lead. humbly.
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function,5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching;8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. – Romans 12:3-8
If you have been part of a church (either presently or in the past), then you’ve no doubt heard the Scripture above, or at least a paraphrase of it: the church has many parts so if you play your part, the church functions like a healthy body. Trite? Maybe. True. Definitely. So, why do we in the church constantly judge others when they don’t “serve like I do” or “give like I do” or “sign like we do” or “teach like our pastor does.” Isn’t it great how Scripture reads our minds and calls us out. It warns, “do not think more highly of yourself than you ought…” Busted. When we do our thing and don’t worry about what someone else is or isn’t doing, the church can do what she was created to do. That is why I started this conversation with “love.” Love should serve as the fundamental “value” for every Christian community and I pray that it does at day|twelve. Then we talked about service because Jesus said that He came to serve and challenged us to do the same. All are called to love and serve others, but some have a “gift of service” so for some the responsibility to the church is higher. If those gifted in service do not operate in their gift the church loses and that person is held accountable before God.
Finally, there is leadership. Love Relentlessly. Serve Sacrificially. Lead Humbly. I put leadership last in this list because I think that the context of leadership must be love and service. If your leadership is not born out of love and service, it will not be Godly, humble leadership. But, make no mistake, leadership is a Godly thing given as a gift to some for the advancement of the Kingdom. And by Kingdom I don’t mean the “institution of the Church” I mean the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He gifts us to lead in whatever context we find ourselves in and, just like with every other gift, if it is given and not used properly, those with the gift are accountable. It is not sin to desire to lead. In fact, if someone has the gift of leadership and doesn’t steward that gift, THAT is sin. Spiritual leadership is a beautiful thing when it is exercised in such a way that calls out the giftedness and beauty in the church. I pray that our leadership at day|twelve will be humble and honor God in the way it leads.
Lead Humbly.
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