C h a p t e r 1 2
LEADERS ARE
PRECIPITATORS
“Now thanks be to God, Who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and
through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are
to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are
perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.
And who is equal to such a task? Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God
for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men
sent from God”
(II Cor. 2:14-17).The word precipitator basically means: “To cause to happen.” Leaders are
people who make things happen. To do that, they must primarily be actors
rather than reactors. They must live on the offense rather than on the
defense. Leaders are generally far more proactive than they are reactive.
Oswald Sanders rightly noted:
When all the facts are in, swift and clear decision is the mark of a
true leader. A visionary may see, but a leader must decide...Once
sure of the will of God, a spiritual leader springs into action,
without regard to consequences. Pursuing the goal, the leader never
looks back or calculates escape strategies if plans turn sour.^1In the above verses, it is easy to see that the Apostle Paul was a precipitator.
Everywhere he went, he always made things happen! Like the Lord Jesus,
you just could not ignore the presence of the Apostle Paul! The moment he
“hit town,” people began to take note of him. But the thing that made Paul
stand out in a crowd, was not his size or appearance. Tradition suggests
to us that Paul was rather short of stature. He himself writes about