Earthly Spiritual Leaders
I think that Hebrews 5 is one of my favorite passages of scripture
with respect to spiritual leadership. I
like it because it is so naturally humbling and honest. The author is crystal clear about the nature
of sin in our human spiritual leaders.
You see, spiritual leaders all go through some kind of vetting
process. Whether it is an ordination
board, a candidacy committee, a graduate degree panel, a board of elders within
a church, etc – every single spiritual leader goes through some kind of
process. We are appointed, elected, and
charged with relating to God on behalf of the people. It is a mighty charge and an incredible
calling.
Yet, it is not a calling that takes away our sinfulness. Every single one of us is guilty of the very
things we preach against. Every single
one of us has to begin each and every day with a humble look at our own
sinfulness. Before any spiritual leader
can offer any kind of help to a fellow human being we must first repent of
their own sinfulness and make our relationship with the Lord right. Every single spiritual leader must do this –
preferably every single day.
It forces us to be humble.
That’s what I love about this passage.
You cannot read this passage as a spiritual leader and not come face to
face with a need to be humble before God.
Christ is No Different, But for Entirely Different Reasons
The author makes a great point here that Christ is absolutely no
different. Jesus did not seek to become
a spiritual leader out of His own ego.
Jesus did not appoint Himself to be Messiah. Rather, God appointed Him to be the Messiah
in His Sonship. Jesus did not seek to
become a priest, but through the order of Melchizedek He becomes a priest. Since Jesus was of the line of David – and
King through the line of David – it makes sense to understand Him as a priest
through the order of Melchizedek. {For more information on this, see the
footnote for my blog post on 2 Samuel 6 as well as my blog post for Psalm 110.}
Therefore, we can say that Christ is no different in that He
displayed great humbleness in taking on the role that God asked of Him. He did not seek to become a king, but became
the greatest king for whom any of us could ever ask. He did not seek to become a priest, but He
became the greatest priest for whom any of us could ever ask. He did not seek it from God; He took on the
mantle that God asked of Him. Spiritual
leadership always begins in humbleness before God. In this respect, Christ is no different.
However, we can also say that Christ is entirely different. Those spiritual leaders who are fully human –
such as myself – are humble before God because of our sinful nature. Our flesh is corrupt. We come to God in humble approach not just
because it is the right thing to do but because it is the necessary thing to do
on account of our sinful nature. Christ
has no sinful nature. Christ does not
need to begin His service to God by offering up a sacrifice for His own
nature. Christ is perfect in every way.
Christ as Our Example
Through this understanding of Christ’s perfection as well as His
humbleness, we arrive now at our need to look at Him as our example. Of course this makes sense to us. Christ should be our example. He was perfect in every way. He displayed the greatest relationship with
God that a person could have.
However, there is another reason to look to Christ as an
example. While He was alive, He got to
know the human process. He knows what
growth and maturity are like. He knows
what sickness and infirmity are like. He
knows what temptation is like. He knows
what it is like to experience hunger, thirst, and weariness. Yet through it all He continued in faith
towards God.
Learning Obedience
One does have to ask, just how does the Son of God learn
anything? After all, is He not God? Does He not “know” everything?
The word used here really means “to learn through
experience.” This is different than
academic knowledge. This is more like
learning muscle memory. Jesus knew how
to be obedient. In fact, as His nature
of being God would mandate, He could not be anything but obedient. However, Jesus could learn the human process
of obedience. He could learn how
obedience feels. He could learn how the
world rejects those who are obedient to God.
Again, this isn’t a learning in an academic sense but rather more like a
“feeling through the process.” This is
what allows Jesus to truly be our mediator.
He knows God’s perspective, but He also very much knows our perspective
as well.
Learning Obedience
As we conclude this passage, the author of Hebrews is rather
blunt. In Hebrews 5:11 he makes a bold
proclamation: “You have become dull of hearing.” I actually prefer the translation of “lazy”
to “dull.” It isn’t that the recipients
of this letter are incapable of learning.
It isn’t that the material is all that hard. It is that the recipients have come to a
place in their life where this faith stuff just doesn’t matter as much in their
life as it should.
The author tells them that they should be teachers in the faith by
now. This is a really challenging point
– one that I don’t think many Christians really enjoy. I think many people are content coming and
letting other people lead. Many people
are content telling themselves that “they aren’t skilled enough” or “they
aren’t smart enough” to actually lead and teach. Personally, I think that is a lie. God doesn’t equip us to just work. God equips us to work as well as to disciple
the next generation of workers!
I’ve heard it said that Jesus’ goal on this earth was not to make
disciples. After all, if we don’t cry out
to God then the rocks will! Instead,
Jesus’ goal was to make disciples who could make disciples. The goal isn’t producing the next generation
of faith. The goal is producing a next
generation of faith that is capable of producing another generation of faith
beyond them. {Forgive me if this sounds too works-based righteousness. I acknowledge that it is God who instills
faith.}
So the author of Hebrews lays down the smack a little. He tells his audience that they are under
performing. They are under-achieving. How long have they been in a relationship
with God? Why aren’t they in a place of
spiritual leadership by now?
These are deep questions I think we can all benefit from
pondering. If the goal is to make
disciples who can make disciples – where do you {and where do I} fit in that goal?
Am I living out God’s calling for me?
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