I was recently preparing a message for church the other day, and as I was writing, my mind fell on church leadership in our current church culture. I asked myself, why is it that everyone wants to be the Pastor or the Rabbi? What is it with us that everyone wants to be "that guy"? Do we really have an idea of what it is to really be the "leader"?
I honestly believe the church is splintered the way it is because of the fact that there are so many people that want to walk in this position. Am I saying that it's a bad thing to want to be a leader? Not at all. But just because you have that desire does always mean thats your call. So what is the root cause of so many people desiring to be the Pastor or Rabbi? In my opinion, I would have to say that it's "pride". Pride causes us to look at ourselves as being above the next person.
Let's look at some examples of people in the Bible who felt they should lead despite the fact that another was ordained to lead. In Numbers 16, we read about Korah. Korah, like Moses and Aaron was also of the house of Levi. Although Moses was the one chosen to lead the people, Korah felt that it should be him instead. Although the text doesn't really point out a fault in Moses that caused him to feel he was better qualified, it does imply that he felt he was just as capable as he was.
In his defense, he was absolutely correct, he was capable and herein lies the problem. Capability does not outweigh the call. For this reason, I say it was a pride issue. Something in his heart caused him to elevate himself above Moses. In reality, whereas Korah only saw it as Moses that he was challenging, it was actually the call of God that he had challenged. As Solomon said, pride goes before a fall.
On the other hand, Moses, as the leader did not attempt to vindicate himself before Korah. Moses was fully confident in his call. Another thing about Moses, he never wanted the call in the first place. Moses was living his best life, worry free up until the moment of the burning bush. Upon checking this out, he heard the voice of God calling him. According to the text, Moses tried his best to reject the call. Moses looked for an excuse in the fact that he was not a good speaker, but the call of God was firm. He tried to shift it to his brother, still, there was no getting out of it.
Moses accepts the call, understanding that this was NOT a request. With all this in mind, having been challenged by Korah, Moses was not intimidated. In fact, what Korah did not know is that Moses really didn't want it in the first place. Korah had no idea what he was getting into. Korah only saw the aspect of Moses leading the people, giving council to the people and the miracles. What he did not see was the grief Moses experience by the people or the frustration of everyone complaining about every little thing that happened.
Much like us in todays church culture, we only see tip of the spear as it relates to those called into leadership. We don't see the stuff going on behind closed doors. So, Moses responds to the challenge of Korah. Moses had no problem with Korah's rebellion. In fact, he suggested that this be brought before YHVH, and let Him decide who He wants to lead. In other words, it isn't about what we want, but what He wants.
In the end, YHVH made it clear that Moses was indeed who He wanted to lead. Ultimately, this little rebellion ended with Korah, and all those who sided with him to include their families being swallowed up in the earth. All in all, Korah learned the hard way that his act was a challenge not against Moses, but against YHVH. In challenging Moses, he implied that YHVH chose the wrong person to lead the people, seeing as he could do it better.
My mind fell on the Prophet Samuel, as he set out to find King Saul's replacement. YHVH did not give him any specific details, He simply told him where to go. As he arrives a Jesse's house, he inquires about his sons. At the Prophet's request, Jesse summons all of his sons but one, David. David was the youngest as well as the keeper of the sheep, so surely he cant be the one, his father thought. As Samuel begin to discern who it was that YHVH had chosen, he came across one that had the look to be king. However, he was rejected by YHVH. We goes through all of them, but none were chosen. Could YHVH have been mistaken, he thought? As for the one that he assumed was the one, YHVH firmly rejected him, saying that man judges after the outward, but He judges after the heart.
Samuel asks Jesse is this all of his sons? Jesse replies, no, I have yet another, but he is out with the sheep. Samuel tells him we will not go anywhere until I see this one. Upon being summoned, Samuel looks upon this dirty little young man, and the Spirit assures him that this unlikely youth is the one YHVH has chosen. David never asked for this, however, he was the one called to the task. It was an issue of what was in his heart. We learn from this story that it is not about the outter things that we see in people that determine whether they are called or not, but it's something on the inside that YHVH alone sees.
What about the prophets? None of them were sitting in a field screaming "pick me, pick me", but rather, they were minding their own business, living their best life, when the voice of YHVH called out, saying "I choose you". Although they did not want it, understanding that it was not a request, they accepted the call. To be called means just that, you realize that you have NO CHOICE, and as such, you do it to the best of your ability because you fear God. Often times, when we just delegate ourselves due to the fact that we have a feeling, we don't have that some mindset that those who were chosen had. Not only that, the equipping that comes with it isn't imparted upon us as it is with them.
