House Church Talk - Questions concerning leadership

[Dan Beaty]

Hello everyone.

There seems to be little consensus concerning this subject, as far as home
church discussions go. Maybe I could take a  mini survey here and find if
any of you can relate to my understanding.

When I first found literature relating to the direction we found the Lord
taking us, I heard a lot about "leaderless churches." Also, on the internet
I found an abundance of anti-leadership sentiment in the various
conversations. In the end, I saw that the anti-leadership camp was really
trying to control/lead the rest of us!

Jesus however was not against leadership. He rather insisted on and gave the
example of leading by serving. He spoke to His disciples concerning the
dominating spirit of the world that "it would not be so among you."

After looking back at the problems of the traditional church systems and
presently at the non-traditional movements, here is my assessment, FWIW:

The problem is not the existence of leaders, but the sometimes lack of true
godly leaders who have become the servants of all. This void leaves open the
possibility and inevitability of the wrong people taking the lead.
Leadership does not necessarily come only from official positions. People
who want things to be there way can find many ways of accomplishing their
goals.

Like children who pout or whine to get what they want, adults can be very
skillful manipulators also.

So, my thinking is that we should be praying for the Lord to chastise, mold,
shape and raise up more effective servants in the Church who can exemplify
His life before us. AND, then we should hope and pray that His people would
be wise enough to appreciate what He has provided for our benefit, by
following their examples of servanthood.


Dan Beaty
Columbus, Ohio