Disciples
So what’s a disciple?
(John 13:34-35 ESV) 34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Well, a disciple is believer in Jesus who loves as Jesus loves. How does Jesus love? Enough to die. Enough to sacrifice. Enough to submit. Even enough to suffer.
(Mat 28:19-20 ESV) 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
So what is “all that I have commanded you”? Well, rather than looking microscopically, look at the whole of Jesus’ teachings. What’s the emphasis?
The Golden Rule. “Love your neighbor.” The Passion, that is, the way he lived and died.
In fact, the Sermon on the Mount is pretty much a commentary on “love your neighbor.” Jesus’ ethics aren’t centered on how to worship. They’re focused on how to get along. And we’re just terrible at it, because we’re selfish.
(Mat 5:22-25 ESV) 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison.
Over and over, Jesus gives eminently practical advice regarding how to get along. Philippians 2 is all about how to get along. We get along by being like Jesus.
Announce a lesson series on Romans 12, and see how excited the membership gets. Not very. Why not? Because we in the Churches of Christ love doctrinal controversy. We love the intellectual side of Christianity. We love the riddles.
But we aren’t keen on Christian ethics. We get very uncomfortable regarding how to actually live as Christians live. We’d rather think about Calvinism the way we’re supposed to.
But Paul always ends his letters with ethical instruction, just as, in Matthew, Jesus began his ministry with the Sermon on the Mount and ended with the great Judgment Day scene where God divides the sheep from the goats. Neither great teacher ever got far from how to live Christianity.
(Rom 12:10 ESV) 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
That’ll preach — but how many of your members knows that verse is in the Bible? How many hang “Outdo one another in showing honor” on their refrigerator? How many have this on their Bible bookmarkers?
(Rom 12:13 ESV) 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
Again, most of our members know they’re supposed to give money, but how many feel commanded to show hospitality? (How many invite visitors and new members to lunch?)
(Rom 12:15 ESV) 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
How often are the leaders afraid to announce good news about a member for fear that others might be jealous? How scary is it to thank member X for helping with a church event, knowing that if you don’t name every single volunteer, you’ll catch grief from those overlooked?
(Rom 12:16 ESV) 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.
Harmony is a command? But what if I don’t get my way?
“Associate with the lowly”? How many congregations teach their members to associate with the poor, the disabled, the mentally ill? How many of us make a point to speak to the loneliest members every single Sunday? Maybe even to invite them to lunch? (My congregation actually has many members who do this.)
“Never be wise” in my own sight? But how could I insist on my own way …
(Rom 12:17 ESV) 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.
“In the sight of all”? But I thought church was about getting my own way!
(Rom 12:18 ESV) 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Do you mean that I should surrender just to avoid a fight? I never run from a fight!
(Rom 12:20-21 ESV) 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
And so, if the leadership wants to make church uncomfortable for me by clapping, I should (a) not fight and (b) if I consider the pro-clapping camp enemies, make them sandwiches? This is entirely backwards!
You see, Christian ethics are absurd — unless we realize that the goal is to become like Jesus in service, submission, sacrifice, and even suffering. When we come to that realization, Paul’s instructions are no longer riddles to rationalize. They make perfect sense. Indeed, they become obvious.
As Ray Vander Laan likes to say, a “disciple” is somone who wants more than anything to be just like the rabbi. For our members to become disciples, they have to desperately want to be just like Jesus — even Jesus on the cross.
(Mat 10:34-39 ESV) 34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
And what happens to fights over worship styles and all the other warp and woof of church disputes? They go away.
There will be disputes, of course, but rather than being about what style of music I like, they’ll be about what really best serves the mission of God here.
Now, our members are very smart people. Some will figure out that they can couch their selfish desires in missional terms. And some will do so deviously. And some will unconsciously recast the missional debate to suit their tastes. We’re all going to be tempted to do that. Leaders have to be willing to look beyond the rhetoric to true motivations — and ultimately to what God’s mission really requires.
Leaders have to be willing to make the hard call, not based on church politics but what best serves the cause of Christ. And they will often be wrong. Being an elder hardly makes one perfect in all his decisions.
