Leadership

Leadership

Webster’s dictionary defines a leader as a person who has commanding authority or influence. The biblical form of this leader is the under shepherd or pastor. Webster’s defines pastor as a spiritual overseer; specifically a clergyman serving a local church or parish. What exactly do we know about pastors and leaders?

I served two tours in Iraq serving with the US Army in the infantry. Throughout most of my life I have not had the privilege of having a spiritual leader, but for fourteen years of my life I did have some form of a leader. See in my adult life I have never been in the situation where I did not have access to someone who was in a direct leadership position in my life. I guess that is why I have such strong feelings on obedience and loyalty. See even though I thought most of the things that people who were in my chain of command implemented was ridiculous or maybe didn’t make much sense, for the most part I did was I was told to do. The first reason for this was because of the possible consequences for my actions. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that if I stepped out of line I was going to go through something extremely unpleasant. Whether that was being physically exercised until I passed out, lost rank, got confined, or had to clean toilets, the fact was that if I didn’t do what I was told to do when I was told to do it, I was going to pay. It never fails though in the military, that someone will do something that they absolutely know is wrong, get caught and punished, then blame everyone but themselves. I was never able to understand this, and as a civilian today I find myself still trying to understand it.

What I did come to realize throughout my time in the military as I started moving into positions of leadership was this; no one, and I mean no one likes the person who is in charge at any level. All the people being led know is that they are being told to do something that they sometimes do not agree with, and when people do not agree on something but have to do it anyway that builds contention.  I can tell you that every time that I was in a situation that involved heavy contact with the enemy, and I would hear my leadership tell me that I was going to have to go into harm’s way with my soldiers I would always not like that decision. But the amazing thing about it was I was never scared to follow the direction of those appointed over me by higher powers because I knew that they always had my well being at the forefront of their decisions. This is no different for people in their everyday of life. If you have a job, you have someone who leads you. You either do what you are told to do, or you get reprimanded or fired.

What has happened then within the scope of the Church? As a true believer/follower of Christ we have all been called by God to do something that will edify and glorify Him. God calls some to serve others, evangelize, teach, learn, feed, be fed, encourage, love, and shepherd. So what exactly is a Church body to do with all these gifts?

            For as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body – so also is Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free – and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. So the body is not one part but many. If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,” in spite of this it still belongs to the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,” in spite of this it still belongs to the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But now GOD has place each one of the parts in one body just as HE wanted. And if they were all the same part where would the body be? Now there are many parts, yet one body. (1 COR 12:12-20)

Now some might ask what has brought this on. I have been taking college classes working towards my degree in theology in order to further my knowledge in the Lord. See something that I have not shared too many people, but something I now know without a shadow of a doubt, is that God has called me into ministry. HE has a plan for me and that is to teach HIS word and honor Him in His ministry. What scares me is that in all these classes I am taking I keep reading these ridiculous statistics about pastoral attrition rates. Here are some of the statistics that I am reading over and over again.

·         Fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout, or contention in their churches.

·         Fifty percent of pastors' marriages will end in divorce.

·         Eighty percent of pastors feel unqualified and discouraged in their role as pastor.

·         Fifty percent of pastors are so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other way of making a living.

·         Eighty percent of seminary and Bible school graduates who enter the ministry will leave the ministry within the first five years.

·         Seventy percent of pastors constantly fight depression.

As some of you are reading those statistics you are thinking, no way absolutely not, I would not go into ministry or become a pastor if I knew this beforehand. See that’s the kicker here, if God is calling you to His ministry and placing you into the body as He wants, if you are a true child of God you do not have a choice. What I am having to comes to terms with is that I am going into battle once again, but this time in a different realm.

One thing I think we all take for granted is the amount of strain that is put on a pastor/leader. They have everyone, and I mean everyone coming to them with their issues on a daily or sometimes hourly basis. It is one of their responsibilities to listen and comfort those who are in need, but I ask you this; when was the last time you were to look at your pastor/leader and comfort them. See that is the problem, we have turned into a world where we have no issue dumping our issues on someone and walking away not expecting that to take a toll on the person we are dumping them on, in fact when that same person that we have trusted in everything then makes a decision for the body as the leader of that body, we have a tendency to lash out.

