Bishop Wallace Benn - Jerusalem 08 workshops
January 16, 2009
Session 1 Some lessons from the Old Testament Nehemiah Ch 1-3 A. Leaders need to be well informed. Prayerful. Concerned for the well being of the people of God, and the honour of God’s name. Confident in a covenant making and promise keeping God.willing to be personally available to be an instrument in God’s hands to play a part in His work and plan. B. Leaders are not solo players! Nehemiah prayed with his trusted friends in Susa (1v11). He was “a leader from the knees up!” They are also people of God given vision. C. They understand the need to share the vision and mobilise the troops! The four steps in mobilisation in ch2vs11-20. Proper evaluation with a small group of trusted friends…vision shared…testimony to God’s grace and involvement…confidence in God, and confidence in the responsiveness of God’s people. Note Nehemiah’s use of ‘we’. D. Leaders need to be collaborative, and manage and maximise people’s involvement. Everybody has a part to play and the need to play to our strengths. (See Ch 3) Also need to not be easily ‘thrown’ but persevere (see Ch 4,5,6,7). Keep the agenda spiritual and focused on the Word –reading, preaching it, and the joy of obedience!(Ch 8). Malachi Ch2 Christian leaders not “priests” but note requirements of OT priests/leaders – Reverence for God’s Name as the God of covenant mercy…True instruction to be on his lips and nothing false…walking with God in a personal relationship… turn many from sin…he should preserve knowledge (not invent!), and be the kind of person people want to ask about the truth…remember he is a messenger of God (Ch2vs5-7). A General Observation God is a God of order as well as grace, and while the Old Testament High Priest is fulfilled and replaced by Jesus our High Priest who is himself the sacrifice for our sins (see Hebrews), nonetheless there is nothing inappropriate about having ‘chief priests’ where there are many ‘priests’, and they are mentioned in the Gospels (cf Ussher’s careful evaluation of OT leadership). There is nothing therefore intrinsically surprising about the idea of having chief presbyters in the New Testament Church.
Pauline Perspectives. Acts Ch 20 Final words, therefore very important words, about leadership responsibility in the Church of God. His overriding ambition was not personal ease but to testify to ‘the gospel of the grace of God’…he was therefore Gospel focused…His life backed up his preaching and his hearers knew that…he declared to them ‘anything that was profitable’and ‘the whole counsel of God’ in public and from house to house…he was therefore Bible centred and much more than a pulpiteer-he was committed to word based ministry everywhere. Note especially v28 and the emphasis of Richard Baxter on this verse in ‘The Reformed Pastor’. Highlight the Trinitarian nature of this verse and the order emphasis on personal spiritual health before you can effectively be overseers of the church of God. Note the four marks of a healthy church from verse 32 onwards. I Thess 2 A very personal insight. Emphasis on ‘the Gospel of God’ in these verses, therefore the leader is not free to tamper with or alter or water down. His manner of Gospel ministry was like a mother and a father (v7, v11) and he gave of his own self in the ministry. Difficulty did not cause him to lose his daring! (v2) II Timothy 4 ‘Preach the Word’ –“the rubric for the other things in this passage” G.Fee. Ministry is essentially Word based ministry before the Lord, and faithfulness is required whether it is convenient for the preacher or the hearer! While seeking to win people around, popularity must not be our main concern, nor empire building! In the challenges of Gospel ministry, and sometimes its loneliness, Paul testifies that “the Lord stood by me and strengthened me” and so did good people like Prisca and Aquila (vs9-22).
In the list of gifts given by the risen Lord to the church (Eph.4; Romans 12; I Cor12f) only teaching is consistently present- therefore the key requirement for the local church. Horeb and the OT church gathered to hear the word finds its continuity with the New Testament assembly which is the heavenly assembly locally, not part of it! (Knox Robinson view expounded). Pastor/teacher (Eph.4v11,12) a key gift. That office ‘must teach what is in accord with sound (or healthy) doctrine’ (Titus 2v1). He must hold to apostolic doctrine and refute those who oppose it (Titus 1v9); Presbyter/bishops were essentially interchangeable in the New Testament and must live a ‘blameless’ life (Titus 1vs5-7). For development of latter point see the godliness qualifications of I Tim 3, to which alone is added “able to teach.” A servant/deaconal heart is essential to any ministry (see Philippians 2 and the example of the Lord exemplified in Timothy and Epaphroditus. Timothy and Titus are presbyters with oversight and appointment of elders (in Crete) responsibility. Lightfoot and the ‘Western’ view of bishops. Bishops developing from the bottom up rather than the top down. Therefore prelacy is inappropriate. Ussher argues that bishops (as set aside presbyters for a particular function, and therefore consecrated, not ordained, strictly speaking), overlap historically with the end of the apostolic era. And just as chief priests developed in the OT so chief presbyter/bishops swiftly emerged towards the end of the apostolic era). Glimpses are seen of this in Timothy and Titus. He further argued that what we think of as Rural Deans should be made bishops- ie that they should be key local leaders, and that as well as teaching the faith they should defend the faith by exercising discipline. Like most Reformers he crucially saw the ‘angel’ of the churches in Revelations as the senior messenger, ie the bishop of the church, either viewed as one congregation or as a collection of congregations in a town/area or region.(Acts 9v31; and the fact that a place for example like Ephesus -1/4 million in size- will surely have had more than one congregation, and will have had a plurality of presbyter/elders but only one angel/bishop. Draw out the implications of the above for Episcopal ministry viewed as bottom up and collaborative, not top down, but nonetheless ancient, respected and helpful, if faithful, to the health of the church.
A. Key use of the word leader is only in Hebrew13. Note v7, v17 and what they emphasise about the nature of leadership. B. The Church as a FAMILY and lessons from business (appropriate or not). Also the chuch as the pillar and bulwark of the truth. C. ‘Going the Distance’ / the importance of walking with the Lord/ repentance as a way of life/ and ‘practising the presence of God’/the place of a support group, or soul friend/ family care and personal care, but not family as an excuse for laziness. D. The privilege and high calling of what the Lord has called us to do. Our greatest longing being the Lord’s pleasure- ‘well done good and faithful servant’. E. End with brief reflection on Paul’s confidence even when facing severe hardship, as well as the misunderstanding of friends.(II Cor,1vs6,10,20) Category: Gospel and Leadership, Back to resources index page |
 
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