#5 Leadership: turtle on the fece post
#5 Leadership: Turtle on the fence post,
God’s Provision
Text: Eph. 4: 11 – 16 I Tim. 4: 6 - 16
Introduction:
One of the God’s gifts to the Church is the gift of leaders. God placed them in the Church to build the body. I call them “gift-people” who out of ordinary are appointed by God to play important roles. They are just like a turtle on the fence post.
Illustration:
In the office of a CEO in a big corporation, there hangs a beautiful picture of a pastoral scene. The ray of the warm sun shines through the magnificent oak tree making a contrast between the shade it creates and the heat on the other side. There in the center of the picture in the shadow are the fence posts. When you look carefully, there is a brown turtle on the one of the fence post. He ordered this picture from his artist friend. Any time when he feels proud of his accomplishment he watches that turtle on the fence post. Every time his friends and subordinates admire his accomplishment he points to the turtle on the fence post and say to them, “it is God who put me there.” Such is the position of the church leaders.
Our God is a good God who cares for His Community. It is God who put leaders in the church community.
The origin of the Church is from God and its final consummation is to God. Meantime we are engaged in the process. That is the Mission of the Church. We should be the community of God under His reign to reflect the unity of the Trinity. It is the work of God’s grace for us that we can engage in this Mission. In all this, the Trinity is the foundation of the Church. The Trinity was involved in the beginning of the Church (Eph. 1) and it is involved very deeply at the present. This God, Three in One, provided another provision for His Church so that the community can pursue the Mission of the Church.
Let’s open our Bible to Eph. 4 verse 7. “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift”. God gave His Spiritual gift to each member of the community. Paul affirms that we all have gifts of one kind or another. There is no exception. This is based on Christ’s incarnation and glorification (4:8-10) who became the victor over all things. This exalted Savior, our Lord, is the one who has empowered His community with various gifts through His grace so that this community truly grows as His body to show the world who God really is. But in this passage, Paul is not talking about the spiritual gifts for the each believer but Christ made some to be the gifts to His Church. These people are given to the body for special purpose. Those people who are made gifts to the Church are: Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists and Pastor-teachers (Vs. 11). These “gift-people” are God’s provisions for His community so that the Community functions as He designed it to be. Now, we will not go into whether these gift-people actually exist in the Church at present, especially Apostles, but this much we can say that God gave these “gift-people” “for the equipping (Katartismon) of the saints for the work of service (diakonia), to the building up of the body of Christ” (vs. 12). The word “equipping” (Katartismon) is also used in Matt. 4:21, “...and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending (Katartismon) their nets; and he called them.” Here the word which is translated as “mending” is the same ward as “equipping.” Also in Gal 6:1, “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore (Katartismon) him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.” It literally means, “putting in order.” These are the people whose senses are trained and able to discern the spiritual matter in their giftedness. “because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil” (Heb. 5:14). They know the purpose of the Church and how it should function and able to lead the intricate body of Christ to full health so that the body can function as God intended.
In the real world, there are a lot of accidents which are preventable if we know how to fix the problems.
Illustration:
An intricate machine broke down, halting production in a busy factory. All the company’s best machinists were called in to diagnose the trouble, but to no avail. It was suggested that a specialist, a master mechanic, be brought in. He came, looked the apparatus over, and asked for the smallest hammer on hand. He then pecked on a critical area, and said,
“Now, turn on the power. It ought to work.” It did. Later, when he sent a bill for $100, the top brass were astounded at the exorbitant fee. They wrote, asking him to send an itemized statement, which he did, without reducing the amount. The itemized version read:
“$1 for pecking, $99 for knowing where to peck.”
