Understanding Church Leadership 10
By Pastor Raphael Adegoke
16Woe to you, O land whose king is a youth, and whose princes feast in the morning. 17Blessed are you, O land whose king is a son of nobles, and whose princes feast at the proper time—for strength and not for drunkenness. (Eccl 10: 16-17)
Glory be to God for another glorious week. May the awesome presence of the Lord see us through the week in good health, joy and happiness! Amen! Last Tuesday, we began to consider empathy as one of the attributes of a good servant-leader and today, we shall continue our discussion on that same attribute, which is empathy.
One of the things that make a good actor is the ability to be able to interpret a role and act the same very well, and to do this, an actor must be able to imagine himself in the shoes of the character he is asked to portray. This same applies to any servant- leader.
One of the things that make great servant- leaders is the ability to see oneself in the shoes of the people he leads. So, if there is any scripture that should always ring in the heart of any servant -leader, then it should be Matthew 7:4 “In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the prophets.”
The author of first John gives us another typical example of the model for effective servant –leadership. “I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. 13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. 14 I write to you, dear children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.” (1 John 2:12-14). It will be noted that the author of this book made provisions for all categories of people in his writing.
From the noticeable categories of people in the book of first John, does it mean we must lead all, that is, children, young and adults? Just as we know that our ministry should be able to impact all directly or indirectly, we need also know that our primary assignment cannot be to all. “7On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted to preach the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised. 8For God, who was at work in Peter’s apostleship to the Jews, was also at work in my apostleship to the Gentiles. 7On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted to preach the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised. 8For God, who was at work in Peter’s apostleship to the Jews, was also at work in my apostleship to the Gentiles. (Gal. 2:7-9). Everybody has been sent to a people. These must be identified and reached. This is one of the secrets of effectiveness and impactful servant-leadership or ministry.
The implication of the 1 John 2:12-14 on our ministry today will be, identifying different categories of people among the categories to whom God has sent us. For example, if God is sending you to the ministers of the Gospel, then you still need to understand that in terms of spiritual growth (not physical growth), some are babes, young ones in the faith and some, mature. Our ability to manage all these categories will determine the level of our impacts even in the area(s) of our calling.
Pastor Raphael Adegoke is a Pastor in Christ Apostolic Church (Nigeria & Overseas) and a Lecturer in Christ Apostolic Church Theological Seminary.
