FOLLOW THE LEADER“It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of
the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers,
chose seven men from among you who are known to
be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this
responsibility over to them and will give our attention
to prayer and the ministry of the word. This proposal
pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, Philip,
Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas.
They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed
and laid their hands on them.”It is important to note what the Bible says happened as a result of this
shared leadership:
“So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in
Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests
became obedient to the faith” (Acts 6:1-7).It is easy to see how this shared leadership resulted in new explosive
growth in the early church! Once again we see that the principle of
partner leadership results in growth by multiplication – rather than growth
by addition.
We can also see that this was the pattern of leadership that Paul gave to
the churches he planted. He reminded them that God gave certain leaders
to His church – not to do all the work, but rather to train others to do all the
work.
“It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be
prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and
teachers, TO PREPARE, TO EQUIP GOD’S PEOPLE
FOR WORKS OF SERVICE, so that the body of Christ
may be built up...” (Eph. 4:11-12).God’s leadership plan for His church has never changed. It is still the role
of the leaders to “...equip the saints to do the work of ministry” (NASV).
When that happens, the body of Christ grows and is “built up.”
The above examples from Moses...the seventy elders...Christ...the Apostles...
the seventy-two...the Apostle Paul...the seven deacons...the early church – all