'Every Man A Leader'
A safe place for leaders to overcome

What is the ultimate target?

 

What should ALL followers of Jesus of the Bible be working towards?

The two great commandments AND the great commission. (Mattew 22:37-40, 28:18-20) Love God with everything you have, Love your neighbor as yourself, and Go make disciples.

This is a BOTH AND combination target not an EITHER OR. To love others without the love of God or the gospel is the world’s definition of love. The great commission without God’s definition of love is no more than James 2 faith without works. You cannot separate the gospel from God’s love.

 

What is the ultimate commitment?

 

Jesus’ new commandment John 13:34, 15:12-13. In the great commandment, you shall love your neighbor as yourself, Jesus raised the standard from ‘yourself’ to Jesus himself as the standard. Now we should love our neighbor as Jesus loved us.  ‘This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.’

 

The levels of commitment.  How much do you love Jesus?

 

Apostate men:

 

0) Calls himself a Christian but is actively practicing rebellion toward God. This is the book of Jude man.

 

1) Literally in name only, a cultural Christian, no fruit whatsoever. ‘I grew up in Christian home’. Ignorant and apathetic towards Jesus.

 

2) Walked away from the institutional church. Has a ‘private faith’. No fruit or pursuit of God. No fellowship with the greater body of Christ. Confuses the living ecclesia of God with the institutional church.

 

3) Goes to church two times per year, Christmas and Easter.

 

Passive men in the church:

 

4) Goes to church Sundays, may donate occasionally. Actively goes to a building once a week.

 

5) Occasionally attends ‘Sunday school’, a mid-week bible study or a one-time ministry activity.

 

6) Consistently yet passively attends men’s breakfast, men’s discussion group, a vague Bible presentation as a consumer. Not an active participant or applying Bible truths to his life. Church activities are simply entertainment that may relieve religious guilt, or are a self-focused religious ritual.

 

Active men in the church:

 

7) Actively contributes in church activities. Not a passive consumer. Shows spiritual fruit of the Holy Spirit. Proactively digs into scripture, strives to grow in the Lord.

 

8) Gives substantially in time and talents, involved with helping manage church programs, initiating ministries, and perhaps a church elder or deacon. May be a ‘leader’ in the church.

 

9) Commits with a few other men for deeper prayer, encouragement and accountability to follow Jesus no matter where He leads. Meets one-on-one with other men for mutual spurring one another on to love and good works. Sensing the ‘edge of the inside of the bubble’ of the institutional church.

 

Men active beyond the church:

 

10) Pursues an active personal faith beyond the institutional church. Witnessing, leading Bible studies, disciplining, serving in para ministries. Not dependent on the institutional church for his relationship with Jesus.  Independently motivated, not church motivated.

Strives for leadership outside the institutional church structures. May seem as dangerous and threatening to the institutional church leadership. Someone in the pew who lives Jesus in their personal life inside and outside of church. Men who take proper responsibility for discipling their own spouse and children and reject offloading their parenting to a ‘youth group’ thereby abdicating their responsibility. Yet even with all this, may plateau, still clinging to a comfortable 1st world lifestyle.

 

11) Conscious choice to keep pushing ahead, to love Jesus more and more.  Consistent commitment to advance, not plateau or retreat. A greater degree of intentionality and sacrifice. Men who strive to initiate and are proactive. Men who speak out for truth in love. Men who serve and help. Men who practice love. Men who make decisions and learn wisdom and courage. Men who step out and stand when others may draw back in fear. Men who are humble. Men who overcome.

 

The men of ultimate commitment:

 

12) This is the ultimate target commitment level. Jesus’ new commandment John 13:34, 15:12-13.  Men who ‘leave it all on the field’ in following Jesus. Risk all - being shamed and rejected by the world, hardships, jail, abandonment, martyrdom. What did most of these men have in common? They loved as Jesus loved. They spoke boldly. They confronted the culture. They endured conflict. They lost everything.

Men who long to be 100% sold-out, as available, completely disposable vessels in the Father's hands for his glory. God has put in his heart a longing for his eternal kingdom of righteousness. In short, his heart's desire is to live 100% for his renown reflecting his glory. Men of valor and tenacity, grace and gentleness; mentors of courage, wisdom, sacrifice, passion, vision, and selfless dedication to the living God without compromise or complacency.

This is Jesus. These are the apostles and martyrs. These are the Hebrew’s 11 men.

 

Luke 14:33 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. Mark 8:35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. NKJV