Greetings,
I am continuing to fix my blog to you problem. Some of you have been receiving it while others are not. Please be patient with me in this process.
Here is another thought for today:
As leaders, the effectiveness of our leadership is directing connected to our connections in relationship to members of a body of believers. We are an expression of that body. If we’re not connected to something living, we cannot give living words to others. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord will flourish in their older age. Our ability to flourish is directly connected to our planting in Christ-life relationships.
When we read about the church in the New Testament, none of the New Testament letters existed for the first 20 to 30 years of the church. There were no buildings or structures called the church in the foundation of the New Covenant. So when the Scripture refers to the church, it’s not referring to something that is locational. It is referring to something that is relational. When we study the scriptures as leaders, we must keep this in mind.
We’re called to help those we lead to find a relational connection with God and relational connections with one another. For this to happen, we must be connected in relationship ourselves. Our first relationship is with God and our second relationship is with the body of Christ. It’s all for love that we do anything, not for the power of ministry. All we do is for the testimony of powerful love.
We must be planted to plant others. Unless we have a spiritual letter that is joined to us, we don’t have credentials to speak to others. The testimony of our leadership is the fruit of our leadership. That fruit is seen as life-giving people. Human lives are the testimony of a spiritual letter written by the Holy Spirit. It is written in the heart of leaders first. We lead people in a direction that is led by Holy Spirit, not the will of leaders. It’s not the will of a Christian belief system that we stand for. It’s the life-giving testimony of Christ. We believe Christ and lead others into that reality of believing Christ. When we believe Christ, we join ourselves to Him. When we join ourselves to Him, we become an expression of Him. We cannot just say we are joined to Christ by being joined to Jesus as our head alone. We must be joined to Christ in His body and His headship to lead others into the path of Christ-life relationships.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
