[ecko_quote source="Genesis 5:1-3"] This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God……………. And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth [/ecko_quote]
Throughout this week we have been meditating about one of the vital aspects of Church, that is 'Leadership'. It is an often ignored topic although it has a direct impact on the Church. Therefore let us ask God to prepare our minds and hearts so that they are receptive to His revelations while reading these devotions. If there is shallowness in the lives of most believers today, it is because the lives of their leaders are shallow. The people's lives are carnal, because of the leader's life - his thought-life, his relationship with his wife, and children and fellow-workers - is carnal.
A church invariably becomes like its leader. In Revelation chapters 2 and 3, we see that in each of the seven cases, the Lord spoke the same message to the church as He did to its messenger. Each message concluded with the statement that the Spirit was saying the same thing to that church. Where five messengers (elders) were carnal, their churches were carnal. And where two messengers were spiritual, their churches were spiritual too. The messenger in Laodicea was lukewarm and so was his church. The messenger in Philadelphia was faithful and so was his church.
In Genesis 1, a phrase that occurs frequently is “after their kind”. We read there about fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, plants yielding seed after their kind, the fish and the birds after their kind, and beasts, creeping things and cattle after their kind (verses 11,12,21,25). In creation, everything produces after its own kind.
God created Adam "in the likeness of God" (Gen.5:1). But Adam produced a son "according to his own image" (v.3). He could not produce a son in the likeness of God. He could only produce the one after his own kind.
Spiritually too, we will all produce children according to our own likeness and after our own kind. If we are the intellectual type of individuals, we will produce intellectually-minded people through our ministry. If we are misers, we will produce misers. And if we're haughty and proud, we will only produce haughty and pride people through our ministry. On the other hand, if we have the spirit of a servant, our spiritual children will also have a servant-spirit too
It is possible, however, that a rare brother may break out of his leader's mould and seek God for himself and become spiritual, in spite of his leader's carnality. But such a case is rare. Generally speaking, most believers are like sheep who blindly follow their leader, wherever he goes. Like a preacher, like people! And when both sheep and leader are blind, they both fall into the ditch.
In every church - in the best and in the worst - those sitting in the outer court will be of the same type - half- hearted, worldly, seeking their own, lovers of money and lovers of ease and pleasure. But a good church will have a strong inner core of leaders who are godly. This core determines which way the church is going to go. The central core will usually begin with two men who have become one with each other. God will be with them and the core will begin to grow in size and unity.
Source: Jonah Ravinder- UEC Ministries; & Zac Poonen
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