leaders – Gird Your Mind

“Why do your disciples not walk according to…” Mark 7:1-8

The scribes and Pharisees again come out from Jerusalem to take another look at Jesus and his teachings. They readily observed that the disciples were eating with unwashed hands. And their implication was that Jesus was negligent for not requiring them to do so.

This time their complaint seems incredibly picky to us, but to them it was of tremendous importance. They do not mean that the disciples were eating with dirty hands, but that they had not followed the prescribed ritual to rid themselves of all unholy contamination caused by contact with the outside world. The Jews were well known for their slavish devotion to this tradition, which not only including washing their hands up to the wrists but extended also to cups, pots and pans. And tradition it was. The Law never required such cleansing. But their traditions were held in such regard that they even superseded the law of God.

Jesus is quick to point this out. He quotes from the respected prophet Isaiah, saying that these religious leaders were hypocrites (play actors), portraying themselves as something they were not. They knew which words to say about just about everything, but their hearts were not in tune with God and the intent of His word. Further, their worship was self-serving and of no worth to God because they exalted the ideas and commands of men above even what God had to say.

We may wonder what all the fuss was about, but then we have enjoyed a couple of thousand years of freedom in Christ. But that does not mean our lives as Christians have not been impacted by the pronouncements of religious leaders and organizations above and beyond what God requires. The pressure to define who’s “in” and who’s “out” permeates even our Christian society. However, we humans lack the resources to judge even those most like ourselves.

The trick is to keep in mind who you are trying to please. If it is a person, the rules may well change with every person you happen to meet. If it is God, rest assured He will look past your outward appearance and actions and examine your heart, seeing what you are really about.

Leaders can sometimes leave the impression that they are neither accountable to nor receive help from anyone. They shoulder the responsibility alone, bearing the brunt of the stress and hardship of a thankless job for the sake of a feckless lot.

Stop. That’s not the way it is to be done in the church. Leaders do not lead out of a sense of compulsion or even a sense of “Well, I have to – no one else is taking care of it!” Instead, leadership comes from a willing heart conforming to the will of God, drawn to serve God by serving His people. A sense of eagerness pervades the leader’s spirit, guiding and directing without domination and teaching by example.

Remember, Peter has just been talking about suffering and the fact that the church will be first to be judged. The elders (or leaders) will be held to the same high standards as everyone else. He now turns to these leaders, exhorting them to be good shepherds of the flock. Peter reminds them that he is a fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ. In the end he, like them, will receive that unfading crown of glory from the Chief Shepherd. It is a reward they must wait for, but it will surely come.

For more, see 1 Peter 5:1-4

Ins and outs

Shepherd the flock