The flaw of “Self”

Greetings;

A created being known as the star of the morning (the Latin word Lucifer), was created to bring light for every new day. His attributes and characteristics were depicted as the root of the testimony of the King of Babylon and the King of Tyre through the prophecies of Isaiah and Ezekiel (Isa. 14:12-15; Ezek. 28:12-19). This created being was a covering cherub that revealed the expressions magnifying the light, sound, and the rhythm of God. It was a daily process (morning star) and it was connected to his ability to refract or reflect the light of God in various expressions of the frequency of light. He was an excellent creation of God and he had a great purpose before Him. He failed in his purpose through pride. Instead of being humble, he was humbled by God for his failure to be who God created him to be. He became a taker rather than live a fulfilled life as a giver of glory to God within the measure of his being before God. He didn’t give his heart to the corporate purpose of God. He exhibited an independent spirit, rather than a dependent spirit upon God and those he was joined to in his creation.

His plan for failure was walked out in a three-fold measure. His plan was to ascend, exalt his own throne, and to sit above others. His confession was one of having his own power, his own throne, and his own authority. His testimony was a testimony of “self”.

We are all called to lead in a way that inspires others to confess that God is their God, but the flaw of Lucifer was to be his own ministry and to get others to confess the glory of his name. We are called to lead others in a way that causes them to find their identity in God and thus they become an obvious testimony of God. A flaw in Lucifer was to be his own person and thus he found his identity in what he did. We are called to lead in a way that causes men to tabernacle with God and for God to tabernacle with them. Our leadership should inspire relational connection of men to God and to one another. A third flaw in Lucifer was his desire to sit above others. He sought an importance through a domination of others and isolation from others. Lucifer’s desire of “self” ultimately revealed him as that which is as far from God as you can get.

We can never find our identity from the ministry we carry or the gifts that we contain. We get our identity from God as our Father and our being defines our true identity. It is not our doing that defines who we are. As leaders in the body of Christ we must set an example that others can clearly see in regard to the true identity as human beings. We must live with secure identities as sons and daughters of God. We must be secure in who we are as brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. We must be secure in who we are as dads and moms, as grandfathers and grandmothers. Our security doesn’t come from our abilities, gifts, or talents. Our security comes from being people who reveal the character, nature, way, power, and authority of God as our Father. We need God and we need one another in order to fully be who we are.

In a team of ministry there is no such thing as “my ministry”. There is the corporate ministry of the team, but each member of the team fulfills a specific part of that call of ministry. The purpose is the team and not the individual agendas of the individual team members. In any corporate expression of the church there is no such thing as ‘individual ministries’. There is the corporate expression of the whole and then there are unique ministries within that corporate body that make up the entire equation of ministry. When we make any ministry a confession of ourselves we make people dependant upon us. This was the flaw found in the identity of Lucifer, the fallen angel known to us as Satan or the Devil. If we plan to fail we will do so by exalting our own thrones. Lucifer sought ministry for identification rather than finding his identity in God and then ministering to lead others to God.

Satan targets to destroy leadership teams from within. He will tempt leadership members to think with individual plans rather than corporate plans. He tempts team members to live for their own personal causes rather than the corporate cause of Christ. He seeks to cause leadership members to separate from one another rather than live for the corporate cause, plan, and purpose of Christ. God wants congregations in His family to live for the corporate causes, plans, and purposes of the Father’s name. As leaders we must lead in a way that sets an example for us to become expressions of the Father’s name.

Our enemy is a deceiver, a devourer, and a causer of conflict. As a deceiver he draws others to his own personal causes, as a devourer he detested the corporate plan of another, and as one who causes conflict with others he separated from the place of corporate purpose. No one wakes up in the morning and decides to be a deceiver, a devourer, or a causer of conflict among men; but the weapons of Satan often become the weapons of destruction within our own measures of rule.

As I present this month’s topic of leadership inspiration, let’s consider who God created each of us to be and how who we are brings glory to God and to others. If you are part of a leadership team consider the make up of that team and what it is that defines that team in bringing glory to God in the earth. As this month progresses we will examine the failure of Lucifer and how he schemes to tempt us to trade our true identities in Christ for a lie of disconnection and the limitation of self.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

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