Fervent Prayer Week: Church Leadership

Hebrew 13:17-18

¹⁷Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.¹⁸ Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things

         This passage, along with many others, shows the great tension found in church leadership. Elders in the church are to be people of character, maturity, compassion and courage having a responsibility before God for the spiritual condition of the church. But ultimately church leaders are like any other member of the church. They are people striving to serve as the body of Christ for the body of Christ. Far from being supermen they are simply stewards who have a responsibility to care for the church. A true leader is to be a disciple of Christ and is to follow his example to serve and sacrifice for others.

         As such it is vitally important that we, as a church, consistently spend time in prayer for our elders and church leaders. Regardless of the area of ministry each leader is integral to the function and heart of the church. We ought to pray that God would protect the hearts and minds of our leaders; keeping them from the sin, pride, self-reliance and religiosity that can so easily distract. We ought to pray that God continues to raise leaders from within the body of Christ: men and women devoted to the Word and to the church. In all these things we should pray that our leaders fulfill their responsibilities with joy and grace as a reflection of God’s love and mercy on us. Finally, we must all consider where God would have us serve His mission. No one is exempted from the call to serve, and true leadership is service. 

Jesus and Justice

Recently I was reading through Luke 4 and was struck by something that Jesus did. After spending 40 days in the wilderness and being tempted by Satan, Jesus returned to Nazareth and went to the Tabernacle. Following the custom of the Jews in that time he stood and read a passage of Scripture. The specific prophecy that he read spoke of one who would proclaim good news to the poor, give sight to the blind and bring liberty to the oppressed. Jesus then rolled up the scroll and pronounced, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

I was blown away after reading this. Jesus could have chosen a passage that spoke of love, holiness, purity or sin. Instead, he decided to read a passage that focused on the virtues of justice and the way in which he intended to serve mankind. When looking at the life of Christ it becomes apparent how important this concept was to him. Jesus never pushed away the poor, needy or oppressed. Rather, he sought them out, loved them and worked to demonstrate his concern for them. 

I had the opportunity to preach on this recently. Since then I’ve had several conversations about this idea of justice and the way that believers in Christ should live. The most common question that I've received goes something like this: "I realize that taking care of the poor and needy is a good thing, but isn’t it worthless if you don’t preach the gospel at the same time?"

The call to give the gospel is central to the walk of the Christian and should always be a motivating force. However, the lack of an opportunity to share the gospel does not release a Christian from the responsibility to give generously to the poor, feed the hungry and give freedom to the oppressed (Isaiah 58). Too often Christians excuse their lack of generosity by claiming that they would rather witness or share the plan of salvation than “just meet physical needs”. What they fail to realize is that taking care of the needy is an expression of the gospel in itself.

When Jesus performed miracles they were not just manifestations of his power (though they accomplished this task). They were manifestations of justice. Providing food for the hungry, healing the leper, giving sight to the blind, making the lame to walk, giving speech to the dumb and even raising the dead: these showed his power over natural law, creation and death, but they also gave hope to men, women, children and families who were at the end of their rope and desperately needed help. Some of these people trusted Christ as their savior and devoted their lives to his service. Others walked away having their physical need met, but missing the answer to their deeper spiritual need. Christ, however, did not discriminate based on their response.

We are called to share the gospel and to faithfully hold to the authoritative Word of God. We demonstrate this devotion through caring for those in need and serving people in our church and our cities. We do this without any expectation of personal gain, being paid back or even being thanked.

This is the call to be like Jesus.

Right Thinking

            The primary purpose of the teaching at Mercy Hill is to communicate the ultimate truth that is inherent in the Bible. Our goal is to preach, teach, sing and discuss what we know to be true from the revelation of Scripture. But this approach is unpopular with many churches.  Many pastors are far more concerned with being perceived as brilliant self-help gurus than about communicating the truth of who God is. Rather than being faithful servants of the church and purveyors of the Gospel they become virtual PEZ dispensers of cheap, self-serving, advice capsules.

            The communication of Biblical truth is foundational to any Gospel-focused church.  Of course, the goal is not to be right just for the sake of being right. Rather, we promote faithfulness to truth as essential to the daily walk of the believer. As the old adage goes, “right thinking leads to right living”. In essence, if you think rightly about who God is you will begin to live rightly. This is because the relationship between God and His children is different than any other relationship you can experience. As we learn and experience who God is we begin to understand the depth of His love for us. The kind of love that led the Father to choose us as His children (Eph 1:4-5). The kind of love that led Jesus to the cross (Rom 5:8). The kind of love that leads the Holy Spirit to pray for us with groans that cannot be uttered (Rom 8:26). After we are exposed to this love we are forced to make a decision: Will I reciprocate the love that God has demonstrated for me and live my life in light of what He has done or will I ignore the wooing of the Holy Spirit and pursue my own short-sighted pleasure?

            Ultimately, understanding truth is what drives us to live a life that is pleasing to God: a life of service, sacrifice and sanctification. Once the Holy Spirit moves that truth from a head knowledge to a heart understanding we are able to experience what Jesus described in John 8: you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.