Foundations of Christian Leadership, Mentor's Guide, MG07

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F O U N D A T I O N S O F C H R I S T I A N L E A D E R S H I P

indignant? [30] If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

Paul’s legitimization of his ministry did not come from power, numbers, money, popularity, and success, but pain, suffering, and sacrifice. For those of us who belong to the ministry of Christ, we simply must affirm that only when death works in us will life work in others. This is the basic principle of all ministry, and will be the principle of each of us, if we choose to submit to the mission of Christ. 2 Cor. 4.7-12 - But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. [8] We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; [9] persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; [10] always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. [11] For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. [12] So death is at work in us, but life in you. It will be important as you explore the meaning of exercising authority over a significant number of pastors and churches, as this lesson will articulate, that you discuss with the students during your segue sections the kind of authority that is exercised in this way. Two mistakes can be made. On the one hand, we can assume that Christian authority is soft, essentially demanding little or nothing, affirming exclusively the freedom of the Christian as the standard. On the other hand, we can turn the exercise of Christian authority into a virtual lording over others, reserving virtually all of the key decisions regarding the life of the church to the pastor. Neither of these truly articulates the kind of leadership that Paul and the apostles exercised. Gerald Hawthorne outlines these options well: Paul’s is not a pure type of charismatic authority since in the innovative work of the charismatic the pure charismatic points to himself as the one to follow while Paul stresses that his authority is derived from Jesus Christ and is not his own (2 Cor. 10.3;

3 Page 144 Summary of Segment 1