Leadership is a Calling

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leadership is a calling

The Bible discusses the means for the church to accomplish its God-given tasks. The Bible describes these means as spiritual gifts, one of which is the gift of leadership. The spiritual gift of leadership appears in Romans 12:8 and 1 Corinthians 12:28. Leadership is an essential part of the success of churches and mission organizations.

Leadership in church or organizational development is essential. Leadership is so important that everything rises and falls with leadership in organizations. The more skillful and effective the leadership, the better the organization runs and the more the potential for growth increases. David showed us how he developed as a leader. In Psalm 78:72 David “shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.” Biblical leadership involves character and competence.

What does it look like for someone who has a gift of spiritual leadership? People with spiritual gift of leadership recognize that their position is by appointment of the Lord and is under His direction.

They understand that they are not absolute rulers but are themselves subject or accountable to the One who is over them all, the Lord Jesus who is the head of the church. Recognizing that the gifted Christian leader is subject to Christ, he can be prevented from succumbing to pride or a sense of entitlement. Like the apostle Paul, truly gifted Christian leader recognizes that he is but a slave of Christ and a servant of those he leads. A gifted Christian leader also recognizes that God has called him to his position and has not called himself (1 Corinthians 1:1). His call is by the will of God.

One of the gifted leaders in the early church is James, the half brother of our Lord. He led the church in Jerusalem. He referred to himself as a “servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” (James 1:1). As a gifted leader, James exhibited the ability to sway others to think rightly, biblically, and godly in all matters.

At the Jerusalem Council, James dealt with the controversial issue of how to relate to Gentiles coming to faith in Jesus the Messiah. “And after they had become silent, James answered, saying, ‘Men and brethren, listen to me: Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His Name’” (Acts 15:13-14). With that opening statement, James led the delegates to think clearly and biblically, enabling them to come to a right decision on this issue (Acts 15:22-29).

As shepherds of God’s people, gifted leaders lead with diligence and possess the ability to discern true spiritual needs from “felt” needs. They lead others to maturity in the faith. The Christian leader leads others to grow in their ability to discern for themselves that which comes from God versus that which is cultural or temporary. Following Paul’s example, the church leader’s words are not “wise and persuasive” from the viewpoint of human wisdom but are filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, leading and encouraging others to rest their faith on that very power (1Corinthians 2:4-6). The goal of the gifted leader is to guard and guide those he leads “until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13).

The spiritual gift of leadership is given by God to men and women who will help the church to grow and thrive. God has given the gift of leadership not to exalt men but to glorify Himself when believers use His gifts to do His will.

Ike Agawin
ServeBeyond Director

May They All be One (John 17:21)

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called to be one

Let them all pass all their dirty remarks (one love)
There is one question I’d really love to ask (one heart)
Is there a place for the hopeless sinner
Who has hurt all mankind just to save his own?

Let’s get together to fight this Holy Armageddon (one love)
So when the Man comes there will be no, no doom (one song)
Have pity on those whose chances grow thinner
There ain’t no hiding place from the Father of Creation 

One love (what about the one heart?), One heart (what about the?)
Let’s get together and feel all right
I’m pleading to mankind (one love), Oh Lord! (one heart)
Give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right
Let’s get together and feel all right

One Love/People Get Ready – Bob Marley/Curtis Mayfield

For many years, the secular poets and prophets have hinted, sometimes not subtly, at the call to unity. Although they were calling our broader world together, it is the church’s calling as well.

As a youngster, I remember the first time I recited the Apostle’s Creed. It was surprising. Recital of creeds is not commonplace among evangelicals. Maybe that’s why it made an impression. I also remember stumbling over “the holy catholic church” line. I knew I wasn’t a Roman Catholic, so what was that about? I was also brought up very conservative (shocking to some of you I am sure), so I had heard all the warnings against those terrible “ecumenicals”. They were well on their way down the slippery slope, and we didn’t want to go sliding into hell with them. Clearly, I hadn’t been taught about small “c” catholic.

