Government of a Spiritual Letter

Greetings;

Last week I began to present a form of New Covenant operation in the church that includes a spiritual letter written in the lives of people divinely joined by God for a specific purpose in the earth. In my experience I have seen God join people together for a corporate purpose. I have led and developed leadership that facilitates a corporate purpose in the church. That purpose is not the kingdom of a man or the will of any leader. It is an expression of the kingdom of God and the will of the heavenly Father. That expression is unique to each individual, but common in a corporate purpose of God’s kingdom expression. Leaders have a responsibility to facilitate the voice of God in a corporate way. They cannot merely hear God for people. They must serve in creating a culture of hearing God to enable the members of the congregation to hear God’s individual and corporate directions to His Church. New Covenant government must provide clear direction for a corporate purpose within the context of the life of God’s Spirit. New Covenant governors must recognize and facilitate the spiritual letter written by God’s Spirit within the hearts and lives of the corporate body of believers. They must serve the corporate purpose of that letter.

All New Covenant government must include governors who accept the responsibility of providing the appropriate environment of equipping the saints for the work of ministry. That work of ministry includes an involvement by each member in the corporate purpose given by God. The expressions of God are not mere testimonies of works, but they are works that result from God’s expression of community. I believe that there are countless expressions of God’s community that reveal His purposes and demonstrate His governmental power in the earth. It is important to seek out the place that God chooses His name to abide for each of us in order to contribute the fuller purpose of Christ’s wisdom in the earth.

In the writing of a corporate letter there is a need for the full expression of the diversity of Christ’s expression in the body. There must be an influence of that which is apostolic, prophetic, evangelistic, teaching, and pastoral. This doesn’t mean that the leaders equip the congregation members in all of these attributes, but that they see too it that diverse expression of these equipping graces are made available to the congregation in order to activate, facilitate, and release congregation members in their unique expressions of God’s grace. God is the one who gives the wisdom for this and it is therefore not just a methodical task of ministry, but a relational connection to the direction of the Holy Spirit. Facilitation of diverse expressions of equipping will serve to activate the diverse expressions of Christ in the writing of the corporate letter and fulfillment of the corporate purpose.

In this responsibility of exposing the congregation members to the various expressions of equipping ministry, it is important to seek God directed connections outside of the local body. Although God will no doubt put key equipping graces within the congregation, gifts beyond the local body will inspire the body to grow to its greatest potential. In this the governmental expression of leadership must seek to be relationally joined to the bigger picture and purpose of God’s full government in the earth. Any letter that God writes is only one expression of His greater purpose in a city, a region, a nation, or in the earth.

All members of the corporate body must seek to hear God’s voice and respond to His will at every level of their function. This includes those who lead and those of function in the daily activity of the corporate body. Remember, the government is the grace of the Holy Spirit and God uses leaders to assist in the facilitation of that government. They assist in governing, but the power of the government is in the life of the Holy Spirit. Direction must be sought and given that propagates the life of the Holy Spirit within the local body. Leaders must lead in a way that appreciates, facilitates, and propagates that life.

In my own experience, God gathers and joins a group of people for a corporate expression of His kingdom influence in the earth. He chooses a leader and a team of leaders to facilitate that corporate purpose. He expects that leadership to seek out God ordained connections with equipping ministries beyond that local congregation in order to activate, facilitate, and release that corporate body in a continued process of growth and maturity in their God-given purpose as a body.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

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