The elders have to be humble enough to recognize their inability to get all the calls right, and the church has to be charitable enough to know that they would make their own mistakes were they in the same position.
But we hopefully learn from our mistakes, correct the course, and do better next time — never imagining that we have it all figured out. We don’t. We won’t.
Absolutely, love is a defining characteristic of a disciple. But it does not cover the whole subject — especially as Americans tend to use the word. In the “Great Commission” Jesus instructs us to make disciples, and to teach them to obey everything Jesus commanded. The Sermon on the Mount is a pretty good encapsulation of Jesus teachings, and there is more there than simple goodwill and good deeds toward other people.
I believe all of Jesus teachings fall under “love one another as (Jesus) loved us”. Our over simplification of what it means to love often leads us to elaborate on it by delineating the “commands” that should be followed to implement Jesus’ model.
Personally, I gravitate to a definition of “agape” that is giving yourself to others, for their good, expecting nothing in return. That is certainly what Jesus did. And that view certainly encompasses the great commission, and all the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount.
But I also acknowledge that the simplicity of Jesus command in John 13 belies the difficulty of living it out. That is why we rely on God’s grace and forgiveness. That is why we need the commentary on what “agape” means, much of which fills the balance of the New Testament.
My personal wish is that we would spend as much time contemplating what it means to “love others the way Jesus loved us” as we spend contemplating doctrine.
Amen, David & Jay. Alan, I’m not quite sure what you were getting at when you wrote, “The Sermon on the Mount is a pretty good encapsulation of Jesus teachings, and there is more there than simple goodwill and good deeds toward other people.”
Certainly there is much more than good will and good deeds in the Sermon on the Mount. However, under the rubric of “all His commandments” I’ve seen too many run to all of the inferences and traditions that have divided even our own fellowship – and that leave the bulk of “Christendom” puzzled about what we are talking about. They run there to insist that these are what Jesus was talking about when He said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments,” even though the context of that statement includes “by this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you love one another as I have loved you.”
And in that same context in John 15:9, Jesus told us how much He loves us: “As the Father loves me, so have I loved you.”
More and more, I am realizing that love is the essence of discipleship.
Now, if I could only learn to love like that!
Amen, thank you Jay. Characteristics of a disciple beautifully and simply stated…but oh so hard to do.
I would like to hear some readers thoughts on how all of this plays out when there are a significant number of “weaker brothers and sisters” in the congregation? I’m not trying to insinuate that I’m a “stronger brother” because I know that all of us are in some ways weaker than other Christians but what are the thoughts about either expecting the weaker among us to grow up and/or giving in to their weakness? How do all of the disputes “go away” when in the context of a congregation that has a wide range of Christian maturity?
There is also love for God (the *greatest* commandment). A lot of the Sermon on the Mount falls into that category.
It seems to me that some people give themselves a check-mark for loving people based on warm fuzzy feelings and good intentions, and give themselves a pass on actually doing things for others.
Then there are topics like holiness, responsibility, accountability, and personal righteousness. The entire sixth chapter of Matthew addresses these sorts of things, not really about how we treat other people. Those things are better described as how we love God. So, no, it’s not all about loving other people.
Jay,
Can you hear between the lines? I find that difficult sometimes, especially given our history (yes, ours, we have to own it to do anything about it) of wrangling over anything and everything in order to avoid facing the rabbi who calls us to follow Him. Certainly we are more like the rich young man and his absorption in his possessions than we want to admit out loud and in front of anybody else.
What does our lack of understanding about love – the most pervasive teaching in the New Testament AND in the Old – say about our preaching? Is it possible that so much attention to ‘doctrinal matters that stir up the ‘more mature’ members’ has allowed us to live as though there is only a passing nod to Christ in our Christianity? Is this what some of our rabble-rousing preachers have meant when they said that we are ‘majoring in the minors’? Is this what Jesus meant when He said that some were tithing mint, dill and cummin while neglecting the weightier matters? How could we have missed the mark so far that Jesus has become a doctrine-justifying afterthought so much of the year apart from the Easter/Passion/Resurrection-Sunday season?
