Mercy To All .NET
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Dispelling The Myth
Spirit Controlled Behaviour
Sodom And Gomorroh
Laws Of Moses
Romans
I Corinthians
Who are The Eunuchs?
Who Can Be Saved?
Glossary

The Purpose of Bible Study
How To Get Saved
Setting People Free
Discovering The Word of God
Discovering The Will Of God
The Word of God
Knowing God
Experiencing Who God Is
The Essentials of Hearing God
Is that You, LORD?
Beware of False Prophets
Leading The Flock
Understanding
The Baptism Of
The Holy Spirit

Understanding Covenant;
Dispensation of Grace

The Standard of Holiness
Righteousness
Repentance
Fire In The Hole
Getting All Fired Up
An Open Church Letter
Romans 12
1st Peter
Learning To Stop Taking Offense
Examining The Sermon On The Mount

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Leading The Flock

1.  Desire, Zeal for the Truth

The beginning qualification of those who would lead the flock begins with aspiration (1 Timothy 3:1).  You must have a desire – and not just a little pull, but a big pull toward serving as a minister unto God.  The title does not matter.  Different jobs have different job descriptions, but all minister unto the Lord.  Many that already serve find the job to be difficult, thankless and unappreciated.  “Wanna-be” ministers should first count the cost.  Since they did not honor the Lord, don’t expect them to honor you (Matthew 13:57).  You can no longer live unto yourself (James 3:1), but are to serve as an example (1 Timothy 4:12); avoiding even the appearance of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22) guarding your reputation (Titus 1:7).  This does not mean you are to be such pabulum peacemakers that you always take the easy road; never rippling the water or rocking the boat; always avoiding controversy (Titus 3:9).  Despite the edicts of Paul toward Titus, we must realize that without boat rocking, the injustices observed by the prophets would have been overlooked; John the Baptist should have stayed home; the ministry of Jesus was most certainly out of order; and the protestant reformation would have never taken place.  Characteristic aspiration toward the role of leadership usually is accompanied by the driving desire to do something that will make a difference, founded on insisting that the truth prevails (2 Timothy 2:15).

2.     Humble Servant

After a controversy arose among the disciples about who was the greatest and who might sit at Jesus’ right hand in the kingdom of heaven, His response to them was that whoever was greatest must become the servant of all the others.  This same principal surely applies to success – whoever wants to be successful as a leader, must become the servant of those he serves under, with and over.  On another occasion Jesus said that in order to be great one must become humble as a child (Matthew 18:1-2).  Humility must surely be one of the key, if not the key, characteristic to success as a leader in the church of Jesus Christ.  The humility of Christ is offered up to us as our example (Philippians 2:3-11).  Jesus lists humility as key for those who wish to achieve an amount of exaltation (Matthew 23:12).  Paul, James and Peter; all three echo His words (Philippians 2:9; James 4:10; 1 Peter 5:6).  In Peter’s remarks, he begins by reminding those in leadership to shepherd the flock of God by voluntarily exercising oversight in submission to the will of God.  This is to be done with eagerness and not for sordid gain.  As a leader, you are not a dictator, but a servant, serving as an example to the flock (Matthew 20:25-28; 1 Peter 5:2-3).  He continues in his comments to remind his readers that God is opposed to the proud, but He gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5).  The temptation of the flesh is right at the door – the devil, like a roaring lion, is waiting for some weakness to show itself, so that he might pounce on his prey and devour it (1 Peter 5:8).

3.     Ministry in the Word, Prayer, Serving Tables

In the beginning the leaders in the early church were called to multi-tasking (Acts 6:1-4).  The elders then recognized a division of ministry “callings.”  First there are those whose primary focus is the well-being of the soul and spirit called “elders.”  Secondly there are those whose primary focus is in meeting the physical needs of the people called “deacons.”  These two groups by no means are to exclusively engage in ministry activities that are according to their primary focus.  Leadership must underwrite all the activities of the ministry in the body of Christ.  Occasionally, the pastor must scrub the toilet.  The deacons are described as “full of the Spirit and of wisdom” (Acts 6:3). 

4.     Equipping the Saints

Your job is to make disciples (Matthew 28:19). The people are destroyed due to a lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6); therefore, you must bring the knowledge of the truth to light (2 Timothy 2:15).  Having found a small corner of the kingdom, your job is to light it up and show your flock the way (Matthew 28:20).  To do this, you must get organized so that you can get them equipped for their journey (Ephesians 4:12).  The kingdom of God is not a “place,” it is within you (Luke 17:21); it is right standing with God in the experiential knowledge of the joy of His presence and walking in the tranquility of a relationship established by faith with Jesus Christ (Romans 14:17).  None of us have arrived at the perfection of the kingdom, but we have all had a glimpse of it and you must pass that on to the people (Proverbs 29:18).  Without vision the people will be vulnerable.  The key is not in arriving, but the journey itself.  You must teach (1 Timothy 3:2b) those God has given to you how to walk each day by faith (Colossians 2:6).  Many perils await you on the journey (Colossians 2:4).  You must be prepared (1 Peter 3:15) and it is your duty to prepare everyone else (Galatians 6:1).  Speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), you need to admonish and exhort God’s people (Titus 1:9).  While they should maintain their respect toward you (1 Timothy 5:17), they may not.  You should not expect any higher honor than was given to Jesus (Matthew 13:57).  Nevertheless, make sure that in holiness (1 Peter 1:15-16) you become a “sign” pointing the way to the kingdom (Hebrews 3:7-19).  They may not go, but it will not be because you did not show them the way.