Blog In Audio:
Greetings,
The ministry of leadership is not about the accuracy of words or supernatural gifting. Being a leader is not merely about leadership skills or even the anointing of ministry. It’s about the accuracy of character. I’m not just referring to our personal character; I’m referring to the character we reveal to and in others. That character is the character of Christ. More accurately, it is about revealing the person of Jesus and seeing the hearts of those a leader leads connect to God in Christ. Even as the spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus, the ministry of leadership should also be a testimony of Jesus.
Revelation 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
A true prophet is not someone who just gives accurate words. A true prophet reveals the right person. That person is Jesus. A true prophet speaks the words of God by the Spirit of God’s powerful love, and it connects people to God. A New Covenant prophet doesn’t give words of information; they activate the words of God in the hearts of those they minister to. In this, each one hears God in their hearts and not in the heads.
A New Covenant leader carries these same qualities in leadership. A New Covenant leader is not a leader that guides or leads others by the skill of leadership. They lead in a way that those they lead respond to Holy Spirit in the same way that they as a leaders do.
What makes someone a false prophet? Perhaps the same thing can make someone a false leaders. What makes someone a true prophet? Perhaps the same thing can make someone a true leader.
During the children of Israel’s journey in the wilderness, the Moabite King Balak hired a prophet named Balaam to curse the children of Israel. The prophet Balaam was not a false prophet because he spoke inaccurate words. It was because he had false motives. Balaam was willing to prophecy words against the children of Israel for personal gain. He spoke true words. He declared that God was not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? (Num. 23:19). He spoke words in regard to the one-day birth of Jesus as the King of kings.
Numbers 24:17 “I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; a Star shall come out of Jacob; a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and batter the brow of Moab, and destroy all the sons of tumult.”
Numbers 24:7 He shall pour water from his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters. “His king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. 8 “God brings him out of Egypt; He has strength like a wild ox; He shall consume the nations, his enemies; He shall break their bones and pierce them with his arrows. 9 ‘He bows down, he lies down as a lion; and as a lion, who shall rouse him?’ “Blessed is he who blesses you, and cursed is he who curses you.”
If we measured Balaam by the accuracy of his words we would call him a true prophet. His error was not his words; it was his willingness to use His gift for personal gain. He didn’t seek to connect others to the will of God. He spoke several very accurate words, but he fell to a deception of teaching Balak to tempt the Israelites to bring foreign gods into their midst through relationships with the daughters of Moab.
New Covenant leadership is not about connecting others to leaders or even ministries. Leadership is not about accurate teachings. It is about connecting people to God in Christ. It is about connecting them to God their Father. Jesus told Peter that the keys of the kingdom are given to those who hear the voice of the Father, not the voice of leadership. Leaders are to be expressions of the Father’s will, and they must lead in a way that those they lead grow in a personal relationship with God in all things. Just as the spirt of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus, the spirit of leadership should testify of Jesus.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
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