There are essentially two types of charismatic leaders. The first type comprise of those who are born charismatic leaders. Sociologically, they are called inherited charismatic leaders. These leaders can belong to any field, political, social or religious. Leaders such as Napoleon, Hitler, Gandhi, John F Kennedy etc. are born charismatic leaders.
The second type of charismatic leaders is those who have acquired the characteristics of charismatic leadership through the circumstances that have shaped their lives.
The sociological term for such leadership is achieved leadership. One such leader is Sonia Gandhi. When I met her around 15 years back, she had no traits of being a leader. But today, she is the backbone of the ruling party. The education she received as part of the first family of India, the death of her husband, the need of the Congress party for a leader; all these circumstances shaped her in becoming a charismatic leader.
The Bible illustrates an example of achieved leadership. At the tender age of 14, Timothy became Paul’s disciple. Till he was nearly 40 years, he followed Paul faithfully. As Paul began to get old, he began to get anxious about his successor and began to search for a worthwhile leader who would be the first Bishop of the Christian church. He hoped that Timothy would be able to receive the mantle but alas! Timothy proved to be dull, fearful and timid by nature. So, Paul writes to him from the Roman prison, in 2 Timothy 1:6, ‘…stir up your gift of God’. In other versions, phrases like, ‘fan into the flames’ and ‘kindle and re-kindle your gift’ are also used. God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and boldness to proclaim the Word of God. God requires leaders with courage and the power to guide the rest of humanity towards the road of salvation. In other words, God requires us to be charismatic leaders. A famous quote of Dr. Radhakrishnan is: “ Christians are ordinary people who claim extraordinary things.”
Most of us are not born charismatic leaders. We might be strong in faith but our faith does not transfer into leadership. We have to achieve these traits. How does one become a charismatic leader? My personal experiences and research have led me to the knowledge that there are three methods to be a charismatic leader.
The first method is the method of IMITATION.
1 Corinthians 11:1-2 states, “Imitate me as I have imitated Jesus Christ.”
Apart from Jesus Christ, whose life we need to imitate, we can also learn from the great leaders that this world has seen. The biographies and autobiographies of great thinkers, philosophers and leaders are a great inspiration for those who want to learn about leadership. To provide an example, my greatest desire in life was to become a preacher and proclaim the Word of God. Along with my faith and my experiences in Christ, I also read extensively the speeches of great speakers like Nehru, Indira Gandhi etc. and imitated their style of communication and learnt from their power to hold the attention of thousands of people.
In Christian faith, I imitated my mother. When I was very young, I had the wonderful experience of witnessing a wonderful miracle. My younger brother was born dumb and my mother’s wish was to hear him speak before she died. She prayed incessantly to God that she be given the opportunity to hear the word ‘Amma’ from her son’s lips. She fasted and prayed for 40 days. On the fortieth day of her fast, she asked me not to go to school. She began her prayer. As I watched in awe, her face filled with a divine light and she got up, stretched her hand toward my brother and commanded him in our native language: “In the name of the Lord, I command you to speak.” And my brother opened his mouth and stuttered out his first word, “Amma.”. It was a life-changing moment for me.
A similar experience that I went through in my life happened when I was in Bible College. I could not speak or understand English. Most of the faculty comprised of foreigners and due to be inability to understand the language I was failing in many subject. I was desperate and my future looked bleak if I did not pass in my course. At this time, I remembered how my mother healed my brother. And I thought to myself, just like my mother stirred up the power to heal my mother, so should I stir up my faith to finish my course. So, one evening I knelt down in prayer. I prayed and I prayed and got totally immersed in it that I felt I was in another world. And there I felt as if somebody touched me. I felt a strong energy course through my body, filling me with a joy that was indescribable. That is how I wrote the song, “Somebody touched me”. After that experience, I was successful in passing in all the subjects. I had stirred up and imitated what I had within me, which was the miracle of prayer that I had witnessed in my mother, and I had myself experienced a miracle in my own life.
The second point towards becoming a charismatic leader is to DEVELOP ONE’S TALENTS STEP BY STEP.
1 Samuel 17:17-48, illustrates the story of David and Goliath, which is an apt example of developing one’s inherent talents towards the Glory of God. The victorious Philistine army was dealing severe blows to the Israeli army. The Israelites were desperate. The army did not even have food to eat and King Saul was desperate. David, the small and diminutive shepherd boy was sent by his father with food for his brothers. There he came to know about the Israeli army’s ability to disarm Goliath. David, who had no arms or ammunition, shield or sword, claimed to his brothers’ friends that he could kill Goliath. They asked him, “How do you think you can kill this giant whom the entire army of Israel could not kill? David told them that while he was tending his sheep one day, a bear attacked his herd. Frightened but wanting to save his herd, he drew out his catapult and shot the bear. The bear was killed instantly. The second time, a lion came to attack his sheep. This time also, David, who had becoming confident of using the catapult, shot the lion with it. The lion was also killed. David recounted, “If I can kill a lion and a bear with my catapult then I can kill this giant also. David developed his talent of using the catapult step by step. Saying this, David asked to see the King. When brought before King Saul, he was asked what he wanted to defend himself against Goliath. The brave boy said that he would use his catapult. Though King Saul was not convinced, he allowed David to fight Goliath as he thought that something is better than nothing.
