FOLLOW THE LEADERleadership on earth. He is even more aware of spiritual time, or kairos,
and what the Bible calls the “...times and seasons” (Acts 1:7). This is
eschatological time that we only know through prophecy. It is only through
Biblical revelation that we can receive from God an eternal glimpse into His
timetable for the universe. It is God’s eternal epoch that is being played out
on the pages of our human calendars until the “...end of the age” (Mtt.
24:3). According to the Bible, this is the final time of the consummation of
human history as we understand it – which is a date known only to God.
It was this eschatological time that Jesus was referring to when He chided
the religious leaders of His day: “How is it that you don’t know how to
interpret this present time?” (Lk. 12:56). Despite the fact that they were
very religious – and even had God’s Word among them – they were still
living in total ignorance of what God was doing at that strategic time in
history. The very God Who had created time was right in their midst –
but their eschatological clocks were wrong! Therefore, they missed out
on the grace God was providing in the “...fullness of time” (Gal. 4:4;
Eph. 1:10). Tragically, there are still many such religious leaders living
today who are completely out of touch and out of step with what God
is doing! It is because of the revelation of this eternal perspective on
time, that wise Christian leaders are time conscious people. They do not
want to waste time because they fully understand that all time has eternal
consequences!
Principle: “Leaders understand that all time has
eternal consequences.”Christians in general, and leaders in particular, seek to live with a
consciousness of natural time, or chronos, and spiritual time, or kairos.
Through the revelation of the Word, and the inspiration of the Spirit,
they seek to discern God’s perspective on their time – and then live their
lives accordingly. It is only as they live in time, from the vantage point
of eternity, that they can synchronize their lives with what God is doing
in the world. As they view the time frame that they live in through the
lenses of God’s revelation, they are able to discern and interpret the “...
times and seasons.” Only then will their leadership be timely... strategic...
prophetic.