Spiritual Leadership at the Pace of Love

I recently ran some training, and I used a specific analogy of a tire tread to illustrate how we need to slow down and live at the speed of love. If we live at the speed of love, then our life ('tire tread') will leave a mark on others we encounter (the tire tread mark that is left behind).

I thought this was about as good an analogy that I could come up with...but a car lover who was there that day took it to a whole new level!

He explained how the amount of imprint that the tread of a tire leaves is related to the speed the tire is travelling, and the slower it moves, the more significant and clear the mark that is left. To the point that if the tire almost stops, there is a perfect imprint of the tire left behind!

I wonder...what imprint is your life leaving on others?

As we touch on this idea of Spiritual Leadership at the pace of Love, I want to invite you to consider what living at the pace of love may look like in your life. Regardless of whether you're a leader or perhaps you don't see yourself that way...

What could it look like for you?

To help us explore a little of this, below is the introduction to our leadership module for Formation, Level 1. For this module, the core text is John Mark Comer's book, 'Practicing the Way'. If you have never read it, I would highly recommend you do...or even better, sign up for our leadership competency modules, and start the journey with a few others as a learning community.

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In a previous book by John Mark Comer (The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry), he unpacks the pace, or as he puts it, the ‘hurry’ at which we and our society now live our lives. One of the beautiful thoughts I am constantly brought back to in regards to this is that we are called to live at the pace of love…and love does not hurry!

Yet, in our fast-paced culture, following Jesus can feel like a sprint rather than a lifelong journey. Our core text invites us to slow down, learn from an ancient apprenticeship model, and submit daily to the process of becoming like Christ.

This is nothing new; it has been the constant call of some throughout history, yet unfortunately also practised by few.

So, to get us started, and excited, I thought it may be nice to briefly unpack Comer’s key insights and some of the practical steps he offers us to help us embrace formation, or a way of apprenticeship, over performance.

I often find it interesting how regularly we use terms or words that seem so straightforward in Christian circles, and yet, over time, we have either forgotten the true meaning of the word…or perhaps we have just completely changed the meaning of the word altogether.

If you are interested in some examples of this, here’s a blog I wrote some time ago touching on this exact example. (HERE)

For Comer, he points us back to the first century, where a rabbi’s disciples lived, worked, and learned alongside their teacher. The immersive approach stands in stark contrast to our consumer-driven faith today, where quick fixes, silver bullet solutions and information overload dominate.

For Comer, the idea of an apprenticeship helps us to better understand the idea of being a disciple of Jesus. It asks us to trade head knowledge for embodied practice, inviting transformation at every level of our being – heart, soul, mind, and strength.

In an apprenticeship, you don’t just attend a lecture, as so many of us do today (in fact, you could argue that our typical Sunday services are centred around a similar style…lecture); you absorb rhythms, ask questions, and wrestle with failure under the guidance of someone who embodies the way of Jesus.

For us, adopting this posture cultivates humility, dependence, and a willingness to be shaped by the Spirit rather than our own agendas.

With this in mind, Comer outlines a simple yet insightful and clear trajectory for our growth:

1. Be with Jesus

2. Become like Jesus

3. Do as Jesus did

Each step builds on the one before. We start by carving out space to be present with Christ—through solitude, prayer, and Scripture. These are commonly known as spiritual disciplines, some prefer the term spiritual practices, and still others call it other things altogether…the point is that they are referring to the same ideas and group of things.

Over time, those encounters reshape our desires and priorities, enabling us to act with Jesus’s compassion and courage in our communities.

This path isn’t a quick checklist but an invitation into an ever-deepening relationship. As you grow in each stage, you’ll find your leadership grounded less in strategy and more in the substance of Christ’s character.

This is not to say that strategy is bad; it is crucial…but without first becoming what you want to multiply, you will end up multiplying fruit that neither you nor the Father wish to see.

To anchor these practices, Comer recommends creating a Rule of Life—a curated set of daily and weekly rhythms that shape your faith and leadership.

It is simply trying to put into practice specific rhythms and habits in your everyday life that will help this process.

Your Rule might include:

• Sabbath rest and unplugging from technology

• Daily solitude for prayer and reflection

• Scripture engagement through reading or lectio divina

• Regular fasting to heighten spiritual sensitivity

• Service and generosity as expressions of Christ’s love

• Accountability and encouragement within a community of peers

Design your Rule so it stretches you without burning you out.

