Pastoral Page

Leadership is the ability to influence people to support the cause of Jesus Christ. One who thinks oneself is a leader but failed to influence others for Christ's cause is just taking a work alone.

In the life of Jesus Christ, Christ Himself modeled the kind of leadership He wanted for His church. Leadership is not achieved by creating dissent, building fractions, or by intimidating others. Proverbs 6:16-19 (NKJV) tells us: "These six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speak lies, and one who sows discord among brethren." In the church we are to "be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble'" (1 Peter 5:5).

Christ-like leadership is achieved by serving others. Jesus Christ made it the central purpose of His ministry. "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 10:45).

Christ has ordained that servant hood to be the only acceptable leadership style in His church. As He exhorted the disciples on the way to Jerusalem and crucifixion: "You know the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant, and whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave---just as the Son of Man…" (Matthew 20:25-28).

The epitome of servant leadership is in Jesus Christ washing His disciples' feet. Feet washing was considered such a lowly and degrading task that the Jewish law forbade the master to impose this duty upon the Jewish slaves. Yet Jesus Christ voluntarily and deliberately washed the disciples' feet to present this object lesson as an example for all His disciples to follow. He made it very clear: "You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you…If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them" (John 13:13-17).

Let us therefore "put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouths. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds."

The Word of God wants us to remember, that we have "put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him Who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarism, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all" (Col. 3:8-11).

In Christ there is no cultural, language, and social divisions. Let us serve each other in the servant spirit of Jesus Christ.

With love in Christ Jesus, Pastor Ling