The Real Leadership Crisis

There’s a leadership crisis in the Church today and it’s not burnout, strategy, or lack of gifting. It’s the absence of deep-rooted identity and love. God is moving powerfully across the earth right now, not just to mobilize leaders, but to baptize them afresh in love and belonging. This revival isn’t just about power; it’s about coming home.

Before we lead, we must belong. Before we build, we must be held. God is restoring His Church by calling us back to the foundation of Sonship. We are not first apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, or evangelists. We are first and always beloved sons and daughters.

Ephesians 4:1–16 reminds us that Jesus, after His ascension, gave gifts to His Church; expressions of His own ministry. But these gifts were never meant to function apart from intimacy. Jesus operated in the fullness of the fivefold because He was secure in the Father’s love. And if we want to lead like Him, we must live like Him: from love, not for it.

To recover healthy leadership, we must return to the life and posture of Jesus.

Jesus Led From Perfect Union, Not Hustle

When Jesus began His public ministry, His foundation was not His miracles, His wisdom, or even His teaching. His foundation was His identity as the beloved Son.

In Luke 3:22, at His baptism, the heavens opened, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove, and the Father’s voice declared, "You are My beloved Son, in You I am well pleased." Before Jesus had performed a single miracle, preached a single sermon, or gathered a single follower, the Father affirmed Him with unconditional love and approval.

Throughout His life, Jesus maintained perfect oneness with the Father. In John 17:20–23, Jesus prayed that His followers would experience the same unity that He had with the Father. A deep abiding oneness that would become the greatest witness to the world of God’s love.

Jesus’ ministry was not independent or self-initiated. As He declared in John 5:19–20, He only did what He saw the Father doing. Everything He said and did flowed from intimacy and complete dependence on the Father’s love.

Jesus was also filled with the fullness of the Holy Spirit without measure (John 3:34). Isaiah 11:2 describes the dimensions of the Spirit that rested upon Him: the Spirit of the Lord, wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. Jesus carried the complete expression of the Spirit’s power and character because He lived in perfect union with the Father.

Jesus, as the Beloved Son, walked in complete oneness with the Father, moving in perfect synergy with the Holy Spirit. From this place of divine identity, He manifested the Kingdom on earth. His ministry was not based on striving or performance but flowed from Sonship and union with God.

When He ascended, Jesus imparted the fivefold leadership gifts as an extension of Himself through the Holy Spirit. These gifts were never meant to operate independently of our identity in Sonship and oneness with the Father. When the fivefold ministry functions from any identity other than Sonship, those gifts become distorted and fall short of their true purpose. Only when rooted in Sonship and divine belonging can the fivefold ministry fully represent Jesus, effectively equip the saints and reveal the Kingdom as Jesus intended.

Remember Who You Are

As leaders, before we think about what we are called to do, we must be firmly anchored in who we are. The Scriptures are clear about our true identity, and it is from this foundation that all healthy leadership flows.

You are a beloved child of God. Not just tolerated, deeply loved. 1 John 3:1 declares it without apology: “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are.” Our primary identity is not found in our title, ministry, or achievements, but in being deeply loved sons and daughters of the Father.

You are a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17 The old life, with its fears, failures, and striving, has been put away, and a brand-new life has begun. We no longer lead from our past; we lead from our redeemed identity.

You are members of a royal priesthood. 1 Peter 2:9 tells us we are God’s chosen people, royal priests, a holy nation, His personal possession. We weren’t set apart to build our own platforms or promote our names. We were chosen to carry His presence, declare His goodness, and lead others out of darkness into His marvellous light.

Finally, we are seated with Christ in heavenly places. Ephesians 2:6 declares that God has raised us up and seated us with Jesus in the heavenly realms. This isn’t poetic language it’s a spiritual reality. Our authority, our clarity, and our strength flow from this ascended position. We don’t lead trying to gain victory; we lead from the victory that’s already been won.

Striving Is a Sign You Forgot Who You Are

The world is desperate to see leaders who are secure in the Father's love. Leaders who reflect Jesus because they live in deep union with Him. As Jesus prayed in John 17, it is our oneness with the Father and one another that reveals His reality to a watching world.

If we lose sight of our identity and begin to lead for approval rather than from approval, we risk distorting the very gifts Jesus entrusted to His Church. 

God is calling us deeper. To lead from the place of love and belonging, where our actions are not a performance but an overflow of union with Him. As we lead from this deep well of identity and relationship, we will raise healthy sons and daughters, build up the Body of Christ, and reveal the Kingdom on earth, just as Jesus intended.

So today, we exhort you:

• Check-in with your heart - 'where am I leading from?'

• Meditate on His goodness. Anchor yourself again in the truth that you belong to Him.

• Let every act of leadership flow from the unshakable security of being a beloved child of God.

This is how revival will last. This is how the Church will be built strong. This is how the Kingdom will come, through healthy leaders who know who they are, whose hearts burn with the love of the Father, and who lead others into the same glorious belonging.

Prayer and Refection

Father, today I receive afresh the revelation truth that I am Your beloved child. I belong to You and within the Body of Christ I have a place. Baptize me afresh in Your love and sense of belonging. Let all striving fall away, and let a fresh sense of security and belonging rise in me. May I lead from union with You, carrying Your heart to the people You've called me to serve. I say yes to Your revival of love in my life.