LEADERSHIP WITH THE MIND OF CHRIST

LEADERSHIP WITH THE MIND OF CHRIST-Phil.2:1-18
(Talk delivered by Dele Kolade at the Pastors – Deacons’ Retreat Barnawa Baptist Church)

The call to lead the flock of God is the greatest privilege anyone can have in this world. It therefore becomes necessary that we recognize the dynamics involved in Christian leadership and run according to the set “rules”(I Cor.9:24-27). The greatest challenge of Christian leadership today is meeting the standard of God and building to the divine pattern. WE MUST KNOW THAT FUNCTION MUST FOLLOW FORM. What must inform our philosophy of ministry must be right theology. In this retreat, our attention is drawn towards providing Christian leadership with the mind of Christ.
We shall employ certain censoring tools and indicators to evaluate the nitty gritty of leading and ministering with the mind of Christ. Jesus Christ remains our highest authority in every area of life and ministry and the example he set must be followed even to the “punctuation”.( I Cor.3:10-11).

(1) MARKAN’S MINISTRY MAP - Mark 3:13-15
In this Markan passage, Jesus sets the tone of ministry by ordering the priority of calling into Christian leadership. According to the text, God does not call anyone to “do” but first to “be”. The “come ye” precedes the “go ye”. Again is the fact that the concept of election must be understood in order to discover the individual specific divine placement.

(2) MOTIVE OF MINISTRY - Phil. 2:3
There are objective and subjective factors and motives of ministry and leadership. Some times the motives for leading and ministering may be very remote but we must remember that God will try all heart.
In this verse, two negatives and two positives motives are clearly identified:
Strife - expression of simplicity
Vain glory - preferential promotion of others
Again is the fact that we are called into ministry and leadership first to know and believe Him (Isa 43 : 10, Phil 3 :10- 11). Also is the fact that our motive for ministry and leadership must be to magnify Christ (Phil.1:20) and please him (II Tim.2:3-4).
Finally, the overarching motive of Christian leadership is SERVICE. The kind of leadership that will be in tandem with Christ’s mind is servant leadership ( Jn 13:12-16, Mt. 20:26-28).

(3) MINISTRY CONCERNS
Two major keys are identified to be our ministry concerns:
Approving ourselves (II Cor.6:3-10, 4:8-10).
Faithfulness to God (I Cor. 4:1-2, Act 20:24).

(4) METHODS OF MINISTRY
Incarnational (Phil.2:7).
Relational (Phil. 2:2-4).
Transformational (Rm. 12:2).
Motivational (Mt.14:26-33).
Delegational (Lk.10:1-12, Mt 4:19, Jn.4:2).

(5) MESSAGE AND MISSION (II Sam 18:19-32)
Finally, the OVERARCHING motive of Christian leadership is SERVICE.
The kind of Leadership that will be in tandem with Christ mind is servant leadership
(Jn. 13:12-16, Mt.20:26-28)