BUILDING HEALTHY CHURCH THROUGH HEALTHY LEADERSHIP

BARNAWA BAPTIST CHURCH
P. O. BOX 4337, KADUNA
WORKERS’ RETREAT – 5TH FEBRUARY, 2011

THEME: BUILDING HEALTHY CHURCH THROUGH HEALTHY LEADERSHIP
Written by : REV’D ‘DELE KOLADE

INTRODUCTION:
We appreciate God for what He has done so far and for what He intends doing this year and beyond. The leadership’s challenge for this season borders on Critical Spiritual Check Up to ascertain our spiritual and leadership well being as we work towards developing our Church to be an holistically “sound” and healthy congregation God intends it to be. What are the “health indicators” that show our wellness? How do we enhance sound health and translate this to the spiritual nurturing atmosphere of the Church? How do we set leadership example for the rest of the congregation to pursue “wellness” and wholeness?

A. Who are we as a Church? The greatest problem one can have is identity problem. If you don’t really know yourself, then you will develop Identity Dysfunctional Syndrome (IDS) and Multifaceted Personality Malady (MPM). Our theology of sound health must therefore begin with the biology of our well being. Some of our health problems may therefore be as a result of our wrong understanding of who we are. Let’s go to the laboratory of the scripture for some basic “biological tests”.
i) “The called out” ekklesia (Rom.1: 1-6). Not of this world – John 17:14, separated from the world – 2 Cor. 6: 14-18; unspotted from the world – James 1:27; 2 Peter 1:4.
ii) “The called together” (Acts 2:44, Heb. 10:25). There is nothing like solitary saint. We are a worshipping and fellowshipping people.
iii) “The called forth” (John 20:21). This is demonstrated in the Church at Antioch (Acts 13: 2-4).
We must understand these basic truth about the nature and mission of the Church. If we operate only as “called out” and “called together”, then we will develop “Spiritual Plasmolysm” or ingrown disease. The Church of Christ that is ready to be called up is the one that first fulfill these three pre-conditions.
B. The Church’s Circulatory System: One of the greatest natural mechanisms of our body function is the circulatory system. The circulatory system essentially deals with three(3) functions – The supply of needed nutrients for development, the regulation of the body temperature and the elimination of waste and toxin. In the body life of the Church, it is the LOVE OF GOD which is shed abroad in our heart that controls the
circulatory system of the Church. When the circulatory system of love is functioning well, the health of the church will display three(3) distinctive features as captured in
Ephesians 4: 1-6 (Unity), 4: 7-11 (diversity) and 4: 12-16 (maturity).
We must note that Unity without Diversity becomes Uniformity and Uniformity is both boring and deadening. However, diversity without unity usually becomes anarchy (Judges 17:6, 21:25) and anarchy is destructive. Uniformity will produce a Church that is not changing and anarchy will produce a chameleon Church. The Scriptures enjoin diversity in unity and unity in diversity.
• The Church is an army fighting a common enemy and obeying a common
Commander (Eph. 6:10-20, 2 Tim. 2: 3-4)
• The Church is a Holy Temple and a Holy Priesthood, each stone in its
own special place, each Priest doing the work God assigned him
(I Peter 2:5-9)
MATURITY is what keeps unity and diversity in check and balance. Love displays maturity. How do you see the balancing work of maturity in the following Scriptural Texts:- I Cor. 13:11; 14:20; Eph. 4: 12-15; Eph. 4: 3; Rom. 14:19?
C. SOUND AND HEALTHY LEADERSHIP: For the Church to be healthy, the leadership must be healthy. As leaders and workers we must develop ourselves in a way that we can be healthy spiritually, emotionally and physically. To do this, we must understand the following:












