Nouwen's In the Name of Jesus

When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, the three temptations he faced were...

The temptation to be relevant (to turn stones into bread)
The temptation to be spectacular ("Throw yourself from the parapet of the temple and let the angels catch you and carry you in their arms" ...the temptation to prove himself; to demonstrate that he had something worthwhile to say [to prove that he was somebody]).
The temptation to be powerful ("I will give you all the kingdoms of this world in their splendor...")

The Christian leader faces the same three temptations. In response to the first temptation, Nouwen suggests...

"The question is not: How many people take you seriously? How much are you going to accomplish? Can you show some results? But: Are you in love with Jesus?"If there is any focus that the Christian leader of the future will need, it is the discipline of dwelling in the presence of the One who keeps asking us, 'Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?'"
In response to the second temptation (to be spectacular), he suggests...

"When you look at today's church, it is easy to see the prevalence of individualism among ministers and priests. Not too many of us have a vast repertoire of skills to be proud of, but most of us still feel that, if we have anything at all to show, it is something we have to do solo."
"Somehow we have come to believe that good leadership requires a safe distance from those we are called to lead... But how can we lay down our life for those with whom we are not even allowed to enter into a deep personal relationship? Laying down your life means making your own faith and doubt, hope and despair, joy and sadness, courage and fear available to others as ways of getting in touch with the Lord of life."
"The mystery of ministry is that we have been chosen to make our own limited and very conditional love the gateway for the unlimited and unconditional love of God."
"Confession and forgiveness are precisely the disciplines by which spiritualization and carnality can be avoided and true incarnation lived. Through confession, the dark powers are taken out of their carnal isolation, brought into the light, and made visible to the community. Through forgiveness, they are disarmed and dispelled and a new integration between body and spirit is made possible."Finally, in response to the third temptation (to be powerful), Nouwen suggests...

"What makes the temptation of power so seemingly irresistible? Maybe it is that power offers an easy substitute for the hard task of love. It seems easier to be God than to love God, easier to control people than to love people, easier to own life than to love life."