Serve Together

Perhaps the greatest difficulty world-type leaders have with leadership in God’s Church is this: God’s Leaders Serve Together.  In the world, the best man or woman is supposed to win.  In the world, there’s only room for one at a time climbing that ladder.  In the world, there may be a whole team, but the focus is on one candidate.  In the world it’s all about the power of one.  In God’s Church, though, it’s all about the team.

Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits. (Mark 6:7 NIV)

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. (Luke 10:1 NIV)

As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. (Luke 19:29-30 NIV)

So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. Say to the owner of the house he enters, 'The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' (Mark 14:13-14 NIV)

"Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them." (Matthew 18:19-20 NIV)

Jesus regularly sent out his followers two by two.  He even empowered us in a special way when there are two ore more of us gathering in his name, agreeing in ministry.  God’s Church is designed to serve together as a team.

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. (1 Corinthians 12:4-7 NIV)

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body--whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. (1 Corinthians 12:12-14 NIV)

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. (1 Corinthians 12:27 NIV)

This requires leaders in God’s church to have a regular lifestyle of humility.  There is much greater power, effectiveness, and love when we serve together.  More than that, it is God’s Design for His Church.

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. (Romans 12:3-5 NIV)

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1-6 NIV)

So how about you?  Do you serve together with others?

Serve (Lead) Like Jesus

Jesus is probably the main reason leadership in the Church is confusing to the world.  Jesus was the most powerful person ever to walk the face of the earth: God in the flesh.  Jesus had a direct connection and closer relationship with the Father than any of us ever have.  Jesus could have lead from a position of power and won any political contest.  But he didn’t.  Instead, he invited people to follow, taught with patience and love, and even modeled a humility that seemed contradictory to the authority with which he taught.

A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. (Luke 22:24-27 NIV)

This was confusing for his own disciples, so it certainly makes sense that it is confusing for us still today.  Leadership, Jesus was teaching them, is not about power, position, or politics.  Leadership in God’s Church is about walking with God and helping others do the same.  This is exactly the kind of leadership Jesus modeled for his disciples, even to the very end.

It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand." "No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me." "Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!" Jesus answered, "Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you." For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. (John 13:1-17 NIV)

How about you?  Do you serve (lead) like Jesus?

Team Builders Serve

Leadership in God’s Church can be very confusing.  That’s because leadership in God’s Church is not supposed to be like leadership in the world. 

A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. (Luke 22:24-27 NIV)

Leadership in the Church is not about power, position, or politics.  It’s about walking with God an helping others do the same.  In these “entry level” leadership roles, team builders start to lead by learning to serve.

But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." (Luke 14:10-11 NIV)

We start learning that it is not about looking important.  It’s not even about being important.  It’s about being effective at helping people walk with God.  That effectiveness grows as we learn to serve.

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all." (Mark 9:35 NIV)

How about you?  Do you serve your spouse?  Do you serve your children?  Do you serve others?  Are you learning to lead by serving?

Team Builders Walk With God

Whenever I teach about a topic at Life Bridge, I’ve learned to boil down the concepts into a single sentence or statement that we can go back to over and over again.  It helps reinforce the concept and gives an outline for the Bible study or class.  When it comes to leadership, this is what I say: “Leadership in God’s Church is not about power, position, or politics.  It’s about walking together with God and helping others do the same.”  There’s a lot in that statement that we can unpack over the next few weeks, but for now I just wanted to get it out there.

In the same way, deacons are to be worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. (1 Timothy 3:8 NIV)

Perhaps the most difficult concept with leadership in the church is that it is different from leadership in the world around us.  In the world, we are shown many different ways people lead.  All of them seem to be valid as long as they can get the votes (politics), the promotion (position), or the role of supreme boss of all the fiefdom (power).  In the church, however, the process of getting there seems to be more important than “arriving.”

Let’s take the list above as an example.  As a hiring manager in the business world, I could check references and backgrounds for a candidate to see if he is respected, a truth-teller, or a thief.  It starts to get a little more difficult to check up on whether they got drop-dead drunk this past weekend.  As long as they can show up on time and ready to work on Monday, it’s really none of my business.

They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons. (1 Timothy 3:9-10 NIV)

In a business environment, however, I can’t ask them if they believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.  I can’t ask them if they have asked Jesus to be the Lord of their lives.  I can’t ask if they have repented of their sins and gone down into the waters of baptism.  I would probably get fired as a hiring manager if I asked those kinds of questions.

In the same way, the women are to be worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything. A deacon must be faithful to his wife and must manage his children and his household well. (1 Timothy 3:11-12 NIV)

If we had fired every person who gossiped (with malicious talk) around the water cooler, the whole place would have been cleared out eventually.  Had I asked a new hire whether he was sleeping with anyone other than his wife, I not only would have been fired.  I would have been sued.

In God’s Church, however, these questions are not only acceptable.  They are required.  That’s because leadership in God’s Church is not about getting hired for a position.  It’s about walking with God so you can help others do the same.  If you don’t know how to stay strong with God, how can you hope to help another stay strong.  Team Builders, then, start by leading themselves to walk together with God.  Then they build into others as well.

Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 3:13 NIV)

How about you?  Do you walk together with God?  In what areas is your walk consistent enough that you have insight and wisdom to share with others?

Team Builder

We’ve been talking about the path of life, where we are reminded that each of us is in a different place in our walk together with God.  We’ve already covered what it is like to sense God, hear God and then Join God even after being far away.  We’ve reminded ourselves that when we come home to the Father through the Son, we receive the Holy Spirit and everything changes.  While our thoughts, habits, and situations don’t change instantly, they begin to change as we build a relationship with God more and more in our lives.  We become life builders as we walk with God.  We become relationship builders as we invite God into our relationships.  When we build our marriage around God, we become marriage builders and, as we raise our children in the training and instruction of the Lord, we become family builders.  Now, we will look beyond the family to serving other people.  As we lead in the Body of Christ, we become Team Builders.

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. (Acts 6:1 NIV)

A Team Builder is our term for a person who matches the role of a Biblical deacon.  We are using a different name for two reasons.  First of all, the Greek word διάκονος gets transliterated into the English word, deacon.  That is not a translation of the meaning.  The literal meaning would be something close to “table waiter.”  So, we want to use an English term that translates the meaning and purpose better than a letter by letter transliteration.

The second reason we are using a different term is simple.  “Deacon” carries with it many meanings from many different church backgrounds, denominations, and congregations.  Often times, these meanings have nothing to do with the Biblical role these people lived in the life of the early church.  Since we do not want to bring these “extra” meanings along, we are simply using a different term.

So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word." (Acts 6:2-4 NIV)

You probably have noticed that the word “Builder” is showing up in a lot of these titles.  That is because we’ve learned over the years that it is important to have that reminder right in front of us all the time.  In each of these roles, we are living out our part of Christ’s Body “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 4:12-13 [NIV]).  Team Builders, then, are building up the Body by working together with others (a team) to live out a specific ministry that builds up the Body.

This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. (Acts 6:5-6 NIV)

The first Team Builders (deacons) did this by administering a food program for the widows who could not support themselves.  They were living out roughly the equivalent to our modern day 500 Turkeys, Hilltop Dinner (monthly at Life Bridge starting this Friday), or Cafe Manna (weekly at St. Teresa’s down the street).  These ministries, like the original food distribution program, are vital to the health and wellbeing of God’s Church as well as outreach to the surrounding community.  Team Builders work toward these ends while building up the people who work with them.  The result?

So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith. (Acts 6:7 NIV)

How about you?  Are you a working together with others to build up the Body of Christ and reach out to our community with God’s love?  Are you a team builder?