I will be sharing a brief review of every book I read this year. Hope you enjoy and hope it encourages you to keep reading.
A TREASURY OF A. W. TOZER – by A. W. Tozer
If you have never read A. W. Tozer, this might be the book to get. It is a collection of Tozer’s writings from a few different books he has published. Tozer is an older author who speaks with a directness to his audience and a reverence for our Holy God. Much of his writing focuses on the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the pursuit of holy living. The short chapters make it a great devotional read.
A church leader must not be a new believer, because he might become proud, and the devil would cause him to fall.
1 Timothy 3: 6 (NLT)
It is a great joy to welcome new believers into the church! But Paul gives a warning: “A church leader must not be a new believer.” We should look to those who are spiritually mature to lead us.
Paul doesn’t give us a length of time to wait, just that we are to wait. This is good, because some new believers mature faster than others. There are some who could take years to be ready while others might be ready in a year. The important thing is to give the new believer time to learn and grow in their faith in Christ.
What might be some problems with new believers in church leadership? Paul, in his letter to Timothy cautions that a new believer put into leadership too soon may become proud. The new believer may see this leadership role as a position of elevation in the eyes of others and think of themselves as something special, rather than as a servant. And Paul is concerned that this new believer, in their pride, may fall. The NIV puts it like this: He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. The devil fell because of his pride. He wanted to be higher than Jesus. Paul is concerned that a new believer will fall prey to the same sin and hurt his walk with God.
Other concerns may be tied to some of the earlier instructions given to church leaders. A leader needs to have a good reputation and live a goldy life. The new believer may not have that to begin with. He may need to have time to mature and become more like Jesus, and to gain that good reputation with others around him.
Another concern may be that a new believer will not be able to teach in the same way that a mature believer can. If a new believer is good at research, they may be able to put together a good lesson, but their teaching would generally be theory because they have not yet had time to put into practice what they are learning as a new follower of Jesus.
A new believer may also still carry sinful habits. He needs to learn to set those aside before stepping into leadership. While it is great to desire leadership, there should first be a strong desire to live in right relationship with Jesus by the power of the Spirit.
Churches often talk about discipleship when referring to the process of maturing as a believer, where over time the new believer becomes more and more like Jesus. A new believer would benefit from some discipleship first, whether formal or by spending time in the activities and teachings of the church. Part of that discipleship could include observing and learning from the leadership board or shadowing a leader as they go about their duties.
The official church leaders should be people who have already shown their leadership in the church as maturing believers. Asking them to serve on a board or a committee is a natural next step, affirming that they are already one of the people that others naturally look up to and learn from. Ongoing discipleship prepares maturing believers for the next steps in church leadership, taking on smaller roles to begin with and then being asked to higher levels of leadership as they prove themselves.
Church leaders should be mature and passionate about Christ and His church. They should learn and develop and grow until they are among the best in the church and well prepared for leadership. If you are that new believer, then do your part to continue to grow and be discipled as opportunities allow. God will build you up to the time when others recognize you have already become a leader. When that happens, step into leadership with a confident faith in God and a desire to serve.
He must have a strong belief in the trustworthy message he was taught; then he will be able to encourage others with wholesome teaching and show those who oppose it where they are wrong.
Titus 1: 9 (NLT)
I love to teach. I love preparing a lesson and then teaching it to a group of people, small or large. I love to see learners understanding a new idea or learning how to apply a truth they have just understood. To be a leader is to instill new ideas and ways of doing things in others who are coming after you. A church leader must be able to teach. This is one of the main ways to instill new ideas and practices in those whom you are leading. My automatic reaction to this verse is to think of teaching thoughts and ideas, of preaching and teaching scripture and discipling others through teaching in a class or sermon. But we all know that teaching is also about hands-on and practical learning.
Apprentices are always learning, but only part of their training is in the classroom. Much of the teaching they receive is active hands-on learning. Leaders in the church may be good classroom teachers, or they may not, but if they are teaching others in practical ways, then they are still teaching.
I find it interesting that in Titus we are told that the leader must have been taught first and must believe what he was taught. A teacher cannot teach what they do not know.
The key teaching in the church is the “trustworthy message” of the gospel. We have heard and now teach the gospel of Jesus Christ to others. As leaders we continue to encourage others to get to know the Jesus of the gospel, and to receive His life-giving forgiveness of sins as we put our faith in Him.
Church leaders are responsible to teach many things in the church, but it always needs to come back to the gospel message. Whether we are teaching others how to be an usher or how to do run the sound board, all of that is to help others continue to hear the gospel message.
