Christian leaders, prophets, pastors, youth pastors, deacons, church planters, and spiritual mentors: Please do not fall into the trap of trying to conform those under your God given authority and God given influence to YOUR identity in Christ. Your job is to build them up and point them to their identity in Christ. In other words, dont make them like you...point them to being like Jesus. If you think you are struggling with this or you are struggling with this, but you are denying it subtly and selfishly as you are reading this status....youre not alone. We see this in Scripture as well. Think back to a Sunday school favorite[ I Samuel 17, read all of it for context :) ] in the story of David and Goliath..... I Samuel 17:37-40(NIV) 37 The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.” 38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. “I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. Okay, lets break this down because this is CRITICAL when it comes to leadership and making disciples as Jesus, our Lord and Savior commanded us to(Matthew 28:16-20, Mark 16:9-20, Luke 24:36-52, and Acts 1:8) David finishes sharing his testimony with King Saul of how God had rescued him from the lion and bear when he was a shepherd of Jesses flock. And Saul says in a noble sense: Go, and the Lord be with you. But then in the very next verse, he contradicts himself. He gives David his armor to help him out and help the Lord help David. LOL! Ummm what? Cmon now Saul. In other words... Saul was trying to impose his identity on the identity of David. And what happened next? David could barely move. IT WAS NOT GODS PLAN AT ALL!!! He got stuck. He couldnt be and he couldnt do what God created and called him to do in that moment with Sauls armor on. So David respectfully, lovingly, and gently returned the armor to Saul in verse 39. Then David prepares to face Goliath with what God had equipped him with in verse 40[ staff, sling, and a pouch for the 5 stones from the stream[the number 5 symbolizes Gods grace :).] Sauls armor was a hindrance to Davids complete trust, reliance, dependency, and faith in God. So here is the point: Dont lead others, that God has given you to lead, mentor, and help build up in Christ, to be like YOU and your identity in Christ. How will that help them mature in Christ? How will that allow God to use their gifts for His kingdom, church, and glory? INSTEAD....point them to Christ and their identity(who they are) in Christ with His Word. Encourage them to follow you as you follow Christ( I Corinthians 11:1). Yes, build them up[Ephesians 4:11-13], but leave the forming, and molding, and conforming, up to Jesus and His word by His AWESOME and POWERFUL Spirit. You didnt die on the cross for them and was resurrected on the third day for them. That was Jesus. So let Christ do His job. He is the standard that we all should pursue after. #PursueJesusChrist
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 19:17:28 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015