Often we can identify a leader by examining the wake of change left in his or her path.  Two such glaring examples are the fiery preacher Jonathan Edwards, and his inexhaustive contemporary, George Whitfield.  Together, these men of God sparked a religious fervor that turned into a movement that spread throughout the North American colonies beginning in about the year 1734.  The events that took place over the subsequent fifteen year period became known as the Great Awakening.

Edwards and Whitfield, of much differing temperament and style, were both at the apex of a massive shift in religious sentiment in the colonies.  The Puritan era was drawing to a close, and much decline had been seen in the strength, breadth, and width of spiritual standing of many in the colonies.  The lights which had burned so brightly and inspired the Pilgrims and others to establish footholds in the new land for the purpose of the freedom to worship had dimmed.  Edwards and Whitfield, each independently inspired, began to rail against what they saw as decaying religious belief.  Edwards, Whitfield, and the others who all at roughly the same time began preaching against man's muddling of the gospel message and indifference to the work of the Savior, became known as the "New Lights."  These men rode from town to town delivering their stirring sermons, calling sinners to repentence, and spreading the message of the gospel.  Many times several sermons would be delivered in multiple cities in just a single day, often from horse back.  Benjamin Franklin himself was instrumental in procuring a large hall in Philadelphia for the use of George Whitfield, and Jonathan Edwards during this time would deliver what remains the most famous sermon in American history: "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." 

In a spiritual sense, the work of the Holy Spirit was very evident in the efforts of these men at this time.  In a leadership sense, this story of one of the greatest religious movements in American history is evidence of the principles of leadership at work.  Edwards, Whitfield and others, railed against the status quo.  They used their health and resources to attack that which they couldn't stand to let alone: spiritual apathy and unrepentent sin in the colonies.  They spent themselves in the pursuit of a vision which drove them to exhaustion.  Others were inspired by the thousands and followed the example of Edwards and Whitfield. 

The result of the leadership of these men was both enormous and timely.  Their impact on the colonies was such as to be instrumental in returning people's thoughts to their blessings and their Creator.  This established a foundation for the political turmoil to come.  According to authors Alan Axelrod and Charles Phillips:

"In a period . . . characterized by the increasing political tensions that foreshadowed the French and Indian War, and, ultimately, the War of Independence, people were looking desperately for faith and religious guidance . . . . The Great Awakening was founded on an especially American belief that the individual is the ultimate arbiter of truth and that any person can have an intimate, direct, unmediated relation to the Almighty.  On principles akin to these, the Declaration of Independence was based, as well as the thought of those philosophers considered most typically American – Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, William James, and John Dewey – and the writing of the nation's greatest authors, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Ernest Hemingway, William Carlos Williams, and Norman Mailer, to mention a few."

If leaders can be identified by their impact on events and those whom they have inspired, this commentary from Axelrod and Phillips is enough to settle the case.  Edwards, Whitfield, and the other "New Lights" were an excellent example of character in motion.  Their work of conviction and dedication layed the cornerstones of a nation. 

Could these men, driven by their beliefs and convictions, have known the extent of the outcome of their efforts?  Do any leaders anywhere ever grasp a true measure of the reach of their service?  Perhaps not.  But studying this example should be an inspiration to anyone moved to lead.  Once again, we can see the far-reaching impact of a handful of leaders standing firm upon conviction of truth.

Lead on!