“For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers.”
1 Cor. 4:15
These days, we are inundated with aspirational books and blogs by articulate but unproven advocates for this and that movement, pet doctrine or agenda …
… while there are too few spiritual moms and dads, quietly laboring without name or fame in committed local fellowships to build strong believers.
Fortunately, God is changing this dynamic.
While some want to instruct and inspire the masses with lofty ideas that have not yet been proven or matured in their own lives …
… effective leaders are content to reproduce in just a few what God has truly taught them.
We all would do well to listen to the latter, and be cautious of the former.
~ Jim Wright
Crossroad Junction 
Non at all. Except of course for the Leader, the Holy Spirit…
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I understand how many have been hurt by abusive or controlling leadership, and thus reject the idea of leadership in the church. Yet the New Testament clearly affirms the role of elders and others. The question is not whether there is to be leadership, but the proper form and function of leadership.
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Well spoken and much needed. Thank you!
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Thanks Chris. BTW, I’ve been following your three part series on “What is Church?”, and think it is excellent. For others, here’s the link:
http://radicalfish.net/what-is-church/
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At first glance, the problems of bad leadership appear to be the weaknesses and failures of men. However, I believe that these failures are structural. Because we have wandered from Christ’s teaching “call no one master”, “do not Lord over others”, and “you have one teacher and you are all brothers.” More to the point regarding father-son relationships, whether physical/emotional or spiritual, the relationship is not predicated on hierarchy or “lording over” but on mutual respect: the son for the father for the gift of life, care, and model behavior and the father towards the son for recognizing that he has come of age.
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