WARE BEDIENING EN BEDIENAARS

Dissipels van Jesus is vandag blootgestel deur die multimedia aan soveel verskillende bedieninge en bedienaars.  Hoe gemaak om te onderskei en die egte te identifiseer?  Daar is verskeie faktore wat in ag geneem moet word, maar hier is ‘n eenvoudige reël wat die basiese fondasie van alle ware Nuwe Testamentiese bediening ondervang:  “Ware bediening wys altyd weg van onsself en skuif die fokus op Jesus.”  Natuurlik moet ons lewens en karakter Jesus openbaar, maar die fokus moet nie ons en ons wonderlike gawes en wye invloed wees nie.  Eerder Jesus en Sy kosbare Persoon en bediening.   Johannes die Doper en die apostel Paulus is twee skitterende voorbeelde van hierdie benadering.

Jn. 1:29  Die volgende dag sien Johannes Jesus na hom toe kom, en hy sê: Dáár is die Lam van God wat die sonde van die wêreld wegneem!

Jn. 3:30  Hy moet meer word, maar ek minder.

2 Kor. 4:5  Want ons verkondig nie onsself nie, maar Christus Jesus as Here, en onsself as julle diensknegte om Jesus wil.

CARS WITHOUT ENGINES

Heb. 8:11  And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.

Col. 3:16  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Gal 4:19  My little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you! 

Even though there is definite continuity between the old and the new covenant they are also radically different in many ways.  If we fail to seriously consider the unique characteristics of this New Covenant and its implications for church life we may tragically end up with a souped up version of the old and something way beneath what God has in mind for us.  Under the old covenant believers were in a sense like cars without engines.  The Spirit came upon certain individuals and worked through especially kings, prophets and priests in order to make God’s will known to His people and to govern them accordingly.  There were many external ordinances, traditions, feasts, rules, and regulations to keep these ‘engineless cars’ moving in the right direction.  God’s Spirit influenced the hearts of believers from without and especially through the priesthood and their external system of religion.  That covenant failed dismally.  But we have a better covenant!  God now lives within every believer and it is absolutely crucial for every believer to be made aware of it (Gal. 2:20)!  ‘And I will put my Spirit within you, and make you eager to obey My laws and teachings’ (Ezek. 36:27). 

The most important function of New Testament leadership by far is the unlocking of the life and power of Christ within the believer.  According to the New Testament this is done primarily in three ways. Firstly, by preaching and teaching the Word of God in such a way that believers will see and understand the reality of Christ in them as their true identity, life, wisdom and power (1 Cor. 1:28-31, 4:1).  Secondly, by praying and interceding for believers that they would receive a revelation of this reality (Col. 1:25-29; 4:12).   Acts 6 verse 4 clearly delineates the primary functions of New Testament leadership in terms of these first two points.  “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word."  And thirdly, by teaching them by both word and example that the life of Christ within them can only be manifested and realised via the death-resurrection route (2 Cor. 4:7, 12:10).   It is in denying and laying down our independent and self-centered life, that we find our life in union with Christ.  The godly example of leaders is absolutely crucial in this regard.  Yet, the example without the teaching and personal revelation in the heart of every believer will never take us over the finishing line as a victorious church.  If I only give believers a godly example and ask them to ‘follow me as I follow Christ’, without revealing the secret to that victorious life I am setting believers an impossible task.  This can only lead to frustration and ultimately burnout. 

