Jesus established a biblical principle that still stands today with his twelve apostles in response to their concern about who would be the greatest. He explained in Matthew 23:11 that the greatest is "servant of all".
Jesus gave this a different twist when he taught about the judgment day. In Matthew 25:34-40, He explained that those who are granted entry into His kingdom will be commended "For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was imprisoned, and you came to Me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, "When did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You drink? Jesus responded "Truly I say to you, to the extent you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me. "
Therefore, the idea of being aspirital leader and a servant of all has a deeper meaning then than the world's understanding. It doesn't simply mean that we are servants, but it also means that as we serve we are not merely serving men and women, we are serving Jesus Himself.
Paul exhorted us in 1 Corinthians 10:31, "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God". Jesus instructed us to let His light in us "shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify the Father who is in heaven" in Matthew 5:16. God wants His name to be glorified in all the earth through His works of love and power accomplished through His children!
Being a spiritual leader also requires accountability. In Ephesians 4:15, Paul explains how the Body of Christ matures when its members "speak the truth in love" to one another. Then, in the next chapter, Paul exhorts us to be imitators of God by walking in love, putting aside immorality, learning what is pleasing to the Lord, being careful how we walk, understanding the Lord, and giving thanks for all things. In the final chapter, he closes the teaching with a key for doing this when he said,"be subject to one another in the fear of Christ." John adds in 1 John 1:7, "if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin".
In other words, each member of the Body of Christ has the responsibility to:
(a) Walk with transperency as a leader.
(b) Be held accountable as a leader for his or her walk with Christ.
(c) Hold others accountable to their walk with Christ if they seek to be in leadership
No comments:
Post a Comment