The Servitude of Christian Leadership

The Servitude of Christian Leadership

Eph 4:11

11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ — 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

There is a terrible and complete misunderstanding by most of those that profess to be the Christian Leaders of today. All the publicly prominent “ministers” are doing a terrible disservice to the True church of Jesus Christ. Over the last 40 years I have met and have known many of them and I can think of only one that was open to discuss that he could possibly be wrong in any of his beliefs or doings One even asked “and WHO are you ”, I’ve never heard of you. My answer was ”nobody” and I walked away. I knew since he was of greater importance in his own eyes that he would not hear me. We had both been invited to minister at a large meeting in Indonesia.

The True church of Jesus Christ—those PEOPLE that have been born again and filled with His Spirit are not being tended in the manner of the pattern set by Jesus and Paul.

The majority of churches in no way resemble the church that Jesus established.

It is time to set the record straight.

Most “Church leaders (pastors-rulers)” demand to be served by the rest of the church. Oh, they may not demand with words but by their practices and actions and demeanor there is no mistaking it. Don't believe it, then just disagree or question something he does or teaches. I have seen too many people that understood their scriptures, be hurt by being accused of being a rebel or divisive or whatever because they dared question something that was actually unscriptural. This is not an action of a servant of God..

There is not one, not even one scripture that says there are to be “ rulers” in the new testament church. In fact it says the opposite. I will cover I Tim5-17, Heb 13-17 and 24 below.

The manner in which the “leaders” lead is as if they are rulers. You are expected to support them in everything, you are not supposed to disagree with them, They talk about “my church”, as if they own it, and most believe it is their church and they are doing God a favor by being there.

Look how they introduce themselves-- I am “pastor” jack. Or. whatever title they feel they deserve. Look how the apostle Paul introduced himself. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ. Do you see the difference. Pastor jack wants you to know he is something special (in His own eyes at least). Paul, the servant wants you to know he represents someone else who he regards more highly than himself. Which is the more Godly approach?

The scriptural example for this doctrine is this.

Luke 14:8 8 "When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; 9 and he who invited you and him come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher.' Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. 11 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

This is a principle that God instilled in me very early in my walk with Him and it has served me well. In fact several times I have been embarrassed because of the way I was given a higher seat, I do not need to be recognized, I am just a servant.

There are no titles in scripture, what are used as titles are actually ministries to be fulfilled by these servant men that God gave to the church. But instead most places there are what the scripture call hirelings,men who get a degree then get a job. Those truly given by God care for the people NOT for themselves they are as the apostle Paul called himself , bond servants.. Here is what Nelson bible dictionary has to say about this matter.

SLAVE --Paul spoke of himself as a "servant," a word sometimes rendered as "bondservant" but frequently also as "slave" (Rom 1:1; Titus 1:1). Christians, especially ministers, are not hired servants but slaves committed to service to Jesus. A slave does not manage his own life. The person who calls himself a slave of Christ acknowledges that the Savior has power over him.

(from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright © 1986, )

If you will check the old testament you can find that a Bond Servant was a servant that was set free but declined to leave his master, instead, he chose to continue serving him as a slave. In other words he bound himself to his master not because he was forced to but of his own free will. He knew he was better off serving his master than trying to serve himself. This is what Godly men do when called of God. They bind themselves as slaves to Jesus Christ out of their own free will. And they do His will not their own, they recognize HE is the shepherd and they are only undershepherds doing His will, they follow His program as He shows them, they build HIS church, not their own, they are lead by HIM as they LEAD others by their example. They don't care who get the credit as long as HIS will is done. They understand that their job is to prepare the people for the work of the ministry, not to be the whole “ministry”.

Notice the purpose of giving “some men to the church”? It is for the equipping of the saints “for the work of the ministry. Not to do the ministering, Not to be in charge of anything or anyone but to serve the other saints. Not to build any buildings but to SERVE the People of God. Those men that are truly called of God and understand His ways will understand they are no better or of a different rank than anyone else but that they only have more responsibility, more is required of them.

In the old testament the ear lobe of the bond servant is pierced to show he is a bond servant. We recognize these men by their serving. They look only to please the master by serviing His people - nothing else matters to them. It is a shame there are so few of them.

Here is what scripture says about rulers , in the new testament.

Matt 20:25 25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. 26 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. 27 And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave — 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

Mark 10:42 But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. 44 And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

God's plan is that those who lead will lead by being an example to the others and a servant.. A servant of all. Who meets the needs of the flock, not expecting the flock to meet his desires.

The modern church has it backwards and upside down.

I said I would deal with these scriptures later so here we go.

1 Tim 5:17 17 Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.

The word used here for rule does not mean to rule over but to lead by being an example, to stand before.

proistemi (pro-is'-tay-mee); from NT:4253 and NT:2476; to stand before, to preside, or (by implication) to practise:

Hebrews 13:7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.

[Remember them which have the rule over you] This clause should be translated, Remember your guides, toon heegoumenoon , who have spoken unto you the doctrine of God.

(from Adam Clarke's Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright © 1996, 2003, 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Why have I chosen Adam Clarke's translation to believe ? BECAUSE scripture NEVER contradicts scripture and in light of the other scriptures used above it has to mean this in order to not contradict another scripture. See above scriptures.

My dear Christian brothers and sisters the end is nearer every day and may even be soon.

It is time for those professing to be Christians to start following the scriptures, not men, not denominations, not friends, but to learn and understand what God expects of those who claim His name. To understand there is ONLY ONE church of the LORD JESUS CHRIST on this earth,

God does not change His character or nature and anyone who says that he does or that does not believe all that scipture teaches is a false teacher and should be ignored.

The ultra liberals that have hijacked the mainline and many other churches and are ruling over the people are not of God. They have brought homosexuality and so many other things that God says are an abominaton to Him into the church and have mocked God in so doing. It is time for those who God has been pre paring in the wilderness for this end time we are entering to stand up with the true word of God and let God judge between them and us. It is time for these men to come forth and take their rightful places in leading the true church. They will not be found in large churches, they will be found in home meetings and dumpy little buildings, in old warehouses, in parks, places you may not normally look. Are you one? But it is time

TO COME OUT OF THE HARLOT AND FIND YOUR PLACE IN THE TRUE CHURCH OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. Come Lord Jesus.

Charles LaFoe 3/2013

Mt. 20:28 & MK 10:45 & LK 22:27

The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve.