J. Oswald Sanders > Quotes

“If a man is known by the company he keeps, so also his character is reflected in the books he reads.”
― J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership: Principles of Excellence for Every Believer

“True greatness, true leadership, is achieved not by reducing men to one's service but in giving oneself in selfless service to them.”
― J.Oswald Sanders

“We should always aim to read something different=not only the writers with whom we agree, but those with whom we are ready to do battle. Their point of view challenges us to examine the truth and to test their views...and let us not comment on nor criticize writers of whom we have heard only second-hand, or third-hand without troubling to read their works for ourselves...Don't be afraid of new ideas.”
― J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership

“The person who sees the difficulties so clearly that he does not discern the possibilities cannot inspire a vision in others.”
― J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership

“Often the crowd does not recognize a leader until he has gone, and then they build a monument for him with the stones they threw at him in life.”
― J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership

“If a Christian is not willing to rise early and work late, to expend greater effort in diligent study and faithful work, that person will not change a generation. Fatigue is the price of leadership. Mediocrity is the result of never getting tired.”
― J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership: A Commitment to Excellence for Every Believer

“If Jesus is not God, then there is no Christianity, and we who worship Him are nothing more than idolaters. Conversely, if He is God, those who say He was merely a good man, or even the best of men, are blasphemers. More serious still, if He is not God, then He is a blasphemer in the fullest sense of the word. If He is not God, He is not even good.”
― J. Oswald Sanders, The Incomparable Christ: The Person and Work of Jesus Christ

“Leaders who want to show sensitivity should listen often and long and talk short and seldom. Many so-called leaders are too busy to listen. True leaders know that time spent listening is well invested.”
― J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership

“God has His own training methods, and it is usually true that His way up first leads down, for the mountain is only as high as the valley is deep.”
― J. Oswald Sanders

“Not every man can carry a full cup. Sudden elevation frequently leads to pride and a fall. The most exacting test of all to survive is prosperity.”
― J. Oswald Sanders

“Sacrifice is the ecstasy of giving the best we have to the One we love most.”
― J. Oswald Sanders

“Our sense of humor is a gift from God that should be controlled as well as cultivated. Clean, wholesome humor will relax tension and relieve difficult situations. Leaders can use it to displace tension with a sense of normal.”
― J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership

“The spiritual leader will not procrastinate when faced with a decision, nor vacillate after making it. A sincere but faulty decision is better than weak-willed "trial balloons" or indecisive overtures. To postpone decision is really to decide for the status quo. In most decisions the key element is not so much knowing what to do but in living with the results.”
― J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership

“If done "as God wants.' then leadership will surely include intercessory prayer. The saintly Bishop Azariah of India once remarked to Bishop Stephen Neill that he found time to pray daily, by name, for every leader in his extensive diocese. Little wonder that during his thirty years of eldering there, the diocese tripled its membership and greatly increase in spiritual effectiveness”
― J. Oswald Sanders

“Leaders must draw the best out of people, and friendship does that far better than prolonged argument or mere logic.”
― J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership: A Commitment to Excellence for Every Believer

“The secular mind and heart, however gifted and personally charming, has no place in the leadership of the church.”
― J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership: A Commitment to Excellence for Every Believer

“When Jesus received the vinegar, He said, IT IS FINISHED. 'At these words,' said F.W. Krummacher, 'you hear fetters burst and prison walls falling down, barriers as high as heaven are overthrown, and gates which had been closed for thousands of years again move on their hinges.'
The three English words, 'it is finished', are the equivalent of a single Greek word, tetelestai.
In his charming way, F.W. Borham points out that it was a farmer's word. When there was born into his herd an animal so shapely that it seemed destitute of defects, the farmer, gazing on the creature with delighted eyes exclaimed 'Tetelestai'. It was an artist's word. When the painter had put the finishing touches to the vivid landscape, he would stand back and admire his masterpiece. Seeing that nothing called for correction or improvement he would murmur, 'tetelestai'.
It was a priestly word. When some devout worshiper overflowing with gratitude for mercies received brought to the Temple a lamb without blemish, the pride of the flock, the priest, more accustomed to seeing blind and defective animals led to the altar, would look admiringly at the pretty creature and say, 'tetelestai'.”
― J. Oswald Sanders, The Incomparable Christ: The Person and Work of Jesus Christ

“Courageous leaders face unpleasant and even devastating situations with equanimity, then act firmly to bring good from trouble, even if their action is unpopular. Leadership always faces natural human inertia and opposition. But courage follows through with a task until it is done.”
― J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership

“One reason why people are unable to understand great Christian classics is that they are trying to understand without any intention of obeying them.”
― J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership: A Commitment to Excellence for Every Believer

“A leader is a person who has learned to obey a discipline imposed from without, and has then taken on a more rigorous discipline from within. Those who rebel against authority and scorn self-discipline -- who shirk the rigors and turn from the sacrifices -- do not qualify to lead.”
― J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership

“When all the facts are in, swift and clear decision is another mark of a true leader. A visionary may see, but a leader must decide. An impulsive person may be quick to declare a preference; but a leader must weigh evidence and make his decision on sound premises.”
― J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership

“David made no attempt to clothe his prayer (Psalm 51) with flowing rhetoric, for it is simply a series of brokenhearted sobs. He pleaded no extenuating circumstances and attempted no self-vindication. The magnitude of his sin is not toned down, but is freely acknowledged. Hear the broken sobs, expressed in vivid verbs: Have mercy! Cleanse! Blot out! Wash! Purge! Hide Your face from my sins! Create! Do not cast! Renew! Restore! Save! Open my lips!
Here is true confession, free from all sham and insincerity. Examine it in detail.”
― J. Oswald Sanders

“I have seen the face of Jesus,      Tell me not of aught beside, I have heard the voice of Jesus,      All my soul is satisfied. All around is earthly splendour      Earthly scenes lie fair and bright. But mine eyes no longer see them,      For the glory of that light. Light that knows no cloud, no waning,      Light wherein I see His face, All His love’s uncounted treasures,      All the riches of His grace.”
― J. Oswald Sanders, The Incomparable Christ

“James and John wanted the glory, but not the cup of shame; the crown, but not the cross; the role of master, but not servant.”
― J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership: A Commitment to Excellence for Every Believer

“True leaders know that time spent listening is well invested.”
― J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership: A Commitment to Excellence for Every Believer

“A natural leader by any measure, Paul became a great spiritual leader when his heart and mind were captured by Jesus Christ.”
― J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership

“No leader lives a day without criticism, and humility will never be more on trial than when criticism comes.”
― J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership: A Commitment to Excellence for Every Believer

“[The Apostle] Paul's prayer for the Christians at Colosse should always be on our lips: That "God fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding" (Colossians 1:9).”
― J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership

“The person who is impatient with weakness will be ineffective in his leadership. The evidence of our strength lies not in the distance that separates us from other runners but in our closure with them, our slower pace for their sakes, our helping them pick it up and cross the line.”
― J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership

“(Exodus 4:14). Let us not pass the buck of leadership because we think ourselves incapable.”
― J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership / Spiritual Discipleship / Spiritual Maturity