How to Make Jesus the Senior Pastor of Your Church
【Whispers from the Shepherd】
Recently, I had a strong feeling in my heart. I asked myself: "How can we truly allow Jesus to be the Lord and the ruler in the church?" The Lord said, "I will build my church on this rock. The gates of Hades will not prevail against it." ” (Matthew 16:18) It is clearly stated here that the church is not the pastor’s, the elders’, or the congregation’s. The church is not ours, it is the Lord Jesus’. But how can Jesus truly be the senior pastor of the church? This is an extremely difficult question to answer.
I see that believers and churches throughout the ages have been determined to do well, so many denominations have emerged and various models have been tried:
1. Some are led by popes or bishops, some are good, some are bad, and many people have been hurt by authority figures and have difficulty trusting authority.
2. Some churches go to the other extreme, a democratic system where members vote. Regardless of whether they are mature or immature, as long as they are members, they can vote. The term of the pastor of a certain church has expired. After some discussion, a general meeting of members was held to vote. A total of 60 people were eligible to vote. As a result, 29 votes were in favor of the pastor staying and 31 votes were in favor of not renewing the appointment. Therefore, The priest was asked to leave.
3. In some churches, the elders and pastors run the church together to check and balance each other. I once asked a friend, "How is the new church you joined?" He said, "The pastor changed the constitution all for himself, so the co-workers are on the same front and are resisting him."
These are the endless storms in the church, with obstacles and obstacles at every turn.
How the church is controlled by God
It is neither totalitarian nor democratic. It should be theocratic - God decides. But what’s the best way to do it? Is there a road? A few things come to mind:
1. If you let God be the master, you won’t say “I think” or “I think” during meetings, but “I hear”.Put aside your self first, seek the Lord’s face together, and listen to the Lord’s voice. The unity of three people does not mean that each person insists on one-third, but that everyone returns to zero and allows God to have complete "oneness". Like a symphony orchestra, each member prepares himself to the best of his ability, but when playing, everyone puts themselves aside and depends entirely on the conductor. Whether they play for three minutes or just knock once, there is no jealousy or comparison, because Jesus is the conductor. He is the senior pastor, so what is played in this way is not noise, but a beautiful symphony that cannot be played by any single instrument!
2. But such a leadership team must be quite mature. The "orphan spirits" have been healed and have a sense of security. There is no need to prove themselves with gifts, performance or titles.The "orphan spirit" means that you don't feel that you have a father or a sense of security, so you have to rely on yourself and prove yourself with achievements, titles, etc. If someone is not nominated, or is nominated but not elected, and goes on strike or leaves the church, that proves that it was right not to elect him. The leader's job is not to stand out and implement his own ideas, but to protect what God wants to do. I see that the church’s problems are all here, and letting go of oneself may be the most difficult one. We all once despaired and almost gave up, but today, among those who have been "going home" for seven years, I got a glimpse of it. I saw light finally appearing at the end of the dark passage. I looked up, and I was pleasantly surprised. I propped myself up. He ran forward crookedly, not caring that his body was torn and his steps were staggering.
3. Such co-workers also need to become family members, commit themselves to each other, and not be offended by chance or change churches when they are unhappy.Because Mrs. Xu and I were engaged, we would not change jobs easily, so we overcame all obstacles. Today, we are not only patient with each other, but have restored our old love, and even surpassed what we had in college. We can sincerely appreciate and cherish each other. Can the church do this? You need to pay the price of self-death to get it. How difficult it is! But if this is what Heavenly Father desires, then I am willing to go through fire and water, risk my life.
4. Use your spirit, not your mind, otherwise you will never be able to truly understand God.“My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, saith the LORD” (Isaiah 55:8), “No one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians Joshua 2:11). To communicate with God is not to use human thoughts but to use spirit. Our thoughts must be changed. First die cheerfully—"present your bodies a living sacrifice"—and "be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (Romans 12: 1-2)
That kind of renewal and change is not changing from bad to good, it is metamorphosis, like a caterpillar changing into a butterfly. There is almost no resemblance between before and after, and it also has to go through a dead pupa stage. Just imagine, how can a child crawling on the bottom of a lotus pond imagine what it feels like for its brothers and sisters to fly low above the water before it transforms into a dragonfly?
Just imagine this: One day Abraham told Sarah, "God wants us to leave Ur." Sarah said, "What?! Where? How long? How much food do we need to prepare, a week? A month?" Abraham said, "I don't I know, but the Lord says so." Sarah said, "You must be stubborn and stubborn!" Abraham said, "That's right." Fortunately, Sarah's mind had been renewed and changed, so her thoughts could obey her spirit. In the end, Neng said, "I guess this is possible, because the characters who obey God in the Bible are all very single-minded." So after discerning with their spirits, the two followed Jehovah's instructions and became a blessing to all the tribes on the earth (see Genesis 12:3-4).
This is why Moses knew God’s laws and the Israelites only knew God’s works (see Psalm 103:7). The difference between the tree of knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life is also here. However, most people in the church have little practice in this area, myself included. The church focuses on the initial stage of faith. It only requires that if you believe in the Lord, you will have a church to go to, a position to serve, worship on Sundays, and listen to sermons, and your children will not learn bad things when they go to Sunday school. As for whether you really understand God’s heart, Understanding God's will and hearing God's voice are not among the items we focus on.
5. How to listen to God?Be willing to take time every day, not to rush, to quietly soak in His presence, maybe an hour, and let your spirit soar until you receive it—not from your mind, but in your spirit. Write down your feelings, maybe a thought, a sentence, a scripture, and then think about it over and over. When listening to God, sin will disturb us and prevent us from listening intently, so our minds must be empty. Practice on a daily basis, drive and walk, and communicate with God when you are aware of His presence. At any time during your work, you can stop for a few minutes to talk to God. Pour your love to God before going to bed. When you wake up, do not get up and do things immediately. Continue the fellowship from last night and ask Him, what does He want me to do today? Any special instructions? In this way, we learn to listen individually and practice together as a group every week, trying to let God be the master and control and let Jesus be the senior pastor. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. If you are afraid of making mistakes, you will not dare to learn, and there will be no breakthroughs.
Recently, I finally figured it out: Like the four lepers at the gate of Samaria in Chapter 7 of 2 Kings, I think, we have all tried our best, but we have been like this for thousands of years, how could we get any worse? It is better to take a risk and give God a chance, let the co-workers unanimously approve it, formally write a letter of appointment, and ask Jesus to be our senior pastor. That is better than what we do!
Take advantage of it
I hope that more churches like this will arise in this generation. This has been my dream for many years, and perhaps it is also the Lord’s dream. In these critical last days, while there is still a little daylight left, who is willing to have a heart for the Lord and work together to carry out the experiment of the kingdom of heaven that should have been done for the past two thousand years? He's not just the conductor of the symphony orchestra, He's God, He's the Father, and the church is His home, and He deserves a home, sweet home, not a building outside, but us on the inside - we are His home, and Joyful love is a sample for the world and angels to see.
Author profile Pastor Xu Zongshi is a doctor of microbiology and a master of divinity from Trinity Theological Seminary in Chicago. He is currently the senior pastor of the New Jersey Evangelization Center in the United States. Author of the book "Flying Out of the Bird Cage".