Tag: Leadership

Authority Isn’t A Bad Thing

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Family, Leadership, PracticalLeave a comment

Authority. The first thing most people do when they hear the word is cringe or prepare to reject it at all costs.

Rejecting authority is our natural reaction. It has been ingrained in us since the beginning. Our first parent’s Adam and Eve rejected God’s authority for their own, leading us to do the same ever since. So it is only natural we buck at the idea of authority.

Everyone is Under Authority

While that is our natural reaction, God tells us everyone is under authority.

But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God (1 Cor. 11:3).

God’s authority structure is arranged so that:

  • The head of every man is Jesus Christ.
  • The head of every wife is her husband.
  • The head of Jesus Christ is God.

An Objection

Immediately, upon reflecting on this list, some, especially those in the feminist movement, look at this structure and say, “God thinks woman are less valuable than men because they are subjected to them.” But that is not true. God’s structure isn’t based on worth, it’s based on roles.

Tax season ended several months ago. I don’t know about you but that is one of two seasons I don’t look forward to — summer in Texas being the other. But, as we all know, those are two seasons you can’t avoid, because they come back year after year.

When you finally sit down to fill out those dreaded tax forms, one question that appears on your form is: Are you the head of the household?

When the IRS asks that question, they don’t mean to imply that your children, or even your spouse, is of lesser value than you. They simple want to know the role you play in your family.

In a similar way, God’s authority structure is also based on the role we play in our family, which means men are not of greater value than women, they just play a different role. A role assigned by God, as the head of the family.

Digging Deeper Into the Structure

As we dig deeper into God’s ordained structure, we learn:

(1) Men must submit to Jesus

Men are not given absolute authority. Instead, men must act under Jesus’ directive because He is our head.

With Jesus as our head, we must allow Him to guide us, to lead us. As well as we must exercise our role of authority as Jesus would.

A good example of how Jesus exercises His authority is found in Ephesians 5:25-30

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.” (Eph 5:25–30)

Ephesians 5 teaches men several things about leadership – how we are supposed to lead and what our role as the head of the family looks like.

According to Ephesians 5, men are to love, sacrifice for, provide for, care for, and protect their families, their wives. We aren’t to dominate them with a heavy hand. Nor are we to abuse, or use them. Instead, we are to love them as Jesus loves the church, giving of ourselves for them. We are to do everything in our power to care for them, protect them, and provide for them. We should also nourish them with the Word of God, leading them spiritually.

We should do all this, while at the same time allowing Jesus to lead us. He should continually be our example of headship, as well as our leader.

(2) Wives must submit to their husbands

I am fully aware that this is a controversial statement, especially in this day and age. But we are going to tackle it anyways.

What does it mean for a wife to submit to her husband?

Let me start with what it doesn’t mean, because I think that will clear up some misunderstanding.

  • It doesn’t mean you are to be dominated by your husband.
  • It doesn’t mean you can’t disagree with or even challenge your husbands ideas.
  • It doesn’t mean your husband can use and abuse you and you must take it willingly.
  • It doesn’t mean you can’t call your husband out on his sin.
  • It can’t mean any of those things because a husband is supposed to lead like Jesus.

Instead, what it means for a wife to submit to her husband is that:

  • She willingly accepts her God give role as her husband’s helper.
  • She willingly allows him to lovingly lead her, as Jesus is leading him.
  • She willingly accepts his decisions, as he seeks to do what is best for his family both physically and spiritually.

We know this is what it means for a wife to submit to her husband because her submission is based on Jesus’ submission to His father.

A wife’s submission is modeled by Jesus 

Even though Jesus is equal with the Father and God Himself, He willingly accepted His position as the Son, submitting to His Father. In doing so:

  • He accepted His role as Christ — the One who died for the sins of mankind.
  • He willingly allowed the Father to lead and guide Him, even to the cross.
  • He willingly accepted the Father’s will, allowing His decisions to be final.

Just as a husband is to be led by Jesus as he leads his family, a wife is to be led by Jesus as she submits to her husband. We are to live in obedience to the roles we are given in God’s authority structure.

Submission As A Reflection of the Gospel & God’s Wisdom

When both husband and wife submit according to God’s good design, two things happen.

(1) We Reflect the Gospel – by sacrificing our will for God’s will, just like Jesus sacrificed His will and His self for us.

(2) We Reflect God’s Wisdom – by showing the world that things go well when we function within our roles.

Before I accepted my first full-time pastorate, I worked for a staffing and recruiting company based out of Atlanta.

Relatively early in my tenure, I had the opportunity to move to Dallas and help open the companies first satellite office. When we moved, the owners did something I would never do. They didn’t appoint a manager for the office. Their thought was that a leader would naturally rise to the top that others in the office would follow. When that happened, they would promote that person to office manager.