In the light of these facts we need to ask ourselves some hard questions? May we ignore God’s revealed way of discipling believers and devise our own ways to do this?  May we, for example, just bypass the need for every believer to see for himself the realities of the New Covenant in the Word of God?  Is there any substitute for this?  Is it possible to get believers to maturity and effectively mobilise them for sustained servanthood in the church without their personal grasp of the Word of Christ and a personal revelation of their new identity in union with Christ?  If we cannot respond with an unequivocal no to these questions, then we are no longer evangelical leaders, but Roman Catholic priests.  Then we may just as well  adopt their whole system, for they have perfected it and have much more ‘success’ than Protestants with that methodology of external motivation via systems of en masse behaviour modification.  How do you compete with a unified “church” of 1.2 billion members?  If we ignore or neglect the essence of the New Covenant and employ other ways and methods to try and bring believers to maturity in their personal walk and other avenues to bring them to unity and their destiny as a body of believers, we are in effect busy using up tons of energy to push engineless cars.  The outcome of this approach is predictable.  We will eventually run out of steam and momentum and out of new ideas to get these ‘cars’ moving in the right direction.  We will run out of capable and energetic leaders who are willing to push ‘engineless cars’ up hills year in and year out, because we do not fire up the engine within people.  We will end up like hundreds of churches and church growth movements over the last few decades in the West; tired and stagnant. 

Leadership in the church of Jesus Christ is meant to represent Him, never to replace Him.  Every believer must be led to increasingly take personal responsibility for an intimate relationship with Jesus.  The New Covenant may never be veiled by a kind of ‘priesthood’ that again makes any leader or team of leaders a mediator between God and man.  There is only ‘…one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus’  (1 Tim. 2:5).  Leaders are not the external engine of the church trying to push it to its destiny.  Jesus is the internal engine of the church and every single believer; and leaders should preach, teach, live and unveil this reality with an unswerving confidence in the radical nature of the New Covenant.  Jesus, the great Leader, Prophet, Priest, and King now lives within every believer!  “For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God  (1 Cor. 1:22-24).”

PRAYER:  “Dear heavenly Father, please grant us a fresh revelation of the power of the Gospel and restore our confidence in this precious Gospel so that we may turn from our confidence in so many other ways and methodologies and turn back to the tried and tested apostolic approach.”

REVISITING LEADERSHIP AND DISCIPLESHIP

Matthew 23:8  But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers.

Matthew 28:19  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

Leaders are not the centre of the church, Christ is, and leaders are meant to facilitate this reality.   Leaders are supposed to lift up Christ by a consistent gospel proclamation and a focused equipping of the saints.  When Jesus came to this earth he changed everything, including mankind’s way of looking at leadership.  The renewal of our minds (Rom. 12:2) is supposed to include the way we look at leadership.  Leaders must, as it were, send out the gospel in front of them so that Jesus may be seen, as they remain in His shadow as servants of the saints and the church (1 Cor. 4:1).  It is completely consistent with the New Testament to say that leaders are meant to lead ‘in the shadow of Jesus’.  The moment a leader or leaders step out of that shadow they step into the light and press Jesus into their shadow.  This is a travesty and a shame.  Consider a very significant fact that has received little attention in church history.  In every single instance that Paul wrote a letter to a church he addressed it to the whole church and not to a leader or leaders.  1 and 2 Timothy and Titus were written to apostolic co-workers, not to churches.  This is even more striking when we consider the fact that almost every one of those churches were experiencing crises at the time of Paul’s writing and yet he did not address his letters to the elders. When he wrote the Philippians he starts his letter by saying ‘to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the overseers and deacons’.  Note that he did not say and the overseers and deacons, but the saints with the overseers and deacons.  This is highly significant and it indicates that a local church is comprised of one group, saints with elders and deacons, not three groups.  Jesus said in Matthew 23:8 ‘One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers’.  Yes, there are teachers and leaders in the church, but they must serve as fellow brothers who teach and lead in the shadow of Jesus, the true Teacher and Leader.  Furthermore, elders are under-shepherds and Jesus alone the ‘Chief Shepherd’ (1 Pet. 5:2-4).  The shepherds in a local church should never view themselves as ‘above the sheep’.  They themselves are sheep in the fold of the Good Shepherd (Jn. 10:11, 16), albeit sheep that lead other sheep by following closely behind the Shepherd.   

