Colossions 1: 15 - 18 NKJV
I've been watching for some time the antics of the local church of a old friend of ours. This past week I noticed a "Conference" which his church was holding geared towards raising up church leadership. I immediately took notice of this due to what Christ Jesus has told us. For not only is He the very image of the invisible God, but the head of the body, His church. Of course, His church is composed of all who trust and believe in Jesus. Which led me to the question, how can one man, one person, have leadership over the church of Christ Jesus? Do we, as christians, indeed require the leadership of men over us in order that we don't lose our way? Do we really need those among us who would shepherd the flock of the church of Jesus? I would say no. I pose the question, where was the leadership of the early church which we read of in the book of Acts? Did not the early followers of Jesus gather of their own accord to talk of and celebrate Christ Jesus? Yes, the early church had Peter, Paul and the rest of the apostles who had shared their lives with Jesus. Were these men ordained church leaders? Were they educated through the church so that they would have the skills needed to shepherd the early flock? Did they have the blessing of the early church of the followers of Jesus? No! To my knowledge, the skills that these men of the faith carried with them were the knowledge and presence of Christ. For many of these men had indeed lived and walked with Him. They had no classes, seminars or seminary courses under their tunic belts that would qualify them for a position of leadership. What they did possesss was...Jesus. In the much celebrated great commision, Jesus had instructed His disciples to go and make disciples (followers) of all nations and to "Teach them all things I have commanded you." It is through these instructions of Jesus that I view the apostles not as church leaders but as messengers of the words of Christ. So, the early church of the followers of Jesus may not have had leaders, but it definately had its messengers.
13“You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. 14“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15“For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. 16“Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.
John 13: 13 - 16 NKJV
In a world with woefully declining church membership, it is commonplace that men would place themselves over those who they have supposedly been called to serve. As I look at the words of Jesus that "he who is sent is not greater than he who sent him," I see a problem. For if many, if not all, of the worlds pastors have been called and sent as shepherds by our heavenly Father, why do these men place themselves over those they are supposedly serving? Would the worlds church congregations simply evaporate if there were no human shepherds to guide us along that path of christianity? Probably not. Would our trust and faith in Jesus suffer if there were no shepherds to shepherd us? Again, I really don't think that would happen. For what is it that draws many to their local houses of worship each week? It's not to be shepherded, but to HEAR the word of God and to be among others who share the joy of their faith in Jesus. To be among others of a similar belief. I'm sorry, but I just don't feel that a group of believers such as this doesn't need to be led by the hand and shown what they need to do. What they desperately need is to hear that truth of Jesus which Paul relates to us in Galations 2:20. Freedom is not found in following the orders of the pulpit pounder, but in living as Christ Jesus who is in us.
~Scott~
No comments:
Post a Comment