Last week, I wrote about a pastor who’d insisted that his congregation pastor him by, among other things, shielding him from their problems so he could concentrate on visioneering. (Click here to read my original post.) I got some interesting feedback, particularly from those reading the reposts of this blog on facebook.
It led me to ask myself what my understanding is of my responsibility toward church leaders. Rather than doing an exhaustive Bible study here, I thought I’d simply give you a “for starters” list* of what I’ve gleaned along the way:
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| Wittenberg Door |
I will respect pastors, elders, deacons and other ministry leaders.
I will not blindly follow these leaders.
I will accept personal responsibility for my spiritual growth.
I will not demand spoon-feeding from those with a preaching, teaching or leading ministry.
I will freely offer and use the spiritual gifts given me by God for use in the body.
I will not hoard those gifts or call them “mine”.
I will be on the alert for ways I can use gifts of time and talents to bless others.
I will not hoard those gifts or call them “mine”.
I will pray for my leaders.
I will not not pray for my leaders. (Double-negative intended.)
I will communicate with these leaders.
I will not gossip about them.
In short, I will seek to love all my neighbors (inside and outside the church) in a 1 Corinthians 13 way.
*I freely admit that I have not always successfully done the things on this list. Just in case you were wondering.
My question for you: What would you add to this list?
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