Jesus' Leadership In All of His People

There must be no official bosses who control the decisions, the money, and the people - except Jesus in and through His People together by His Spirit. All of His truly converted and Indwelt, living in consecrated daily Life with one another and observably His (Heb. 3:12-14) - ALL are Priests!

5/7/2006

False christendom has for many years pushed people down. It has taken a few people and pushed them up making some “leaders” rich and famous and powerful, while pushing most people down. In the United States, India, Poland, Romania, Brazil, and all around the world, there are “hero” Christians and “low” Christians. This is very wrong. Jesus said to the twelve apostles in Matthew 23 to “Call no man teacher, call no man father, call no man leader, call no man master, call no man ‘rabbi,’ call no man ‘pastor,’ call no man ‘reverend’—for you are all brothers with one Father!” There are no “heroes” in True Christianity except for Jesus. There must be no official bosses who control the decisions, the money, and the people—except Jesus in and through His People together by His Spirit.

The Bible says in Ephesians 4 that when Jesus went to Heaven and sent His Spirit, He took parts of Himself and spread them out over the Body of Christ, the Church. Jesus took all the gifts that He had (and Jesus had many spiritual gifts, didn’t He?), and He gave them to His people as a whole. He didn’t take all the gifts that He had and deposit them on the “pastor” or on one “man of God.” The Scriptures say He took all of His gifts and gave them to His whole body. The Bible says the Spirit is deposited and given as a Gift, as the Spirit wills, over the whole Church. If you are truly a Christian, if you have truly forsaken your very life for Jesus, then the Holy Spirit gives you a very special gift.

And, your gift is part of Jesus. There are many kinds of gifts listed in the Bible. The Holy Spirit, for example, gives mercy as a gift. The gift of mercy is part of Jesus that He gave to some people. It is a supernatural gift. All of us should have mercy, shouldn’t we? But there is supernatural mercy that is a gift of the Holy Spirit. And since all authority belongs to Jesus and every gift that each of us has is a part of Jesus, then we submit to the gifts that are in each of us because it is Jesus who deposited them.

In this way, leadership is in all of God’s people. The Bible calls us a Kingdom of priests. The Bible does not say a Kingdom with priests, but a Kingdom of priests. There is not just a special group like the Levite priests of the Old Testament. In the New Covenant, all of God’s people are supposed to be priests to one another. God’s intent is not one special holy man who can give sermons. The Bible says that Jesus ascended on high and gave His gifts to all of His people. He made a Kingdom of priests. He put part of Himself in each of His people who are truly converted, young or old. That’s why we need each other’s gifts. We need all of Jesus’ gifts! There are hundreds of gifts because ALL of Jesus was poured out on His Family. This is why Jesus said we are all to be brothers amongst brothers. We don’t need one man and one gift standing in front of us anymore. We must not permit that anymore. All of His truly converted and Indwelt, living in consecrated daily Life with one another and observably His (Heb. 3:12-14)—ALL are Priests!

There is not some special authority that is in one “man of God” and everyone else just sits and watches. Because of the way men have built the church over the last 1800+ years, we have acted as if there is only one gift—the gift of “pastor.” (Or perhaps everyone else is allowed to have the “gift of giving money”!) But pastor/shepherd is only one gift! If we build wrongly, we all lose. If one man is pushed to the front to be the “pastor” and everyone else just sits and listens all the time, then no one gets to share your gift. They only get the “pastor’s” gifts. That is too small and corruptible! If we want to see the greatness of God, and if we want to see all of our lives change and our children’s lives change, we need ALL of Jesus. The gifts that each of the sisters and brothers have are part of Jesus. Even the children have gifts that are part of Jesus. We need all of those gifts in our lives. We are all brothers. God’s heart is that the gift you have would be given to me and the gift I have would be given to you. We must not settle for just part of Jesus. Amen?

Do you see why we said you must have courage? Things must change! You can’t keep doing what you have been doing. You are going to have to decide to use your gifts more and welcome others to do so also. You are going to have to decide to be obedient and to have courage. If you keep sitting in your chair or on the floor all the time and don’t use your gifts more than you have been, your gifts will continue to dwindle away. “He who has been given a trust or gift must prove faithful.” Do you remember what happened to the man who buried his talent? Jesus said, “You wicked, lazy servant.” That’s what Jesus says to us when we don’t do what we are supposed to do. If I don’t use my gift or if you don’t use your gift, we are “wicked and lazy.”

What if you were an Olympic runner lying in a bed and someone took a rope and tied it around you? Even though you might be a champion athlete, if you were there tied to the bed your muscles would shrivel, and you would eventually die. All your potential would be lost because you have been roped to a bed for months or years. Do you see how the traditions of men steal and rob the Word of God? The way we have built for over 1800 years in God’s House has roped most of God’s people to the bed! They have not been able to get up and run and fulfill their destiny because humans have built wrongly, not following the Word of God. If we build or structure the church in a way that exalts one man or a “staff” and quenches others’ gifts, we are criminals in the Heavenly Courts because of the damage and loss many will suffer because of “leaven in the batch” and un-used Gifts!

It’s not usually because people are “bad” that we have been building wrongly. Mostly it’s because we just didn’t know how to build God’s House by God’s Design. For 1800 years, the Christian world has confused the issues of who is a Christian... who is a leader... what daily life is supposed to look like... and what meetings are supposed to look like. Our Father wants to restore these things to you in your lives now. Just as the Word of God had been neglected in King Josiah’s day, and Truth was found buried in the rubble of men’s kingdoms and traditions, so today God’s Truths, so long ignored (but always in the Bible) can set men free. God will change your life miraculously and change everyone around you as a result. These are very powerful and precious truths. Whether there are few or many in your city or village, “God is not hindered to save by many or by few” as Jonathan, David’s close friend, once said. “He who is given a trust must prove faithful.” We must have the courage to do something about Truth we have ignored or disobeyed in the past. And He Himself will be your Shepherd, your Fortress, and your Rear Guard as you live boldly for Him.