The emerging leadership in the church

Since the days of Jesus, we have wrestled with a different kind of leadership. In the kingdom of God, leadership is vastly different than in the world. Jesus had the following to say about leadership. (from Mark 10)

But among you it should be quite different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be the slave of all. For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others, and to give my life as a ransom for many."

As God begins to restore the church to the Biblical patterns, a new (for us) kind of leadership will emerge. Leaders will no longer work at building their own kingdom. Instead they will work toward building God's kingdom. In so doing, they will follow Jesus' example. Jesus never demanded a position or privilege. Look at His example in the midst of the disciples arguing about who was the greatest among them:

Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel he had around him.

Jesus was fully aware of His authority, of His relationship to the Father. Yet instead of demanding that He be honored by having His feet washed, He took the position of a servant, choosing to be the one supporting the disciples. Jesus never demanded that His disciples submit to His authority and position.

Even today, Jesus' power and authority is not for His benefit. He exercises that authority for our benefit. Paul, in His letter to the Ephesians, makes note of this:

And God has put all things under the authority of Christ, and he gave him this authority for the benefit of the church.

In the past, leaders in the church have far too frequently acted more like the world than like Jesus. They have demanded submission. They have protected their position. Some tasks are seen as too menial for leaders. Many times, the people have existed to serve the leader and his/her vision.

The role of leadership in the kingdom of God is to facilitate the building of the kingdom of God. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for not allowing people to enter the kingdom of God. As I leader I must be careful to not hinder people from engaging with God. I don't think leaders consciously hinder people, however over the years I have consistently observed it happening. When a church member comes to a leader and expresses a desire to follow Jesus into a new venture, all too frequently the leader squashes the initiative because the person is needed in the leader's sphere. Instead of exploring what God may be doing and how His kingdom may be expanded by this new venture, the leader simply assumes that this idea cannot be from God because it doesn't fit with the building of his/her personal kingdom.

There is a new (or old, depends on how you look at it) kind of leadership emerging. Leaders will facilitate the expansion of God's kingdom by blessing and releasing people into the dreams they may have. Leaders will use their anointing to call people into a deeper walk with God, instead of using their anointing to self-fulfill their own desires for their own kingdom. Authority will be used to benefit those being led. Since the kingdom of God is within people, leaders will recognize the movement of God's Spirit in the hearts of those they lead. They will freely choose to wash feet, serving those they lead in whatever way is best for those being led. As a result, the kingdom of God will grow exponentially.

Excited about church

I have been thinking about the church a good deal recently. I can't help but be excited about what I believe is in store for the church. Perhaps I should define church before I go further. Far too frequently people associate church with a building, or a service on Sunday morning, or programs like children's ministry or youth ministry. Now I want to be clear, these things are not wrong it's just that they should not define church.

In the Biblical paradigm of church, none of these defining items are even mentioned. In the Bible, church is about people, followers of Jesus, doing life together. Church was not something to attend but something to be together with other followers of Christ. Look at the following description:

They joined with the other believers and devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, sharing in the Lord’s Supper and in prayer. A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything they had. They sold their possessions and shared the proceeds with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved.

I would like to make some observations about the nature of the first century church from these words.

1. Church relationships were far deeper than meeting once a week. Church broke out every day of the week - in homes and in the temple. It seems to me that church erupted at the workplace and in the streets on a DAILY basis
2. There was a deep sense of community that resulted in needs being known and met. They ate together, shared together, did life together in vulnerable, raw community. They prayed for each other because they deeply cared for each other.
3. Their shared walk not only enabled them care for each other, it allowed for a spirit of praise to arise as the goodness of God was evident to all. Joy and simplicity marked their interaction. In other words, they had a good time. (They might have even laughed together!!) There was not any kind of posturing or jockeying for position.

For the past several years, I have been privileged to experience some of the sense of community seen in this account. I am walking in close proximity with other believers, sharing joys, doubts, and the wonder of discovery. Life and laughter spills out as we celebrate God's goodness. We share sorrows and burdens as well, our hearts being knit to each other and to the Father as we experience the difficulty of life at times.

People ask me from time to time what new thing I see emerging in the church. One of my close fellow travellers on this journey made an insightful comment recently - "Is it possible that the new thing God wants to do is really an old thing?" I think she was on to something. I believe that there are glorious days ahead for the church as we re-discover the simplicity of God's original intent for church.

Everywhere I go people are longing for this kind of community. Community that practices discipleship as a lifestyle instead of a class or a program. People hunger to experience the presence of God as seen through the Body of His Son. This stirring for deep connection with other believers that spurs us to deeper relationship with God, this hunger for life is God breathed as we return to the simplicity of church.

