As this new platform has come to life, the number one question people have asked me about it is this: ‘What is spiritual intelligence?’
I remember the first time I heard the phrase ‘Football IQ’. I was watching a game and the announcers were talking about a particular player who played the game on a completely different level than most of the other players on the field. What set him apart was the fact that he wasn’t just good at his position, but that he saw the entire field, the entire game, and understood all the different aspects that were in play all at the same time. He had a full grasp of not only his team’s strategy, but the strategy of the opposing team as well. He knew each players strengths and weaknesses, and what all of their responsibilities were. He understood the playing conditions on the field, the affects of the weather, field position, down and distance, and how much time was on the clock. In essence, he wasn’t just playing in the game, but was playing above it, and his perspective, his intelligence, exponentially increased his effectiveness towards winning the game and his team ultimately being crowned the champions at the end of the season. Simply put, having a player like that on the team was a game-changer.
As Christ-followers, we are ALL called to be ‘game-changers’, to operate on an entirely different level. Only this is not a game. In fact the bible calls it a war! People’s lives, their eternal souls, hang in the balance. We are spiritual beings, and as Christ-followers, we are instructed not to operate as the world does, but to be different in every aspect. The bible is full of verses talking about this in various ways (I’ve listed several at the end of this post for your reference), but for now we’ll focus on 4 particular passages.
The first is John 17:6-19. This passage is Jesus praying for his disciples and he repeats over and over in various ways that ‘they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.’ (vs. 14) In Colossians 3:2 it says ‘Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.’ In Ephesians 6:12 it says ‘For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.’ And then in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, ‘For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.’
Simply put, spiritual intelligence is the ability to see, perceive, appreciate, understand and operate on a spiritual level beyond the physical world we live in.
This post is an introduction to the concept, a simple definition. There will be much more to come to unpack the ‘how to’. None of us are or will ever be perfect at this, especially me. But God gives us every thing we need to learn, to grow, to be powerful and effective.
Operating with spiritual intelligence, under the full authority of the Father, will be a game-changer for you, your faith, your family, and your future.
John 15:19, Romans 12:2, John 18:36, 1 John 2:15, John 17:14, John 8:23, 1 John 2:15-17, Colossians 2:8, 1 John 4:4-5