by pastorcarterrob » Sat Oct 25, 2014 5:17 pm
Does the pastor have total authority over the church? Does the session?
“The human king, occasionally mentioned, has delegated authority and thus can never claim to be more than a servant of the Lord.� (p121)
So many times in the Old Testament, the King of Israel forgot that they are just stewards for the high king in Heaven, the Lord God. This was repeated by many kings and leaders. The Good Kings and leaders of Israel remembered and took the stance that they were just stewards. How have we lost this idea today? We train people to be leaders, we teach them to lead and then we turn them loose leading. As we prepare leaders for the church, do we emphasize that they are only stewards of the church and that The Lord God is the true Leader of the church.
I’m not sure about the rest but in seminary, I was trained to be the leader. Yes of course God is God, but we, with the session, are the leaders of the church. What would happen if we reclaim the idea of The Lord is the leader and we pastors and elders realize that we are just servants to the King? How different would our churches be? What if to be a pastor or elder you had to first be the servant to all? How would that change leadership in the church? What if we stopped being accountable to making the congregation happy, and spent more time pleasing the Lord God?
Maybe its time to start the process of being the leader who never claims to be more than a servant of the Lord. I think I will start with myself.
Does the pastor have total authority over the church? Does the session?
“The human king, occasionally mentioned, has delegated authority and thus can never claim to be more than a servant of the Lord.� (p121)
So many times in the Old Testament, the King of Israel forgot that they are just stewards for the high king in Heaven, the Lord God. This was repeated by many kings and leaders. The Good Kings and leaders of Israel remembered and took the stance that they were just stewards. How have we lost this idea today? We train people to be leaders, we teach them to lead and then we turn them loose leading. As we prepare leaders for the church, do we emphasize that they are only stewards of the church and that The Lord God is the true Leader of the church.
I’m not sure about the rest but in seminary, I was trained to be the leader. Yes of course God is God, but we, with the session, are the leaders of the church. What would happen if we reclaim the idea of The Lord is the leader and we pastors and elders realize that we are just servants to the King? How different would our churches be? What if to be a pastor or elder you had to first be the servant to all? How would that change leadership in the church? What if we stopped being accountable to making the congregation happy, and spent more time pleasing the Lord God?
Maybe its time to start the process of being the leader who never claims to be more than a servant of the Lord. I think I will start with myself.