The Call on Every Christian Leader

I have blogged before on the nature of Christian leadership as it concerns the two areas every leader is required to perform.

1. Christian leadership is to warn. the watchman 

2. Christian leadership is to teach truth, to plant the words of Christ.

Jeremiah had this call, and our world today is much like the world was when he was asked to go deliver God's message. From Jeremiah 1:

9 Then the LORD put out his hand and  touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.  10See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” I will put My words in your mouth to confront the nations, and you will plant God's word in the hearts of people.' What an awesome responsibility, and you have to wonder if Jeremiah was the type of personality to accomplish this because of his remarks in Jeremiah 1:6-8 Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.”  7 But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.  8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD.” But when God calls you, He also equips you to go beyond any personality gift to the gift that God is with you in that call.  I love the humility of Jeremiah in this verse, who doesn't see himself as any kind of force to change the direction of a nation. That is probably true with all of us.  Who thinks they have the influence to change the leaders of a nation?  Yet the potential is there, because God is there with His words to both warn and to plant.   To often today the church wants to be so politically correct that it doesn't want to offend anyone. However it is His words sent forth that will not return void. It is His presence in those words that will bring about change in a church, in a community, or in a nation.  However, the cost of being called may not be easy. God's word has to warn and confront a people who have entered into their own reality as it concerns a moral lifestyle and spiritual truth. The call is not easy, because even the church has moved further away from the standard of God's word. Christian leaders don't see themselves as the Jeremiahs of their day, and the people rule the pulpits of the land through influence and intimidation. Most preachers today will not sacrifice themselves for the sake of the call because it requires the loss of all things.  Again if this is true, than God's words are not being spoken like those words used by Jeremiah to shake a nation. Yesterday in church I heard a preacher for the first time in a long time refer to abortion and homosexuality as moral breakdrown and the failure of the Christianity to stand against it. I wanted to stand and shout "Amen" but it was in a Lutheran Church and they don't do that there.  To warn, and to teach, and that is the very thing Jesus told us to do by going into the entire world and make disciples, and by doing so, we would be fulfilling the call to our world like that of Jeremiah did in his day. Keeping it honest and truthful.....K