The Seedbed of Leadership

One of my facebook friends is a pastor at a church in Wisconsin.  He shared he was spending time in Luke, specifically about Zacharias’ understanding that his son would be great in contrast to Herod the Great.  I had been reading that same passage this morning.

The thing that jumped out at me was what the angel told Zacharias that John would do in Luke 1:15 – 17.  Note that the core of John’s ministry, he would:

• Turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God
• Turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children
• Turn the disobedient to righteousness
• With the result that a people would be prepared for the Lord

In 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, Paul outlines for his apprentices the qualifications for leadership.  Look at:

• 1 Timothy 3:4 – 5
• 1 Timothy 3:12
• 2 Timothy 3:2
• Titus 1:6

Note the thread of parent child relationships in those passages.  2 Timothy 3:2 describes the cultural context of the Church.  So one who has good relationships with their children would stand out.

This is not a new idea.  In one of the central passages for Jewish worship twice the requirement for men to lead their families is highlighted.  Look at:

• Deuteronomy 6:6 – 7
• Deuteronomy 6:20

The expectation is that the fathers will teach their children and that the children, when they have a question about the Word, will immediately think, “Dad will know.”  Why?  Because they know their dads know the Word.

Bottom line, the Lord’s expectation is that fathers would have their hearts turned toward their children.  From Deuteronomy we see that includes them processing life through the grid of the scripture with their children.  The Holy Spirit, through Paul, picks up this as a qualification for leadership in the Body.  The family is the seedbed of leadership for the church.  It is there that fathers hone their skills in teaching their children the Word of God.  That leadership, the ability to lead children in the home, is a prerequisite for leading in the Body.

Coincidence

This has happened more times than I can count.  Usually it is a Sunday school lesson.  I prepare and the message in the worship service either deals directly with the passages I have prepared or else the message is on the same topic.

This morning our associate pastor essentially shared what I wrote yesterday.  He focused on 1 Peter and did not mention Psalm 119.  His emphasis was slightly different but the tenor was the same.  We need to be prepared.  In his message, we need to acknowledge one of the other themes in 1 Peter, that we are aliens here.

Interesting how the Spirit leads His Church is it not?

Be Prepared

Today is my birthday.  Driving home from my daughter’s house, where we had the birthday celebration, there were fireworks going off all around us, not for me of course.  We are celebrating here, 239 years of declaring our independence.  Problem is we are losing it as we shoot off the fireworks

The people who came here on the Mayflower were coming to escape religious persecution.  Much of the thought that went into the founding documents was intended to preserve the freedom to practice Christianity as one pleased.  Many today will deny that and in so doing ignore great volumes of evidence both in the texts of the Declaration, the Constitution, and the writing of those involved at the time.

Those who wrote those documents had experienced enough of tyrannical despots.  They set up this system of government in an attempt to insure that that could not happen here.  It has lasted for 232 years.  In the last seven years the erosion of our liberties has increased exponentially.  In his book, The Farewell Discourse and Final Prayer of Jesus: An Exposition of John 14-17, D. A. Carson says, “Empire-building is so common a temptation for idealists that today’s revolutionaries commonly become tomorrow’s tyrants.”  In this country we are witnessing that play out on a daily basis.

So why in this blog about fathers teaching their children the Word do I bring this up?  It seems to me inevitable that with the recent activity of our courts, Christianity is under attack, while different than that which drove the Mayflower here in 1620, we will come under attack nonetheless.  It is my conviction that persecution of Christians who do not toe the politically correct line will begin, and soon.  Franklin Graham, among others, has warned of this.  I was not in the scouts long but I did learn the maxim, “Be Prepared.”

1 Peter is a book I would begin to study.  One of the themes is suffering, specifically suffering for being a believer.  It would be good to get that one under your belt.  I would also invest time in Psalm 119.  One of the themes in that Psalm is the solace of the Word of God in the face of persecution.

Not trying to rain on anyone’s fireworks display.  But we are facing times when decisions are being made that will have consequences that will almost certainly began a time of trial for believers.  It is best to be prepared and to prepare our children.