Tuning In
Cultivating Spiritual Bandwidth in a Noisy World
Leadership in our time doesn’t suffer from a lack of input. It suffers from a lack of attunement.
It is easy to be overwhelmed with soundbites, strategy, social media, and survival instincts. And in the middle of that internal storm, we’re expected to be wise, faithful, and somehow calm.
But Christian leadership, at its core, isn’t about managing the noise. It’s about noticing the Presence.
In a Futuring Church, leaders resist the urge to react from anxiety or control. Instead, they tune into the quieter, deeper voice that guides with peace, not panic. This attentiveness isn’t just a helpful leadership skill, it’s a spiritual habit that distinguishes Christian leadership from every other leadership model.
The Noise We Navigate
Most church leaders don’t struggle with knowing there’s a lot to do. We struggle with knowing what to tune into. Congregational needs, sound business practices, genuine ministry opportunities, denominational pressures, legitimate community needs, politics, societal shifts, social justice, deferred maintenance, growing healthy and faithful leadership, and inner critics… all demand our attention. Left unfiltered, this noise consumes our capacity to hear the still, small voice of God.
Spiritual attentiveness requires tuning out the distractions and tuning in to God’s presence. This isn’t about becoming passive. It’s about prioritizing presence over productivity. And it’s rooted in trust that the Spirit is already at work around us, beckoning us to orient ourselves with the Spirit before we lead.
When we let go of anxious striving, we make room for the peace of God, which “will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7, NLT).
Theology of Attunement
Open and Relational Theology reminds us that God is not coercive, but lovingly relational. God doesn’t hand out blueprints; God invites ongoing participation. Divine love is always moving toward healing, beauty, and freedom, and in ways that involve real cooperation.
That means our job as leaders isn’t to download a divine strategy, but to notice where the Spirit is already stirring. Attentiveness, then, becomes a form of faithful participation. To notice is to join.
Examen as a Leadership Habit
Ignatian spirituality offers a daily practice to help tune our spiritual frequency: the Examen. It’s a way of reviewing our day through the lens of God’s presence, rather than our productivity.
For leaders, this practice can become a powerful tool of discernment. In fact, many Wesleyan leaders have long found resonance with its core movements: reflect, confess, give thanks, and commit.
Here’s a simplified version of the Examen adapted for leadership:
Where did I feel a tug toward hope, joy, or peace today?
Where did I feel a tug away from those things?
Where did we (as a team or congregation) experience that same movement?
What does that tell me about what God might be inviting us toward?
This reflective rhythm increases our spiritual bandwidth. It trains our teams to pay attention not just to outcomes, but to movements of the Spirit.
Attuning is Futuring
In Futures Thinking, leaders are trained to look for “weak signals” - faint patterns on the margins that could indicate where the world is headed. Futuring leaders learn to scan the environment for possibility, not just probability.
This pairs beautifully with discernment. What if that quiet nudge you keep feeling, or that person you can’t stop thinking about, is a signal of what God is preparing? What if prayer isn’t just about peace, but perception?
A Futuring Church mindset invites us to listen for possibility before we pursue predictability. We don’t just build based on what’s likely to work, we tune in to what the Spirit is stirring.
A Practice for the Journey for Leadership Teams:
Choose one meeting this week to end with an adapted Examen. Ask your team:
Where did we sense a pull toward or away from hope, peace, or joy this week?
What conversations, decisions, or dynamics seem worth revisiting in prayer?
What might the Spirit be revealing to us?
Close with a moment of silence and this breath prayer:
Inhale: Tune my heart...
Exhale: ...to Your voice.
Let your bandwidth be reclaimed by Spirit-led attention. Let your leadership be marked not by how much you can hold, but by how deeply you can refine your attention to tune into the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Amen. Make it so.