Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I am Won KIM, voicing Pastor Caleb Soo Lee Chong. Shalom. Today, we’ll carry on with our discussions on “Leadership View of a Disciple”.

Whether a church does well or not is closely linked to the quality of its leaders. The council of a church is akin to the cabinet of the government of a country. The policy and development of a country is decided by the quality of its cabinet ministers. Therefore, while the people have a responsibility to choose their best representatives, the government is responsible for putting up its best choice to helm the cabinet. Likewise, church believers, too, have the responsibility to pick the best people to be their leaders. The question, now, is this: what type of leaders do we need to do the job?

Let me put up some propositions for you to ponder over, before I proceed to offer my explanations.

1）Leaders in this world depend on their human capabilities, knowledge and plans to get things done. However, the bible shows God engaging suitable workers to carry out His work as He attached great importance to their spiritual lives in doing so. Isn’t this saying that knowledge and gifts are not important? Do you agree?

I would only say that the above position is only partially true--the leaders in the world depend on their human capabilities, knowledge and plans to get things done. In the bible, however, God does make use of suitable workers to carry out His work. Between the two, God attaches greater importance to one’s spiritual attributes. The conclusion is incorrect, however, as the bible did not take the position that knowledge and gifts are not important. Both of these come from God Himself, and both are of importance; if managed wisely, to do the job in a more effective manner.

In the example of the Apostle Paul, His spiritual life puts him well ahead of the rest. However, God made use of him not just because of this quality of his, but also due to the fact that he is a very knowledgeable person. God uses Paul much more than He used the other apostles, because his knowledge puts him head and shoulders above the rest. While as church leaders, we emphasize the standing of one’s spiritual life as a matter of course, decisions must not be made at the expense of spiritual gifts, talents and knowledge either. May God help us.

2）Leaders are born, not made. Do you agree?

There is no doubt that inborn qualities are indispensable to the make-up of a good leader. However, no great talents can emerge without going through a painful moulding process. A case in point is Moses. Even with his innate qualities (he was endowed with great talents and was knowledgeable), Moses still had to undergo training in Pharoah’s palace. God was to put him out into the wilderness, and he went through an excruciating stage before he was ready to deliver his fellow Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Hence the right answer here is a combination of nature and nurture.

3) God had to use some people with low moral standards as leaders, as He could not find other suitable vessels to do the job. Do you agree?

No doubt, this postulation is fallacious. God used some people with low moral standards as leaders because this is within his sovereignty to do so. The call was His to make when He chose someone like Samson with his immoral ways to rule over Israel. Strictly speaking, it would be preposterous to state that He could not find other suitable persons to do the job, as it was taught in the Bible in the book of Luke chapter 3 verse 8, “…. for I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.” Is there anything that our Almighty cannot achieve? Most of the time, it is during such situations that His sovereignty shines through in its full glory.

4）All leaders used by God will have to undergo a tempering process through suffering, is that right?

Yes, indeed, most leaders used by God as mentioned in the bible must undergo a tempering process of suffering. As said before, the story of Moses confirms that beyond a shadow of doubt. Indeed, God used him after their encounter in the wilderness.

However, this is not cast in stone, either. God is able to use some people who did not experience such sufferings to do His work. Solomon is one such example. He did not go through fire and water, but was greatly used by God all the same.

5）Political leaders (Kings) have a greater impact on the lives of ordinary people than religious leaders (prophets). Do you agree?

Wrong. True, there were times when political leaders (kings) had a greater impact on the lives of ordinary people than religious leaders (prophets) because the former played more important roles, especially during the period recorded under the Book of Kings in the Old Testament.  

There were times, however, when prophets held greater sway than kings, especially during the years under captivity. Jeremiah was raised up by God during that stage to go through these tough times. Were it not for this prophet walking alongside them, beefing them up and showing the way ahead, the Israelites may have disappeared into the wilderness. We see, therefore, that these prophets were wielding far greater influence than the kings during that period.

There were also times when both kings and prophets were influencing the common folks together. We see this at work during the time of Elijah, when King Ahab was to bring destruction to the spirituality of the Israelites. At the same time, however, the Prophet Elijah was playing a major role in getting the Israelites to return to God. It would be wrong to claim that the kings were more powerful in their influence relative to the prophets.

6）A good leader will get the support of the people. What do you say?

Not necessarily so; it is wrong. A good leader may not get the support of the people. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the stoning of Stephen to death are clear examples of this. Will a good leader be treated well? We knew that was not the case from what the prophets went through, even up to the apostolic period. I am afraid to say that today is not that different either.

