Spiritual leadership ends when we stop expecting others to question what we are telling them.
Despite the concerns of some, Jesus Christ is not going to disappear into thin air because someone questions what we teach about him. And neither is the Lord’s church going to disappear into thin air because someone questions what we teach about it.
Christ is eternal and his church indestructible, so questions will harm neither!
Christians should be famous for their willingness to have their ideas scrutinized. Speaking the truth should be done with the conviction that Light exposes darkness, and that the Truth of the Life and Teachings of Jesus speak for themselves.
Christian leaders are not above seeking signs of approval when speaking. But signs of approval are not necessarily signs of faith or conviction. All you have to do is watch any Get-Rich-Quick Televangelist speak, and you will see and hear approval on a mass scale. Are they approving the truth of God’s Word on spiritual stewardship? Tragically, no! Instead, they are filtering what they think is God’s Will and Word on stewardship through a charlatan.
When we know that others are being misled, our hearts naturally cry out for them to question what they are being taught. Thus, we must make sure that we apply that heartfelt desire to our own teachings.
It is too easy to tell stories about churches led by ignorant and naïve men who merely impose their childhood beliefs on subsequent generations. The reason that I am loathed to add anything to that record is that I have found their critics to be just as guilty.
True Christian Leadership dies when fear controls our message about Jesus. Be it the fear of missing out on the approval of each other, denominations, or the world, it all kills God’s approval.
“Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly” (James 3:1NIV).
John Staiger
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