When you work for the Lord, use whatever you have, do not bother about what you do not have. Do not hide behind excuses or reasons of things that you lack; instead use whatever talents God has given you. God does not ask of you what you do not have. Discover what you have in yourself; use your resources creatively and God will bless you abundantly.
David successfully used his catapult to kill Goliath and bring victory to the Israelites. David used whatever little resources he had with him to defeat Goliath. Only, when he used the idea of his catapult did God help him with divine intervention. Goliath was a giant when compared to David. He probably had to lift the visor of his head gear to look down at David. Using this opportunity, David aimed at Goliath’s forehead, killing him instantly. God helped David by giving him the opportunity and David took full use of this opportunity.
Similarly, when Moses guided the Israelites out of Egypt, he had only a stick to aid him. But with that staff, he was successful in bringing them out of bondage and slavery.
Personally, also I can vouch for this method. Though I had aspired to be a preacher, I had no resources that preachers generally had no mike, amplifier, publicity etc. All I had was my voice, knowledge of the Bible and my personal experiences in Christ. So I used a roadside in my village as the platform to speak. My first experience of being a preacher had an audience of three people. Two of them left after listening to me for a few minutes, so I spoke to the one person who was left. I had no experience, no language skills and no formal degree. But I did not let these factors deter me. I continued to preach whenever I got the chance. Slowly the number of persons increased from 20 to 50 to 100. Later, in my Outreach Campaigns, the number of people who heard my message steadily increased. With 10,000 in Pathanamthitta, a district in my home state Kerala, 26,000 in Netherlands, 100,000 in the neighboring city of Chennai and finally, 500,000 in Mumbai, the largest city in India. It has been a slow journey which I made step by step. But if I had decided initially itself that I would only speak to a crowd of over 100000 I would never have become a preacher. I had to build up the talent, which God had given me, step by step.
The third way to become a charismatic leader is to ACT.
The importance of action has been stressed in the Bible at many points. When the Israelites were fleeing Egypt, they found to their horror that the Egyptian armies were following them to re-capture them. The terrified Israelites angrily asked Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt?” The Israelites did not know where to turn. With the sea in front and the Egyptian army at the back, they panicked. They threatened to kill Moses. In despair, Moses prayed to the Lord. Exodus 14:15 records God’s reply, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward.” The Israelites thought that God was instructing them to jump into the sea and die rather than at the hands of the Egyptian army. When the Israelites obeyed Moses and jumped into the water, they found the waters dividing in front of them and forming a path for them to walk. If they had stayed behind and not obeyed God, they would surely have been crushed by the Egyptian army.
One should have an action-oriented life. Trust in the Lord. Move on with courage that the Lord will deliver you. At times of crises, it is not enough to meditate and pray but to move forward and act. During my association with Wurmbrand, I was witness to several incidents that displayed the importance of action. I shall relate one such incident. Wurmbrand wanted to visit the Gospel-forbidden nation of Saudi Arabia and have fellowship with the underground Christians. However, being a Pastor and a Jew, he was refused entry into the country. We tried to get him a Visa thrice, but failed. One day, while in Bahrain, I received a phone call, from the Indian ambassador inviting us to coffee. It so happened that he had a Romanian wife. I mentioned to them about Wurmbrand’s great wish to visit Saudi Arabia. The Ambassador’s wife immediatelyrequested her husband to sanction his visa. This was indeed a miracle which would have been possible if we had not persevered in our efforts to get a visa.
Once he got the visa, Wurmbrand and I traveled together throughout the country, visiting and praying in underground churches. On the last day, when we reached the airport, we found ourselves surrounded by tight police security. My heart was thudding as we waited nervously at the terminal. Here I met a Malayalee man who was part of the security. I asked him what this heavy police security was all about. He said that the Governor of Saudi Arabia, perceiving a threat to us, had sent the security for us. I was stunned. Then the man related the story of how the Governor’s 17 year old paralyzed daughter was healed through prayer. The story ran thus: A Sri Lankan evangelist was arrested and put behind bars. In court, the magistrate told him that if he could heal three people - a blind, a cripple and a dumb person then the court would release him. Otherwise he would be given the death penalty. The evangelist cried out to the Lord for help and miraculously, the three disabled people were healed. Hearing of this miracle, the Governor asked that the evangelist be brought to his house to heal his daughter. The released evangelist, along with a few other Christians went to the Governor’s house and prayed for his daughter. And the girl was healed. From then on, the Governor was a changed man. When he heard that Wurmbrand was visiting Saudi Arabia, he arranged for security so that we would not be harmed. And we did not even realize that God’s hand had worked so miraculously to give us protection.
When we act, despite our fears, God will deliver us. Your risk is your faith and your faith is risk. Problems will surround you; temptations will befall you but do not be stopped by them. Persevere, move forward, be a leader for Christ and you will be blessed by the Grace of God.
By: Dr. P.P. Job
Editor, Tortured For Christ, News Magazine in several languages of the world.
You can contact the Author at: jjob@pobox.com
