Leaders and Errors

Today I slept in. Not so much as even a wink was out of sheer laziness, but utter exhaustion from the previous weak, staying up too late, and a stiff neck and back that has been haunting me faithfully for two weeks now. I've come to the conclusion that the stiff neck is my bed and pillows, my exhaustion is part of being a student and full-time manager at McDonald's, and the constant eating of fattening fast-food is definitely not providing the energy I need for all this. My solution is to sleep on my couch, take some anti-inflammatory medicine, and stop eating McDonald's.

Not eating McDonald's is hard because my meals are free, it's fast, and readily available. But as of today I'm going to make an attempt to quit McDonald's for the coming week. Please pray for me as I undertake what seems to be a difficult task. This is something that is so easily overlooked and fouled up because it's so tempting to gorge and give in to such a simple luxury many of us overlook. It's funny to even think that I am sitting here fighting the temptation to eat food that is mass-produced for the masses and sold to cater to the American god of appetite. I too have fallen victim to this idol and abuse it regularly. Now one must put into perspective the challenge of knowing when too much is excess.

Isn't it interesting that the fast food folly is not only consistent with how we abuse our diets, health, and attitude toward others, it's also consistent with how we demand our way in the world. We treat people in a manner that demands instant gratification on our part, we abuse what is a privilege to have in our abundance of food, and we demand instantaneous results from everything. This is a dangerous state of mind for us to be in as it almost always will cause negative reaction when the expected results being sought are not achieved.

Interestingly enough, this has become applied to how we as Christians often do service in the church, worship, and in our witness to the world through our lives. So many of us fall victim to this and overlook it because it has become the status-quo.

Leadership in the Church seems to have fallen victim to this practice as well. What has gone from being an issue that is ordained, fulfilled, and brought to fruition through God's will is now a situation that is satisfied by the filling of slots by warm bodies. Sometimes these warm bodies may meet qualifications in some form or another, but never fully encompass what the Scriptures lay forth as standards. The next thing you know, you have immature, undiscerning, naive individuals assuming roles over not just people sitting in pews every Sunday morning, but the souls of men!

Now that we so recklessly overlook the God given method of fulfilling leadership in the Body of Christ, we provide fertile ground for which the enemy begins to wreak havoc. Error seeps in, teaching and edifying is ignored, the Scriptures are placed on the back burner, and traditions begin to trump the truth of the Word. We now have what has always been becoming the way it's always going to be! Leadership no longer leads and lost sheep assume the role reserved for those who have been called of God to become overseers and aspire to teach the flock (1 Tim 3:1).

So, how is it that we are to provide a check and balance for this? Is it a fast-food method of doing church part of the problem? Are we witnessing a true Americanized, my way burger kind, dollar size-up-size my church problem occurring? How does the body act in order to guard the flock against deceivers, liars, and wolves in sheep's clothing? Is it the job of the Church to go about examining every teacher and in return devoting all ministry to proving that teachers negligence? Or is it the job of the Church and it's leaders to protect the flock and serve Christ through the equipping of the saints to protect them selves from this kind of infiltration?

I'll end with this, some think that the error of the Church today is it's lack of purity and ability to be as salt and light to the world is a result of the way they "Do" church. Some would also say that it is a matter of the church masquerading as the bride when it is not the church at all. I ask you this, and would openly request your opinions on this subject, what do you feel is the cause for the abundance of seemingly apparent error in mainstream Christianity and what role do you think the placement of leadership and how it's carried out plays?

Tell me, what's your opinion? You can comment below, or leave an email here.