More Than A Feeling
When The Spirit Becomes The Strategy
More Than a Feeling: When the Spirit Becomes the Strategy
Every now and then, someone asks me if I’m charismatic. It’s not usually an accusation, just curiosity, since I mention the Holy Spirit frequently when I talk about leadership. What they’re really asking is whether I believe the Holy Spirit actually shapes what happens in the life of the church, or whether “Spirit-led” is just a polite way of saying we pray before the meeting.
My answer is simple: Yes, I do believe the Spirit still leads… and it changes everything!
And, what I mean by that might not be what people expect.
I’m not talking about ecstatic expressions or the visible signs often associated with charismatic worship. I’m grateful for traditions that have helped the wider church remember the Spirit’s power and presence. But what I’m describing is something quieter and steadier. It’s the conviction that God is tangibly and actively present in the ordinary work of leadership. That the Spirit’s energy can be felt when teams listen deeply, imagine courageously, and decide faithfully - together.
This isn’t about emotion or hype. It’s about faith that has become so real and so tangible, it starts to shape our processes, our posture, and our people.
When Faith Becomes Leadership
Here’s a hard truth: Leaders can’t lead with the Spirit unless they actually believe their faith. (You might want to read that again.)
Faith is not simply a belief system; it’s a worldview that assumes God is alive and involved. Futuring Church leaders trust that the Spirit is more than a metaphor for inspiration. The Spirit is the living presence of God’s creative love, still speaking, still guiding, still forming communities for good.
And for leaders, that conviction has to carry as much weight in decision-making as the data on our spreadsheets. Faith isn’t an add-on; it’s a source of wisdom and direction as real as any report or budget line. If that conviction doesn’t inform leadership, then faith gets pushed to the margins, and decision-making becomes little more than management. We end up with churches that are well-organized but spiritually hollow.
When leaders actually believe their faith, when they make decisions from an awareness that God is present and active right now, everything changes. Meetings become discernment. Agendas become altars. Visioning becomes worship.
That’s when the Spirit stops being an afterthought and starts becoming the strategy.
The Tangible Work of the Spirit
In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul wrote about the gifts the Spirit gives to us that form and power our faith and our community together. He acknowledges their influence and their source, reminding them (and us) that “A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.” (1 Corinthians 12:7, NLT)
That’s such a grounded statement. The gifts of the Spirit are not for private display or emotional experience alone, they’re for practical ministry. The Spirit energizes the body of Christ so that it functions as one living, moving, adaptive system.
That same Spirit equips leadership teams today with discernment, creativity, wisdom, and courage. When the Spirit is welcomed - not as a guest, but as the animating presence of every conversation - something begins to shift:
· Energy rises in the room.
· Unity feels natural, not forced.
· Decisions are rooted in hope rather than fear.
· And imagination expands beyond what seems possible.
· It’s tangible, noticeable, practical, and impactful. And you can feel it.
A Methodist Reminder
It might surprise some people to remember that the Pentecostal movement itself was born out of Methodism. Early Methodists were deeply experiential and expected the Holy Spirit to move. Wesley wrote about the “witness of the Spirit” as the inner assurance of God’s presence and grace.
That same expectation - that God is personally and presently involved - runs through our Methodist DNA. The Futuring Church isn’t inventing something new; it’s remembering and reclaiming something ancient. Prioritizing Spirit-centered leadership is just a modern expression of Wesley’s conviction that “the best of all is, God is with us.” This heritage also gives today’s leaders permission to experiment, innovate, and risk Spirit-led creativity. Just as Wesley’s movement adapted to meet the needs of its time, modern Methodists can trust that faithful experimentation is part of honoring the Spirit’s ongoing work, bridging our historic theology with the living practice of leadership today.
What It Looks Like in Practice
This isn’t theoretical for us in the leadership culture of the local church that I lead. Our Church Council recently spent time reflecting on what happens when we intentionally pause to ask, “Where have we sensed the Spirit at work among us lately?”
The conversation that followed wasn’t abstract. It was full of energy, stories, gratitude, and renewed vision. We didn’t throw away our agenda; we simply made space for the Spirit to inform it. And that one small shift changed the room.
The Spirit’s presence doesn’t replace good administration; it animates it. It brings warmth to structure and purpose to process. It moves leadership from obligation to participation in something alive. When the Spirit becomes part of the DNA of how a team leads, the results aren’t just measurable - they’re meaningful.
A Leadership Practice: The Spirit Pulse Check
To help leadership teams pay attention to this dynamic, try this simple rhythm once a month:
1. Name the Movement – Where have we sensed the Spirit’s energy, unity, or clarity in our recent work?
2. Name the Resistance – Where have we felt frustration, confusion, or fatigue?
3. Discern the Invitation – Where do we sense the Spirit shaping our direction or decisions? What action, attitude, or adjustment seems to be emerging as we listen?
Write down a few sentences each time. Over months, you’ll begin to notice patterns. Making it a part of your regular gathering expectations will begin to reveal signs of a living, guiding Presence shaping your leadership in real time. You look at reports and spreadsheets every time—why shouldn’t you also look at how the Spirit is actively shaping and forming you?
A Tangible Faith
Spirit-centered leadership is not less practical… It’s more alive. It’s what happens when teams take their theology seriously enough to practice it.
When leaders expect the Spirit to show up, they start leading differently. They plan carefully but pray constantly. They ask harder questions and carry lighter burdens. They don’t stop measuring outcomes - they just measure different ones: joy, trust, hope, and renewal.
The work still requires strategy, but now the strategy breathes.
Breath Prayer
Inhale: Spirit of life… Exhale: …make us alive in You.
Sources
1 Corinthians 12:7 (NLT)
John Wesley, Sermon 10: The Witness of the Spirit
Rev Dr. Rob Hutchinson, The Futuring Church
Thomas Jay Oord, The Uncontrolling Love of God
Gil Rendle, Quietly Courageous