Leadership is hard. At times lonely. Leadership can be misunderstood. Bad leadership is dictatorial at it’s best, and cruel at it’s worst. Thus, leadership that is good is foundational to any organization–especially the Church.
And so, in this article, we’re going to examine the third question below as we answer, “How does the Church Function?”
- What kind of PERSON is the church trying to produce or cultivate?
- What kind of CHURCH STRUCTURE cultivates this kind of person?
- What kind of LEADERS will cultivate this kind of church?
- What kind of PASTOR cultivates this kind of leadership, cultivates this kind of church, which ultimately produces/cultivates this kind of Christian?
What kind of LEADERS will cultivate this kind of Church?
- They must be Orthodox
- This word literally means straight opinion.
- In other words, they possess a good mind…which doesn’t mean an intellectually-superior mind, but a doctrinally-sound mind.
- Titus 1:14…1 Corinthians 14:37-38
- This word literally means straight opinion.
- They must have Integrity (Orthopraxy)
- Their life is characterized by having good character.
- Their belief and behavior are one. When it’s not, they confess and restore the brokenness caused by their sin or blindness.
- 1 Timothy 5:22…2 Corinthians 7:1
- Their life is characterized by having good character.
- They must be Models
- Obedience to authority is crucial. They cannot be lone-rangers and mavericks doing what they independently desire to do. Thus, they model to others how to follow and submit to God-given and biblically-based authority.
- They can’t have side conversations about difficulties or disagreements. In other words, they can’t talk about their church as gossips.
- 1 Corinthians 11:1
- They must be Social
- They are friendly.
- These people are good at recess and lunch.
- They are safe, kind, and loving.
- They are characterized by loving God, loving people, and loving the Bible and gospel that brings them together.
- Luke 7:36-50
- They are friendly.
- They must Disciple
- They can’t replace the truth with something else that doesn’t move someone from milk to meat. Maturation as a follower of Christ is their aim.
- They major in what Jesus majored in–preparing the next generation for their departure with biblical truth and the ability to reproduce biblical truth.
- Fed–>Feed themselves–>Feed others.
- They are not caught in the evangelical fads of the day. They are consistent in the basic principles of the Christian faith (more on this in another series forthcoming).
- Matthew 28:19-20
- They can’t replace the truth with something else that doesn’t move someone from milk to meat. Maturation as a follower of Christ is their aim.
- They must be Prophets not Parrots
- Prophets have been with God. These are not fore-tellers, but forth-tellers of the Word of God. In other words, these are people who offer to others the overflow of their time with God, in His Word, in prayer, and in good books whose aim is to lift their eyes to heaven and to God’s truth.
- Parrots have been with people that have been with God. These are people who rely primarily on the quiet-times (devotionals) of others. Their own Bibles are closed or only open for intellectual pursuits, their own prayer life is empty, and they aren’t interested in moving from milk to meat.
- Psalm 1