Jesus’ prayer for the unity of his followers in John 17 should rock us to our core. I’m realistic enough to know why we have different tribes. I also deeply value my EFCC tribe. Yet, we should probably read Jesus’ prayer and wonder if somehow, we have missed something. Scripture piles on with a passage like the front end of Ephesians 4 where Paul reminds us to be patient and make allowances, and to make every effort to keep yourselves together in the unity of the Spirit. Or a passage like 1 John 4 where John reminds us that if we say we love God but not our brother or sister we are liars.

Wow. That hurts! At least it does if we hold those passages up as mirrors in which to view ourselves.

Has our need to be right hurt our ability to be together?

I’m not against being right, but since we all see through the glass dimly, I suspect we have an elevated view of how much we have right. After all, good Bible believing Christians can hold almost diametrically opposed views, having formed those views through the study of the word, and claim they are right. So, which view is right? And is being right really the most important thing? Or is love for one another more important?

We think uniformity brings unity. After all, “Cloneliness is next to godliness, right?” (It’s a great day whenever you get to quote Steve Taylor). But the fact that Jesus had to pray for unity, meant there would be difference. Uniformity would mean Jesus prayed unnecessary words. Our diversity is remarkably beautiful if we can appreciate it. Yet it makes unity a challenge.

I suspect our fractured world needs to see a beautiful mosaic of diverse unity more now than ever before. Could it be our greatest apologetic? Jesus seemed to think so: “Everyone will know you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

What if, in our desire to be right, we got this one thing down – we grow into a radically loving diverse community of faith? Isn’t that who we are called to be? I know that is messy. I know that requires supernatural love. I know that adhering to a list of dos and don’ts that makes us all look alike is simpler.

But Jesus wasn’t calling us into simple. He called us into a new life, lived out through the power of the Holy Spirit.

As people in the EFCC, I think we have a unique opportunity to model what this looks like for other believers. Our ethos is built around this motto, “In essentials unity, in non-essentials charity, in all things Jesus Christ.” If we lived this motto well, we would embody Jesus’ unity prayer. May we truly do so.

Neil Bassingthwaighte
ServeCanada Director & Interim Prayer Catalyst

Called to Be Where?
An Issue Underlying Much of our Conflict

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called to be where

Sometimes, firm believers quarrel with each other. Sometimes, faithful attenders migrate to other churches. And we wonder – why do God’s people, who are called to unity, divide?

The Scriptures are full of beautiful metaphors which illustrate our collective identity as God’s people – to name a few, we’re called a family, a body, and a temple. And these images also clarify how we relate to God, as believers – we are children of One Father, servants of Christ, and a dwelling place for the Spirit (see Gal 3:26, 1 Co 12:27, Eph 2:22, plus more).

Certainly, it is essential for us to know who we are and how we relate to God – and knowing these Biblical images can build good common ground between believers. But there is a whole other issue that can trip us up and divide well-meaning believers. It’s an issue that requires another set of Biblical metaphors to clarify it: How are Christians called to relate to their surrounding culture?

Why can we be focused on worship, fellowship, and discipleship one minute, and get sidetracked by politics the next minute? Why do peripheral issues hijack our conversations? Why can sincere Christians disagree so sharply about where to send their kids to school, how to vote, or what the church’s local and global missions should look like?

I’ve become convinced that our differences really boil down to the way we answer two questions: 

  1. Is our stance toward culture optimistic or pessimistic?
  2. Is our posture toward culture active or passive?

An optimistic stance typically results in a person engaging with the culture around them, while a pessimistic stance results in their withdrawal or separation. Those with an active posture would likely seek to change their culture, while those with a passive posture look for a way to coexist.

Now, one might ask for a definition of culture, but I’ll leave that to other authors. [1]And we could talk about the Kingdom of God – what does Jesus mean when He says the kingdom is like wheat mixed with weeds? (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43).

