Leadership or leader-slip?
Paraklesis [‘encouragement’, ‘exhortation’, for life and ministry]
July 2025
Beloved fellow-workers,
Have you noticed that people in Christian ministry tend to be worldly in a Christian version of secular worldliness? We can be just as focused on success, impressive numbers, building our empire, personal fulfilment, competence, giftedness, comfort and health, as are people without Christ! We assume that the Christian context in which we live and work sanctifies our worldliness!
Consider this worldly statement of James Watson, who helped to discover the double helix form of DNA: ‘If we don’t play God who will?’
Is it not the case that faced with a new challenge, or a crisis, or just the daily task of ministry responsibility, our natural tendency is to plan and act, not to pray? Do we not make our plans, and then ask God to help us achieve them, as if we should decide what to do, and that our power just needs topping up by God? When we read the Bible, is not our question ‘What should we do?’, rather than ‘What should we pray, and then do?’
We assent to the sovereignty of God, but often act as if God’s sovereignty is limited to giving infallible instructions, and not also in doing, acting, achieving, working, making everything happen, both in creation and in salvation. God is not just the divine instructor, while we do all the work! And we sometimes speak as if God’s kingdom is either extended or diminished by human decisions to accept his kingship! Not true! As Jesus said, ‘My Father is always at his work, and I too am working’ [Jn 5:17]. God is the CEO of the universe in creation and salvation!
God says to his people, ‘Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel’ [Jer 18:6].[1]
Yes, we shepherd the flock, but Jesus himself is the ‘chief shepherd’ [1 Pet 5:4]; the divine ‘good shepherd’ [Jn 10:11,14, and see also Ezek 34:11,23], who calls and gathers his sheep, feeds them, protects them, leads them, and also works through us as his under-shepherds.
We sow the kingdom seed, but God produces the harvest [Mk 4:26-9]. We plant and water the gospel seed, but it is God who gives the increase: ‘it is God who makes things grow’ [1 Cor 3:5-7].
We use our gifts, but it is Christ who is the source of all growth and life in his body, his people: ‘from [Christ] the whole body grows and builds itself up in love’ [Ephes 4:11-16].
To ministers who arrogantly claim power, Paul says, ‘What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you did not?’ [1 Cor 4:7].
We use our gifts, but it is God who is at work within us and by us. As we use them to serve each other in love: ‘it is the same God at work’ [1 Cor 12:6].
We work, but as Paul explains, the real work is done by God’s grace in us, through us, and by us: ‘I worked harder, yet it was not I, but the grace of God that was with me’ [1 Cor 15:10]. As we read in Acts, ‘the word of God spread’ [6:7].
God transforms us and enables us to do good: ‘we died with Christ… count yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus’ [Rom 6:8,11]; ‘it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose’ [Phil 2:13], ‘may God equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him’ [Heb 13:21].
And as we are still sinners, our good works and our prayers are only acceptable to God and so effective for his purposes, if we and they are covered by the grace of Christ. As John Calvin wrote,
The spots and blemishes of our good works are covered by the purity of Christ …. Our works are counted righteous before God, because any imperfections in them are obliterated by the blood of Christ,[2] [and], our prayers are acceptable to God only in so far as Christ sprinkled and sanctified them with the perfume of his own sacrifice.[3]
It is not any lack of gifts, energy, opportunity, ability or resources which hinders our usefulness to God: it is only our sin. Would that we pursued holiness through the blood of Christ as much as we either trusted old ideas, models strategies of techniques, or pursued new ideas, models, strategies, and techniques to do our ministry!
[We need both the blood of Christ to cleanse us and our ministry, and also the wisdom of God to shape our ministry wisely.]
Paul summarises God’s creation, sovereignty, providential care, and work of salvation in Christ in these wonderful words:
For from him and through him and for him are all things; [and the consequence], ‘to him be the glory for ever [Rom 11:36].
God works independently of us, not needing to make use of us. God also graciously works in us and through us, using our agency and our work.
But then he is always the senior partner: we are not! We are the junior helpers: he is not!
What are the signs that we get this wrong, underestimate the work of God, and overestimate human responsibility, work, and achievements?
Arrogance when we are humanly ‘successful’ in ministry; arrogance when we insist that our way of doing ministry is the only right way; our assumption that our preferences are unchangeable principles; our assumptions of infallibility; our assumption that effective ministry is only done by us, or by people trained or chosen by us, or by people like us; the worship of Christian ‘celebrities’; disillusionment and despair when we do not have visible ‘success’ in our ministry; our tendency to adopt the most recent publicly successful model of ministry from the USA, and then move on to the next one four years later; the assumption that what works in one content must work in another context [as if ministry is like a scientific experiment that takes no account of environment!]; our tendency to begin our ministry in a new place by implementing our plans, not first asking questions like, ‘What is God already doing in this church or ministry?’ ‘What gifts has God already given to these people?’ ‘What vision for ministry has God already given these people?’; and our tendency to blame ourselves or to get angry with others when our plans are not achieved.
God is powerfully present in his divine sovereignty. Do we preach, teach, minster, encourage, listen, counsel as if God is present and active, or as if he is remote and inactive? The Bible is not only ‘God’s instruction manual’ for life and ministry: it is also God’s gracious words to us in his presence with us in his words.
Let’s trust God, and trust his Messiah, and trust his Spirit!
Western society has over-dosed on human responsibility, and human achievement. Genesis 1 and 2 shows that God has given humans real responsibility and expects that we will work to achieve what God wants to happen in his world. But remember that it is an entirely dependent responsibility. It is God who created and enabled a life-giving world in the earlier part of Genesis 1.
Of course, if God is dead, then it is all up to us! But he is not dead: he lives, reigns and works in this world, and among his people.
For while our gracious God has given us gospel work to do, he still works independently of us, and also works within us, through us and by us.
I have often said to God,
This is your church, your ministry, your gospel plan. We can’t fix what is wrong, or make it work. Please do what only you can do, and do what you have promised to do, and achieve your gospel plan. For Jesus’ name, Amen.
Knowing that God is the worker, and that we are sometimes his helpers, leads to … less pride … less despair … more prayer … and more praise!
You may find it helpful to pray this prayer.
‘Gracious God and loving heavenly Father, we praise you for your work of creation, your work of sustaining and enabling this world and universe, your saving work through your Son on the cross, your work of calling sinners to repentance, and your work through Christ in building the church, and your constant work in us, through us, and by us.
Please forgive us when we are so self-centred that we think that we are the main workers in the world, in our church, in our families, and in our communities. Please continue to provide sunshine and rain, and our daily food and drink. Please continue to pour out your wisdom into human lives. Please continue to provide healing. Please continue to give gifts of government and leadership, human relationships and community, wisdom in research and artistic creativity, and the ability to receive and enjoy all your good gifts: for in you we all live and move and have our being. Please continue to call, convert, create, and mature your people, the church of Jesus Christ.
You made humans to assist you in your work of sustaining your world, maintaining human life and society, and in your gospel work in your world, and in building up your church.
Please also continue to do what you only can do, moment by moment, in every aspect of your world and your church.
Please continue to work through all humans, whether we know you or not, to sustain human communities through our daily work and responsibilities.
Please work in us your children, and by us and through us, as we serve you in your world and in your church.
Help us to pray as if all depends on you, and to work knowing that you are working, and also enabling us to work with you, with real agency, real responsibility, and real productivity, for your glory.
We thank you for giving us the dignity of doing good works through your power. Please continue to bring glory to yourself through our lives, our words, and our actions.
For Jesus’ sake, Amen.’
With warmest greetings in Christ,
Yours,