When was the last time you heard a sermon for the ‘mature members’ about falling in love with Jesus and sustaining the enthusiasm and passion for being in love with Jesus? Do we think we have outgrown such basic teaching? Are our arguments and dissensions and squabbling so quiet that they never disturb our consciences enough to consider how to (as you noted) ‘outdo one another in honoring one another’?
If you were going to write a series of blogs on falling in love with Jesus, how would you begin? Is it a struggle to find a starting place? If so, why? Is this not the heart and soul of the Gospel? Can we follow well when we do not love Him well enough to even know and share why we love Him?
When talk of Jesus outpaces talk of all the other “issues” on our lips and in our writings, perhaps we will begin to be able to answer these questions. And until then, who outside our number SHOULD listen to us? Can we be experts in what it means to follow Jesus when we barely even know Him?
What is the difference between ‘knowing’ someone and ‘loving’ someone? Can we begin there? After all, the demons ‘knew’ who Jesus was and acknowledged it freely. What more (if even that much) do we do who claim to follow Him and serve Him as our Lord and Master?
Paul said he was different in his letters than he was in person. Do we believe it? Paul said he determined (it took an effort to focus that much) to know only Christ and Him crucified while in person among the saints. Can we believe it? Paul used Jesus, the bride of Christ, the family of God and gifts given by the Spirit Jesus sent to the saints to describe all of the teachings (doctrines) in his letters. Are we even as Christ-centered as that in our discussions? If not, why not? Is it really to be disdained when someone comes among us to reintroduce us to Jesus?
When we are in love, there is no better subject than to talk about our love. How is it that we can meet for more than an hour on Sundays and only mention Jesus at the communion table and at the end of our prayers? Can anyone else see that this is the cause for our confusion over what it means to be a disciple?
I enjoy digging into the word to find answers to our challenges, and I even get that we usually do not think of our ignorance about Jesus as relating to problems deciding what color the flooring should be in the new nursery. The writer to the Hebrews said Jesus is the clarification (full declaration) of what God wants – God’s most plain revelation of Himself – so that we have the answer in Jesus to any truly important challenge. Can we imagine that has nothing at all to do with how to approach the new flooring in a nursery? (or any other ‘challenge’???)
One last point … I am sharing here the questions I ask myself, and in no way do I intend anyone to think this is finger-pointing. If you see yourself in these questions, okay – now answer them…to yourself. And then make every effort to do what Jesus did when He challenged others to see their way into the answers. Become the answer to the problem by becoming more like Jesus.
I know that is what I need to do and am determined to do with all my heart and soul and strength.
Blessings,
Grizz
@Grizz.
OUCH!
You not only stomped on all ten of my toes (lovingly, of course). You also tromped all over my ankles, legs, arms, body, head – and most of all my heart.
Thank you, brother! And a big thanks to Jay for the blog that got us all to thinking along these lines.
@Alan,
I was not questioning the validity of what you said. I just wondered if you might be (as so many do) use those words to reintroduce the minutia of tithing mint and washing of pots, pans, and hands – while neglecting to wash feet.
From the tenor of your response, I see that you were not in that number at all! Your emphasis is right where it needs to be.
Doug brings up a valid concern about accommodating one another in this “stronger/weaker” dynamic. I would suggest that we tend to see this as a static matter– that is, somebody is going to “win” and somebody is going to “lose”, and the winner is the guy who gets his way and decides what others can do. But perhaps we need to see this “weaker brother” as analagous to a sick child. We cater to a sick child while he is suffering and weak, fully expecting him to get better and to resume his expected role. Most of us remember: Mom would let you camp on the couch and watch TV, and would make your favorite snack… for a while. But she somehow knew when you stopped being truly sickly and when you started milking her kindness because you liked being catered to. That’s when the “special treatment” stopped rather abruptly– and you found yourself again out of bed and standing at the school bus stop, no matter how much you coughed and moaned and protested how badly you were being treated.
We need elders who have the kindness and wisdom of Mom — and the backbone, too.
