You have other responsibilities—the evangelism of the unsaved, representing your group before the community and government, intercession for God's plan for your denomination or organization, for your nation and for the world. But you have two special responsibilities for your own members. (Google image, Preacher)
A. Your are responsible for the spiritual nurture and life of each believer. It is not enough merely to preach, lead your group, or conduct services. You must preach, teach, and counsel so that each one grows in grace and matures in Christ (Col. 1:28) and keeps faithful to the Lord and to your church or group.
You are responsible for the children, the youth, the older ones. You are responsible to keep the strong saints growing and to give special attention to the weak and the wounded.
You are responsible to keep your church or group revived, the believers in harmony and unity, and the services and activities sealed by the presence and blessing of the Lord.
B. You are responsible to prepare each believer to be effective in working for the Lord. We are saved to serve. If we are saved but do not serve, we are disappointing and failing the Lord, and forfeiting some of the reward God had planned for us for our faithfulness.
1. God expects each believer to bless as many people as possible. Jesus went around blessing people (Acts 3:26). Now we are to complete His task and bless all we can in every way we can. Each believer is to show Christian love in such a way that the unsaved recognize and feel that love.
Even a child can be taught to show love and be a blessing. The children of Christians should be known for their kindness, helpfulness, and love. Homemakers have a circle of neighbors they can bless. Each is to be such a loving person, such a blessing, that it prepares the way for witness and invitation to gospel services. No Christian is excused.
2. God expects each believer to have a prayer ministry. We are saved to pray, and our major praying should not be for ourselves. It is not enough to be concerned only about the spiritual life of one's family. Every believer is called to an effective prayer ministry for the church, for revival, for evangelism, and for reaching the whole world for Christ.
Jesus meant it when He said we are responsible from our Jerusalem (our home, church, or town) to the ends of the earth. Any Christian whose daily prayer does not include his whole nation and the other nations of the world is disobeying Christ's last command.
That demands planned prayer—not just moments each cay, but a carefully planned prayer ministry for every believer. Are your believers having such a prayer ministry? How have you prepared them to do so?
3. God expects each believer to be a witness. Each is to be Christ's salt and light in his community, Christ's active witness by word as well as by life. Each believer is to be an ambassador for Christ (2. Cor. 5:20). Millions of Christians have never begun to be ambassadors. Who is to blame?
Whom will God hold accountable? Believers? Of course! You as the pastor or leader? Yes, in many cases you will be even more accountable than the believers. Why? Because you are responsible to train them to witness and to prepare and follow a personal plan for intercession.
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Used by permission of the author and Duewel Literature Trust, Inc., Greenwood, Indiana. Creative reading style by Jean.
Ablaze for God
#57 The Two-fold Role of Every Christian Leader
by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
(pp. 176-177) ZondervanPublishingHouse
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| Praying woman clipart |
Father, besides the responsibility of praying for the unsaved, representing our group before the community and government, our pastors have the need to see to the spiritual nurturing of the life of each of the believers who attend his church.
Help them prepare the believers to be effective workers for the Lord Jesus, as that is also his responsibility. Under their care, as believers, may we be a blessing to as many people as possible, fulfilling the Master's command to go into all the world, and share the Gospel.
May we accept the responsibility to support our leaders in prayer, making it our own ministry.
I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Today's popular post-
The Benefits of Reading the Bible
Jean Oathout asks us a question today that is of utmost importance, and one that can change our lives if we follow through with the answers: What are the benefits of reading the Bible?
As you consider the question posed today, realize that the Bible has over 50 references about the importance of reading it.
Today's question-
How hungry are we for the Word?
If we'll confess that we are not hungry, God will help us develop the hunger we need to feed on His Word. Worship opens our hearts to listen to the preaching of the Word. Much depends on the preacher, yes, but our praying for their preparation of the messages is just as important as our preparing our own hearts to hear, and to then successfully walk out the instructions in the messages.
We need to be with other people so we can learn how to forgive, to be patient, and to understand better what our thoughts and actions should be according to the Bible. Working together, we can bring unity for the health of the whole of the people attending our particular group/church.
These relationships are designed by God for us to learn to support one another, especially the leadership. Working together can bring unity, and the understanding of one another's needs.
When we confess our lack of hunger for God's Word/presence, we are acknowledging our great need of help. As children of faith, we have equal access to receive our petitions when our hearts are open to the Holy Spirit.
Our attitude effects our reception of answered prayers. We are to remember that our leaders are targeted by the enemy. They desperately need us to support them with our prayers and whatever way we can, as they're humans like we are, and are tempted to fail the Master's call many times over.
How hungry are we for the Word?
If we'll confess that we are not hungry, God will help us develop the hunger we need to feed on His Word. Worship opens our hearts to listen to the preaching of the Word. Much depends on the preacher, yes, but our praying for their preparation of the messages is just as important as our preparing our own hearts to hear, and to then successfully walk out the instructions in the messages.
We need to be with other people so we can learn how to forgive, to be patient, and to understand better what our thoughts and actions should be according to the Bible. Working together, we can bring unity for the health of the whole of the people attending our particular group/church.
These relationships are designed by God for us to learn to support one another, especially the leadership. Working together can bring unity, and the understanding of one another's needs.
When we confess our lack of hunger for God's Word/presence, we are acknowledging our great need of help. As children of faith, we have equal access to receive our petitions when our hearts are open to the Holy Spirit.
Our attitude effects our reception of answered prayers. We are to remember that our leaders are targeted by the enemy. They desperately need us to support them with our prayers and whatever way we can, as they're humans like we are, and are tempted to fail the Master's call many times over.
Upcoming posts-
#58 The Day of Accountability
31st- Thursday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
3 Graduations: Grief, Greatness, & Glory
6/2nd- Saturday's post by Ron Hutchcraft
#59 Do You Love the World as God Does?
5th- Tuesday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
#60 Prepare Your People to Pray
9th- Thursday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
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Jean's blog (Click to see snippets of the 7 recent posts)
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(Be sure to "look inside" to see contents
through the 2nd devotion)
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