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every
member a minister, every leader a servant
I firmly believe that
every person who claims to be part of God's family is a
minister (servant) and that every person is a priest,
fully capable of coming to God for themselves. I
believe that the whole community of faith, not just the
Pastoral Staff, have been given the privilege and
responsibility of living, sharing and expressing the
good news of God's redeeming love. Therefore, we
need to give great emphasis to developing all people to
serve in their areas of spiritual giftedness, passions,
abilities, personality, experience and desires. We
need to desire to train and guide people in serve to the
community of faith, and to God.
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Our
desire needs to be for all people to find their God
given "DNA" (what makes them, them) and
equip them to use these gifts and release them for
service in the community of faith.
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Our
desire needs to be to help the right person, serve
in the right position, for the right reason, and for
the right amount of time.
Keeping all this in
mind, I firmly believe that serving as a leader in the
church is not the same as serving in a business culture.
While I acknowledge that there are some business aspects
to the church - record keeping, finances, and others - I
also acknowledge that they are not what governs or
directs the church in ministry (lack of money is not an
excuse for not caring, and doing what one person wants,
or a group of people want, based on what they give is
equally as wrong). Business clearly maintains a
competitive edge, and a competitive drive. I
recognize that Jesus spoke out against this competitive
or "power-up" mentality because it puts others
down, and seeks to serve one's personal gains over that
of the community of faith. I believe, in order to
lead God's way, one must recognize their humble role as
a servant to the community of faith, and all those who
attend (servant understand their role, they do
not overstate their rule). I believe
that once a person understands their servant role it
strengthens them as people and develops a closer
relationship with Jesus Christ.
The key to remember is
this - we do not rise to the role of leader, we descend
to it - I see this as a "downward mobility"
principle of leadership.
(Mark 9:33-35; 10:42-45,
John 10:4;27, 1 Peter 2:1-10, Ephesians 4:11-12, Hebrews
5:11-14)
john o'keefe
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