Do we really have a segment of our local brothers who are so limited in their understanding that they won’t abide a deacon who has been divorced, or serving the Lord’s Supper in multiple cups, or hearing a soloist sing during a church service or fill-in-the-issue-here? Very well, then the next step is to extend those weaker members some grace and TO IMMEDIATELY STRENGTHEN THEM by teaching and prayer. Such a plan of action will put these disputes behind us fairly quickly, because either [a] that weak member will grow up enough to operate more like the stronger member or [b] the elders will determine that his continued problem is not based in weakness or ignorance but in stubbornness, and will then stop the temporary special treatment. We are called to accomodate the weak– not the mean, the controlling, or the intransigent.
Another great topic, Jay. Thanks. And gentlemen the responses have been delightfully on topic. Thanks for making a great topic into a great discussion.
My question to you all is whether or not it makes any difference that Jesus tells us to “make disciples” more than he tells us to “be disciples”. Certainly, he called the twelve to follow him as disciples follow a Rabbi, and many others followed closely as well. But it has struck me as interesting that toward the end of their training, he does not tell his disciples to become Rabbis (ie. get certified, credentialed, degreed or ordained), rather he tells them to make disciples. To me, the distinction takes the discussion from how I am supposed to be (which always needs work and keeps me navel-gazing) and puts it on how I am to take the initiative in treating others. Anything that takes the focus off me and puts it on my responsibility to others and Jesus, I think, has to be a good thing.
Leaders in the church are called to apply themselves in many areas of work, and a common thread running through the whole pattern of this work is discipleship. In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus Christ commissioned His church to develop disciples as its central mission:
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
The church is constituted, at its very core, to be a learning organization. The church is in the business of making disciples, and a disciple is, by definition, one who develops competency under the guidance of a master. In the church, our Master is the Lord Christ. Following the Lord is a developmental process that brings His disciples into a greater conformity to His example.
The Lord’s invitation has always been an invitation to learn: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) To be a disciple, then, is to be one who learns from Jesus Christ.
This emphasis on learning extends through the entire pattern for the church laid out in the New Testament. The Bible describes leaders in the church primarily as managers of learning, men whose mission is to embrace the truth of God and to bring this truth into the lives of men and women of faith. Paul, in Ephesians 4:11-14, highlights the importance of this developmental process in the church:
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
Notice that “building up the body of Christ” is not something done by marketing the church to the world. The developmental work of the church is not essentially outward, but internal. The goal of Christian leaders is to equip the saints with spiritual competency. Through this developmental process, the work of ministry is accomplished.
Notice, also, the implicit order of priorities in the disciple development process. The faithful Christian leader places God first, others second, and himself last.
Placing God first in the process keeps the church faithful to God’s word. This priority provides a zeal for doctrinal integrity. To be a disciple requires authentically following the Master, seeking in every way to follow His direction.
The example and teachings of Jesus leads us to make other people a priority. Our Lord commissioned the church to make disciples, setting the priority on the development of individual Christians under the authority of Jesus Christ. Placing others before yourself recognizes the critical need for servant leadership. Sadly, however, this biblical emphasis is abandoned when leaders in the church follow a different agenda.
We need to focus on effective disciple development rather than on efficient church programming.
Congregations devote much time to providing excellent programs for religious instruction and edification. Our efforts produce, at best, mixed results for the effort expended. We, too often, fail to remember that people learn as individuals and not as a class or as a group.
The increased staffing of congregations with paid professionals has often pulled the church away from the New Testament pattern of disciple development. Paid professionals are normally assessed on short-term and superficial results, through which they justify larger salaries and expanded budgets.
The result of this approach is often an organizational superstructure which takes on a life of its own, apart from the members of the church. The individual members become a means towards the end of building the program.
In contrast, the New Testament pattern of disciple development does not proceed in the refinement of elaborate programs but in lives which are equipped to follow the Master. The biblical approach builds a relational infrastructure which develops the competencies of each member. The biblical approach is low-budget and long-term.