Additionally we have to radically alter our ecclesiastical approach from merely teaching people, to making disciples of them. The priesthood of all believers means precious little if we do not actively pursue this as our main mandate (Mt. 28v19). We have to make it our single aim to train every single disciple to love and study the Word, to be a self-feeder, to demonstrate the Word by transformed living, and to share the Word with others in this same way, i.e. teaching them to be disciples!  We have to move from giving people fish to teaching them how to fish and how to teach others to fish. We have to hand the church back to the saint. The church does not belong to leadership and saints are not meant to 'remain ignorant so that the leaders can be perpetual feeders'. Vision is not the sole prerogative of leaders, it is meant for every single member of the Body of Christ.  Read Ephesians and Colossians and note Paul’s prayers for the saints if you doubt this.  The letters of the New Testament were primarily written to saints, not leaders.  New Testament leadership is radically Christ-centered and utterly member-aimed (see Mt. 23:8-12)!  It aims consistently and persistently to attach saints to Christ as their ultimate leader and to equip saints to be disciple makers. It is time for us to stop paying lip service to the belief in the priesthood of all believers and begin to actually apply it in the practical life of our churches!  This is a mega paradigm shift in the context of current church practice and it is urgently needed in the church. God's plan is simple and meant to be utterly pervasive; every member equipped, every member in the Word, every member radically Christ-centered and animated by the gospel and every member a disciple maker. Unless we have this specific aim, we are missing it completely and wasting precious time, even with all our church programs, meetings, committees, training courses, etcetera ad nauseam!

HOU DIT EENVOUDIG

Maar ek vrees dat, net soos die slang Eva deur sy listigheid bedrieg het, julle sinne so miskien bedorwe kan raak, vervreemd van die opregtheid teenoor Christus. 2 Korinthiërs 11:3

Maar ek is bang dat julle gedagtes weggelei sal word van die onverdeelde en suiwere toewyding aan Christus, net soos Eva verlei is deur die listigheid van die slang. 2 Korinthiërs 11:3 (NAV)

Daar is vandag soveel Christelike bedieninge waaraan gelowiges deur die media blootgestel word en baie van hulle maak groot uitsprake oor die impak wat hulle het en gaan hê; wêreldwye invloed, profesieë oor herlewing, ensovoorts, ensovoorts. 

Verder word persoonlike profesieë dikwels die somtotaal van gelowiges se geestelike lewe en verwagting en bou hulle alles rondom sulke “woorde” van ander.  Hoe moet die dissipel van Jesus homself posisioneer ten opsigte van al hierdie dinge?  Daar is sekerlik ‘n tyd en ‘n plek vir sekere van hierdie dinge, maar God het vir ons ‘n vaste anker gegee in Christus en dit bring stewige grond onder ons voete en ‘n fondasie waarop ons kan bou. 

Maak seker dat jou fokus op Christus alleen is as die Een in wie jy volkome is (Kol. 2:10), en dat jy vanuit ‘n ‘’Eerste Liefde’’ verhouding met Hom in gehoorsaamheid leef in jou daaglikse lewe.  Ons moet maar gereeld in gedeeltes soos die bergpredikasie (Mt. 5-7) gaan kyk en seker maak of ons werklik leef vanuit Christus in ons, want dit is net Sy lewe in ons wat so 'n koninkrykslewe op aarde moontlik maak.  Dit hou ons nederig en help ons ook om verby die uiterlike en die oorvloed van woorde te kyk en duidelik te onderskei in die tyd van “information overload” waarin ons leef.

 

In 1 Kor. 4:20 sê Paulus “die koninkryk van God bestaan nie in woorde nie, maar in krag.”  Die krag waarvan Paulus hier praat is die krag om ‘n heilige lewe te leef wat vir God welbehaaglik is; die krag van Christus in ons.  Die primêre verskil tussen die ou en nuwe verbond is dat ons nou “onder die wet van Christus” is, omdat Hy in ons leef.  In verhouding met Hom is daar ‘n toenemende geloofsgehoorsaamheid in ons lewens wat Christus se karakter deur ons openbaar. 

Die eenvoud is te vinde in Jesus wat vir ons alles geword het (1 Kor. 1:30).  Nie my lewe wat verbeter moet word nie, maar Sý lewe in en deur my soos wat ek my lewe neerlê om plek te maak vir Syne.