Part of a leader’s responsibility is to “show those who oppose it where they are wrong.” (Titus 1:9) It is not unusual to come across people that have not understood something correctly. Misunderstanding may be as serious as not understanding the forgiveness that Jesus offers to all who believe in Him, or something as simple as not following through on a certain responsibility they accepted. In either case, the leader’s job is to correct when correcting is necessary, and this is done by teaching and showing what the correct understanding is.
It is pretty much impossible to be a leader and not be able to teach. To lead is to be ahead of people in information or practices that somehow need to be passed on to those following. In the process of doing that, you are teaching. Yes, some are more gifted in teaching than others, but a leader will always be able to teach to some level.
I will be sharing a brief review of every book I read this year. Hope you enjoy and hope it encourages you to keep reading.
EXPERIENCING THE RESURRECTION – By Henry & Melvin Blackaby
Henry and Melvin Blackaby do a great job walking through the importance and value of the resurrection of Jesus Christ in every believer’s life. While they take time to discuss God’s purpose in the resurrection as well as Jesus’ experience of the resurrection, the value of the book is found in the third part of the book where they apply the resurrection to the believer’s experience. They write, “And as a result of what the Father has done, the resurrection is something believers can experience in daily life…as well as something they will experience for all of eternity.” To experience the resurrection in ourselves is to die to self, and to live in the power of the Spirit, dead to sin and alive to Christ living in and through us.
There are many leaders in the church, from volunteers to paid staff to elders and pastors. While the Bible seems to speak most directly to elders and pastors in Timothy and Titus, Paul speaks to anyone who is in leadership in the church and in Christian ministry as a whole. I believe it is valuable to explore what the Bibl3 says about church leadership and these various roles, and want to give good time and space to do so. As such, this is the first post of a series on this subject.
An Honourable Position
You may have heard the perspective that no one should be too quick to jump into a leadership position at church. They say things like: “If you were reluctant to become a pastor, that is better than someone who has desired it for a long time.” They seem to think that it is a good display of humility to drag our feet a little in becoming a pastor. Yet when we look at 1 Timothy 3: 1 we read, “If someone aspires to be a church leader, he desires an honourable position.” Not only is it an honourable or noble role in the church, it is honourable to desire to fulfill that role.
Church leadership is a position of great responsibility and great privilege.
Some translations of scripture describe the position referred to above as “overseer” or “bishop.” This person takes on a role of leading people in a certain direction. Paul is an example of this when he writes “And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11: 1). While a church leader might teach a class or lead a program, a large part of their leadership is leading by example. People who spend time with a church leader will likely become a little like the leader they follow.
There are many different aspects of the leader’s role, but I specifically want to remind us that it is a role that is an honourable position because it helps point others to Christ and a relationship with Him. The honourable part is that the leader has chosen to move past being a disciple to being a disciple-maker. They are now pouring into others in the same way that others have given to their spiritual growth.
In the Old Testament, prophets spoke God’s words to the people and priests went before God on behalf of the people. While church leaders today do not fulfill those specific roles, leaders do have the honourable position of speaking God’s words to those they lead and to bring those who follow before God in prayer. In a small way, a church leader acts like a bridge between God and His people, introducing them to Jesus Christ, the one “true bridge” who made it possible to have a relationship with God in the first place. This is the great privilege of leadership, that we get to help others grow in their relationship with God through a growing faith in Jesus Christ!
How is it an honourable pursuit?
To desire to be a leader, specifically a church leader, is to desire to help others to grow. What better pursuit is there than to help people grow in their faith in God and their relationship with Jesus Christ? We should long for many more individuals to step into church leadership, as both volunteers and paid full-time servants. We should pray for others in our own churches and Christian circles to recognize God’s call on their lives and step up to what that call may be. It is important to recognize that not every leader is called to lead in the church – godly leaders are needed in the business or political world as well, but it is an honourable position to pursue in the church.
As leaders who are already serving and leading, we need to look for ways to continually invite others into this honourable position. Let’s give others opportunities to try to learn and grow as leaders. And let’s thank God for how He chooses to use church leaders to impact so many others for Christ.
I will be sharing a brief review of every book I read this year. Hope you enjoy and hope it encourages you to keep reading.
EMBODIED: Transgender Identities, the Church and what the Bible has to say – by Preston Sprinkle
Sprinkle asks the question: If someone experiences incongruence between their biological self and their internal sense of self, which one determines who they are – and why?
He then walks through a thoughtful and biblical journey of defining the transgender issue, understanding what the real issues are, and looking at how the bible speaks to this struggle many people face. He finishes by addressing some of the realities of how to love transgender people in a way that is kind and reflects Jesus. A great book for one of today’s tough struggles.
I will be sharing a brief review of every book I read this year. Hope you enjoy and hope it encourages you to keep reading.
