A Leader Into Battle

Some might notice a pattern of thought in my latest “notes” or “blogs”. My focus lately has been the focus of the Church. Having found my self convicted of my desire to “plant a church”, God has brought me to a place where I am really looking deep into the root of where that desire comes from, and also what that really means. One of the things that I have said lately is that I am not called to be a “church planter”, I am called to make disciples. I am not claiming that planting a church is not one of the ways that this might happen, all I am claiming is that God has revealed to me the way that He wants me to do it. Part of this is the fact that God has caused me to rethink some of the things that I believe about His Church, my purpose, and the mission. Also, this new journey has given me the ability to sit back and take a different perspective on the way the church functions here in the United States. (In my circles anyway)
While sitting back and looking at the church I have noticed a few things about the way we do things, and the things that we teach. I hear a lot about going out and being “doers of the word and not just hearers.” Pastors and teachers calling the charge to go out and work in the mission field that you are in everyday. These things are great, and true. I love the fact that they are being taught, but the problem I have seen is that though the battle cry has been sounded, there is no one to lead the charge. I can’t pretend to believe that no one in the world is “leading the charge”, but I can tell you that in the majority of the “churches” I have visited, or been a regular attendee, the cry is sounded every week, yet no one leads it. There are always a few in the congregation that want to, or talk about it, but are soon discouraged because of the resistance from the leaders.( I know right!!!) So the teaching is good, the battle cry has been sung, but the person making the cry is stuck in the pulpit, and pleading for the people to go and live dangerously. Jason Dukes, in his new book “Live Sent” writes “ It’s not what you teach, it’s what you emphasize. Being a missionary, loving your neighbor, and getting involved in discipling are all great things to teach and push people toward. But they are more importantly great things to emphasize over and over again in more than just words.” His emphasis is on emphasis (you see what I did there?) and we should all be emphasizing that. We preach and teach what we should do, but then don’t actually do it. We sound the battle cry and then just sit there and wonder why nobody is charging. Robert E. Coleman writes in his book The Master Plan of Evangelism, “One living sermon is worth more than 100 spoken ones.”
Jesus not only sounded the battle cry, but he lead the charge. He not only invited His men to become fishers of men, He showed them how to fish. He not only told them to love the world, but showed them what it looks like. Jesus not only taught what to do, but He emphasized it every day. A real leader rallies his troops and then leads them to the fight. A real leader sounds the battle cry, and then is the first one to charge. A real leader says he is willing to die, and then doesn’t shy away from the opportunity to do so.
We can teach all day what it means to be a disciple, but only when we show them what it looks like to be one will they ever learn how to.
“Something is not being emphasized when it is just talked about. It is emphasized when its message influences both what is said as well as what is done. Something is emphasized when the practical day-to-day strategic purpose of a specific group reflects that emphasis in everything they do.” Jason C. Dukes. Live Sent