammy Bakker and Jimmy Swiggart and many other celebrity clergy would also need to name the numerous pedophile priests identified in the last several years. It seems that the very driving forces that lead to tremendous success are also the negative factors that need to be suppressed.

I do not pretend to know anything about the dark side. I suspect all of us are aware of individuals who are our relatives, friends or acquaintances suffering from alcoholism, drug addiction or mental illness. Their condition places them on the dark side and when they suffer you suffer with them.

There is a very strong emphasis in the writing of Luke on both the need for persistent prayer and demonic conflict. It never occurred to me that persistent prayers were needed then to address the demonic conflict and are needed now.

Copyrighted 2006

Religion

Christianity

Gospel of Luke