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08 Aug Ministry Leaders Go First – In What?
Terry had been on the ministry team in his local church for ten years when he was invited to lead his own church. It was the opportunity he’d been waiting for. The Church farewelled Terry with a wave of well-wishes and encouragement and he left with excitement and anticipation.
But all was not what Terry had imagined. It wasn’t long before Terry discovered his new church was in crisis – struggling with attendance, drowning in debt, riddled with conflict at the board level and fraught with antagonistic church members. As Terry describes it, “The church was in a town called Grimsby – and the name proved prophetic. This was a gong show!”
Terry was desperate. He knew he couldn’t leave, and he didn’t know how to move forward. So he began crying out to God, and called every part of the church to join him. He organised prayer meetings throughout week – before the Sunday service, after the Sunday service; on Tuesday nights and Thursday mornings. Meetings with the men; meetings with the women. They prayed regularly and passionately, asking God to move.
A Vision for the Church
One morning, Terry was lying on one of the pews in the church sanctuary, praying for the church. As he lay there, a vision came into his mind. He saw the roof of the church in the form of a beautiful stain-glassed dome. In one of the panes, Terry saw his name etched in the glass. As the picture zoomed in, the Holy Spirit spoke, “That’s the church you’re trying to build.”
Terry began to weep as he became aware of his true motivations… He’d been using his calling to make a name for himself.
A few weeks later, Terry saw another vision, this time in a dream. He saw a tightly knotted ball of string. With it, came understanding; “This ball of string is your heart and I am going to start untangling it.”
Later, he saw God’s hand touching one of the knots in the ball. The knot was tagged “fear.” God showed him how fear had formed early in Terry’s life and was the driving reason behind his controlling behaviour; “I am going to untangle it for you if you’ll let me.”
In the months that followed, the Holy Spirit continued to untangle the knots in Terry’s heart. It took time. It was painful and made him angry, but then things began to change. Terry began to hear God’s voice more clearly. His church began to grow. People experienced deliverance and healing, and the finances began to right themselves. Terry’s God conversations marked a turning point, not only in his life, but in his ministry.
Leaders Go First
We know that leaders “go first.” By definition, leadership entails being the first to step out before others do. So business leaders go first in investing their money, leaders in education go first in learning something new, leaders in the arts go first in creating something artistic. But when we think about church and ministry leaders, what do we go first in?
Perhaps the thought that comes to mind is that ministry leaders go first in… casting vision, making strategic plans, building teams, organising courses or preparing sermons.
But Terry’s story shows us that in God’s kingdom, leaders have a different priority. While we pray for our ministries, God speaks about our hearts. While we focus on human strategies, God untangles our motivations. God’s call for leaders is first to be disciples. We go first in following Jesus.
On a practical level, this means we go first in listening to the voice of the Spirit. We heed what God is saying and then obey it (John 10:27). As we do, we experience transformation into the likeness of Christ and begin to demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit. We go first in showing love, patience, kindness and generosity (Gal. 5:22-23). It is this growth and maturity that then qualifies us to lead others. For its is then that we can say with the Apostle Paul, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” (1 Cor. 11:1)
Then look what happens! The spin-off for fulfilling our primary obligation as disciples of Jesus is the blessing of God on our ministry. When we submit to the ways of Jesus, the Spirit can truly flow in and through us. Our churches will grow, healing will flourish and provision will come.
Let’s not miss our first and primary call. Let’s not focus on our human gifting, strategies and plans at the expense of focussing on our relationship with God. As church leaders we go first in following Jesus – listening to his continuing voice in the Spirit and doing what the Spirit says.
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