Walk Consistently

Leadership is not about power, position, or politics.  It's about walking with God and helping others do the same.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'" (Matthew 25:34-36 NIV)

You can't hide a walk together with God.  Good deeds get noticed.  Kindness gets recognized.  Forgiveness is watched with doubting curiosity.  You can't hide a love for God.  People pay attention when you love your neighbor as yourself - even when you don't see it yourself.

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' "The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.' (Matthew 25:37-40 NIV)

A consistent walk is empowering.  So how about you?  Do you have a consistent walk?

Consistent in the Community

Leadership is not about power, position, or politics - not in the Church.  Leadership is about walking together with God and helping others do the same.  That is why Paul told Timothy how an elder should be viewed in the community.

He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap. (1 Timothy 3:7 NIV)

A good reputation doesn't happen overnight.  In fact, a good reputation is not easy to foster.  It takes time, energy, effort and, of course, consistency.  Not only that, it takes consistency over a long period of time.  A "good reputation" in the community is met with suspicion in the short term.  Over time, that "good reputation" gets tested by people.  They want to find out what you're really made of.  Over a long time, though, a "good reputation" only happens when someone is consistently good.  There's no shortcut.

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (Colossians 4:5-6 NIV)

Remember, again, what leadership is all about in the church.  It's about helping people walk together with God.  That means we need to spend time with people who are not walking together with God.  That's the only way to empower one more.  When we encounter people who are not walking together with God, we need wisdom, God's wisdom, to know what to (or not to) say.  God wants us to do this together as a team.

The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. (1 Corinthians 3:8 NIV)

How about you?  Do "outsiders" see you as someone who walks together with God?  Do you have a good reputation with them?  Is God working through you, along with others, to empower one more?  Are you consistent in the community?

Consistent at Home

Leadership in the Church is not about power, position, or politics.  Leadership is about walking with God and helping others do the same.  This is why Paul wrote words like these to his protege, Timothy about appointing an elder:  

He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) (1 Timothy 3:4-5 NIV)

Sometimes it is easy to walk together with God together with the Church.  After all, it is a greenhouse that makes it easy to grow.  We get "filled up" with the Word.   We sing songs in the Spirit.  We fellowship with like-mined believers.  We walk in carrying our burdens and walk out a little lighter and feeling good.  It's easy to walk together with God in a healthy Church environment.

When we go home, though, we let down.  We don't feel like we need to put on the smile-face and greet people all around us.  We don't worry about what people would think if they really knew us.  When we go home, we relax.  We go to our favorite chair.  We watch our favorite show.  We eat our favorite meal.  We also may "let down" our guard against temptations, enemy attacks, or accountability from other believers.  Home becomes a place where we can let down in our walk together with God.

Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. (Titus 1:8 NIV)

When we go home, we need to be consistent in our walk together with God.  When someone encounters us in our home, they should encounter the same person they encounter at a church service.  We should be the same.  Not only that, our home becomes our responsibility to create a safe environment for growth.  Leaders in the Church work to create a "greenhouse" for us in the Church.  In our home, we are responsible for creating that safe environment for growth.

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed--or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:38-42 NIV)

Hospitality isn't necessarily about how clean our house is or even the type of food we prepare for our guests.  Many people throughout the ages have been hospitable in settings that are wildly different.  Whether in palace, a "normal" home, or a grass hut in the jungles, hospitality always does the same thing: brings people to the feet of Jesus.  A home with hospitality is a home that reflects the image of God.

How about you?  Have you experienced a safe environment for growth with a Church?  Have you experienced the "let down" when going home?  Have you experienced a home that helps you relax at the feet of Jesus?  Does your home?

Consistent In Church

Leadership is not about power, position, or politics.  In the Church, leadership is about walking together with God and helping others do the same.  That is why passages in Scripture can describe leaders in the following way:

Now the overseer is to be above reproach… (1 Timothy 3:2 NIV)
In the same way, deacons are to be worthy of respect… (1 Tim. 3:8a NIV)
Since an overseer manages God's household, he must be blameless… (Titus 1:7 NIV)

Remember what the early church looked like.  It was a safe place for people who wanted to worship God and proclaim Jesus as their Lord.  It wouldn't be long before the Church began encountering persecution.  This persecution threatened to destroy people who believed Jesus was Christ.  The church, however, was a safe place to hold those beliefs.  It was a place where others held on to the same faith.  It was a greenhouse.

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. (Acts 2:42 NIV)

In a greenhouse, plants grow.  They grow inside even when the weather and elements are bad outside.  The greenhouse is not just a warm place.  It creates an environment for growth.  The Church does the same thing.  It creates a safe environment for growth.  Everyone in the Church is encouraged to grow in their walk together with God.

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13 NIV)

Leaders create that environment.  They create it by holding firmly to their own faith.  Then they create an environment where people are loved, respected, and encouraged to grow in their own faith as well.  They invite, empower, equip, and encourage others to walk together with God as well.  The best leaders do this consistently.

How about you?  Are you consistent in your attendance and participation with the Church?  Are you consistent in your walk together with God when together with others in the Church?  Do you invite, empower, equip, and encourage others in their walk?  Do others look to you for leadership because of your consistency?

A Consistent King

They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest heaven!" (Matthew 21:7-9 NIV)

This week we begin to celebrate "Holy Week,"  It is a time set aside to remember not only the person at the center of our faith (Jesus), but the reason we celebrate Jesus (his death and resurrection).  We kick off the week remembering Palm Sunday: they day everyone celebrated Jesus as King.

They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Blessed is the king of Israel!" (John 12:13 NIV)

We know that Jesus has promised to return in a way that everyone will see him.  This "second coming" will be the time he is seen by all as King.  Until then, though, we have only experienced Jesus as the suffering Messiah.  This confuses many people, starting with the crowd who was there that day, because they expected Jesus to become King the first time he was here.

This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: "Say to Daughter Zion, 'See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.'" (Matthew 21:4-5 NIV)

Jesus' decision to ride down the middle of Jerusalem on a donkey was his purposeful fulfillment of this prophecy from Isaiah.  He was telling everyone there that he was, indeed, the promised King.  Hh offered many signs and other reasons to believe that he was the sent Messiah and King.  Perhaps the most significant of the signs was his perfect walk together with the Father (God).

To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. "He committed no sin (nothing to hide), and no deceit was found in his mouth (nothing hidden)." (1 Peter 2:21-22 NIV)

This picture of a perfect person, who had nothing hidden and nothing to hide, has never been seen throughout history since Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden.  When they ate the forbidden fruit, they used fig leaves and nearby bushes to try and hide their nakedness because they now had something to hide.  They had rebelled against God.  They had sinned.  Before that death-fruit eating event, though, Adam and Eve both experienced what it was to be Christ-like.

The man and his wife were both naked (nothing hidden), and they felt no shame (nothing to hide). (Genesis 2:25 TNIV)

How about you?  Is Christ your example?  Do you strive to be Christ-like?  Do you let him be King in your life, leading you to righteousness, holiness, and peace?  Do you, like Adam and Eve before their sin, have nothing hidden and nothing to hide?