'Street View'

Friends, don’t become discouraged at the spiritual conflicts you’re called to fight every day. The Lord almighty is with you and is fighting on your behalf. Between the “already” and the “not yet,” life is war. It can be draining, annoying, and depressing.

We all go through moments when we wish life could just be easier. We wonder why parenting has to be such a continual spiritual battle. We all wish our marriages could be free of war. We all would love it if there were no conflicts at our jobs or in our churches. But we all wake up to a battle-weary world every day. It is the sad legacy of a world that has been broken by sin and is constantly under the attack of the enemy. It is our delusion of strength that will get us into trouble and cause us to form a life that is less than Christ-centered and God glorifying. The way the apostle Paul ends his letter to the Ephesian church is interesting and instructive. Having laid out the truths to our street-level living, he ends by talking about spiritual warfare:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. (Eph. 6:10–20)

When you get to this final part of Paul’s letter, it’s tempting to think that he has entirely changed the subject. No longer, it seems, is he talking about everyday Christianity. But that’s exactly what he’s talking about. He is saying to the Ephesian believers, “You know all that I’ve said about marriage, parenting, communication, anger, the church, and so on—it’s all one big spiritual war.” Paul is reminding you that at street level, practical, daily Christianity is war.

There really is moral right and wrong. There really is an enemy. There really is deceptive temptation. You really are spiritually vulnerable. But he says more. He reminds you that by grace you have been properly armed for the battle. The question is, will you use the implements of battle that the cross of Jesus Christ has provided for you?”

Sue Kelso leads the Finance and HR functions at Manchester Christian Church.  She has also been involved in the Leadership Development Team since its inception.

Leadership and the Lessons of Example

It is a reality that most important things are nearly impossible to teach.  As the late Howard Hendricks liked to say, 'truth is not so much taught, as it is caught.'  That was his way of conveying that our assimilation of truth, of life change, of discipleship, and of leadership comes not by way of intellectual assent or academic progress but rather through the shared life of a leader and a disciple.

It is in shared living that examples have powerful and compelling lessons for growing leaders.  It is obvious that we can learn from both good and bad examples throughout life, but leaders, especially should be attuned to the power of an example.  We find this illustrated repeatedly in the life of Jesus during His earthly ministry in the presence of his own followers.

Jesus knew how to seize the moment and point out a profound truth with an example that might have otherwise been overlooked.  Recall, if you will, the account that the writer Luke relates of an example that Jesus creates in the midst of His teaching (Luke 21).  The discussion topic was devotion, respect, and honor and during the temple offering while the affluent were giving, Jesus notices a widow's two coin offering and He revolutionizes the disciple's understanding about how God measures our devotion by pronouncing the widow's gift superior or more excellent than all of the big donations.  What an example and what a lesson!

Another lesson caught by the disciples is recorded by Matthew and Mark as Jesus was teaching them about the topic of faith and its results.  In the simplicity of an agrarian culture, a fig tree that uncharacteristically has no fruit is used by Jesus to astonish his learners with an exemplary exercise in faith in action.  One might guess that their amazement unlocked a very, very keen interest in the words Jesus shared about the power of kingdom faith.

Examples, of course, are for much more than powerful learning.  The real leadership objective -- as it was with Jesus and His disciples -- was to deeply impact living.  This is clear both from the words Jesus uses in highlighting His own example and from the later reflection of the New Testament writers.

In John 5:5-17 with the topic being 'how do leaders serve,' Jesus personally illustrates (without the artificiality of a consultant setting up a breakout role-play) in a vivid way, with both paradox and power, the spirit and the pattern of Christ-like leadership for His followers of all generations.  Jesus draws attention to His own life as the example for behavior, blessing, and greatness.  "For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you."

We as leaders also need to recognize the power (as well as the peril) of example in our own spheres of influence.  What we talk about, what our attitudes are, what we notice and care about, what we measure, what we are learning and reading about, what occupies our time -- all these communicate with the power of example.  Too often these examples are unconsciously delivered to those around us and are frequently not rigorously examined for their impact on our leadership character and message.  Along with our words, each of our lives stand as forceful examples of one type of leadership or another.

Leading in Step with God

Recently our church’s leadership development team conducted a survey as the foundation of a semester of engagement with leaders.  One of the questions posed was:   To our great delight, the overwhelming response (of 71% of respondents) was ‘leading in step with God.’

This blog is quick look at the one Biblical character who struggled with that challenge as much as any of us do today.  The narrative of Jonah over 2,700 years ago reveals the adventure that results from a mortal man called to a leadership mission by the immortal, invisible, eternal God.  We should note that the primary point of Jonah is not just staying in a harmonious ministry relationship with our creator.  Jonah’s primary issue was the fundamental one of obedience.  The short account (about 1,300 words in English) is likely from the pen of Jonah himself and we can outline the four chapters of this ‘ministry journal’ found in the Old Testament prophets with the following summary:

•    Chapter one: Jonah running away from God
•    Chapter two: Jonah running toward God
•    Chapter three: Jonah running with God
•    Chapter four: Jonah running ahead of God

Let’s look at each of these in turn.

Running away from God

As startling as it is to read it in black and white, the key take-away when we meet Jonah is that he ‘rose up to flee … from the presence of the LORD.’  You have to like that about the guy — no procrastination, no prevarication, or even any evasiveness.  He just gives you a plain old ‘I’m outa here!’ when he hears God clearly.  There is at least something to be said for not playing games with who you are.

We have all tried Jonah’s tactic (with the same ultimate result) at one time or another.  Especially as leaders, we get some pretty disturbing assignments when we stop to really listen to God.  Jonah does not even waste the time that some us take to argue or rationalize ‘the ask.’  He checks his Expedia, picks a destination on the opposite side of the Mediterranean (and 180 degrees away from Nineveh), and he runs.  Most of us are not as transparent about our running — we may use the cloak of priorities, of refusing to move (change) or of family situations.  But even if we do not use sailing ships in Joppa, our direction and our disobedience is just as obvious to God.

