Understanding Church Leadership 2
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)
There is none like the Lord our God. It is wonderful witnessing another beautiful and bright day. Last Tuesday, we began a foundation laying on the series, “Understanding Christian Leadership”, by explaining some fundamental points that are basic to Christian Leadership while today’s discussion shall be a continuation of the same.
True leadership is needed today, both in the secular and in the Church. It is a common saying that no society hardly produces anything better than the quality of its leadership. Just as mentioned last Tuesday, while the qualities of true leadership, secularly and spirituality, are almost the same in many ramifications, the differences between the two are clear and cannot be underestimated or over emphasized.
In understanding spiritual leadership, there is a need to understand that while all believers are expected to be Christ’s ambassadors and should thereby be role models both within and outside of the Church, all believers are not saddled with the responsibility of leading a people (Church).
A major area of misconception about true leadership is in the area of pastoral calling, gift or office and the gift of leadership. This was mentioned on last Tuesday, but emphasis will be laid on the same today.
One of the major challenges in the Body of Christ today which has got negative impact on the Church is the challenge of role playing. This is further escalated by our system of nomenclature in the Body of Christ and further compounded by the elevation of some titles (offices) one above another. People now show more interest in titles than understanding and fulfilling their ministry and fulfilling the same. In fact, the systems run by many denomination today do not help matters as titles are attached to promotions.
In some places, a pastor is the least ranked and promotion moves individuals to the positions of a Reverend and Bishop. In some, the least ranked is an evangelist, while promotion moves individuals to the position of a pastor. While the emphasis is not on the system of nomenclature, yet there is a need for every minister of God to have a full understanding of the fivefold ministry and its functions.
No church or ministry has got the ability to place anyone into the fivefold office. This is a prerogative of Christ and Christ alone! Just as the impartation of gift is by the Holy Spirit and operations by God. So, there are so many ministers placed into the offices today that God has not placed them. “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers” (Eph. 4:11).
Back to the leadership gift and the pastoral office. While leadership is a gift, pastoral calling is an office. There are two major references in the New Testament on leadership gift (Romans 12:8 and 1 Corinthians 12:28). That means, in order to experience true leadership and enjoy the maximum benefits of the same, there is need for the Church to understand those who lead as a result of their appointments and their rise in the Church ranks and those God has really given the gift of leadership as well as those having the two.
Pastor Raphael Adegoke is a Pastor in Christ Apostolic Church (Nigeria & Overseas) and a Lecturer in Christ Apostolic Church Theological Seminary.
