Spiritual Life and Leadership 288. Leadership That Smells Like the Gospel, with Jason Jensen, author of Formed to Lead
Why is it that so many ministry leaders—people called to reflect Christ’s love—so often end up burned out, disillusioned, or driven by power and platform instead of humility and service? It’s heartbreaking when church leadership doesn’t “smell like the gospel,” and instead resembles the very systems of profit and self-promotion it should prophetically resist.
In this episode, Jason Jensen, Vice President of Spiritual Foundations for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and author of Formed to Lead, unpacks what true spiritual formation for leaders looks like, how to hold humility and faith in tension, and how suffering and the wilderness can become gifts in our ministry.
THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:
- Jason Jensen observes that much leadership in the church fails to reflect the gospel and often focuses on power, platform, or profit.
- Large numbers of Christian leaders experience burnout or moral, character, or spiritual failure, leading to disillusionment among younger generations.
- Jason Jensen asserts that the Gospel of Luke presents a radically different, subversive vision of leadership, centering the vulnerable and overlooked.
- Leadership in God’s kingdom includes all people, from parents to presidents, and turns conventional power dynamics upside down.
- Christian leadership requires holding together the paradox of tender humility and bold faith.
- Jason Jensen describes the spiritual formation of a leader as a lifelong, iterative process marked by failure, repentance, and receiving the love of God.
- Embracing wilderness seasons—times of pain, failure, or dryness—is essential for spiritual growth and character development.
- Markus Watson invites Jason Jensen to share from personal experience how suffering shaped his faith and leadership, prompting stories of transformation after injury and failure.
- Experiencing grief, loss, and mistakes can be some of the most formative experiences for a leader’s development and empathy.
- Depth and authenticity in leadership are formed by embracing—not bypassing—suffering and wilderness experiences.
- Jason Jensen highlights Steve Hayner’s example of leadership, specifically his ability to listen well, include others, and help others feel loved and safe.
- Steve Hayner practiced “expansive discourse” and adaptive leadership, carrying pain with others and facilitating mutual learning rather than judgment.
- Sustainable organizational change requires time, patience, and leaders who bring everyone to the table and foster shared purpose.
- Offering one’s life—and even one’s death—as a gift to God and others represents the culmination of a spiritual journey, embodying humility, sacrifice, and openness.
RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:
- Jason Jensen:
- Books mentioned:
- Formed to Lead, by Jason Jensen
- Related episodes:
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