In theory, that sounds good. In reality, it didn’t work. The result was an unproductive work environment that kept the office from thriving.

No one knew who “really” was in charge, who they were supposed to take orders from, or even their own role. The result was chaos, conflict, and an office that didn’t run as a well oiled machine.

Likewise, there is chaos and conflict in the family, when individual family members operate outside their God given roles. On the other hand, when we function within our God given roles, things run smoothly.

When we really think hard about it, we realize authority isn’t such a bad thing, it is instead a good thing that shouldn’t be despised, cringed at, or rejected. It’s something that should be embraced as a means of grace by which God provides for His people.

Question for Reflection

  1. Do you think of God’s authority as a means of grace?

Resources

Post adapted from my recent sermon God’s Authority Structure, which can be listened to in its entirety here.

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Surviving the Challenges of the Pastorate

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Leadership, Pastoral2 Comments

If you think back over your life, there are bound to be a few days you hold as special; days that have shaped you. In my life there are a little more than a handful of days that are extremely special to me; days I will never forget.

Those days include: High School, College, and Seminary graduation. The day my wife and I were married. The birth of our two sons – Camden and Bryson. My call to the pastorate, and the day I was ordained. Those are all special days for me. Days I will never forget. Days that have shaped my life.

While each of those days were joyous occasions, each also brought with them new challenges. One day, or one journey, that has been joyous yet challenging is the call to the pastorate.  I have been extremely blessed by the people I pastor, but I have also been extremely challenged.

For the those who are thinking of entering the pastorate, just starting out, or are seasoned pastors there are three things that will help you survive the challenges of the pastorate.

Surviving the Challenges of the Pastorate

(1) Love Jesus

You must love Jesus above anything else in your life. When you love Jesus more than anything else, you will pursue Him more than anything else. It is necessary that you pursue Jesus because you will need Him to strengthen you for the task at hand.

There will be times when you will have to console those who are hurting, pray for those who are sick, apply godly counsel and wisdom to sensitive and difficult situations in the church, and much more. You can’t do those things in your own power, nor must you attempt to. Doing so is the surest way to set yourself and your church up for failure.

So in order for you to serve the Lord in the way He has called you to serve Him, you will need to love Jesus more than anything else in your life, so that you will pursue Him to a greater extent than anything else in this world.

When I talk about pursuing Jesus, I mean for you to pursue Him in prayer, Bible study, and worship. Which are all necessary if you are going to lead and serve the church according to God’s Will.

In order to know God’s will, you must be in His Word as often as possible. In order to apply His will, you must pray. In order to grow in your love for God so that you will continue to pursue Him more and more in prayer and Bible study, you need to worship the Lord, so that your affections are stirred for Him more and more each and everyday.

Let me encourage you to make it a point to read God’s Word as often as you have opportunity. Not just for sermon preparation, but for personal devotion. Allow God to nurture your own soul as you meet with Him daily in His Word.

Pray each and every time you have a question to answer, a situation to handle, a decision to make, or a sermon to write.

Be involved in the worship service, attentive and worshipping alongside your congregation. It is easy to find projects to complete, people to talk to, or notes to review before you step in the pulpit. Avoid doing those things and worship alongside your congregation, not only as an example to them of the importance of worship, but also for your own soul.

As well as take moments throughout your day to worship the Lord for the many ways He is working in your life, for the awe of His creation, and the prayers He has answered in your life and the life of your church.

(2) Love Your Church

Love is an interesting word in our modern vocabulary. By it people often mean they have a certain feeling about someone or something, which usually arises because that something or someone makes them feel good. So for instance when I say I love coffee. What I really mean is that it makes me feel good, so good that it invokes a response out of me.

However, when I talk about loving the church, I don’t have that same type of love in mind. Instead I have in mind the love that Christ has for us. In 1 John 3:16, we read,

“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” (1 Jn 3:16)

Jesus’ love for us is self-sacrificial, and it is not based on feelings or what we can do for Him. We know that is true because Jesus died for us while we were His enemies (Rom. 5:7-8).

It is important we have that type of love for the church because there will be times when the church doesn’t make us feel good. But here is the thing, we aren’t called to serve the church, to love it’s people, to only give of our time, money, and resources when they are making us feel good. Instead, we are called to love the church at all times regardless of how it makes us feel.

Unless you love your church with the same self-sacrificial love that Christ has for us, you will not stick in there. The first bout of controversy, difficulty, or lack of perceived success that can easily creep in will cause you to give a little less of your time, your emotions, and your heart to the people you are called to serve. It might even cause you to start looking elsewhere for greener pastures.

(3) Love Your Family

With all the demands that are put on you in the work of ministry, the one thing that is easy to but something you can’t do is neglect your own families. You must love, care for, and continue to nurture them, even while you are loving and serving the church.

