This article is the second of four in a series. 1 The Worker | 3 God’s Way | 4 The Reward
SERIES INTRODUCTION
Leaders must be led. Maybe you have never thought of it this simply. But just as an athlete needs an example and usually a mentor, we need the same as those who would be leaders in the world, and especially if we would lead with Jesus in our hearts and on our lips. We do not learn righteousness in a vacuum, for without spiritual training, we would always default to sin. So as leaders, even while we lead, we look for more insight and help from those who lead us. And as Christian leaders, this means we namely look to Christ and his word.
This is the intent of this series, for which we are much indebted to the work of Eric J. Alexander in a chapter in his book, Our Great God and Saviour. The chapter, “God’s Fellow Workers,” outlines four laws of Christian service. Our short articles will take up each of these four laws and move us toward leading with more understanding and more blessing each day.
(7-minute reading time)
GODLY LEADERS: THE WORK
Looking back on your junior high years can be a painful endeavor. Not many of us were comfortable in our own skin at that age. So we set to work on projecting what we wanted others to see in us. This doesn’t mean we were always faking it. If we wanted to be known as an athlete, because the athletes were popular, we might have earnestly trained to accomplish that goal. The trouble was, if we didn’t make it, we fell back into not knowing just who we were and having to start shaping a new identity. What a lot of pressure for a 13-year-old!
But what of those who seemed naturally confident? Their bodies weren’t awkward and the words that came from their lips always seemed so cool. They filled the center of the dance floor, while many of us trembled on the edges. And if they put their hat in the ring for class office, the election was as good as over.
The trouble with being smooth and admired when you are in junior high or high school is that the emphasis is rarely on character. But when earthly pursuits come easily, why would we ever give them up? I had the girls then, why shouldn’t I have the women now? I hit the baseball farther than everyone then, why shouldn’t I hit the golf ball farther than everyone now? To never grow past the accomplishments of our youth—even when they look more grown up now—is to miss the opportunity God gives us when he says, “Let me form your identity. Let me build your character.”
In our opening article in this series, we said that God’s first concern when it comes to his work is with the worker. His next concern is that the worker get out of the way and let God do what only God can do.[1] This moving aside is closely connected to the trait of humility that we also examined in the first article.
As men and women in the world, one of our common choices is whether to take on a project as a DIYer or to call in an expert. Actually, we all do a little of both. We may feel completely confident in cleaning our own pool filter but not so assured when we look under the hood of our car. You don’t have to watch too many home shows on television to recognize that even when you can do something yourself, the result you get with a professional on the job is overwhelmingly beautiful.
Still, this does not prevent us from taking a stab at projects we probably shouldn’t. One of those is the shaping of other people. This is an important responsibility of parents of course. The proverb, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (ESV), is an exhortation for us to help our children find the best course for their lives—and we know from other Old Testament references that this includes spiritual instruction.
But is this something we should be doing in relation to other adults? Even when others give us open doors as a mentor to speak into the circumstances and efforts of their lives, how aggressively should we take on this role? The apostle Paul was careful not to overstep the bounds of his influence, and we should demonstrate a similar hesitancy to take on work that belongs to the Lord alone.
What, namely, is that work? Theologians call it regeneration. Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about it as being born again. Here is a silly picture: Two or three hefty men lifting their brother off the ground to force him back into his mother’s womb, that he may start life from scratch again. It can’t be done! In the same way, we can’t by all our might, be it physical or spiritual, do the work that only God can do. And certainly, we would look foolish in the trying.
So when Paul wrote to the Corinthians about a couple of their ministerial favorites (Apollos and Paul himself), the apostle asked “What are we?” Notice, he didn’t even use the more personal, “Who are we?” He was not pushing for any identity other than the one God had given to them, which was this: servants. “We are servants,” he told his readers. “We only do the work we are given.” And whose servants were they? God’s servants.
Then Paul went on to explain in agricultural terms that there is a work no man can do. He wrote: “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow” (1 Corinthians 3:6-7). In the night, long after the workers have gone to bed, the seeds germinate below the surface of the soil, then a night or two later, the sprouts emerge. The farmer has nothing to do with this, other than the faithful commitment to watering and watching.
REGENERATION
As leaders of women and men, this principle is primary. We can present the word of God as it is given in the pages of Scripture. We can pray with those whose need for Christ is foundational (relating to salvation) and ongoing (relating to sanctifying growth). We can listen and provide counsel as the Holy Spirit gives it to us. But we cannot do the interior work of the heart. We cannot force Christ on others or into others. Only God can regenerate people in such a way as to change them to the core. This is his work, and it is our wonder to stand back and watch this happen.
Eric Alexander writes that for all God makes us capable of doing as ministers and leaders, “Only God can [regenerate others]. Nobody else in the universe can. All your skills, all your gifts, all your academic training, and all your reputation (especially your reputation), will never touch that sphere. It is God’s sphere.”
So as leaders, we must be willing always to “die to ourselves.” In humility, we do what we are given to do and what we are capable of doing and no more. To seek to add to our accomplishments or to gain recognition for our efforts is to seize glory from the one who possesses and deserves it—the Lord. Our humility is not meant to cause us to relax, making no effort. The gardener who sits on his porch, not watering or shading his young plants, will watch them die. We have our work to do. But the work of the heart is God’s work, and when it comes to that work, our tasks our simple: Watch him and worship him.
Let’s not leave this topic without a practical application. As a respected leader, you will receive words of appreciation. A new believer may tell others, “This is the friend who led me to Christ.” How should you respond to such an assessment of what you have done? Don’t fret that this young believer has “got it all wrong.” We all say things that aren’t completely accurate. In a way, you have led this friend to Christ, just as Philip told his friend Nathanael: “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law—Jesus of Nazareth…. Come and see” (John 1:45-46). But you may say something like this in response to your friend: “Only to him, you know. Only just to him. Then he himself brought you into his salvation and care. This is something only he can do!”
And remember always to pray for the work you cannot do. You may find that you spend hours and hours with a “tough nut to crack,” someone who keeps asking questions without settling on the answer that is found in Jesus. You may return to your Bible and your books, looking for the nugget that will finally drive the point home with this reluctant friend. Again, you may be trying to do work that is not yours to do. Seek the Lord here. Ask him to lay hold of your friend’s heart, once and for all. You cannot save another, but you can certainly pray for his or her salvation.
In a few words, then, the second concern of serving God as a leader of others is to get out of God’s way. Let him do what only he can do. And yet, we will find in our next article that we want very much to be about doing things God’s way.
[1] Eric Alexander’s words for this second law of Christian service are “This work is God’s work, not ours.”