(Paul Lee, Tan, “Encyclopedia of 7,700 Illustrations,” Garland, Texas: Bible
Communications, Inc. 1996, CD version)
These “gift-people” know where to peck and have a good grasp of the body and the anatomy. They know spiritual dynamics of the church; strength and weaknesses, issues and difficulties, direction and visions, each gift of the members and the purpose of the body. They are able to see why God placed each member in the body. They possess skills and understanding how to utilize the gift of each member. Dwight Eisenhower once said, “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something that you want done because he wants to do it.” Isn’t it good! These leaders demonstrate the qualities in 4:2; humility, gentleness, patience and forbearance which are needed in the community of God. They motivate people by being example to the people, inspiring them to the work of the ministry rather than persuading and coaxing them. Marshall Jones said, “A good leader inspires other men with confidence in him; a great leader inspires them with confidence in themselves.” And I say, “The great Christian leaders inspire the people with confidence in the Lord.”
In I Tim. 4 verses 6 to 16, Paul exhorts young Timothy to be a godly leader and lists 7 qualities as characteristics of the good leaders. Take some time to go over; it would be a very interesting study. Let’s look at them very briefly. Using Dr. MacArthur’s outline.
1. The good leaders confront the false teaching (I Tim. 4:6a). “In pointing out these things” Paul said. It is the responsibility of the leaders to protect the community from false teaching. There are so many information in the world and many Christians are confused about the Truth.
2. Secondly, the good leaders study the word of God, “constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following” (4:6b). This is the most vital characteristic of the leaders who aspire to know God’s will thus lead the community by the good, acceptable and perfect will of God. If the church is the pillar of the truth, the leaders must know what the Scripture teaches and able to apply its principles.
3. Thirdly, the good leaders pursue personal godliness, “discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness” (4:7). This discipline is not for self-glorification or self-righteousness but it is the demonstration of God’s grace in their lives to be examples for the community.
4. Fourthly, the good leaders welcome the hard work, “For it is for this we labor and strive (ajgwnivzomai: Agonizomai)” (4:10). The word “strive” comes from a Greek word “agonizomai” which the English word “agony” comes from. Leaders are to agonize to care for the community and do everything to foster the community to prepare her to be a pure bride for Christ.
5. Fifthly, the good leaders teach and prescribe the truth faithfully, “Prescribe and teach these things” (4:11). Not for the personal gain but for the glory of God.
6. Sixthly, the good leaders model what they preach, “show yourself example of those who believe” (4:12). This is the true authenticity which the community can follow. This is the actual demonstration of the living Word. Teaching is important, preparation is important but those are just half of the task God has entrusted to the leaders and the other half is modeling.
Illustration:
Once a follower of Gandhi was asked what he observed about Americans. His answer was that the Americans live the life of compartmentalization; making money, family, social interaction and religion, but none of them tied together with any philosophical thread. Each of them stand alone and no relationship to each other. Then he was asked what he thought of Gandhi. His answer was, “Dr. Gandhi had all the areas of interest I have just mentioned, but in his life, each was an expression of his religion”
(Fred Smith, Learning to lead, Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1986, p. 153).
What a testimony of authenticity!
7. Finally, the good leaders know what their gifts are and use them to build the community, “Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you” (4:14). It is a great responsibility of the leaders to lead the community of God with integrity and authenticity. The leaders are the community within the Community.
The leadership was never designed for an individual but a group of people who are called to the diversity of tasks but for the same direction. In fact, in all the New Testament, the position of the leadership was always referred in plural form. Thus the “Plurality of the leaders” is the model which God has instituted for His community which we can see very clearly in these “gift-people.” When each leader fulfills his role then the saints are equipped, mended, and restored for the work of service. “As a result” says Paul, “we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming” (4:14). The leadership is the community within the Community to edify to build. Albert Hubbard once said, “It is a fine thing to have ability, but the ability to discover ability in others is the true test.” Moody also said, “It is better to train 10 people, than to do the work of 10 people. But it is harder.” These are the basic characteristics God expects leaders to aspire.
We looked at the very basic aspects of the leadership in the Church. How do these characteristics translate into practical leadership model in the local community of God’s people? Following are the summary of the good leaders:
(from Clutterbuck and Crainer’s outline.)
1. Leaders must have a clear picture in their minds where the
church is going.
2. They must identify the key strategies that will move the church
from where it is to where it needs to be.
3. That vision and those strategies must become internalized in
each leader’s heart.