SO BEAUTIFUL: Divine Design for Life and the Church – by Leonard Sweet
Leonard Sweet writes about what the church may be like if she was living up to their divine design. He suggests that there are three key aspects to consider. He calls it the MRI of the church: Missional, Relational, and Incarnational. He contrasts this with what he calls the APC church: Attractional, Propositional, and Colonial. I especially appreciated his discussion of the incarnational church where he highlighted the importance of a church understanding it’s local context and being truly the church for that context. Don’t copy other churches, be the church your own community needs to best hear the gospel of Jesus.
I visited the dentist this week for what most people would call a regular checkup and teeth cleaning. Though since it had been seven years since my last checkup, it was not very “regular”. But as I was sitting in the chair, I began counting how many people were involved in my checkup. There was someone at the front desk, another taking my forms, someone doing the x-rays of my teeth, someone else to clean my teeth, and one or two others supervising. And that was all before I even saw the dentist! And then after, someone else fitted my teeth for a guard. Each person had a specific role to play in making sure I received a full checkup and a thorough cleaning, and proper advice for caring for my teeth.
As I was lying in the chair, I began thinking of how this might compare to a thorough spiritual checkup. I would venture to say that we don’t take our spiritual checkups as seriously as this dentist and his team. Yes, many of us regularly read the scriptures and pray. We attend church regularly, and even examine our hearts before receiving communion, but might we benefit from more. If we were to have a thorough spiritual checkup, what might it look like? And would we be better served by having someone else walk us through it, or could we do an accurate enough checkup on our own?
Determing the present reality.
I don’t know if we need five of six specialized individuals to guide us, but we would benefit from a similar experience spiritually. We could have a trusted friend or a counselor or pastor walk through this process with us, or we could try it on our own. We could begin by looking at our spiritual condition.
Take inventory of reality. What does your spiritual life look like right now? In the same way a dental checkup begins with x-rays to identify the current situation, checking our spiritual life should start with an initial evaluation of what the situation is. Do we need some x-rays of our soul? With the psalmist we could ask God to examine us:
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life. (Psalm 139:23-24)
It’s rare that we can accurately identify our own state (otherwise, why would I need the x-ray in the first place?), so it can help to ask others in our lives who know us well. We could ask the people around us what areas in our spiritual lives they see us perhaps needing improvement?
Ask God to guide the process of taking serious inventory of your spiritual condition.
A thorough cleaning.
Though I brush my teeth (probably not as often as I should), I still benefit from a professional to do a cleaning. In the same way, I can’t do a thorough cleaning of my own soul on my own. Instead, ask God to do a thorough cleaning of your soul. The initial evaluation shows you habits you need to remove, or sins you need to confess. Next, ask God to forgive. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. (Psalm 51: 2)
After the regular cleaning, where God purifies your soul again and again, you can celebrate: our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10: 22)
Maintaining spiritual health.
The dentist pointed out where some issues were occurring in my teeth and suggested some methods of caring for my teeth. He also suggested a teeth guard to wear at night. Going to the dentist isn’t very helpful if I stop caring for my teeth once I leave the clinic. In the same way, after reviewing your spiritual health and asking God to forgive those sins you have allowed to creep in, don’t continue in those old ways.
Instead, consider: what are some things I will do differently going forward, to protect my spiritual condition and even to make it better? This might be recommitting to reading the Bible regularly, maybe choosing a plan to follow. It might include reading books to help you grow. Decide what will help you be more spiritually healthy as you go on with life.
While there could be many more elements of a spiritual checkup, these are the key ones. If you aren’t sure how to start, you might want to talk to a pastor or work through this with a trusted friend.
I will be sharing a brief review of every book I read this year. Hope you enjoy and hope it encourages you to keep reading.
UNSTUCK: A Nine-Step Journey to Change that Lasts – by Tim Lane
Tim Lane walks through a 9-step process to deal with lasting personal change. If there is an issue or a habit you are dealing with and would like to change, he believes his 9 steps will help you work your way through and overcome. He uses some examples from his own life and people he has helped to show how to work the process. If you are looking to make personal change, check out this book.
I will be sharing a brief review of every book I read this year. Hope you enjoy and hope it encourages you to keep reading.
THE PRACTICE OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD – By Brother Lawrence
This book describes how Bother Lawrence practiced the presence of God in the mundane practices of life. It was in 1666 that he became a lay brother among the Carmelites at Paris. His main role was to work in the kitchen. He practiced the presence of God in his everyday activities, so much so that he felt that time for devotions distracted him from his time with God. He was continually aware of God’s presence, as if he had a continuous uninterrupted conversation with God. “I desire only Him, and to be wholly devoted to Him. He pointed out the need to be fully committed to God, “no soul which delights in earthly things, can find full joy in the Presence of God.” This is a little old book that packs a big punch if you want to draw near to God.
Elevate with Andy 