But for now, if we focus on asking these two questions, our results will produce a chart that I’ve found helpful for understanding others:

Passive (Coexist)Active (Change)
Negative (Withdrawn)SubcultureCounter-culture
Positive (Engaged)CooperationTransformation

Perhaps a chart like this can illustrate why some parents homeschool, and others become public school teachers. Or why Christians divide politically today, as the Jews did in Jesus’s day. Or why different Christians have founded monasteries, started wars, built hospitals, and translated the Bible. I’m tempted to fill in the chart with examples, [2]but I’ll respectfully leave that to the reader, and hope that it leads to some helpful conversations.

As Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “there is a time for everything.” Throughout the Biblical narrative, Christian history and our daily lives, there is a time for God’s people to take refuge, and a time for prophetic confrontation. There is a time for building bridges, and a time to blaze missional trails. All of these cultural responses reflect Christian values in different times and ways.

Yet, I will admit that I do hold one quadrant to be ideal. In light of our call to be Christ’s Ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:14-21), to be “in this world but not of it,” (John 17:15-18) and to “live good lives among the pagans,” (1 Peter 2:11-12), I prayerfully hope for opportunities to be actively engaged with the culture around me. And, to end with one final metaphor, from Jesus:

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14,16 ESV)

tim stewartTim Stewart
Pastor | Parkdale Evangelical Free Church

[1] I’ve personally enjoyed thoughts from Stackhouse, Making the Best of It, Fitch, Faithful Presence, and Crouch, Culture Making on this topic. [2] Which I do at http://www.eremos.xyz

Called to be a House of…?

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called to be a house of

Among the prophets and teachers of the church at Antioch of Syria were Barnabas, Simeon (called “the black man”), Lucius (from Cyrene), Manaen (the childhood companion of King Herod Antipas), and Saul. One day as these men were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Appoint Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them.” So, after more fasting and prayer, the men laid their hands on them and sent them on their way. So Barnabas and Saul were sent out by the Holy Spirit…(Acts 13;1-5a)

I love this Acts 13 passage. It speaks to me about complementary callings we have as Jesus’ community of followers. First, allow me to place it in context. Ike has reminded us in his blogs about our calling to mission. In Acts 1:8 Luke records Jesus’ call to the disciples to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and to the “uttermost parts of the earth.” This is a call to being a global church, a diverse house.

We are called to leave the comfort of the familiar and follow the Holy Spirit outward from our Jerusalem outward to the entire world.

This is always difficult for us. It takes a persecution after the death of Stephen to scatter the disciples out of Jerusalem – and they then share the good news in Judea and Samaria. It takes the Holy Spirit giving Peter a crazy dream (Acts 10-11) to move Peter to share the good news with Gentiles in Caesarea. By the time we read Acts 13 we see that Antioch is now an obviously multicultural church (check out the different names of the teachers and prophets!) and is a frontier city in Syria for the spreading of the gospel into Asia. In Acts 16 we see the Holy Spirit closing doors on Paul in Asia and giving him a dream inviting him to come to Macedonia to share good news in Europe (and the edges of the then known world).

So first, we are called to be a global church that is led by and steps out in obedience to the Holy Spirit. Second, we are called to be a House of Prayer/House of Worship. Notice what the prophets and teachers are doing – they are worshipping, fasting, and praying. They lay hands on Saul and Barnabas in obedience to what the Spirit commands. Saul and Barnabas humbly, obediently (and I think confidently!) submit to the calling to go out and share the gospel in Asia. Why? Because the church is so attuned to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in worship, fasting and prayer that there is no doubt in anyone’s mind what the Spirit is asking of them. These leaders are not asking the Lord to ensure their comfort or success. They are clearly asking their God what He wants them to be doing. And He answers! And they submit and obey! I suspect the Spirit spoke in a still small voice, but they were such a worshipping and praying community that they received the message loud and clear!

