Mortify the Arm of the Flesh - Part 3
Leadership- Hierarchical and Humanly official
by Brett Jacobsen
This says the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm [zerowa- strength], and whose heart departs from the LORD. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good comes; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusts in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreads out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat comes, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. (Jer 17:5-8)
There are many and varied aspects of extra-biblical leadership which I would like to expose here, but I will focus on the manner in which this human leadership holds the saints in carnality.
Not only do these religious positions produce fleshly recognition, they also cause carnal reliance and dependency on mere men. We have obtained a sordid mixture of pulpit prancers and pew-perched parishioners rather than operating in biblically powerful Kingdom life and community.
As I have done a fairly thorough teaching on biblical versus extra-biblical leadership in Heaven’s Underground Blueprint, I will only briefly identify what is extra-biblical about much of modern church leadership.
Firstly, the larger portion of church history, including now, has promoted offices of leadership and positions of authority, with titles and false honour to accompany. What is more biblical and therefore less carnal, is to have leaders who have no office, no position, no title and no false honour. Rather they have a heavenly calling, spiritual gifting and proven character. Christians who have an overseeing and/or equipping grace should be recognised and valued as workers in the body, not heads over the body.
This is one point of carnality in modern church leadership, we have produced a type of leader that has weight and authority because of the office or position they hold. This is legitimised by their title- Pastor so n’ so and the like.
This is carnal recognition and human institutionalism and it props up the Dark Age notion of a separate Clergy and laity class. Plainly stated, this glorifies those who hold the offices and titles, therefore rendering the commoners as a lesser class of Christian. So not only does the leader lean on their carnal kingdoms of church, the followers become ensnared by fleshly mediocrity. No matter how good the leaders intentions, or how many times he or she preaches to go and live for Christ, the lacklustre laity are trapped in the pews of carnal Christendom.
Part of the problem should also be accredited to the platforms and pulpits which have given way to the stage-strutting antics and prowess performances of the charismatic Clergy. Again, not only does this carnalise preachers, putting them in God’s limelight, it also causes the every day believer to seem average in every day life. However, this is exactly where we are called to minister everyday.
Though there are many more areas of modern church leadership which add greatly to the dilemma of trusting in man and making flesh our arm/strength, I will just identify one more in this article.
Because we have strayed from God’s New Testament leadership blueprint we have created clerical mediators rather than creation modellers. The Bible says that we have “one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim 2:5). Our official leadership positions (which strangely resemble Plato’s philosopher kings in his Republic) have remained, even through The Reformation, as priest-like mediators. Of course we don’t actually go to a priest to get the low down from God… do we. However, the majority of church goers rely heavily on the official spiritual ones to get the vision, build the church, feed them the word, Christianise their children and organise some prayer and worship time, and much more.
If you were to train someone to play soccer, the best place to train them is on a soccer field. If we as overseers and equippers are going to effectively fulfil our heavenly ordained tasks of training Christians in the Kingdom of God, we should do it in every day life, being an every day life example of Kingdom living.
It’s time for all leaders who follow Christ to have spiritual authority, not official, to get off the stage and be examples and equippers out there where people live and to teach people to go to God’s Word and Spirit more than men. Then perhaps the church will have a majority who “trust in the Lord” rather than “in man”.
For more reading on New Testament leadership and community as well as other reformational insights, see the author’s book Heaven’s Underground Blueprint here- http://www.christisall.org/hub-book for a copy or a free PDF version.
Chapter six of Heaven’s Underground Blueprint is a teaching on biblical leadership instead of man’s traditions. You can read the chapter called Heaven’s Underground Leadership Blueprint here:
Part 1- www.christisall.org/2006/05/10/heavens-underground-leadership-blueprint-pt-1-of-5-by-brett-jacobsen/
Part 2- www.christisall.org/2006/05/16/heavens-underground-leadership-blueprint-pt-2-of-5-by-brett-jacobsen/
Part 3- www.christisall.org/2006/05/19/heavens-underground-leadership-blueprint-pt-3-of-5-by-brett-jacobsen/
Part 4- www.christisall.org/2006/05/24/heavens-underground-leadership-blueprint-pt-4-of-5-by-brett-jacobsen/
Part 5- www.christisall.org/2006/05/27/heavens-underground-leadership-blueprint-pt-5-of-5-by-brett-jacobsen/
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