Re: The Living Word Fellowship, The Walk, John Robert Stevens
Date: October 27, 2018 07:12PM
Many false leaders (spiritual fathers) exercise the seat of authority in a "lordship" type position. They may never openly say this, but the air in their congregation is permeated with a sense of "everyone needs to serve the leader...it's all about the leaders vision...sons need to serve their father's vision." The problem with this line of thinking is that it is the opposite of what Jesus taught. Jesus said that those leaders who are considered great, are those who serve everyone else. Jesus said that the one who governs the church must become the servant. This does not mean that the governor should require everyone to serve him and build his ministry. It means that the governor uses his power and authority to empower people into their God given callings. The leader is to perfect/equip the saints for the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:11-13). The scripture does not say that the leader is to perfect/equip the saints for the building up of and work of his own ministry. The saint may be called to be apart of that leaders ministry or the saint may not. That is not the leader's job to worry about. The leader's job is to obey Christ and the scripture. Serve, perfect, train, empower, and release. True fathers simply want their sons to succeed, and to go further than themselves.
True sons will serve their father, but service should always be based on relationship; not requirement. Required service is burdensome, while service done out of friendship is an easy yoke to bear. Jesus called His sons to be in relationship with Him before He expected them to serve Him. Some pastors or leaders will not even consider spending time with someone unless they serve their ministry first. Some leaders will not even allow you to "fit in" at their church until you prove that you are willing to serve. We must ask ourselves, is that how Jesus operates? Is that the love of God? Jesus got His sons to serve Him faithfully by establishing relationship with them. Whether it's sons serving fathers or fathers serving sons; relationship must be our foundation. That is Kingdom