Last week I was in Louisville, KY for my final class for the Doctorate of Ministry. It was a good week. Thank you to any who prayed for me. Part of the class required us to write a paper on our philosophy of leadership. We then had to make a presentation and lead a discussion with our fellow doctoral students (and professor) on the topic of our paper.
My paper is titled “Lamppost Leadership: Leading With Jesus Actively In Charge.” I know most of you probably don’t care about papers I write, but I’m bringing this up because it shows my perspective on how I intend to lead Lake Hills. If you will, allow me to share the opening paragraph of the paper:
There’s an unspoken or unrealized reality in the discussion on Christian leadership. This unspoken reality is that there is only one ultimate leader—Jesus the King. He is actively ruling and reigning over everything. Therefore, leaders underneath Him are called to lead deferentially. They are called to serve as a lamppost serves the light.
Yours Truly, 🙂
I don’t think we intend to do this, but we can all fall into the trap of living as if Jesus were still dead. Harsh, perhaps. But I know it’s true of me sometimes. Of course, we believe Jesus died to save us from our sins and that He’s alive and coming back, but functionally, we can behave as if Jesus was either still dead or is aloof to our lives. We can even try to build His kingdom without Him being actively in charge of our efforts.
How He Does This
You might say, “Well, Pastor, I know Jesus is alive, but He’s in heaven. How is He leading us right now?” That’s a fine question, but the answer is very simple–He is leading us by His Word, His Spirit, and His Church. He affirms all of Scripture. When it speaks, He is speaking. The Spirit is His Spirit. And the Church is His Church–His body.
I want to be the kind of pastor who defers to Jesus’ leadership. He’s in charge, not me. And He is actively ruling and reigning over His Church.
Practically speaking, I want to do my best to model submission to Jesus. Truly dear church, I have nothing to offer you apart from Christ in and through me. I do not have any amazing ideas that will turn the region around or turn America back to God. I don’t even have good enough ideas for our church. Time with Him in prayer and His Word is my only fuel and letting Him pour Himself out through me is my only ministry.
The other way I want to lead deferentially is to encourage all of us to submit to Jesus. All of you as individuals and families must seek Him and submit to His leadership in your lives–not mine. You all must prioritize quality time with Him in prayer and His Word. You have no other leadership other than this. And our church must seek His face and hand for what He would have of us.
Seeking Jesus’ Vision for Us
Let me take this last sentence and run with it a bit. When it comes to vision for a church, much of the answer is already given to us in God’s Word. The mission of our church is the same as every church that’s seeking to follow Scripture. But we are the only church on 9209 W. 85th Avenue in Schererville, IN. We are the only church with our members. So we need to start looking to the Lord for how He wants to use us in this place and time. What opportunities has He given us that He hasn’t given other churches? What has He entrusted to us that He has not entrusted to others? Who is around us that is not around others?
Someone asked me what my vision is for our church. Let me let you in on a poorly-kept secret: I do not know. I told you all several months ago near the beginning of Colossians that I am not in charge of Lake Hills, and I meant it. I have fully surrendered the keys of this church to King Jesus. He has a vision for Lake Hills. He knows what He’s given us and why He’s put us here in this place. I think my role is to lead us to seek His purposes for us together. And that’s what I hope to do.
My professor said, “Vision in isolation usually dies in isolation.” So what I hope the Lord will help me do is lead our key leaders to seek His purposes for us together. I’ll be sharing more on how I hope to do this in the future. I appreciate your prayers.
“King Jesus, please help us see your vision for us.”
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