|
How can Christian teachers and leaders gain the confidence of those they serve? Last week we noted that it wasn't through the raw use of authority - making demands based on position, personality, learning, gifting etc. - but through example. Christian leadership is loving, servant leadership, not tyrannical domination.
But example is not the only thing that endears leaders - and especially young leaders - to Christian congregations. Another is the way they use the Scriptures. People will feel confident in following leaders who themselves are subject to the authority of the Bible. If they merely pluck verses from different parts of the Bible to reinforce their own schemes and programmes they won't gain that confidence. But if they clearly let the Bible shape their thinking, plans and desires, then they will rapidly gain trust.
This lies behind Paul's exhortation to Timothy, "devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching" (1 Timothy 4:13). The reading of Scripture was a common practice in Jewish synagogues. So it was to be in Christian assemblies and evangelistic work. In this way Timothy was to make it clear that he wasn't the propagator of his own opinions but of the word of God. His authority, in other words, was not to lie in himself but in God.
The same thing was to be true of his preaching and teaching. This too is to be understood in terms of its synagogue counterpart. "It was already customary in the synagogue," writes John Stott, "for the reading of Scripture to be followed by an exposition (see for example Luke 4:16ff; Acts 13:16ff.), and the practice was carried over into the Christian assemblies, being the origin of the sermon in public worship" (pp. 121-2).
The point to note in this is that the reading of Scripture always came first. The Old Testament Scriptures - and later the apostolic instructions and letters - were to form the basis of what the Christian preacher said by way of instruction and exhortation. To put it another way, Scripture was to be the basis of his authority.
This is the way it is meant to be in the Christian church. John Stott is right to say, "All Christian teachers occupy the same subordinate position as Timothy did" (p. 122). The only basis they have for commanding belief or action lies in the word of God. And if they are to be true to their calling, they must make the faithful reading, interpretation and application of the Bible the heart of their work.
Where this is true, leaders will be respected and followed because people see them as safe guides. They may not have exciting personalities or attractive leadership styles, but they will nevertheless be respected as trustworthy leaders. It is interesting to note that charismatic, up-front, "follow -me" leadership styles seldom coexist with expository preaching. The two things are inherently antagonistic. One draws attention to the leader, the other to the word and authority of God.
Again, John Stott is surely right when he says of leaders, "they will be wise, therefore, especially if they are young, to demonstrate both their submission to the authority of Scripture and their conscientious integrity in expounding it (p. 122). In this way, their teaching and their authority will be seen to be not their own, but from God.