Viewing entries tagged
accountability
Anyone who’s experienced the pain of being judged by other Christians wishes more of them would heed Jesus’ words, “Judge not, and you will not be judged.” But what did Jesus really mean? Is there a time for judgment, or is it always wrong? When you see Jesus’ words in light of the rest of the Bible, several clarifications emerge.
There are as many views of what the church is today as there are people. For some, the church is a historical building. For others, it’s a place the community gathers for weddings, funerals and potlucks. For others, it’s a hub of volunteer activity. Some people see it as a religious service provider where they can get their spiritual boost for the week – a little bit like a movie theatre highlighting Christians topics. But how did Jesus think about the church? You may be surprised to learn that the word, “church,” only appears three times in the gospels. But what it teaches about Jesus’ vision for the church is profound and is at odds with how we typically understand it.
We’ve come up with many different titles for leaders today. And the titles matter. But while each of these titles have value, the Bible defines leadership in a unique way that may help people serving in all levels of leadership better understand their task. The primary metaphor that the Bible uses for leadership is the shepherd. Today we consider one of the implications of that metaphor.
