Effective Church Leadership

After the election of a new set of deacons in Martyrs last night, my first pastoral visit today took me to the home of a woman whose sister is seriously ill. She had been reading through a Daily Reading, and discovered it to speak some significants words concerning church leadership.

I took a screen shot of this little article with the intention of posting it here ... .

YOUR ACTIONS SPEAK

The recommended Bible reading was Titus 1:5-16. “The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies,” (verse 12) – so how do you strengthen a church in that setting? For Paul, it starts with leadership. Titus is in Crete to help establish the church by appointing leaders whose lives reflect the lordship of Christ (verses 7-9). These leaders are not only distinctive from general society but also from false teachers within the church. In Crete, whole households are in ruin (verse 11) because a group of people in the church are “unruly” (verse 10). Paul is clear – they must be rebuked in order that they, “may be sound in the faith” (verse 13). This involves rejecting untruths (verse 14), having pure consciences and minds (verse 15), and acting in ways that reflect their words (verse 16). Now fast forward to 2015. Our context is very different, yet the challenge to leaders remains. Church leaders have a huge responsibility to reflect Jesus in their lives and protect the church from false teaching. They are called to speak and live truth. So let’s pray for our church leaders, that they may have spiritual wisdom and insight, and that we might see even more of Jesus through their lives.