Discipleship, the development of Christian competency, is a learning process. It is a journey rather than a destination. However adept we may become in our service to the Lord, we can always improve. The example of Jesus Christ is a beacon, guiding us ever onward.
GATidwell
Greg,
I am not a regular reader of the Gospel Advocate, but this comment tempts me to become one. This is the best comment I have seen from you on this blog. You have touched on some important changes that churches need to make if we are to be able to do what Jesus has commissioned us to do.
In the great commission as stated in Matthew, there is but one imperative in the Greek. That is “make disciples.” It is disciples whom we are to be baptizing and to continue to be teaching. If people are not committed to loving and learning from Jesus, none of our teaching will be effective. Instead, our evangelism has, too many times, devolved into trying to get someone into the baptistery as quickly as we can, hoping that then we will somehow be able to turn them into disciples.
People do not become disciples because of a long period of following “the spiritual disciplines” (as defined by Richard Foster and Dallas Willard among many others). Rather, it is disciples who choose to follow those disciplines, lovingly and joyously because this is what they see in Jesus.
I love the story of Alexander Propochuk, Ukrainian evangelist who picked up a Bible as an atheist, found that it spoke to his heart, and began to devour it avidly for two or more years before he ever met a Christian. Along the way, he fell in love with Jesus and, as he explained to the man who baptized him, “One day, Jesus became my teacher.”
When asked what he meant by that, he said “I read where Jesus said to love your enemies, to pray for them, and to do good to them. So I made a list of my enemies and began to pray for them and to try to treat them better. Before long, I had no enemies; they were all my friends.”
This man, now a preacher on a national TV program in Ukraine, has baptized thousands who are organized into scores of small “churches” mostly meeting in homes scattered all over Ukraine. Yet, he is a very humble man who explains that he just tries to tell people what he knows about God, Jesus, and what they are doing for him and in the lives of others.
I consider him to be one of the greatest Christian men that I have known – and I have known some great ones.
His secret is that he focuses on Jesus and His teachings, not on “the issues” of the day. I believe that is what Jay has been aiming at in this blog.
Paul teaches us what we should do, but before he tells people what to do, he tells them why they should do it. Romans 1-11 is doctrine, and the doctrine is what God has done and is doing for us in Jesus. Romans 12 – 16 is application of the doctrine. All of the New Testament writings follow the same pattern. It took me a long time to realize that – and still longer for me to realize that if that is the way they wrote, that I should also be preaching and teaching that way as well. If we would all follow that pattern of preaching, we would be able to let Jesus draw people to Himself (as he drew Alexander Propochuk – by the loveliness of His character and teachings). Then, from that point on, we begin to grow by looking to Him and following in His steps.
Again, Greg, thank you for this comment.
Greg, that was a very good post.
One of the marks of healthy development in any body is reproduction. Yes, the modern model has essentially divorced the average believer from discipleship and development of the character of Christ, shifting the believer’s focus to feeding and watering his local club, and keeping it in business. Attendance, contribution and participation in programs satisfy us completely. If he becomes a disciple along the way, well, that’s gravy. And if he actually helps reproduce the life of Christ in others, well, we put him on staff.
Paul tells Timothy, “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.”
Paul’s advice to Timothy has been discovered to be more than a good idea, but a reality that works even in other venues. Most multi-level marketing people can tell you that once your organization reaches four generations in depth, it can become self-sustaining. Likewise, when Paul’s counsel is followed, an amazing organic spiritual life form can blossom. Certainly the Holy Spirit is not limited by our own inadequacies, but it is nice to be able to cooperate with Him in ways which serve His purposes.
Charles, thank you for your comments on dealing with strong/weak brothers and sisters. They were very on target.
I don’t think we should forget the Holy Spirit’s role in making disciples. We may introduce and teach but the depth of spirituality a disciple reaches will ultimately depend upon how much they yield to the Holy Spirit’s work within them. I don’t think we do a very good job in teaching disciples how to yield to the Spirit and how to facilitate growth in the Spirit. If a disciple is really able to imitate Christ, I am convinced it is not because of his or hers education or strength of will but rather because they have died to self and put on the Spirit.
Steve W wrote,
Amen.
