Kingdom Leadership and Maturity

The premise from Deuteronomy to teach these things to your children, when you lie down, when you rise up and when you walk by the way, addresses the issue that from the days of Moses, that Jews have put their biblical, cultural heritage on the front burner. This fervency has resulted, for the most part, in the Jewish community being a culture of discipline, as well as a culture within a culture with their identity in God, as a people. On the other hand, for many who have come to faith in Christendom, the biblical standard represents the need for a cultural transformation. This transformation, alluded to by Paul as “renewing your minds” takes discipline and it takes time. The challenge is constant and even when spiritual maturity comes, it takes on new levels. The Phillips translation of the New Testament captures this reality with its rendering of Romans 12:2: “Don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold.” Within Christian organizations, this reality and the times demand reaching for the pure standard. Jesus summed up this higher standard in Matthew 28 as “these things I have taught you.” His reference was to the mandate of implanting righteous power into corrupt settings. It’s a spiritual challenge with subtle cultural hurdles. Even within secular settings, the culture war in organizations is seen in the difference between institutional approaches to leadership, versus entrepreneurial styles.

The tempo of the times has picked up. Knowledge has increased. The availability of instantaneous information has become global. There’s been a shift of power. Simultaneously, control of the spiritual and moral climate of nations has had the criterion reset by political, entertainment and media moguls. The standard represented by the ancient paths of God’s truth has been challenged and lowered. Still, through a remnant, God’s order will overcome. James indicated that teachers would be judged more strictly. The standard for those wielding influence with truth and authority demands more. Overcompensation is required by leaders and those reaching for spiritual maturity in these times. It carries a great need to be wary of pervasive, subtle, seducing influences. Yet, just as in the days of Jesus, the seduction has infiltrated the ranks of the religious elite; those who ought to know better. Jesus judged them. He said they were blind guides.

God never intended nor does He intend for us to live our lives passively. We’ve been chosen to make a difference; that each of us in our own spheres would wisely grasp His heart, avoid the snares and precepts of men, and bring about realignment and His order. “You are My witnesses and My servant whom I have chosen, to understand that I am God.” Isaiah 43:10 The high road on this narrow corridor we are navigating between life and death is not about us. That’s why Jesus said “He who finds his life will lose it and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.” That’s a hard word, but one that should be bedrock for those who are chosen to align with His heart. In a world where political correctness likes to erase and deny the existence of the sin factor, we’re called to face that sin and establish His will. The issue we’ve been tackling has been how we can avoid the subtle deceptions of the enemy that keep us majoring in minors and minoring in the essential things? How can we avoid the snares and entrapments that Jesus warned us were incorporated in the precepts of men? The strategy, in a word, is as it has been for ages past: in confronting sin; not foolishly, recklessly or impetuously, but with wisdom and God’s order. This strategy begins by growing up. It begins by maturing with the discipline to deny ourselves and then refusing the snares from within enticed by the precepts of men.

There’s something more that involves a leadership strategy that defies the wisdom of the world; indeed, the wisdom of the ages. Driven by the spiritual, it joins together community to operate as one with the economic. It is a strategy that merges an identity, a spiritual maturity driven by trust and discipline, along with a unique power to form a leadership; all of which is demonstrated “as a people.” It is a strategy of righteous power in a corrupt world. Righteous power builds and brings increase; it wields influence, and is a catalyst for opportunity that brings blessing to those in its sphere. This leadership strategy begins with a grasp of God’s purpose for His own (Genesis 1): to exercise dominion and subdue the earth. Then with an identity and faith in God, as demonstrated by Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David and many other heroes of faith, the mantle is gleaned from Abraham, to be blessed to be a blessing. The model also is from Abraham: of the God-centered, entrepreneurial community. Within the community of God’s people will operate the progressive stewardship of the gifts of its members. Proverbs 31 describes this community-focused entrepreneurial dynamic. The process was outlined by Moses: with a focus on order, ownership and increase.