Stephen Covey said that we should always start with the end in mind. The bible does that too. A key example is a verse in Ephesians 4:13, which says "... until we all come into the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man".
I am definitely not of the view that leadership is irrelevant or that we should not submit to biblical authority, for to advocate that would be to violate a core building block of God's kingdom.
As children should honor parents and citizens their country, so we need to submit to each other in love. I have encouraged my own sons to be wise in sitting at the feet of those that have gone before them, because a humble, teachable spirit is so critical to their own life-fulfilment and the opportunity of a fullfilled life. Authorities in this life, are positioned by God to achieve His divine objectives. As such, even inadequate fathers, like me, are a vital ingredient in the development of children into sons of God.
However, the point that Paul makes, goes to "the end" of the conversation. If a leader is motivated to the same end, namely the emergence of believers into full standing as sons of God and, as such, mature, covenant partners in this kingdom, they will realise that dream. In turn, they will also extend their legacy and reach, so touching many lives, albeit indirectly, through the sons that they so liberate. Indeed, their impact will even reach beyond the grave, as was true of men like Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David or Paul. A father who sets aside his own ego or how that is affected his child's performance, but rather focuses his leadership on what his children may become in the context of life, will also shake the world.
Unfortunately, leaders who merely co-opt believers to achieve their personal goals or to nurture their own insecurities, will only produce parochial, insecure and limited legacies, that will achieve little of lasting value. It is no surprise that they are the ones who most insist on submission and the use of titles.
The church is not ours. We are, at best, stewards of what God entrusts to us. The church is His and they are His people, the sheep of His pasture. In assuming to own what was never ours to own .... and here is the rub, We run the risk of being excluded from the fulfilment of God's workmanship in the earth, just as Moses was excluded from the climax of the Exodus.
Jesus is going to build His church anyway - He never needed help. He confirmed it in Matthew 16, where He said to Peter, "I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against her". The choice we have, is to be a part of that, or to be swept aside by the inexorable advance of an everlasting, glorious kingdom.
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