The Conviction to Lead
Session One
October 1, 2015
Michael F. Ross
Introduction: The Conviction to Lead: Principles For Leadership That Matters, by Albert Mohler
1. The hunger for leadership seen across our land: government, business, education, cultural
institutions, and the Church.
2. Management is not leadership.
3. Administration is not leadership.
4. Two kinds of people; two types of church officers:
a) The Believers: committed to their beliefs but often not able to lead. The principled person.
b) The Leaders: passionate about leadership but usually uncertain about or disinterested in
belief and convictions. The pragmatic person.
5. We said believers who are leaders and leaders who believe.
6. Two things are necessary: beliefs and convictional intelligence.
I.
THE ESSENTIAL PLACE OF BELIEFS
1. Al Mohler writes this: (p. 21):
The command to believe is central to the Bible. Christianity is founded upon certain nonnegotiable
truths, and these truths, once known, are translated into beliefs. The beliefs that anchor our faith
are those to which we are most passionately and personally committed, and these are our
convictions. We do not believe in belief any more than we have faith in faith. We believe the
gospel, and we have faith in Christ. Our beliefs have substance and our faith has an object.
Put simply, a conviction is a belief of which we are thoroughly convinced. I don’t mean that we are
merely persuaded that something is true, but rather that we are convinced this truth is essential
and life changing. We live out of this truth and are willing to die for it.
The Bible underlines the fact that conviction is absolutely central to the faithful Christian life.
2. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the
people of old received their commendation. (Hebrews 11:1, 2)
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe
that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)
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3. There are some things we must believe, even before we believe that God saves sinners, before we
believe in Christ.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
The Greatness of God
The Dignity of Man
The Horror of Sin
The Wonder of Grace
The Reality of Spiritual Warfare
The Cause of Truth
The Preeminence of Christ
The Indispensability of the Holy Spirit
The Power of a Holy Love
The Glory of the Church
4. The loss of these Ten Convictions has been the undoing of the Church in America.
5. The strength of our Christian convictions will determine:
a) Our level of moral courage
b) The transformational nature of our faith
c) The power behind our leadership
6. A Conviction: Something we know to be so true and so essential that we are willing to live for this,
lead with this, and die for this conviction.
7. Good and godly leaders hold convictions; bad and destructive leaders merely want to hold office.
8. Christian beliefs lead to Christian convictions. And these convictions are arrived at only by being
deeply invested in Christian truth.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
The Apostle’s Creed (Nicene Creed)
The Ten Commandments
The Lord’s Prayer
Baptism and Church Membership (conversion)
The Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechism
The Book of Church Order
The Vows of Marriage, Church Membership, Ordination
9. Mohler: “We cannot faithfully lead if we do not first faithfully believe.” (p. 27)
II.
THE NECESSITY OF CONVICTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
1. Good leadership demands intelligence at multiple levels of our lives: Intelligence (IQ), relational
intelligence, social skills, emotional intelligence (EQ), empathy and compassion, ethical and moral
intelligence, and self-awareness and regulation.
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2. Al Mohler comments on this: (p. 31)
Leaders without emotional intelligence cannot lead effectively because they cannot connect with
the people they are trying to lead. Leaders lacking ethical intelligence will lead their people into a
catastrophe. But leaders without convictional intelligence will fail to lead faithfully, and that is the
disaster for Christian leaders.
3. Convictional Intelligence: “The product of learning the Christian faith, diving deeply into biblical
truth, and discovering how to think like a Christian and a leader. The Christian faith is heavily
invested in knowledge and specifically the knowledge that is revealed in the Bible”. (p. 31)
4. A Christian leader will be a lifelong learner, a devoted student, and an avid reader:
a) The Bible
b) Theology
c) Church History
d) Christian Biographies
e) Ministry and Missions
f) Ethics and Culture
g) Philosophy and Apologetics
5. Convictional Intelligence is built upon three pillars:
a) Convictional Habits (e.g. Sabbath keeping)
b) Intellectual Reflexes (Biblical reactions)
c) Spiritual Intuitions (Biblically – informed assumptions) doing what you know is right even if
you cannot give an intellectual argument for your actions.
6. Convictional Intelligence comes from the ordinary means of grace –
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
The Word of God: sermons, reading, study
Prayer: personal, family, corporate
The Sacraments: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
Fellowship and Christian Friends
Worship on the Lord’s Day
Sabbath – keeping
Devotional life, Christian books, meditations, etc.
7. A Christian Leader will develop a list of Principles by Which to Live – and will be guided by them
through life.
Conclusion: Find attached a list of 15 Principles by Which to Live, as an example of Convictional
Leadership.
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