Schedule your rhythms where they naturally fit—morning prayer before work, a midweek fast from social media, a monthly retreat with a mentor.

And then, review and adjust quarterly (or at a rhythm that works for you) to keep your formation dynamic and responsive to your season of life.

But let’s be honest, this is easier said than done!! In this fast-paced world, the invitation is to slow down, or as Comer would say (as would others),

‘eliminate hurry from your life’!

Our culture prizes speed, convenience, and personal comfort, but spiritual formation often calls us in the opposite direction. Comer urges us to adopt counter-cultural habits that foster dependence on the Spirit.

For us today, perhaps we could be considering practical shifts like these:

• Swap your morning news binge for a ten-minute silence before God.

• Replace mindless scrolling with Scripture memorisation or journaling.

• Ambush your calendar with weekly blocks labelled “Sabbath” or “Soul Care.”

• Choose generosity over self-preservation by sacrificially giving time, resources, or attention.

Each habit creates tension with the status quo—just the kind of tension that forges character.

This tension will be uncomfortable…in fact, it will continue to draw you back and distract you from becoming more like Christ (this is what the ‘world’ does best if we allow it), but at the heart of submission lies the daily decision to take up our cross.

Comer reframes the cross as our posture of freedom under Christ’s lordship, not merely as suffering. Each morning, we surrender our control, preferences, and plans to the Shepherd who knows the way.

As you can imagine, for the large majority of us (and I count myself in that category!), this surrender is both simple and seismic. It can look like pausing before a tough conversation to ask,

 “What would Jesus say here?”

This reminds me of John 8: 1-11!

Have a quick read and you will get what I mean.

Or perhaps letting go of an outcome we’d been clinging to tightly.

This is particularly difficult for me as I like to have a vision, a strategy and a plan to achieve that outcome…holding it loosely enough to allow the Holy Spirit to guide me through it all is a constant practice that I have specific rhythms and habits to help me with.

Over time, these small acts of obedience compound, reshaping us into leaders who lead from the overflow of Christ’s love rather than from a reservoir of willpower.

So…

With this in mind, here are some of the things that we will be asking you to consider, have a go at, and actually implement into your life, throughout the course of this next week.

1. Identify Your Mentor or Community: Reach out to someone who models Christlike leadership. Commit to meeting monthly to discuss life rhythms and challenges.

2. Draft Your Rule of Life: Start with three practices—perhaps Sabbath, solitude, and Scripture. Plug them into your calendar for the next 30 days.

3. Embrace a Counter-Cultural Habit: Choose one habit that directly opposes your busyness or distraction. Make it non-negotiable for the coming month.

4. Practice Daily Surrender: Begin each day by whispering a one-sentence prayer of surrender: “Jesus, I trust You with today.” Let it guide your decisions from dawn to dusk.

If this is not you…then perhaps this blog is either the perfect thing for you to have read, or you should stop now!!!

However, if you do choose to continue…and I truly hope you will. By taking these steps, you display a willingness to submit to the process of becoming like Christ—a posture at the core of true leadership in any context.

Let’s be honest, transformation rarely happens overnight, but it’s forged in the crucible of consistent, Spirit-led practice. As you apprentice under Jesus, watch how your heart softens, your vision expands, and your leadership flows from the character of Christ.

My invitation to you is to commit to reorienting your life to that of an apprentice. To practice what used to be called ‘the way’ and to submit yourself to being transformed through the Holy Spirit, as you create space and practices for the Spirit to work through.

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If you would like some more information about how you can engage with the rest of this leadership competency module, contact us HERE, or start a partnership with us and your church or community, and journey with others as a learning community.

But, as you look into the week ahead, or perhaps the week that has just passed, I pray that you will pause long enough to reflect and prayerfully implement what the Holy Spirit has been highlighting to you through this blog.

As a way of commitment, I invite you to respond to the following questions.

Which of the following 4 practices will you commit to starting this week?

• Identify Your Mentor or Community
• Draft Your Rule of Life
• Embrace a Counter-Cultural Habit
• Practice Daily Surrender

This article was written and created by Andrew Hodgson © 2025.

Published by The Emerging Leaders Program, 2025.