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a) THE CONTEXT OF OUR LEADERSHIP: In consonance with the topic, building healthy church through healthy leadership we must first be aware that the leadership we are talking about has its own context and this context has its own dynamics. The kind of leadership we are talking about is the one mirroring God’s Kingdom (Mt. 20: 25-28; 23:11; Mk. 9:35; 10:43; Lk. 22:26; 1 Pet. 5:3). We have a “dual citizenship and this explains the context of our ministry and leadership. We must however, know that the spiritual/heavenly supersedes that of the earth. (Phil. 3: 20, Eph. 2: 6 & 19).
b) CONCERNS OF OUR LEADERSHIP: We must understand the focus of our leadership and ministry within the framework of our Kingdom provision. Apart from the concerns defined by our context, let us observe some other concerns from some few textual analysis:
i) Markan’s Concern - MK. 3:13-15 – ‘being not doing’
ii) Philipian’s Concern - Phil. 2:2, 1:20 - Right motive – To please Him
iii) Matthew’s Concern - Mt. 20 :26-28 - Service
iv) Corinthian’s Concerns - II Cor. 6: 3-10 - Approving Ourselves
II Cor. 4: 8-10 - “Living out Christ”
I Cor. 4: 1-2 - Faithfulness
c) CONCEPTS OF OUR LEADERSHIP: If our Kingdom leadership will truly make us agents of positive change, then we must observe certain concepts represented and presented in Christ’s Ministry. Our “function” must follow “form”. The best form that can bring the best formation is that, that is seen in Christ.
i) Incarnational - Phil. 2:7
ii) Relational - Phil. 2: 2-4
iii) Transformational - Rom. 12:2
iv) Motivational - Mt. 14: 26-33
iv) Delegational - Lk. 10: 1-12; Mt. 4:19; Jn. 4:2
d) THE CHALLENGES OF OUR LEADERSHIP: We must not loose sight of the truth that as Kingdom leaders, we have hurdles and obstacles to overcome. Clear understanding of those obstacles and challenges will give us the right standing to overcome them. Some of the challenges include:
a. The challenge of “dualism”
b. The challenge of identity (Ex. 3:11, 13; 4:1; 4:10)
c. The challenge of Ahimaaz/Content (II Sam. 18: 19-32)
d. The challenge of timing & clarity and communication (Hab. 2: 1-3)
e. The challenge of consistency (Acts 26: 20-22)
We must equally understand the following power description:
i) The Power of Context – “In the Church”. Eph. 5: 22-23; Acts 20:17
ii) The Power of Responsibility - “Under the Church”. Heb. 13:17; Acts 20:25-31
iii) The Power of Community - “Through the Church”. Acts 11:25-26; 2 Tim.2:2
iv) The Power of Partnership - “Among the Churches” Acts 11: 22-24
v) The Power of Mission - “For the Church” Acts 13:1-5; 14:21-28.
ALL MEMBERS: - The Church of Christ is not just a human organization but a Spiritual Organism. For the Church to be healthy, the concept of the body life must be understood by all members of the Church (Roman 12; I Cor. 12-14; Eph. 4). Each member of the Church must release his/her own supply for the healthy growth of the Church. We must each therefore seek for healthy growth of our lives taking note of what Scriptures declare using the body symbol.
i) Head - Ps. 133; I Cor. 11:3
ii) Mind - Rom. 8:6; II Cor. 10:5; Col. 3:16; Lk. 24:45; Rom. 12:2
iii) Eyes - I Peter 5:8; Eph. 1:17-18, II Kings 6: 17
iv) Ears - Rom. 10:17; Psalm 78:1; Deut. 4:36
v) Nose - II Cor. 2:15
vi) Mouth - Psalm 141:3; Acts 4:29; Eph. 4:29
vii) Bones - Isa. 58:11
viii) Heart - Ezek. 36: 26-27
ix) Arm - Jer. 17: 5-7; Isa. 33:2
x) Hands - Exo. 17: 11-13
xi) Legs - II Cor. 5:7; Josh. 1:3; Psalm 37:23; I John 1:7