Abusing The Role of Leadership Part #4 of 4

Leadership Within The Church

The mantle of leadership, synonymous with a role, burden, onus, duty, and responsibility is a prized possession.  Elisha was desirous  of Elijah's mantle. When Elijah was translated leaving his mantle behind, he claimed the mantle and the powers he assumed it possessed.  The title or mantle of leadership are sought after by some, created by some, and to other it is simply awarded.  Whether performing on the world stage, operating within the home or community, many are often cast in the role as a leader.  Often, the direction of which the leaders is leading is never called into question as long as they operate within the spectrum of our ideology of what a leader should be.  The emergence of leaders take many different forms, some are created, some are appointed and some simply step forward without citations and proclaim,  "I am your leader."  Most of us are comfortable operating within a recluse state while many yearn for the ovulation of the crowd, the bright lights of fame and stardom that comes with being a leader.  An interesting side note, God called and ordained Moses as a leader, still there were those who defied his leadership role and those who sought to usurped his role. 

In the leadership role within the church, "Follow me as I follow Christ", once was the only citation needed as men and women sought to emulate the role of a Sheppard, a follower of Christ.  The pride of power has emerged and corrupted the leadership role within the nation, the states, the community, the home, the schools, and church.  The power to act because we can, the same as the power derived from a gun is intoxicating.  Now, as a writer I have done the unthinkable, I have cast an association between power and leadership.  Is power a necessary element of leadership?  As a Christian I am not speaking of power over demons, I am addressing the power exercised over the sheep of God's pasture.  

It is hard to escape the grim pronunciations within the scripture, Isaiah 9:16  For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.  Matthew 15:14  Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.  Revelation 2:5  Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. Revelation 2:14  But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.

Based upon the letters from Jesus to his church, the church should serve as the cornerstone of His ministry.  Yet, the church has embarked upon a journey that has become obsessed with pomp, power, leaders, idolatry, contradictions and the messages have become emerging paradoxes and cute cliches that are not scripturally supported. Mark 9:50  Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.This is not a personal condemnation, rather it is a condemnation issued by Jesus and reaffirmed in Revelation chapter 1-3.  Jesus final message to the church of the Laodiceans was a message of disdain.  At the close of his letter, the message  was no longer addressed to the church but to the individual (He). Revelation 3:20  Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.  This is no longer a message to an assembly by to an individual. 

At the close of this series, the question still remain, how do we reconcile the passionate speech made by Jesus to Peter concerning the church and his disdain for the leadership roles within the church revealed to John?  Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Revelation 3:15-16  I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. If we were to try to reconcile the differences between Jesus statement to Peter and his revelation to John, there would be  a time period and the fulfillment of a prophecy that we are not prepared to accept.  I urge you to ponder that statement as you search for the answer.

Jesus addressed this problem in the much-overlooked letters to the church. Revelation 2:18-19, And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira writes; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;  I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first. The seven letters to the seven churches are representative  churches, indicated by the use of the number seven, God's number of completion.  The seven messages are divided into two groups.  The first three churches make up one group, and the last four describe the Church minutely until the Rapture take place.   The church at Thyatira represent the years between 500 and 1500 A.D. 

The first division within Christendom came in 1054 with what is called the "Great Schism" between the Western Church and the Eastern Church. From that point forward, there were two large branches of Christianity, which came to be known as the Catholic Church (in the West) and the Orthodox Church (in the East). The root cause of this split was a power play, men were at odds over who should rule over the huge and increasing number of believers.  Prior to that time leading up to that infamous date the church had existed as a unified body. Once this split was introduced into the body, the church became a divided and weak body.  Splits or "Schism" became a way of building churches and establishing power bases.

The message to the assembly at Thyatira presents the hopeless, corrupt condition of the local assembly, a condition which the local cannot and will not emerge, a condition that is incapable of being improved.  The message here is to be distinguished from the three previous messages in that here corrupt teachers are permitted to teach corruption, and children are born, her children, the children of the splits, the children of wicked, adulterous, murderous Jezebel. What a terrible commentary on the local assembly.  


Another thing to be noted here is that a remnant is recognized and addressed separately; Revelation 2:24  But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. Could it be that this remnant is not a part of that existing church, but is a part of that group referenced by John in Revelation 7:14  And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.  This group is said to have gone through great tribulation.  Many bible students proclaim that the true church will not go through the great tribulation.  This is a question that many of us are struggling to find and acceptable answer.  Here again, there is a need to ponder or study this.

In the days leading up to 1054AD, the church was a place where the members of the body of Christ would assemble and offered their support to each other.  A real spirit of discernment allowed them to see the needs of their brothers and sisters.  The words of consultation were not, "God is going to work this out", but rather, "I see your need, I see your pain, what can I do to help?". After that infamous date in the history of Christian ministry, the professed body has become obsessed with the pomp and circumstance, the power, the programs, the money raising, the building of beautiful church and honoring the pastor. Where is that ministry that focuses of the sick, the aged, the dying and the poor?  In Matthew 25:40 Jesus said, "...Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch, as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye, have done it unto me".  

What is it that suppose to set the assembly of the bride of Christ apart from the Rock concert or even the football game?  In each event, is it not true, we pay our money to be entertained. We may be in a position where we cannot fully understand the words of the song or the message, we may not be able to see the play made by our team, yet we are entertained.  Our level of entertainment is not based entirely upon the words of the song or whether our team win or loose, these are merely props used to heighten our level of entertainment.  We create heroes, stars, and leaders, and we are comfortable with paying them enormous sums of money and entrusting them with our entertainment.  Thus, worship service has evolved into a form of entertainment where we assemble to be entertained by paid performers. 
    
Jesus set the perfect example of Christian ministry when a massive crowd followed him into the desert.  There is nothing in the narrative that support The disciple passing the plate asking the people to sow into the budding ministry of Christ.  After he had preached to them the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, he became concern about their natural condition.  He said to his disciples, "...Give ye them to eat...", Luke 9:13.  As a servant of the people whom he often portrayed himself as, he fed the multitude both natural and spiritually.  There were no thousand dollar plates either, they all sat down and ate together.  As the Son of God wouldn't it have been more appropriate to say, "Sow a seed and your heavenly Father will bless you."

Messengers of today use the airways and canvas churches  drawing out those who are disenchanted, offering them a worldly gospel filled with promises of blessings, miracles, and prosperities, many are quick to follow.   Imagine the followers Jesus could have amassed if he had promised a fish and bread on every table.  

There is a problem emulating from the household of faith.  To see this problem one must be willing to remove the blinders from their eyes, look beyond their indoctrinated belief and gaze at the problem. Questions must be asked and answers must be sought after.  There is a generation under-represented in the organized church.  Why is this growing phenomenal casting a pale light on the Word of God.  Why are our leaders reshaping the Word of God to conform to the apostate condition of the world?  Why are we promised money in the social media if we type "Amen"?  Why is the name of God and his works trivialized by our so called leaders?  Why has the promise of financial blessing overshadowed the promise of spiritual blessing?  Thes are questions that we should seek to answer. 

There is a difference between giving expecting to receive a reward from God in exchange for you gift.  or man.  Giving should be an outpouring of our heart and resources without any expectation of reward, simply because it is ordained by God.  A relationship with God is not about sowing seeds.  Matthew 13:37-38  He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked one;