Morning Moments

The bishop/pastor should be balanced in belief and behavior and should be motivated by the Spirit not by "success" in terms of the world.

How wonderful it would be if church leaders never had family problems, but it is rather unrealistic. We all have our challenges. It is reported that John Wesley's wife would publicly critize him. Many of us have to live with spouses that do not have the heart for the work we do. One of the most godly men I ever knew had a wife that would say, "God called him, not me into the ministry". The truth is there are only a few who are truly bonded with Christ and one another. Praise the Lord and your spouse if you are. Praise the Lord for His grace if you aren't, and channel all your passion to Christ. Paul did.

That leads us to 1 Timothy 3:4-5 where we see further qualifications for this man of God which relate to his discipline.

[4] One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; [5] (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)

The word house means household or all those living under his roof including himself, his spouse and his children. He is to manage, rule, govern, supervise, give attention to all who are a part of his family that they might respectfully follow his leadership as an example for the other families in the church to follow.

The word subjection simply means giving up leadership to another. No body has two heads. It means that those family members are willing to follow the leadership of the man of God - NOT A TYRANT OR DICTATOR. It is a MUTUAL respect that is thought by Biblical exposition and believer's example.

Respect is both earned and deserved. It is deserved by position, but it is earned by practice. We who lead must show respect to get it. We must show ourselves worthy of respect both in position and practice. An "out of control" man in terms of morals, money, marriage, ministry or mundain things, will never gain the respect he desires, even if he gets the respect he deserves in his position.

Remember we reap what we sow - and THAT IS THE LAW. You get what you give - compassion, consideration, concern, communication, etc., so if you don't show it, you won't know it. Learning this is sometimes very difficult.

The balance that must be maintained is that of love and discipline. If we cannot demonstrate self discipline, our discipline of others will come back to haunt us. There is so much to this more regarding this I would like to share, but limited here.

Pastor, you are not required to know everything and do everything and be everything. Know your gift and stay within the realm of that gift. You may be responsbile to manage it all, but you are not responsible to do it all. Bring to your side and into your confidence those who are gifted differenly and listen to them and learn from them and allow them to do the same with you. Jesus had an inner circle of Peter, James, and John. You must have one too. BUT be very prayerful and careful about this. There are still Judases among us who wish to know all about us, but who do not wish us to know all about them. BE CAREFUL.

Authority without maturity is dangerous. I have had other staff members without maturity seek to usurp my authority. They can and will gather to themselves a following and seek to undermine your leadership if you are not very careful. This is one of the reasons young preachers don't make it very far in the pastorate; they may have the authority but not the maturity.

We should all have mentors as ministers, not to mimic, but to mold us Biblically. I have seen many "sky rockets" who brightened the sky with a few shots, then burned out. Listen to this old man for he is a faithful friend, not a fomidable foe. Every Timothy needs a Paul and every Paul needs a Timothy. No man is an island - no man stands who stands alone. Jesus chose 12 men and spent 3 years teaching them by example and exposition, and those men were probably in their late twenties or early thirties. Physiologically, your frontal lobe, for making rational decisions is not even fully devoloped, we are told, until you are about 25 years of age.

Oh my does this ever explain why so many have made such a mess!

Enough for today.

BLESSINGS!