The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. -- Ephesians 4:11-13
These three verses are packed with insight about leadership. We see that God creates different sorts of leaders and that they, therefore, lead out of who they are and the gifts they have been given. We also learn that the main responsibility of leaders, with their manifold gifts and functions, is to equip others for ministry and pave the way for their maturity. In order for pastors to be faithful to their biblical calling, and survive in ministry, they must empower and release others to do the ministry of the church.
These three verses are packed with insight about leadership. We see that God creates different sorts of leaders and that they, therefore, lead out of who they are and the gifts they have been given. We also learn that the main responsibility of leaders, with their manifold gifts and functions, is to equip others for ministry and pave the way for their maturity. In order for pastors to be faithful to their biblical calling, and survive in ministry, they must empower and release others to do the ministry of the church.
yes, I think this is a very important principle. thankfully in all the church fellowships I've been part of, this does seem to have been the goal. but I bumped into a guy once who seriously annoyed me, he was a pastor and when the subject of evangelism came up in a group conversation he said that all his church members had to do was to invite people to church so that he could tell them about God. like, that's all us plebs are qualified for... grrr...
ReplyDeleteironically, our pastor was at a church where he was told that that's exactly how it should work. no one should have to do anything in the way of evangelism beyond inviting people to the service. they were apparently a little disgruntled that he thought otherwise.
ReplyDeletei've hit the evangelism section of the introverts in the church book, btw. adam's got some good things to say there. i'll be sharing soon.
oooooh - can't wait! that should be very interesting!
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