Is this fair to your pastor, the body, or even yourself. I ask you to think about this, God has called your pastor to lead your body, so essentially God is making that decision that you are getting mad over. Will you come out and say that you are mad at God or drag Him through the mud? I don’t think so. But the kicker is this, the judgment will be the same either way, whether you are attacking God or His appointed shepherd. Either way you will have to account for your actions on the day of judgment and personally I wouldn’t want to be trying to answer why I questioned God’s will. So keep this in mind the next time you question your leadership who was appointed over you. Because remember, Gods word says that we are to obey those appointed over us because He was the one to put them into authority in order to carry out His will.

Thank you and God bless

GEDD

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Jacob Wrestles God (Have you ever felt like this)

Introduction

            For the interpretive question this week I have chosen to explore who the "man" was that Jacob wrestled with in Genesis 32:24. There are two main approaches as to the identification of this "man". First you have those out there who believe that this "man" was special messenger of God(angel), empowered with the full authority of God. Second you have those who believe that the "man" was the preincarnate Christ. This essay will briefly explore both options and also identify which of the two views that this author most closely associates with as the identification of the "man" talked about in Genesis 32.

Davis Commentary:

 It appears in the text that Davis appears to be one of the ones who believes that this "man" is a special messenger sent from God empowered with Gods authority. Davis holds to this theory on the basis that in Hosea 12:4 seems to point to this identification of the "man" that Jacob wrestled with.[1] On initial look if you look at Hosea 12:4 you will see that Hosea does identify this person as an angel.

                        Jacob Struggled with the Angel and prevailed[2]

            If this is the basis for some believing that this person that Jacob struggled with is an Angel, then more investigation needs to be done than just one portion of the verse.

Bible Book Commentaries

            In this commentary I was able to find a supporter of the other theory that this person that Jacob wrestled was in fact the preincarnate Christ. This commentary makes some very strong arguments for the preincarnate Christ. First off, Jacob had been fighting God his whole life up until this point, one thing as Christians that we do know is that unless we make the decision to accept Christ we will continue to be in a battle with Him until we give in. This commentary explains that God finally took into His own hands the attitude adjustment that Jacob needed at this juncture in his life. Not that He forced Jacob to make the decision, because had that been the case it would not have gone on all night. Just that He encouraged Jacob by physically and spiritually fighting with Jacob all night long. The author of this commentary also points out that only God/Christ can do that which leads him to believe that this "man" was actually the second person in the trinity Jesus preincarnate.[3]

Mathew Henry

             This commentator once again points towards the preincarnate Christ as the identity of the "man" that Jacob wrestled with. This commentator though relates this wrestling match to prayer. This seems to be a logical conclusion for anyone who has ever prayed over something and did not like the answer that they received from Him. Henry states "Nothing requires more vigour and unceasing exertion than wrestling. It is an emblem of the true spirit of faith and prayer. He will have a blessing, and had rather have all his bone put out of joint than go away without one."[4] This is a great illustration of just what Jacob might have been going through. Maybe not so much a physical struggle with a human being but a spiritual struggle with God Himself.

My Interpretation

            I like to try and stick to the facts when dealing with scripture. I myself agree with the view that this was not an special messenger sent from God but it was God Himself that Jacob wrestled with. In scripture we see that whenever a member of the Trinity is mentioned they are mentioned in the superior form indicated by a capital letter. If you look further into the text of Genesis 32 you will notice that every time this person was mentioned he was announced in this superior form.

                        When the man saw that He could not defeat him, He struck Jacobs hip socket as they wrestled and dislocated his hip. Then He said to Jacob "Let Me go for it is daybreak."[5]

                        Jacob said, "I will not let You go unless You bless me."[6]

            Another fact that leads me to agree with this man being God Himself is that in the Bible only a member of the Trinity renamed people. We see this throughout the Bible starting in Genesis when God renames Abram to Abraham, and see it later on in the New Testament when Jesus renamed Saul to Paul. There are so many instances of renaming people by God/Christ that it is to numerous to list in this essay. The fact of the matter is that only God/Christ has the authority to rename someone biblically. We see that this person renames Jacob (which means heel catcher or deceiver) to Israel (which means God's fighter or may God strive)[7].

            The final fact and probably most important fact in this writers eyes for God being the true identity of this person comes from Jacob himself. Jacob symbolically identifies God as the person he wrestled with by naming the place where this struggle took place Peniel (which means I have seen God face to face).[8]

                                    Jacob then named the place Peniel, "For I have seen God face to face," he said, "and I have been delivered."[9]

Bibliography

Bible Book Commentaries. http://www.biblebookofgenesis.com/Genesis32-36.html (accessed July 24, 2012).