I was once at a dedication service where the mayor of the town brought greetings. He was not a believer, but in his greeting, he noted that when he was a kid, they used to call the church a “house of worship” or a “house of prayer.” That has stuck with me ever since. What if we were not known for what we are against, but what we are for? What if we were known as a house of worship and prayer – a diverse, global group of followers of Jesus who seek and submit to His Holy Spirit? May we be a house of worship and prayer who experience an Asbury University type of revival and follow the Holy Spirit out of our comfort zone to a diverse people who Jesus desires to join His family!

Bill Taylor
EFCC Executive Director

Obeying the Call of Jesus to Make Disciples of All Nations

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obeying the call of Jesus

In October 2017, Barna released a study[1] asking a thousand church-going evangelical[2] believers, “Have you ever heard of the Great Commission?” The study’s results were shocking: 51% said they had never heard of it. And alarmingly, another 25% said they thought they had heard of it but did not know what it meant. Only 17% of the people could say they had heard of it and knew what it was about.

The command of Jesus in Matthew 28: 18-20 is to make disciples. This is normally called the Great Commission. It is interesting that if you study the life of Christ, you will discover that each of the four gospels, plus the book of Acts, has that commission recorded in unique ways. In John 20:21, Jesus said, “just as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” Here we have His model of the mission. If you look at Mark 15:16, Jesus commanded His disciples to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” Here we have the magnitude of that commission. In Luke 24:47, Jesus again commanded His disciples that “repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” Here we have the message of the mission. And then, if we go to Acts 1:8, Jesus said – “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth,” here we have the means of the Great Commission.

But in Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus is showing us the method of the Great Commission, the most precise approach of Jesus and how He made disciples.

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The central command in this text is to Make Disciples. If you ask pastors and Church leaders what the command in Matthew 28 is, almost half will say that the imperative is to go to evangelize and count decisions for Christ. But in Greek, the command is not to go but to make disciples who make disciples.

But how should we make disciples? The three participles are to go, literally, as you go – as you go to work, as you go to school, etc., it’s an everyday commission for every believer of Christ in every moment of their life. And then He said to baptize. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Baptism is an external expression of a new internal belief system. Go is to win the lost; baptize is to root and establish these believers in their newfound faith like Jesus did with His early disciples. In baptism, new believers identify with the work of Christ and the mission of Christ. And lastly, teach them to obey all that Jesus has commanded them.

In the life of Christ, there are 405 commands. 260 plus of them is disciple-making commands.

Teaching them to obey means equipping them in every area of their life to walk as Jesus walked.

So, the commission is clear: to make disciples. How? By going, baptizing and teaching to obey. Jesus commanded the Church, then and now, to make disciples. The Church is God’s instrument in fulfilling the task of discipling the nations. There’s no plan B.

While the churches in Asia, Africa and Latin America are rapidly multiplying, the Church in Canada is in decline. The latest survey by the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada[3] indicates that in 1996 Canada was 12 percent evangelical Christian. In 2015, Canada was 9 percent evangelical Christian. Today, the number of evangelicals in Canada dropped even further to 6 percent.

Worldwide, missiologists and mission researchers estimate that one-third of the world’s population, which represents 2.6 billion, are still unreached because the Church in the reached areas is not sending missionaries to them. The significant imbalance of missions is that most missionaries go to and are sent to reached areas of the world – regions where the Church already exists, and the name of Jesus is known. On the flip side, there are very few missionaries working among the remaining unreached people groups who have yet to hear the name of Jesus.

Are you making disciples who make disciples as Christ commanded? Are our churches and denominations making disciples in Canada and beyond? Jesus is calling the Church to obey what He commanded us to do – to make disciples who make disciples. May we be obedient to His call to disciple all the nations of the earth, beginning in our Jerusalem.

Ike Agawin
ServeBeyond Director

[1] Barna, Translating the Great Commission Survey 2018 [2] Evangelicals are believers in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and take the Bible seriously, not a political and religious identity. [3] Faith Today, https://www.faithtoday.ca/Magazines/2020-Jan-Feb/Not-Christian-anymore