Greg wrote,
Amen.
Greg wrote:
Exactly.
This is the primary function of the church, and the reason God appointed apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers in the church. It is the job description of the leaders of the church. We don’t need an ever-increasing number of half-hearted church members. We need to make *disciples* and to bring them to maturity by teaching them to obey the commands of Jesus.
Jay, and everyone else here, especially those who have shared comments,
I wonder what would change about our discussions and our conduct if we stopped using the word “leaders” altogether and instead used the word “servants” to describe the apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastoring teachers?
In John 13, describing the way Jesus expressed the full extent of His love, the apostle wrote,
“It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, HE NOW SHOWED THEM THE FULL EXTENT OF HIS LOVE. (emphasis mine, GZ)
The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.”
Of course, Jesus explained His actions when some didn’t understand … and perhaps we would have to do a lot of explaining if we stopped using the word “leader” completely. The world would never get it … and a lot of brothers and sisters would struggle with such a paradigm shift. We are NOT used to such an assault on the way we express Christ.
I have known some (besides myself from time to time) who have attempted to speak of things in the body of Christ and the ways we are distinct from the world using words like “the spiritual equivalent to what the world chooses is …” and I (and others) have hardly even noticed that I was (we were) describing something clearly distinctive as “an equivalent” or “a parallel” to something in the world.
Has anyone here ever sensed the disconnect I am attempting to describe?
I am feeling very convicted about this.
Grizz
Grizz,
I’m not sure that I follow you. Consider, for example —
(Rom 12:6-8 ESV) 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
(Heb 13:7 ESV) 7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.
(Heb 13:17 ESV) 17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
(Heb 13:24 ESV) 24 Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings.
(1Co 12:28 ESV) And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.
[“Adminstrating” translates a word rooted in steering or piloting a ship.]
And if you think of the role of a literal shepherd, it’s pretty much to lead the sheep.
(Psa 23:2 ESV) He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
(Psa 23:3 ESV) He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
And so, to remove “leader” from our vocabulary and thought would seem to distort the Bible’s teaching that leadership is, in fact, a gift from God and a role assigned by the Holy Spirit.
None of this contradicts the necessity of servant-leadership, as exemplified by Jesus, especially when he washed the feet of Judas. But as clear as that text is, just as clear is that the church is given leaders by God to whom the members are to submit (Heb 13:17).
I think our problem is much less with human leadership than with the religious systems which we have developed for them to lead.
Doug, thanks for your comment on the work of the Holy Spirit. We have too often displaced his work with “read the bible”, with sadly predictable results. Our dependence on Him to lead us into all truth, to develop the character of Christ in us, indeed, to reveal Christ to men in the first place, has not been given proper place. We have a bible, and we are dependent upon IT now, not HIM. This is a disastrous doctrine.
(Rom 12:6-8 ESV) 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
Jay, yes … lead with zeal. Perhaps you misunderstood my point. Will there be leaders? Yes. But how will we refer to leading? What word shall we use? Shall we use a word that does NOT carry the meaning Jesus intended to characterize their ‘leading’? Or shall we call it by a word (serving) that Jesus used to describe what He intended? Do not just pay the same old lip service to what Jesus said. Intentionally and deliberately submit to Jesus’ model and call it what He intended by it – serving those led. And serve with zeal, by all means.
(Heb 13:7 ESV) 7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.
Be mindful of those who influenced you to hear God out. Why? Out of compulsion or because of their authority? Not on your life! Do it because of the results evident in their lives – to achieve those same results in your life. And, for what it is worth, he specifically writes to encourage them to imitate their faith – their trusting in God – and not just everything about their lives that may or may not demonstrate that faith, that trust in God. What qualifies a person to be called a ‘leader’ here? They influenced you to follow Jesus. No special appointments, just trusting God’s plan and sharing the gospel with you. Even novices can ‘lead’ in influencing the unsaved to give Jesus a proper hearing.