Running toward God

God’s will unfolds and reveals itself in some astonishingly creative ways doesn’t it?  The second chapter of Jonah has been one of the narratives that has borne the brunt of critics throughout the centuries.  While there is still plenty of mystery related to the specifics of biological and anatomical matters, the bottom line is that if God needs to change our mind because we are resistant to his will or direction, we are better off not tempting him to get creative!  We might also remember the account early in the life of the children of Israel when God strategically deployed hornets to change the willingness of Israel’s enemies to resist.

At any rate, Jonah pens a poem of beautiful repentance and restoration while God’s intervention plays out in the context of ‘a great fish’ that had been appointed by God to help re-engage a reluctant leader and allow him to get back in the game.

Running with God

This chapter begins with a ‘second chance do-over’ and Jonah’s beautiful response: ‘So Jonah arose and went…’  What may not be apparent to a 21st century reader, is that Nineveh was one of the great cities of the ancient world (see verses 1:2 and 3:2-3; also biblehub.com/topical/n/nineveh.htm for historical context) and would have been thought of in its time as we think today of New York City or London or Beijing or Tokyo.  There follows an account of what may be the largest and most immediate mass response to God’s invitation in history right up through the ministry of Billy Graham!  Even though the king himself would ultimately be a part of the story, Jonah’s message was embraced first by the population of 120,000 who we are told believed, fasted, and renounced their wicked practices.  The third chapter of Jonah is one of the greatest stories in all of scripture — a World Series grand slam win of ministry.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the book of Jonah ended here?  But it does not.

Running ahead of God

One of the saddest verses in the Bible is follows.  “But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry.”  The prophet’s journal continues not just with displeasure and anger but with petty petulance and a juvenile self-centered tantrum that contradicts the very nature of our God (“I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness”).  In many ways this passage of scripture parallels the emotional roller coaster that the prophet Elijah demonstrated following his moment of ministry success (see 1 Kings 18 and 19).

As such these incidents offer a precautionary lesson to us to be particularly careful and dependent on the Spirit following success and spiritual victory.  First, we must not personalize God’s work through us and allow it to shape our identity in unhealthy ways.  Secondly, the demands of leadership (mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual) should be part of our accountability to one another as members of leadership teams and the body of Christ.

Where do you find yourself on the spectrum of ministry outlined by Jonah?

A Biblical Model for Conflict

By Rebecca Murphy |

I bet you’re wondering if I meant “A Biblical Model for Conflict Resolution”.  Nope, I didn’t.  While conflict resolution is a vastly needed skill in leaders today, the success of resolving conflict only happens when we first recognize what conflict is, why it’s important, and when it needs to be resolved.

So what is conflict?  The Bible tells us:

What causes fights and quarrels among you?  Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? (James 4:1)

I like to define conflict as the clashing of personal agendas.  Whether that agenda is not to be hurt, to have a personal preference occur, or even to get something done, at the heart of most conflict is the disagreement between the agendas of two people (or sets of people).

Think back to your past conflicts with people.  You can probably pinpoint what you wanted and how it differed from what they wanted or did.  Your agendas clashed.

The Bible is ripe with conflict.  In fact, the very first conflict between men shows us what conflict is: Cain wanted his sacrificed accepted and took it out on Abel.  Abel just wanted to get on with serving God.  Clashing agendas.

However, that’s not to say all conflict is bad.  This is important to understand.  Some conflict is good.  But why?  Because it’s needed for the growth of both parties.  Hence, conflict may be required for people to grow.

In Galatian 2, we learn of a conflict between Peter (aka Cephas) and Paul.  Peter was a disciple who knew Jesus personally.  Paul was chosen by Jesus to spread Jesus’ teachings and had been accepted as an apostle by the disciples.  The argument centered on whether all men had to be circumcised in order to be a follower of Christ.

I won’t go into the historical significance of this, but the bottom line is that it represented a fundamental difference of opinion as to whether a man had to do an act other than giving his life to Christ in order to receive salvation.  Imagine the clash of agendas!

Yet, in this case, this conflict was needed.  It had to answer a question that would be at the core of this new found idea of salvation through Christ.  Without this conflict between two pillars in the Bible, Christianity as we know it today may have developed differently.  It was needed for the spiritual growth of Paul and Peter as well as to lay foundations for those who would follow Christ after them.

Knowing what conflict is and why it’s important brings us to the third question of why we need to resolve it.  This one may seem obvious, but let’s explore it anyway.

Proverbs 27:6 tells us: Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.

Conflict, if healthy, is done out of love to bring personal agendas in line with God’s will and brings about the spiritual growth of both parties.  In the verse above, we see that a compelling reason to resolve conflict with a friend is that they may see something in us that we don’t.  Perhaps it’s truly a blind spot to our growth.  In working through to a resolution, we may find they were right.

The other and perhaps more compelling reason to resolve conflict, even the healthy stuff, is because Jesus told us to.  In Matthew 5, Jesus says:

“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:23-24)

Remember conflict in and of itself is not bad.  It points to clashing agendas and perhaps some needed growth in the parties involved.   What is bad is unresolved festering conflict.  This is why resolving conflict is a Biblical command.  It is not simply because peace is better, but also because it can be used for positive growth bringing people closer to Jesus.  And in the end, being closer to Jesus is what we all need.

Rebecca is a member of Manchester Christian Church and has served in a variety of leadership roles. She is a certified career coach helping professionals achieve their next level of leadership skills.
(c) 2014 Rebecca Murphy