Continuing our series on the stages of faith and spiritual development. The third stage is what I call the “success” stage. The believer senses God’s call to move from being a disciple to being a leader. They begin to teach others the things that they have learned. As people show a giftedness for spiritual leadership, they will often be pushed into it, even if they are not spiritually or emotionally ready. They more and more gain confidence in their ability to lead as they get the opportunity. It is the stage of spiritual production, where they are changing lives and accomplishing important spiritual tasks. Their followers grow in number, contributions rise, people applaud their efforts and they win awards. Leaders at this stage discover their spiritual gifts and assume roles in religious institutions that are effective and appreciated. Moses at the burning bush and Peter at the Sea of Galilee are biblical examples of individuals moving into stage three.

How do you recognize this stage in others or yourself? In this stage you feel as if you have “arrived.” There is a strong sense of making a difference in the lives of others. There is a lot of spiritual satisfaction, a sense of accomplishment that comes with spiritual success. Like stage two this is a stage where there is a high degree of confidence. You know you are doing good, and you know you are where you are supposed to be. A weakness at this stage is that it is the most resistant stage to mentoring. Stage three leaders don’t feel a need for mentoring. They are now experts who mentor others, but have little need to learn from others. They are at the top of the mountain, there are no further stages to climb. As far as most religious institutions are concerned, people at this stage have reached the top, this was the goal and it has now been achieved. If the stages of faith ended with stage three few would be surprised.

Such confidence, of course, leads to a number of points of concern about this stage. Although God is the focus of all spiritual ministry, there is a tendency for stage three leaders to serve God in their own strength, motivated by secular goals such as numbers, acclaim, awards and financial growth. They love achievement and recognition. Life sometimes feels like a performance, where all they do is for the benefit of those who are watching them. Stage three people are often hooked on perfection, they want to be the best; the best pastor in the conference, the best teacher in the school, the best leader in the church, the most successful evangelist. Stage three leaders love feeling busy, but that business is often a mask that covers inner anxieties and wounds. Where this is true, they will often be the last to know, as they do not go out of their way to seek genuine feedback. Stage three leaders can become weary and burned out, they can feel unappreciated and become resentful of it. Secretly they may resent the community they lead or even God for using them at the expense of what could have been an easier life. These are some of the dangers of spiritual success.

Most religious institutions are stuck at stage two or three. One reason is that the majority of all followers in a religious institution are relatively new and just beginning the journey themselves. A second reason is that religious institutions over time focus more and more on preservation of the institution rather than on the glory of God. Institutions crave and document all signs of success. But those successes are often measured in human terms more than God’s terms. Religious institutions can come to crave power and wealth as much as any individual, but find it even harder to repent than most individuals do! More on religious institutions in a later blog.

How can stage three leaders move forward? The first step is to surrender to the full control of God, as far as anyone is capable of that at this stage. This means a willingness to surrender one’s ego, one’s desires, even one’s leadership position so that God will be glorified rather than us. Stage three leaders need to recognize that God calls everyone to face the truth about themselves, to work on their distorted images of God, to gain recovery from childhood wounds, from unhealed past experiences and from the lack of forgiveness toward others who have hurt us. They need to practice personal spirituality; prayer, the study of sacred writings, the practice of spiritual disciplines and sharing with others what God has done in their lives. More than anything else, stage three leaders need to swallow their pride and seek out a mentor who is at stage four or above. High-level mentors are people who have faced the temptations of stage three and overcome. But finding such mentors will not be easy. If we look to those who have helped us in the past, we may find that they are inadequate guides for this part of the journey. People who have been through the success stage and moved on, people who have been trained to mentor others through these stages, are unique people and must be sought out. Whenever you find such a one, hang onto him or her, for that is a rare treasure.

In many ways stage three feels like the end of the spiritual journey, but it is not. In some ways the spiritual journey has only begun. It is around this point, usually between the ages of thirty and fifty, something stunning occurs in most people who are on the spiritual journey. It is the last thing that we would expect. It is usually an unwelcome guest. But more on that next time.