Dr. Clinton’s Phases of Leadership are:

1. Sovereign Foundations (loosely speaking, childhood)

2. Inner-Life Growth (20s)

3. Ministry Maturing (30s)

4. Life Maturing (40s)

5. Convergence (50s)

6.  Afterglow (late in life)

1 Samuel 3

The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli.  In those days the word of the LORD was rare;  there were not many visions.  One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place.  The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the LORD, where the ark of God was.  Then the LORD called Samuel.  Samuel answered, “Here I am.”   And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”  So he went and lay down.  Again the LORD called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “My son, Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down. Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD:  The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.  A third time the LORD called “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”  Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy.  So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.” ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.  The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel, Samuel!”  Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” And the LORD said to Samuel: “See,, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle.  At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family– from beginning to end.  For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons blasphemed God, and he faled to restrain them.  Therefore I swore to the house of Eli, The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.  Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the LORD.  He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.” Samuel answered, “Here I am.” “What was it he said to you?: Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me.  May God deal with yiu, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything he told you.”  So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him.  Then Eli said, “He is the LORD; let him do what is good in his eyes.”  The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground.  And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the LORD.  The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.

1 Samuel 16:1

The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem.  I have Chosen one of his sons to be King.”

Ministry of Maturing (loosely speaking, in one’s 30s)

• Ministry becoms a major focus of life
• While there may be increasing frutfulness, the prmary aim is still increasing the leader’s capacity to lead
• The first major taks of this phase: expanding and honing ministry skill and spiritual gifts:
• Actual responsibility motivates us to develop gifts and skills
• Experimentation with spiritual gifts
• Greater responsibility comes with faithfully and effectively meeting ministry callenges
• The second major task of this phase: learning to work well with people.
• Submitting to authority
• Wearing authority well
• Navigating conflict with maturity.
•  Responding well to leadership backlash
• Temptation of this phase: hyper-sensitivity to productivity
• A danger of this phase: a tendency to plateau

Questions to consider:

• Are there ways in which ministry is a major focus of your life? How’s it going?
•  What have you learned about responding to and assuming authority?
• What have you learned about working through conflicts?