My last example of this which should have actually been my first one is that of HaSatan. Before he was HaSatan, his name was "Hallel BenShahar" not "Lucifer". The name Lucifer is Latin, not Hebrew, although the meanings are similar. Being made so beautiful and so perfect, he felt that it should be him that reigns as opposed to YHVH. His focus was on all that "he" was, not in who YHVH was. His pride, being his focus on self caused him to lead a rebellion against the Most High, which as we read did not go in his favor. In his heart, I'm sure he did not intend for all of this to happen, however, the pride in his heart became a sin, and this was the outcome.
In considering all of this, what I have come to realize is that we must be careful as it relates to the call to leadership. What I have noticed in out church culture today is that we are so fractured. We are like shattered glass. Everyone desires to lead for a myriad of reasons, but the missing element in most cases is the actual call from YHVH.
As I was bringing the word at church last Shabbat, I felt led to address how the church got so splintered. After the break away from the Church of Rome, there was one set church, but over the centuries, new denominations sprang up. This happened because someone in the church had a different revelation from the Pastor had. This caused him to leave the church, but not before taking a few members with him. This formula repeated itself from church to church, and eventually we came to a point where we have over 40,000 Christian denominations world wide. Are we to believe that this was in the plan of God? According to Scripture, God is not divided, although his church his.
What I have come to realize is that any one who strongly desires to be the Pastor or Rabbi of the church is not worth following. Based on biblical examples, it never works out. Somewhere down the line, pride is in it. If the Pastor or Rabbi of your church came from another church, where there was another person operating as the Pastor/Rabbi, and he left, not because he was sent to a new work, but because he felt he was better qualified to operate in that call, it would be wise to not follow that person. In order for a leader to lead, he must first be a able to follow.
If a person feels that the only way he can partner with other congregations is that he is the one to head it, he is not the one you need to follow. Furthermore, if a person feels like he knows more than the Pastor/Rabbi, so thats his justification to leave or to try and take over the ministry, you need to step away. Being the Pastor of the church is not about how much you know, or many degrees you have. None of this matters one bit to YHVH. It is the heart that he looks at, not your education, desire or intent.
I tell my Pastor all the time, I do NOT want your position. I have no problem with following you. I will serve where you need me, teach when you ask me and anything else that needs to be done, but I am good with following. He always replies that he didn't want the job either, and this is why I follow him. The pride of being "that guy" is a cancer in the church. Again, it is not about what you do better than the next guy, if you have to be the leader of everything, you are clearly not the one YHVH called. We need to re-learn what it is to be a leader in todays church culture. This rule applies doubly for my Messianic family, we really have this bad. YHVH gives us the revelation about the relevance of Torah, and we begin to learn the language, culture, history and context and all of a sudden we want to be in charge.
We tend to learn based on our hunger for this new thing, so some people's knowledge exceeds those whose hunger doesn't match theres, suddenly, we want to head the church. Again, it's not about how much you know, its about what's in your heart. Perhaps your job is to assist your Pastor/Rabbi by teaching from time to time rather than starting a home group. Remember, Paul said that some are called to be prophets, evangelist, pastors AND teachers. Just because you have a teaching ministry does not mean that you are supposed to replace the pastor, but to rather assist him. I believe that some of the gifts needed in the Messianic church is lacking because as soon as we get the gift, we think it's a call to pastor a congregation.
The one thing i want to emphasize is that heading a church is more than just teaching. Teaching is great, and definitely a necessity, but if the people don't fully understand walking in love, what good is teaching all the Hebrew concepts? If anything, we should be one as a body of believers embracing the Hebrew roots of our faith. However, many of us are just as splintered as todays church culture. We need to study to understand what humility is all about, only then can we reunify the church of YHVH.
My closing thoughts are that as a church culture, we need to find our examples in the Bible in terms of what it looks like to be one, as well as what true leadership looks like. The call of YHVH into leadership is not based on how we see ourselves, but how He sees us. If you feel within yourself that you are being called to lead, you should probably disqualify yourself from the line up because those that were called never had a feeling prior to the call, they were living their best life carefree when they got the call. Aspiring to being a Pastor or Rabbi is fine, but never let your aspirations move you ahead of the call.
