Christian leaders: It's about calling not celebrity.

Let me state clearly. Church is about two things; Jesus and people. Church is not about music, image or agenda.

Church leadership is about two things; calling, and character (fruit of the Spirit). It is not about having a degree or going to one of the so called enthused 'hip' bible colleges If you have a true calling from God you will be concerned about the church and people, not image or how you appear on TV.

However in recent times we have had high profile pastors, of large congregations, have extra marital affairs, indulge in sexual abuse, sexually exposing themselves and others living a lavish lifestyle far beyond that of any of their parishioners and doing so as though it were their right.

Now I have met the leader of the denomination that has had to fire and remove from ministry the people guilty of the above transgressions. I don't know him personally, I have only had the privilege of interviewing him once, but I know his values and his foundations and I know that he has never reflected- to the best of my knowledge, any of the behaviours exhibited by his leaders. So where is the disconnect, between how the head of denomination lives and how these particular leaders have conducted themselves?

The leaders looked to the man not to Christ Jesus, they endeavoured to reflect an image and an ethos rather than a reflection of Christ crucified. Their particular churches mirrored a broken society rather than the kingdom of God. They preached a gospel of 'managing sin' rather than a gospel of the transforming power of God. They saw and behaved as though God was only for a Sunday and not the other six days. The disconnect came about when they reflected their behaviour rather than their beliefs, others saw behaviour not belief and thought it was good. Over the years these people have allowed their behaviour to cloud and eventually shut out their consciences, and this has resulted in corrupt character.

Christian character is a reflection and the out working of God's transforming power in our lives through the fruit of the Spirit.

Rabbi Heschel said" What we need more than ever is not textbooks but text-people" In other words we need to learn to reflect and act and live out the text, which is the word of God. The book of James in the NT says that we need to be doers of the word not just hearers of the word.

Church Leadership is about calling and character not a degree and certainly not celebrity.

https://geni.us/psphil Click on the link and find out more.

Comments

The 1970's Christian Coffee Shop

I remember as a new Christian being invited into a Christian Coffee shop in the town where I grew up. It was clean and tidy, the table tops were all brightly painted in different colours, but mainly yellow and scattered on top were a random selection of Christian tracts. Fish symbols and Christian posters proclaiming that there was but 'One Way' to heaven were everywhere. The music playing out of the stereo was The Bill Gather Trio or Dolly Parton singing Gospel. The crockery, was a mixed assortment of coffee mugs, donated by keen supporters of this outreach to the unsaved sinners and ungodly people living in the city. The coffee was a local brand heavily mixed with chicory. In all the years the Coffee Shop operated, I never saw a non-Christian go in and I never heard of a person coming to faith through having coffee there. I never really understood its purpose. Fast forward to today, when I was asked recently, to advise on helping a local community church open a c...

The myth of Ministry Leadership.

The myth that all leaders are leaders. Not everyone who leads in church is a leader. I think it is wrong, for Church leaders to believe that those they train up to take various ministry leadership positions, are in fact leaders in their own right. They are not. At best I would categorise these people- that many churches call 'ministry leaders' as ministry managers. "At one level there is nothing wrong with title inflation; it is a cheap way of recognising people who work hard and make serious contributions" Jo Owen. I am of the opinion that this title inflation undervalues both the leader and the ' ministry manager' and can often bring about confusion and mismatched expectations. Many churches have ministry training evenings for their volunteers. Many use the reason for this training is "to make a person a better leader," when in fact the only thing actually happening is that th...

Christian leaders and how to fire a Christian employee.

This weeks ramblings. I was asked this week if it was OK for Christian employers to fire other Christian staff. Firstly let me state that it is always important to follow the laws of the country that you live in, but the question should be; Do I as an employer have the right to fire other staff Christian or not. The short answer is YES! Let me give you two examples I have come across; Case Study 1; The CEO of medium sized Christian organisation dealing in books and other Christian Literature had a problem with one of their staff. The person concerned, let’s call him Pete, seemed to push everybody’s buttons. Pete had been with the company 2 years, his first six months were just great but after that everything went downhill. He always complained, he bad mouthed his managers. At company social gatherings, when sport was played, he never played with any great sportsmanship; it seemed that every decision was wrong or somebody had a beef with him. But, Pete went to the same c...

Tim King Leadership

Search This Blog