God's Purpose for His People
Calling
Calling is a huge
theme in Scripture, and one that can often be misunderstood. I have found Sovereign Grace Ministries’ ‘The
Summons’ course to be helpful (I believe that content is now captured in the
Dave Harvey book Am I Called?).
In this course, the first and foremost emphasis is not on ourselves, but
on the God who calls us! The Bible gives
us the following categories of calling:
·
For
all believers:
o
Salvation
(e.g. see 2 Timothy 1:9)
o
Spiritual
Gifts (Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4)
·
For some
believers:
o
Elder
or Deacon (see the prior post on God's Design)
o
Vocational
Ministry (e.g. see 1 Corinthians 9:14)
Qualification
While God calls all believers to holy
living (e.g. see 1 Peter 1:15 and context) and spiritual leaders to a higher
standard (see the prior post on God's Design), the foundation is not a works system but our
salvation. In short, God has qualified
us in Christ through our union with Him:
‘Such confidence we have through Christ toward
God. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider
anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from
God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new
covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the
Spirit gives life.’ (2 Corinthians
3:4-6)
As such, our focus is not the perfection
of a person’s life, but the direction of their life in Christ.
Mindset
‘Calling them to Himself,
Jesus *said to them, "You know that those who are recognized as rulers of
the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over
them. "But it is not this way among you, but
whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your
servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you
shall be slave of all. "For even the Son of Man
did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for
many."’
(Mark 10:42-45)
‘Have
this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,…’ (Philippians 2:5)
Suffice to say,
spiritual leadership is utterly unlike and distinct from leadership in the
world. The Church has more to say to the
world than the world to the church on the subject of leadership.
Modeling
This is a massive topic worthy of much
further study. That said, I submit the
following for your consideration:
‘…saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees have seated
themselves in the chair of Moses; [3] therefore all that they tell
you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say
things and do not do them. [4] "They tie up heavy burdens
and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them
with so much as a finger.’ (Jesus, Matthew 23:2-4)
"You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I
am. [14] "If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your
feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. [15] "For
I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to
you. [16] "Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not
greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent
him. [17] "If you know these things, you are blessed if
you do them.’ (Jesus, John
13:13-17)
‘Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica,
for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily
to see whether these things were so.’ (Acts 17:11, of the Bereans)
‘Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.’ (Paul, 1
Corinthians 11:1)
‘Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you;
and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.’ (Hebrews
13:7)
Suffice to say,
God commands and commends His people to follow the example of Christ and to
examine their leaders’ lives and fruit as a condition of following them. Quite simply, following Christ requires this.
In His Grip,
Mark
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