clcgh.org Building The Capacity Of Christian Leaders, Equipping The Saints For The Work Of Ministry, Redirecting Straying Christians To The Sound Knowledge Of Christ
Church leaders are people chosen and appointed from among a community of Christian believers. They are called to serve God and humanity.
Now, it is required that all church leaders maintain best relationship with God, their Master, who appointed them. For this reason, many assume that every church leader, today, has a love relationship with God the Father.
But this is a false assumption. Many church leaders mention the name of God in their prayers, preaching or teachings in vain, because they do not genuinely have a relationship with Him.
I know a lead pastor who hates Christ Jesus to the extent that he once said, “Your church won’t grow if you preach and teach about Jesus Christ.”
So, clearly, not every church leader you see has an intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ who died for our eternal salvation.
It is, therefore, important that we rely on the truth of God’s Word to clarify and understand who really has a relationship with God.
The apostle John, a faithful witness to the suffering and glorification of Christ, indicates that not all leaders have a relationship with God the Father.
John writes, “…many deceivers have gone out into the world. They deny that Jesus Christ came in a real body…Anyone who wanders away from this teaching has NO RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. But anyone who remains in the teaching of Christ has a RELATIONSHIP WITH BOTH THE FATHER AND THE SON (2 John 1: 7- 9, NLT).
From the Scripture above, John, first of all, teaches that ministers who deny that Jesus Christ came into the world bodily has no relationship with God.
Secondly, he points out that anyone who remains in the teaching of Christ has a relationship with both God the Father and the Son.
Now, to remain in the teaching of Christ is to study the words of Christ, believe in the words of Christ, do or live the words of Christ and preach or teach the words of Christ to others for them also to learn and remain in the words of Christ.
This means the many pastors, in our generation, who refuse to faithfully abide in the teaching of Christ are disconnected from God; they do not have the God of the Bible because they do not have a relationship with Him.
The apostle Paul also teaches that, “If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound knowledge of Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing (1 Timothy 6:3-4, ESV).
We know that Jesus Christ is the King of kings; He has a Kingdom. And His Kingdom has a message which His faithful servants are instructed to preach and teach to save people who labour and are heavy laden to find rest for their souls.
The message of the Kingdom is a message that points to the King. This is because the King and His Kingdom are one.
In this context, the gospel of Christ Jesus, is the central message given to the Lord’s servants everywhere to preach and teach.
By James Quansah