In fact, you should see your family as your first church. The way you love, serve, and minister to them should be a reflection of how you will love and serve your second church – the one you are called to pastor. So don’t neglect your families to do the work of ministry.

This is something I have had to learn in my ministry. I love pastoring, teaching, and preaching.  In the past, I have neglected my family to do those things. Thankfully, by the grace of God I learned quickly that was not the way things should be. As a result, I quickly set some parameters. Parameters my wife helps me to keep.

So yes, love your church, sacrifice for and serve your church, but don’t do it to the neglect of your family because your family is your first church and there is nothing more important than taking care of them.

I am convinced that if you do these three things – (1) Love Jesus, (2) Love your Church, and (3) Love your Family – you will be an effective pastor, who will serve the church well for many years to come.

Question for Reflection

  1. What advice would you offer to those facing the unique challenges of pastoral ministry?

Resource

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On the Need to Preach the Whole Counsel of God’s Word

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Leadership, Pastoral, QuotesLeave a comment

The sad decline in the quality of Christian life and witness in our country is largely due to the fact that the evangelical church has for several generations been a huge nursery, not only for infant babes but, much worse, grown-up babes…thus laying them open to all the carnal excesses and sectarian and heretical influences around them.

This is largely because [they] regard the Bible as the book which contain the Gospel message. Although they generally hold the whole Bible to be the inspired Word of God, they far from draw upon the totality of its inspired writings. All their search is for the simple Gospel, and if they don’t find the simple Gospel in its pages then it is politely, even reverently set aside.

There is nothing so sorely needed in the world today as the Word of God hammered home to people’s minds, hearts, and wills [through a consistent diet of expository preaching, covering the breadth and depth of God’s Word.]

Question for Reflection

  1. Pastor, do you recognize the need to feed your people with a consistent diet of expository preaching that covers the full counsel of God’s Word?

Resources

William Still, The Work of the Pastor, 80-82, 89.

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On Whose Approval Matters

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Leadership, Pastoral, QuotesLeave a comment

Those who are servants of Christ, those who are entrusted with the secret things of God, do not see themselves winning popularity contest – not even within the church’s borders. That is what Paul means when he says,

I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court” (1 Corinthians 4:3)

There is only one Person whose “Well done!” on the last day means anything. In comparison, the approval or disapproval of the church means nothing.

Question for Reflection

  1. Who do you try to please – Christ or Man?

Resources

D.A. Carson, The Cross and Christian Ministry, 97.

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On the Primary Responsibility of Christian Leaders

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Leadership, Pastoral, Quotes4 Comments

All valid Christian leadership, however varied its style, however wise its use of sociological findings, however diverse its functions, must begin with this fundamental recognition:

Christian leaders have been entrusted with the gospel, the secret things of God that have been hidden in ages past but that are now proclaimed, by their ministry, to men and women everywhere…and all their service turns on making that gospel known and encouraging the people of God, by word, example, and discipline, to live it out.

Question for Reflection

  1. Pastor, do you recognize the immense calling God has placed on your life?

Resources

D.A. Carson, The Cross and Christian Ministry, 96-97.

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Why Do Church Members Think the Pastor is the Only Minister?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Leadership, Pastoral3 Comments

Shepherd

Why do church members think the Pastor is the only minister? I asked that question last night during our Community Group meeting.

The Answer

Talking with my wife afterwards and thinking through the responses this morning, it seems congregants don’t believe they are on par with their pastor when it comes to their ability to minister. Pastors are put in a different category, thought to play in a different league, or are seen as higher on the hierarchal scale of spirituality. They are the professional. As the professional, they are the ones who do the “real” ministering.

The Reality

I, however, don’t believe that’s true. While my full-time vocation is ministry, I don’t see myself as higher up the spiritual scale as others. Nor do I believe I am playing in a different league than my congregants. There are those in my congregation who can minister just as effectively, if not better, than I can.

While, at times, my knowledge of the Bible, Theology, Hermeneutics, and Ecclesiology might be greater, my life experiences are still limited, my relationships don’t run as deep, and my ability to comfort is, at times, not as great.

Knowledge doesn’t always equal better ministry.

Additionally, if a Pastor’s main job is to equip the saints for the work of ministry (Eph. 4), that necessitates others in the congregation are not only given the responsibility to minister, but also have the ability to minister. A little coaching or training might be needed, but ministry is possible.

Don’t Sell Yourself Short

So don’t sell yourself short. You have the ability to minister. You might not be able to answer every theological question thrown at you, but ministry is much more than sharing knowledge. It is also about sharing wisdom. Wisdom that is gained from years of walking with the Lord and applying His Word to your life.

Question for Reflection

  1. How do you minister alongside your Pastor?

Resource

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