First point: Talk is cheap without the fruit to back it up.
There is a lot of talk in churches. Especially those in leadership, they wouldn’t be in leadership if they were quiet. They wouldn’t be recognized as leaders if they did not far excel others in the group.…
How does Jesus respond to this kind of spiritual leadership?
8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers.
There are no masters and disciples among us. We’re all brothers and sisters.…
Written by Jon Bloom.
Any time a selfish sinner is tasked with leading other selfish sinners in a Godward direction — whether in families, friendships, small groups, churches, or broader movements — there’s going to be trouble.
Take Moses, for example.…
Why does following mere men lead to jealousy and quarreling?
When you look to man, everything becomes relative and comparative. Relative in the sense that there is no universal standard by which we can judge one another. Comparative in the sense that we are constantly comparing with one another to see how we measure up.…
The wound of our loneliness is indeed deep. Maybe we had forgotten it, since there were so many distractions. But our failure to change the world with our good intentions and sincere actions and our undesired displacement to the edges of life have made us aware that the wound is still there.
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Many will put their trust in him who went all the way, out of concern for just one of them. The remark, “He really cares for us” is often illustrated by stories which show that forgetting the many for the one is a sign of true leadership… Few listen to a sermon which is intended to be applicable to everyone, but most pay careful attention to words born out of concern for only a few.
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If there is any posture that disturbs a suffering man or woman, it is aloofness. The tragedy of Christian life is that many who are in great need, many who seek an attentive ear, a word of support, a forgiving embrace, a firm hand, a tender smile, or even a stuttering confession of inability to do more, often find their ministers distant men who do not want to burn their fingers.
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It is not the task of the Christian leader to go around nervously trying to redeem people, to save them at the last minute, to put them on the right track. For we are redeemed once and for all. The Christian leader is called to help others affirm this great news, and to make visible in daily events the fact that behind the dirty curtain of our painful symptoms there is something great to be seen: the face of Him in whose image we are shaped.
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The first and most basic task required of the minister of tomorrow therefore is to clarify the immense confusion which can arise when people enter this new internal world. It is a painful fact indeed to realize how poorly prepared most Christian leaders prove to be when they are invited to be spiritual leaders in the true sense.
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