"Unhealthy shepherds leads to unhealthy church, an unhealthy church brings an unhealthy society. The good health of the shepherd of the church would result into a healthy church and a healthy society."
This was the major premise of the Global Proclamation Congress for Pastoral Trainers on June 15 to 22 in Bangkok, Thailand. More focus was driven to this premise in the final lecture on the health of the shepherd and training the shepherds to prevent negative setbacks.
The speaker went immediately to the point: "A healthy leader is good news and that when Jesus Christ once lived in this world, he was a very healthy leader."
Then he spoke about the most fundamental aspects of leadership Jesus embodied in his ministry: he maintained a close relationship with God the Father, he was always in commune with the Father and listens to the Father. This is what we should follow and emulate.
"The most important thing for Health Shepherd is to be united with Christ, and move towards Christ. The Shepherd is not to reveal their talent strategy, or their knowledge, and forget Christ." The host summarized and stressed in his lecture.
Here is the summary of the main points in the lecture:
A healthy leader is good news!
The first question asked: who was the healthiest leader who once lived?
-Jesus Christ
If we want to cultivate a spiritual leader and an effective response to the challenges in faith, we must have a biblical goal. The goal is Jesus Christ, the greatest leader that once lived.
Upon reflecting the leadership style of Jesus:
John 1:1: in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Here it says, "the Word was with God." This sounds like a very negative and passive statement, but the word "with" means towards God. What this means is: in the beginning, the Son goes toward the Father, experiences the love of the Father, fully surrender to the Father; And the father's infinite admirers, without reservation, will give his own to Son. This is the eternal God and eternal essence of nature and life.
God is love and sacrifice love, God is life per se. In eternity, the son complete obedience, love of the Father, and the Father is watching the Son, gives himself completely to the Son.
However, Jesus left all this privilege and came to earth to save us. Regardless of such decision, his relationship with God the Father has not changed.
At that time, Israel was full of various theological seminaries, and theological training, but the scribes saw Jesus' teachings, truths and passion and said:″This man did not attend our theology school, he never learned.″
But Jesus responded, "My teaching is not my own: it did not come from the fruits of learning, not from my own efforts and talents, but come from the Father." Jesus lived in God's presence. Unlimited life to bring the fruit, everything he did with the Father's blessing. Our relationship with the Father is doped, but the Lord Jesus and the Lord is entirely in sync All the teachings of Jesus are always related to what is around him. He is fully aware of everyone's problem. In John 8, it talks about a Pharisee caught committing adultery to woman before Jesus set a trap and questioned the man ″Do you want to kill this woman?″
"Do you want to stone the woman?", this is a hard question to answer. But Jesus stooped down and wrote with his finger on the ground. As he received the Father's character and life, he spoke and said: " Who is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."
This is the way health leaders and the source moves alongside with the Father.
Jesus did. He said,″I speak of myself and will do nothing.″Jesus is completely innocent. If sinless Jesus say so, then what about us?
Jesus asked: "I listen to who?" Listen to the Father. Jesus is on the earth and in heaven in the same time, always receiving the Father all his life. Jesus said in John 5 : "The Son can do nothing of himself: he can only do what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does, the Son also does." He was looking at the father for his actions, this is the nature of his life for all eternity. And the work of such life is to fully reveal the Father himself.
Jesus said: "If you had known me, you should have known my father also. From this time forth, you know him, and have seen him."
God is infinitely holy and one is not to go near Him, but through Jesus Christ, we can know the Father and see the Father.
The Apostle John in 1 John said: "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.)″
We heard, saw and touched Jesus' life, this is eternal life. This is the Christian life.
This is the first, also the last. It is also a process. It is with God. One also reliance on God and His love, fully receiving God's life and character.
This is the true leader's service - it is not learned. Jesus learned how to do in this based on his environment. If it is not done the same way, this is not true holiness. But I no longer rely on myself, I turned to him and rely on him, which is the real essence of real holiness and vision. This is a vision from God.
In addition to the vision from God, as leaders, we often use the people of God to fulfill his reputation.
A healthy leader's vision is from God.
2 Corinthians 3:18 states: "And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."
But we all, with open faces, behold similar to a glass, the glory of the Lord. It is also changed into the same image from glory to glory, even with the Spirit of the LORD.
Here to see how did our lives change happen? It's to see the glory of the Lord and it is the reason why our lives are changed into a better shape.
Leader is so shaped. Once we had a veil isolated us from God, but because of the death of Jesus on the cross, has been completely renewed. This is a "Christian" means - is what we return to God,depend on God, Christ in the center. Christ is our answer, not strategy, methods or other things. But according to God's will, and reveal the glory of God.
Therefore, when we walk towards God, our lives are changed, when we look at the Father, we changed.
In John 15, Jesus talks about the vine and the branches, comparing it to man and his relation to his teaching. What we do is all wood, hay and stray. We only have one life and one chance to put our own life in Jesus Christ. Do you want to live for others?
How is such a healthy leader shaping out?
Apostle Paul said in 1 Thessalonians, "For our gospel came to you not in word only", the truth is not just some theory, the truth is alive.
Paul went on and said, "but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as you know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. And you became our followers, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction and with joy from the Holy Ghost." The main leader is shaped throughout the great challenge.
Nations are waiting for such a church. Such a procedure is life-changing, a life-shaping process. This is the way to change the church, the recovery of the bride of Christ, and the way out of the nations' problems with faith.
Let us not be satisfied with other things inferior to the rest of the fellowship with Jesus. Let us not be satisfied with money or human, but bring people to intersect with God into every area of life and be deeply in communion with God. This is the vision that we have been given, do not accept anything inferior to this vision.