Davis, John. Paradise to Prison: Studies in Genesis. Salem: Sheffield Publishing Company, 1998.

Henry, Matthew. Christ Notes. http://christnotes.org/commentary/php?com=mhc&b= 1&c=32 (accessed July 26, 2012).

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[1] Davis, John. Paradise to Prison: Studies in Genesis. Salem: Sheffield Publishing Company, 1998. Pg 255

[2] Hosea 12:4a

[3] Bible Book Commentaries. http://www.biblebookofgenesis.com/Genesis32-36.html (accessed July 24, 2012).

[4] Henry, Matthew. Christ Notes. http://christnotes.org/commentary/php?com=mhc&b= 1&c=32 (accessed July 26, 2012).

[5] Genesis 32:25-26

[6] Ibid. 27

[7] Davis, John. Paradise to Prison: Studies in Genesis. Salem: Sheffield Publishing Company, 1998. Pg 255

[8] Davis, John. Paradise to Prison: Studies in Genesis. Salem: Sheffield Publishing Company, 1998. Pg 255

[9] Genesis 32:30

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Daniel

When looking at the identification of the four beasts in chapter 7 of Daniel there are a few different things that have to be talked about concerning this passage. The four beasts are related to as Babylon (the lion), Medo-Persia (the bear), Greece (the leopard), and Rome (the fourth beast).[1] After reading the text book it is really easy to understand why they would be seen as these four kingdoms. Daniel alluded to these four places earlier in chapter 2. The Babylonian Empire used the lion to represent itself, Medo-Persian Empire and its conquest of Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt represents the "bear with three ribs in its mouth", Greece was broken into four principle sections which would have been representative of the leopard with four heads, and finally Rome which was more powerful than the others and had a longer dominion.

The other way that this could be looked at is its relationship to the book of Revelation. If you look forward to Daniel 7 verses 15 thru 28 you see the interpretation of these visions. Specifically in verses 20 thru 22 there is definitely a relationship between this vision in Daniel and what is to come in Revelation. Daniel says the he wanted to know more about the 10 horns on the beasts head and the additional horn that came up. This additional horn subdued the other 3 beasts before it.

                The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, different from all the other kingdoms. It will devour the whole earth, trample it down, and crush it. The 10 horns are the 10 kings who will rise from this kingdom. Another, different from the previous ones, will rise after them and subdue three kings. He will speak words against the Most High and oppress the holy ones of the Most High. He will intend to change religious festivals and laws, and the holy ones will be handed over to him for a time, times, and half a time. (Daniel 7:23-25)

Now take a look at what the book of Revelation has to say about the beast and its purpose.

              The 10 horns you saw are the 10 kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they will receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast. These will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer them because He is Lord of lords and King of kings. (Revelation 17:12-14)

The Son of Man mentioned in Daniel 7:13 is none other than the Messiah. The Ancient of Days refers to God and His eternal nature. As you read through this passage once again, you are reminded of the Sons power as He destroys the beast in the burning fire.

                Only one person may properly be identified as the "son of man", and that person is Jesus Christ as the New Testament apostles and Christ himself confirmed.[2]

When you relate the "One like the Son of Man" to the Messiah and compare what is happening the this vision to what happens in Revelation, once again events line up.

                Then I saw the beast, the king of the earth, and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and against His army. But the beast was taken prisoner, and along with him the false prophet, who had performed the signs in his presence. He deceived those who accepted the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image with these signs. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. (Revelation 19:19-20)

Finally we have the vision of the ram and the goat. You can look at this as the classic battle of good versus evil. You have the ram that is running all around the area, who could not be stood up against and was doing whatever he wanted. Enter the goat, who enter without ever touching the ground that stands up to the ram, and conquers him. Hence the battle between God and Satan.

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[1] Couch, Mal. "Daniel, Eschatology of." In The Popular Encyclopedia of Bible Prophecy, edited by Tim Lahaye and Ed Hindson, 66-70. Eugene: Harvest House Publishers, 1995.

[2] Miller, Stephen. The New American Commentary: Daniel. Tennessee: B&H Publishing Group, 1994.

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