CHARGES TO LEADERS

This article was originally written as a list of charges I gave to men who were about to be ordained into the ministry. Each point below is but the “tip of an iceberg” of more comprehensive teaching and exhortation hidden beneath the surface. Volumes could be written. It is also noteworthy to mention that although these charges were given to leaders, they are applicable to every person who follows our Lord.

The article is rather long, but deserves a careful reading and study. Some Biblical references are given for those who desire to study more fully or use the article as a teaching tool.  ---Billy Long  

CHARGES TO LEADERS

I charge you to walk in a deep, abiding faith in the Sovereign Almighty God.

This will produce the ability to maintain composure, rest, and peace in the face of pressure, problems, adversity, and conflict. It will prevent unwise and premature reaction, carnal grasping and impulsiveness.  Faith produces the grace to wait, endure, and persevere. It will help produce a security that will counteract insecurity which has caused problems for so many ministers and has hurt so many people. Faith in the Sovereign God is at the heart of our ability to face life redemptively. It is at the heart of Romans 8:28. “For all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.”  Psalm 31: 14-15, Daniel 2:20-21, Psalm 75, Heb 11.

I charge you to walk with purity of heart and motive, sincerely seeking God’s will and God’s interests.

This will produce a clarity in your ability to hear God, and will produce peace. When you desire God’s will, you can rest knowing He stands behind it. This also removes the need to manipulate people or struggle to artificially enforce and reinforce your own plans that might not be in tune with God’s will, way, or timing.

A pure heart will lend itself to producing good relationships. An impure heart becomes affected by selfishness, pride, and wrong motives that hinder relationships through jealousy, insecurity, competition, and ambition. A pure heart keeps you from "using" people.

When your motives are pure, people will trust you and they will entrust things to you. John 5: 30, Philip 2: 3-4,19-21, 4:17,  Psalm 139: 23-24.

I charge you to engage the Lord at all times, to abide in Him, to maintain your relationship, fellowship, and communion with Jesus Christ. For apart from Him you can do nothing.

This intimate relationship with Him is the birthplace of vision and revelation, and will produce enabling power, the ability to strengthen yourself in the Lord and do what He has called you to do. The commission that comes from His presence produces faith and boldness that overcome fear and discouragement. It gives grace for obedience and suffering. An intimate walk with the Lord gives you the ability to change, and enables you to face the adjustments which are necessary for life, progress, and growth. Otherwise, you will fall into rote, ritual, and stagnation that choke life. John 15: 1-5, Acts 6:9, Ps 73:15-17, Ephesians 2:14-20.

I charge you to lead by truth, influence, and example.

This will require actual spiritual life and growth in your walk with the Lord, and that you be a real leader, a man upon whom the hand of God and His anointing does rest. This will require a life of faith, obedience, and purity of motive. Leaders who fail in this area end up overseeing a stagnant and complacent flock, or they tend to drive the flock by domination, manipulation, or intimidation. 1 Timothy 4:12, Acts 1:1-2.

I charge that you walk in integrity.

This means adhering to truth and being loyal to truth and reality. Do not speak what is not true in trying to protect yourself or to get what you want. Do not manipulate words and facts in order to get your way or control people. Do not sacrifice a good conscience or moral integrity to accomplish your vision. If your vision or any aspect of it ever seems cross-purpose to moral integrity, you must choose moral integrity. Holding faith and a good conscience helps you to avoid shipwreck. Holding faith means you know you are walking in God’s will. Holding good conscience means you know you are walking in God’s way. Holding faith and a good conscience means that what you allow and approve is not contrary to God’s will and God’s way, and that in your heart you know that the Lord is pleased and has approved your actions.  1 Timothy 1:18-19, Acts 20:18-20,26-27, Ps 86:11-12, Ps 15:1-5.

I charge that you see yourself as the servant of Christ.

