Wednesday, February 6, 2019

What is a Christian Leader?

"What then is Apollos?  What is Paul?  Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each.  I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.  So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth," (1 Cor 3:5-7).

Who is your favorite Christian author or preacher?  Spurgeon?  Piper?  Chandler?  Bunyan?  Lewis?  MacArthur?  Mohler?  Graham?  Reading good Christian books and listening to good Christian preaching is a rich blessing aided by technology that makes so much accessible via a website or an app.  Is there any danger here?  Only that we begin to import fanaticism into Christianity.  If we could ask Lewis or Bunyan or Spurgeon about whether they would want to be adored by their many fans, guaranteed they would say, "Don't worship me.  I am nothing.  Look to Christ.  He is your Savior.  I am only a man."  As we enjoy good Christian teaching and preaching in an age of accessible information let us do so with a few key truths:


1. Christian leaders are servants of Jesus.  So, Christianity is not like "American Idol."  Christian leaders, the good ones, are not serving for their own fame, but for the glory of Jesus.  The highest compliment you can pay to a Christian leader is to be obsessed with Jesus because of his or her teaching.

2. Jesus has appointed my local pastor as my main teacher.  There is a temptation to listen to pastors that are more polished or more entertaining on a podcast and slowly allow that to fuel thoughts like, "I don't need to go to church, because I can listen to a sermon on my way to work."  Beware of this thought.  It is in the context of a local church that your pastor has charge to shepherd your soul with grace, diligence, and watchfulness.  What we need most is to sit under the regular teaching of a pastor who knows us, prays for us, and wrestles with Scripture and us, the congregation, in mind.

3. Christian leaders are held to a higher standard.  James gives a sobering warning: "Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness," (James 3:1).  Leading in the church is a high privilege, and it comes with stricter judgment.  Let us carefully evaluate our motives for aspiring to Christian leadership.  Also, please pray regularly for your leaders, that their hearts would remain riveted to the glory of Christ.

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