(Heb 13:17 ESV) 17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
Obey? Terrible translation! The word ((peithesthe) means ‘allow yourself to be persuaded’ by them (the ones who (a la verse 7) led you to Christ) – which should tell us something about evangelism that we have too long ignored … we are responsible PAST getting someone into the water. What “we”? The “we” who influenced them to decide to follow Jesus. These CAN BE elders, ministers, teachers, missionaries, but are definitely whoever it was that influenced us to follow Jesus.
And the submission here? The word used (hupeikete) means to avoid resisting their influence. Do not resist the counsel of those who influenced you to follow Jesus. They have ‘steered you well’ so far, so do not make it hard on them by pretending they do not know any more than you do or that they are unable to grow with you as you walk together in the Lord. It may be tempting to seek a more prominent mentor in the Lord, but resist the urge to act as though the person who influenced you is now no longer able to show you anything. Allow them to fulfill their responsibilities and watch out for you on God’s behalf.
(Heb 13:24 ESV) 24 Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings.
Greet all those who are influential among you holy people of God … and all those who ARE holy people of God. And, if we can keep in mind what Jesus said, we can see that these influential ones are those who serve most and show us how to follow Jesus by doing so.
Jay, this passage has been subverted far too long to demand obedience bordering on subservience by all non-elders. That is a travesty and is also diametrically opposed to what Jesus and Paul and Peter and John and James and all the other inspired writers taught. The writer is instructing his readers to work together with those who led them to Jesus to build up the body of Christ. The message is about influence and responsibility and allowing oneself to be persuaded and not resisting instruction from those who opened your life to God’s blessings in Christ by showing you Jesus. This is NOT a how-to letter on establishing clear lines of hierarchical authority within the congregation, no matter how much or often it has been subverted to make those kinds of arguments.
(1Co 12:28 ESV) And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.
Administering (kubernesein) is an interesting word. Here is what the Louw-Nida lexicon says about it:
36.3 κυβέρνησις, εως f: (derivative of κυβερνάω ‘to steer a ship, to guide,’ not occurring in the NT) the ability to lead—‘guidance, leadership.’ ἔπειτα χαρίσματα ἰαμάτων, ἀντιλήμψεις, κυβερνήσεις ‘then those who have the gift of healing, or of helping others, or of leadership’ 1 Cor 12:28. ‘The gift of leadership’ may be expressed in some languages as ‘being able to lead others’ or ‘being able to get others to follow.’
Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Vol. 1: Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: Based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition.) (465). New York: United Bible Societies.
Once again, with a look into the original meaning, we get the meaning that these were influential and persuasive people of God – people with the gift of persuasiveness. They were NOT people with a gift for authoritatively ordering others around. They used gentle persuasion, NOT authoritarianism. They did not use a position to which they were appointed, but rather used the gospel of Jesus to influence others – trusting in the foolishness of the thing preached (1 Corinthians 1:21) to persuade others.
Jay, I am not opposed to leadership. Far from it. What I am opposed to is the idea that ‘leadership’ in the body of Christ is anything like what the world thinks of when they hear ‘leadership.’ A wise leader in Christ is first and foremost a servant and a persuasive one. They do not trust in their own power or their own way of crafting a message. They trust that the Gospel of Jesus is powerful to save and that they are only servants entrusted with that message. Persuasion in Christ is NOT cleverness or word-smithing. Persuasion in Christ is a life that is changed being exposed to others and persuading with an explanation that Christ is at the center of the remarkable change that got others’ attention. It is God’s power at work that persuades, not crafty speeches or oratorical prowess. And it most certainly is NOT anything that could be remotely described as ‘lording it over’ others.
Once we accept GOD’s definition of leadership, and that definition is so pervasive in practice that it can be clearly understood as being from God, THEN we can hope to have others understand what Jesus intends to be done by people called ‘leaders.’ Until then, as I suggested earlier, I believe it would be more clear and less misunderstood if we would refer to our leaders as our ‘servants for Christ’s sake.’ It is hard enough to show people such a radically different paradigm in Christ without using terminology that can and usually does offer a less than clear picture of what Jesus intended.
So I stand by what I have written, brother. Perhaps now you can stand with me?
Blessings,
Grizz