As I ponder these things, I can't help but be excited!

Destroying the church??

Recently I have been accused of trying to destroy the church. I find that accusation rather amusing since the church cannot be destroyed! However, I think I know the source of the accusation.

Let me start by defining "church". The Greek word we translate as church is "ekklesia". Quite literally it means "a calling out" and it refers to a group of people. As I get older, I am becoming more aware of the need to be part of an "ekklesia". Christianity is meant to be lived in community, close intimate community. We see this in the early church in the book of Acts (read Acts 2).

Some years ago, the Holy Spirit challenged me to measure our current church activity against the template of the life of Jesus (we are the body of Christ) and against the example of the early church. Much to my surprise I discovered a lot of things that did not align with either example. I don't think that every thing we do has to be exactly like the early church. For example, while the early church did not have buildings, I do not feel that there is anything wrong with a body of believers owning a building that facilitates their walk with God.

However, what does bother me is that there is a system of beliefs and actions in our current church mindset that is synonymous with God in the minds of many people. If we depart from that system beliefs or actions, we are accused of being deceived. For instance:

• We measure a person's spiritual growth by their attendance of a meeting on Sunday morning. We see church as something to attend. If someone does not attend a Sunday service, they are somehow rebellious. (Regardless of whether they are living out the life of Jesus and the pattern of the early church throughout the week)

• We have recreated an OT type of worship with a priest (the pastor) and a temple (the building). Our primary worship is in the building under the leading of the priest.

• The structure of the church becomes more important than God and His work in the life of individuals. For instance - we recruit people to fill ministry spots instead of freeing people to pursue the path God has for them.

• Through the years, most of the leader's meetings in which I participated (and led) had more to do with keeping the structure running smoothly than they did with building deep heart to heart relationships with other believers.

It seems to me that much of our current paradigm of church has been influenced, not by Jesus and a Biblical paradigm, but by a system that has been handed down for centuries. That system is not inherently wrong UNTIL the system takes the place of God. In other words, we become more interested in protecting the church system than we are in following Jesus. When that happens, we usually attempt to make Jesus fit our framework of church instead of allowing our ideas about church to be formed by Him.

I have spoken with leaders and believers from across the United States and from other countries who will confess that the "system" is counterproductive to the expansion of the Kingdom of God. When the system becomes more important than people, people will be used or discarded according to their loyalty, not to God, but to the system. The system rewards leaders with power, a sense of worth, and in certain situations, financial security. People become the fuel to fire the engine of efficiency and productivity. The problem is not with the way we express the church, the problem arises when our expression of church becomes more important than God's work.

It is that system that kills the church. It is that system that holds people in bondage, keeping them from fulfilling their God-given purpose. It is that system that oppresses creativity. It is that system that opposes the priesthood of believers. It is that system that resists servant leadership. It is that system that is facing the judgment of God. It is that system that I will violently oppose.

Those who think I am destroying church are confusing God's idea of church with the "church system" that opposes radical interaction with God and the expansion of His kingdom. It is the ungodly system that God will destroy. Because their love for "the system", people feel threatened by this judgment of God.

I am deeply committed to Jesus and the Body of Christ. Church (ekklesia) is God's idea. I am deeply invested in heart to heart relationships with a community of believers. I deeply value the privilege of being part of the church. I have no desire to destroy the church. (And I couldn't if I wanted to!) I simply want people to be free to experience and be the church according to the Biblical pattern.

Merchandising, the church and evangelism

Bev and I were in South Carolina last month to visit our son. Every time I am there, I can't help but notice the amount of billboards extolling the virtues of attending specific churches. It seems as if churches are competing for a clientele, attempting to lure people with promises of satisfaction. Is that what the Kingdom of God is about - getting people into my building to be part of my clientele?

Yet it is not just in South Carolina that this attitude prevails. Recently I had to attend a business meeting at a local restaurant. As I was entering the restaurant, I met an acquaintance at the cash register. He began to tell me about a specific waitress to whom he had been talking. He wanted me to know that he was sure she could be convinced to attend Grace Covenant Church. He wanted me to "close the deal" with her.

Is that what Christianity is about? Are we to convince people of the value of the services they will receive if they attend our church? Sometimes I wonder if Christians have attended a used car sales training seminar. To me it all feels more like we are trying to sell used cars than inviting people into our lives to see firsthand our journey with Jesus. Quite frankly, I think we are more interested in building our own kingdom than we are about the expansion of God's kingdom. In my opinion, the good news of God's present kingdom here on earth is frequently lost in our efforts to build our church.