7/28/2019 Church Leadership: What It Takes to Follow God in
Jesus's Foosteps
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Trusting on Church Leadership:What It Means to Walk
In the Footsteps of Jesus
Hebrews 13:17Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their
authority,because they keep watch over you as those who mustgive an
account. Do this so that their work willbe a joy, not a burden, for
that would be of no benefit to you.
That Jesus's love is pure, and that you and I can do more than
he did remained true
biblical praxis. But, to say that Jesus is not black and white
in thinking, that he is notdogmatic, have had no basis in
philosophy, literature and scripture. Isn't that a bolt
from the blue -- licentiously extreme? Honestly, Jesus, being
the firm,
uncompromising and strong apologist of God's will over the
created, is an advocate
to himself. And that makes him an apologist to himself, God
incarnate while he was
on earth and a third in the trinity of the Godhead. All
apologists are dogmatic; Jesus
was by no means an exception. From birth in Galilee, baptism at
the Jordan,
preaching all over Judea, and unto his death in Jerusalem, he
has been apologist
and dogmatic for the Father.
Every teaching, right or wrong, inevitably veers into dogma and
history is full of it.
By dogma, we refer to a belief or set of beliefs that a religion
holds to be true.Christianity is God's dogma1 and if you and I
accept the commission of discipleship
and swear to be God's spokesman and ambassador in this troubled
world, we
inescapably become apologists of the bible, and dogmatic for God
and the biblical
teachings. After all, we listen only to one voice Jesuss own and
follow his
example.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+13:17&version=NIVhttp://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+13:17&version=NIV
7/28/2019 Church Leadership: What It Takes to Follow God in
Jesus's Foosteps
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Any inferior and/or muddled version of Christianity may take
shape any time soon
somewhere else if you and I lose sight of Jesus and his word.
Any version of truth,
even any form of organized fallacy, has had dogma built around
it. Now, how can
we say that every bit of Christian praxis isn't black and white
in Jesus's eyes, mind,
and heart? Who has walked, from among us here, with Jesus? Has
anyone here
been able to fathom the heart and mind of Jesus, other than what
the bible says?We need to be careful with our opinion by holding
biblical exegesis separate from
what we think or understand, on the one hand, and what
corporeal, mundane,
ecclesiastical thoughts should be, on the other.
The trouble with us is that, by being able to read a handful of
books about a certain
subject and from having built a large collection of notes and a
library of references,
we begin to think that you and I have gained or obtained
expertise. Surely you and
I may live and die aspiring to be like Jesus; but we will never
ever become Jesus. We
may live and die trying to walk in his footsteps, and we may be
able only to leave
our own footprints on his. Haven't you heard in school that he
who walks in other's
tracks leave no footprints of his own? When we walk the way he
walked, Jesus
becomes more evident (not us).2 The Lord will acquire prominence
(not you and
me). He will attract a bigger following, but not a flock we can
call our own. We will
gain spiritual depth and become knowledgeable and empowered with
a wisdom that
precedes the Lords name and reputation (not our fame or monument
of greatness).
But, as has been happening now, up to a point we begin to think
we are superior
than others, even higher in knowledge compared with our leaders.
We somehow
tend to believe we have a license to mix facts and opinion; we
become tactless and
careless that what you and I believe, what you and I think, what
you and I do,
should be the direction that everybody should be accepting,
thinking, and doing. By
desiring recognition for our knowledge and experience, we
downgrade the Lord. By
putting Christ as second fiddle in the orchestra of our
learning, we grab the
limelight for ourselves and expect our brotherhood to
acknowledge our contribution;
to me that is no longer discipleship.
In humility, we should be able to realize that the more we read,
study, and meditate
the deeper our conviction must be that we have learned little.
The more we make
disciples3 and abide by veritable church leadership directive we
must conclude that
by far we have accomplished little; that the Master's view
prevails, and that we
leave so much to be desired in the Lord's global outreach to
make disciples of all
nations.
Wasn't it taught when we were younger that little knowledge is
dangerous? It is.
Canturias, Abbey B.Metro Cebu Christian Church
1 Acts 11: 25-26: The public pattern of Christianity