They should come to mind immediately and succinctly every time a leader faces a consequential decision or is asked about
congregational plans.
4. Leaders must work tirelessly to find simple, clear-cut ways in
which to explain this vision and the strategies that support it.
5. Leadership must communicate, communicate, communicate to
the congregation.
(Clutterbuck and Crainer, p. 217, Quoted in Future Faith Churches, Don Posterski and Gary
Nelson, Winfield, BC: Wood Lake Books Inc., 1997, p. 107)
All too often leaders are hired by a congregation to do the “work of the ministry” and a pastor or elders are overwhelmed with the ministry to the body. This is not the community God designed. It is the leaders’ gifts and skills bring people together. It is the work of the body that each member fulfills his responsibility and function as a member of the body. To fail to understand the concept of the body is to miss the purpose and the Mission of the Church.
When we miss this, and put the ministry of the church onto the professional, we have lost sight of who we are. The local congregation becomes weak, unable to respond as a healthy body to the directions of its Head.
(Richards, Lawrence O., The Teacher’s Commentary, Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1987, CD version)
It is a great challenge and responsibility of the leaders to remind themselves of this that they are servants of the body called to build the Community so that it can function as God designed. There is no room for personal agenda. This is the tension the leaders always face: Tension between God’s reign and the human enterprise. The leaders face conflicts between God’s plan and people’s desire. People to whom they serve become obstacle to God’s reign. But nothing wrong with conflicts. When the leaders do not know how to handle the conflict Biblically, it truly becomes problem. When that happens, not only the leaders become ineffective but also the community suffers and the entire community loses its glow and saltiness. Bill Copeland once said, “A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd.” I might add, “yet bring the orchestra and the audience together.”
Paul gives great insight to this. He says in Eph. 4:15 and 16.
but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects
into Him, who is the head, even Christ from whom the whole
body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love (emphasis added).
This is a great mystery that Christ is the source of the power which holds the community together yet each individual part must work together as well. This is the Kingdom on this earth where God reigns. This should be the ultimate understanding of the leaders. The leaders are to look beyond the felt needs of the people to bring them under the reign of God for the service. It is the partnership with Christ here on this earth.
When leaders are shaped primarily by contextual needs, they fail to connect the gospel in a specific setting with its eschatological nature. The gospel’s eschatological horizon makes leaders aware that the church is always more than context. The needs of the churched and unchurched are not the primary agenda of leadership. The reign of God
in Christ, the social reality of the redeemed community, determines the church’s direction. The image of the pilgrim people, moving in and toward the reign of God, is the centre of the church’s life and identity.
(Guder, The Missional Church, Grand Rapids: Eerdmanns, 1998, p. 204, emphasis added.)
This is the aim for the leaders who know the ultimate purpose of the Church and understand the Mission of the Church to establish the community of God which shines Christ to the world. This task is great. In a sense, it is an impossibility without God’s help and without the qualities which were exhorted in 4:2. Congregations are informed of the origin and purpose of the Church and exercise the spiritual qualities which edify the community, and leaders lead them to serve, then the transformation of the Community takes place. To this, God gave leaders to His community as a provision. Main thrust of the leadership is for both external authenticity (service) and the internal authenticity (building up of the body) of the Community. The task of the leaders will never end till the coming of the Great Shepherd.
In the middle of 2nd century, fellow Christians demonstrated the intense love of God; when the poor member needed food, the others who were equally poor would fast in order to provide food for his fellow brothers. They lived quietly and did not proclaim their good deeds in the ears of neighbors. They comforted those who wronged them. When one dies, they rejoiced and gave thanks to God. Even when it was an infant, they thank God that the baby slipped into eternity without knowing much of the effects of sin. What a reign of God in their midst! God reigned then and God still reigns in His Community now. The leaders are given to the Community to be the servant of the King. This great reign of God is still intact today. Oh, may God continue to bless us with godly leaders that the Community of God’s people will be equipped and be ready for the work that God has provided. Yes, leaders are made to be leaders by God. May we fulfill God’s call, remembering we are turtles on the fence posts. Amen.