A person who is determined to spread the word of God to the common folks may not draw strong support or positive response from the people. However, there is no need for anyone who has come under criticism to feel blue all over. Chew on this: why are the children aiming stones at the tree? Why is that happening? It is because of the ripe fruits hanging from it. My point is, you will be disparaged if you are carrying good stuff with you. Why should people be setting their sights at you when you have nothing on you? Of course, it is more important for us to do some soul-searching if we find ourselves at the cross-hairs of these people who are out to get us. Who are they? If these are knaves of some sort, then we must be true gentlemen. Should our critics turn out to be true gentlemen, we should look inwards and ask ourselves in raw honesty if we are the knaves. If both the knaves and gentlemen are hitting out at us, then it is time for us to search our hearts scrupulously to find out if we have been playing double-faced men.

7）Moral requirements for leaders are to be pegged above those for the common man. Do you think so?

I agree to this position. The influence from a leader far exceeds that from the common man; thus, moral requirements for leaders are pegged to be above those for the common man. When Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with the staff in disobedience to God and water gushed out, God said that he will not enter the holy land of Canaan. In the Bible, see the books of Numbers chapter 20 verses 7-11 and Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 51. It is all about the sovereignty of God as well as His standards. Thus, it is important for us as leaders in the church to take on extra vigilance and not allow our moral standards to fall. Rather, we are to remind ourselves constantly to take up greater responsibility towards God. At the same time, we are also to uphold our commitments in shepherding our flock and fellow believers with as high of moral standards of responsibility as is possible. May God help us.

Where does the spiritual leader’s authority come from?

Let us think a bit deeper here. Worldly leaders usually win support from their followers with their extraordinary capabilities and unusual personal charisma. If the spiritual leaders of the day lack the gift of preaching and other special skills, should the church goers be following him still? For that matter, where does the authority of the pastor come from?

Dear brothers and sisters, strictly speaking, one’s submission to his spiritual leader should not rest on the latter’s position, gifts, talents or skills, title and similar worldly attributes, but on whether he has been called by God to be a spiritual leader. How do we ascertain that? We can tell by his service, spiritual life and power.

A pastor who is truly called by God would have been conferred due authority, and as such, deserve our respect. Even if he has come short or failed in some undertakings, on no occasion should he be “stoned”. David chose not to harm Saul when he had an opportunity to kill him but said, “May the LORD forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed”. Our brothers and sisters in our church should take a leaf from David’s book --- fear of God. Leave it to God to take up the case as He deems fit; never allow our sword to come crashing down on someone in such a state.

Dear brothers and sisters, let us bear this in mind: Fear the LORD, and continue to pray for our leaders. Pick the best people to lead our church forward and increase our harvest. Amen!

Let’s pray

Dear Heavenly Father,

We are thankful for being called because you love us. Yes, in your sovereignty you have called upon us to become your servants, the leaders of the church and the shepherd of your flock. O, Lord, we thank You! May GOD use us, preserve the intent of our hearts, and gift us with good morals, character, and spiritual lives so that we will stay close to you, now and always, and become people who know your heart, and use that to teach others amongst us. Let us take on the responsibilities to empower your flock so that they may be well pastored and fully blessed. May God protect us and bless our church. In the blessed name of the Lord Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Recommendations by Rev. Dr Caleb SOO Lee Chong

The three books “The Gospel for the Modern Man”, “Faith of the Modern Believer” and “Values for the Modern Disciple” by Rev. Dr Caleb SOO Lee Chong are worthy books to edify disciples. In order to minimize differences in the qualities amongst Christians, our churches need to set up basic courses to address these issues. In turn, this will enable all disciples to incorporate their faith into their lives and allow changes to take place through renewal of minds. May God make use of these basic courses to edify more disciples to strengthen His soldiers and claim victory on His battle-ground!

The three books “The Gospel for the Modern Man”, “Faith of the Modern Believer” and “Values for the Modern Disciple” are suitable course materials for anyone who wish to acquire understanding of the Christian faith in a more comprehensive manner. The contents are easy to grasp and relate to the real world that we are living in. They are written with an eye for the man-in-the-street and explore how to make our faith come alive in our daily social interactions.

In particular, these are suitable if you  

1. are someone who wants to understand the Christian faith or,

2. are someone who has just accepted the Christian faith or,

3. have been a Christian for many years but still hungering for a firmer grounding in the faith or,

4. are a pastor or co-worker who plans to use these materials for teaching purposes.

If you need to take up learning or use these materials in a systematic manner, please us contact at this email address.： [email protected]