Leadership; The Essential Component for Growth

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Local Church
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In order for God’s purpose to be accomplished through His chosen instrument, the Church, it is imperative the appointed leadership be setting a proper example.  God has called out men to be the leaders of His Church.  These men must meet specific qualifications (1 Timothy 3; Titus 1) and exercise the gifts that have been given to them.[1]
God has supplied each of His children with grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift (Ephesians 4: 7).  This grace “is measured out to be consistent with what is necessary for the operation of Christ’s gift.”[2]  Therefore, due to the measure of grace that has been bestowed upon the believer, there should not be an assembly production of Christians.  True, genuine disciples are not manufactured, rather, they are developed one relationship at a time.
In verse eleven of this passage, Paul makes it clear that there are specific gifts of Christ that have been given to the whole Church:  “And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.”[3]  God provided these specific offices “for the perfecting [equipping] of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying [building up] of the body of Christ.”[4]  While all of these gifts are not still active today, the principle behind having several offices still stands.[5]

In order to train the believer to follow after Christ and to do the work of the ministry, it takes many individuals actively involving themselves in this process.  The men that hold these offices must not be ignorant about spiritual gifts in their own life or the lives of those that they have been called to oversee.  This entire idea can really be summed up with a statement by Wayne Mack, a very influential and Biblically sound author.

Ignorance about spiritual gifts in the life of any particular believer is harmful to the church because that believer has been gifted by God to play a unique role in the body, and the individual himself suffers because his usefulness and joy in Christ is dependent upon his exercise of that giftedness.  On the other hand, if you as a Christian understand the truth in God’s Word concerning spiritual gifts and practice it, you will make a significant contribution to the success of your congregation and experience increasing personal fulfillment in your walk with Christ.”[6]

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[1] R. Kent Hughes really does a great job at including some real-life examples so that the reader can really get a grasp on what he is trying to communicate through his statements.  It is imperative for the leadership of the church to not only meet a set of criteria but to also live out that criteria daily, regardless of what setting they are found in.
[2] John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, (Chicago: Moody Press, 1986), 135.
[3] King James Version, Eph. 4:11.
[4] Ibid. Eph. 4:12.
[5] From what I can tell of my study, the offices of an apostle and a prophet do not fit the biblical model that is still in place today.  This is not due to tradition but rather due to the plan that God had for that particular office and thus that purpose has since past.
[6] Wayne Mack & Dave Swavely,  Life in the Father’s House, (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2006), 145.
©2013 Mark Davis

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by Christians Are Us on March 13, 2013  •  Permalink
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