This will prevent you from serving yourself and from being in bondage to man. Seeing yourself as the Lord’s ambassador will help you not to take things personally, since you represent HIM. A servant’s heart will help you walk in humility and meekness. As a minister you work in God’s field, in God’s household, God’s vineyard…not your own. A steward is a servant who governs what belongs to another. Seeing yourself as the Lord’s servant will help you be willing to suffer for His sake. Seeing yourself as God’s servant will help you to realize that you also serve His people rather than lording it over them.  1 Cor 4:1-2, 2 Cor 6:4-10, Daniel 3:16-18, 26-28. Psalm 143:11-12.

I charge that you be faithful to the Lord from the peak to the pit, on the mountain top and in the valley and everywhere in between.

You must handle success in a godly manner, not giving place to pride and vainglory. You must also handle failure, either actual or only apparent, in a godly manner, not giving place to self-pity, self-centeredness, bitterness and despair. Know that mistakes are part of the growth process. We see this in the lives of the twelve disciples. Be faithful to the Lord in good times of blessing and in hard times of adversity and perplexity. Psalm 42:5-7, Philippians 3:11-14.

I charge that you develop the ability to be a good listener.

Communication is essential in good leadership. And this works in both directions. You must also listen as well as speak. The scripture tells us to be easily entreated. A good listener often indicates a good heart. It is one evidence of caring, love, and concern for other people. Listening is necessary in building relationships. It will help you avoid frustrating those you serve, and will prevent presumption, rash judgments, and shallow answers on your part. You must hear the whole story before you make judgments. Leaders need to be prophetically sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit and be willing to listen to wise counsel, but they also must be willing and able to listen to and hear those who follow them…their pains and needs as well as their concerns and suggestions. Otherwise they risk the folly of Rehoboam.  Proverbs 18:13, 2 Chronicles 10: 12-16 (10:1-16)

I charge that you walk in love and in the compassion of Christ.

Love reflects God’s own heart for His people and for the world. Compassion is a vehicle for the presence and power of God and will release the work of the Holy Spirit in and through you. Love will cause you to be gracious, gentle, and wise in those times where truth alone would bring pain and hurt to people. It tempers your actions when you might otherwise “strike the rock” rather than “speaking” to it as the Lord might command.The absence of love represents an insensitivity to the Holy Spirit and may also indicate wrong motivations. You don’t want to be like the leader who loves crowds but hates people. Philemon 1:8-9, Matthew 9:36, Philippians 1:3-10

I charge you to train others and build a team.

Don’t try to be a superman; build a team. Success comes partly by a leader’s ability to recognize legitimate areas of personal weakness, and by graciously recognizing, receiving, and making opportunity for those complimentary and various gifts that God has given him in the men and women who surround him. A good leader is not threatened by the anointing and gifts in those around him. He encourages them rather than stifling them.  2 Timothy 2:2.

I charge that you be filled with the Holy Spirit and allow Him freedom to operate in yourself and in those you lead.

The manifestations of the Holy Spirit are the actions and presence of Christ at work in and through His people. Hunger for the Lord’s presence. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Do not grieve, quench, or resist Him, but rather desire spiritual gifts for yourself and for the church.  Luke 24:49, Acts 4: 29-33, 1 Corinthians 14: 1-11, 14:1.

I charge that you walk in the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

The fruit of the Holy Spirit represent the nature of Christ. As a leader and as a follower of Christ you are charged to walk in love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Galatians 5: 22-23.

I charge that you be faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God.

Be faithful to stand on the testimony of Jesus Christ and on the Bible, the written Word of God. Matthew 28:18-20, Revelation 1:9, 1 Corinthians 15:1-8.

I conclude with the following charges given to Timothy by the Apostle Paul.

I charge you, therefore, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom. Preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, and exhort with all longsuffering and teaching.

Be watchful in all things, endure afflictions. Do the work of an evangelist and fulfill your ministry. Be strong in the grace of God. Be diligent to present yourself to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Give attention to the word of God in reading, exhortation, and teaching. Do not neglect the gift that is within you, but rather stir it up and use it to serve the Lord Jesus, and to edify and build His Church.  1 Timothy 2:1, 15,   2 Timothy 4: 1-2, 4-14                                                             ---Billy Long

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