What kind of leadership will effectively lead the church into the morally turbulent twenty-first century? The same kind of leadership that led it through the morally and politically chaotic first century. Shepherding.
This is the kind of leadership Jesus used, and this is the kind of leadership that will take his church where he wants it to go.
While the term “shepherd” produces warm images of love, care, and tenderness, it also describes a form of leadership that is perilously protective, dangerous, dirty, and smelly.
Dr. Lynn Anderson, “They Smell Like Sheep”
In the past when I’ve preached a series on the basics of the faith and practices in the Independent Christian Churches I haven’t covered the topic of Biblical leadership. Honestly, it didn’t seem all that important. But, as our church has grown our distinctiveness has led to some confusion from some of our newer members. I was encouraged by our elders to include this message in the series.
This sermon went a bit longer than I had anticipated. I preached it after a week off, so maybe I was anxious to get a lot said.
On the other hand, there is a lot to say here. Leadership has become one of those issues that require more and more attention and definition. More than ever we’re seeing the importance of a clear Biblical model for leadership and ministry.
I think the order in which I preached these sermons really helped in building the understanding of “Why Do We Do It Like That?”. The previous message was on the authority of Scripture. I followed that up with this message and one on baptism and then communion. Starting with the foundation of the word of God gave these messages the ability to stand on the authority of the word.
