There is a very interesting portion of scripture in Luke 9. In this portion, Jesus lays out the cost of following Him; 67-62
“As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.”62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (ESV)
There are those who use these verses to support a view that those in ministry should live without much, as far as material things are concerned. Growing up in a home missionary family, my wife was always the recipient of clothes that came from the “missionary barrel” from various churches. This ”barrel” contained useful but often well-worn clothes that contributors gave after their own children had either outgrown or had no purpose for. I could write a book of the number of things that people heave “dropped off” at the church. Many items are often broken or have pieces missing. Most scripture seems to support the principle of giving the Lord our “best” or “first-fruits” and not simply what we have left over. Yes, Jesus is our ultimate source! I’m not completely sure that that was what Jesus was referring to even though a person should never enter the ministry making money the emphasis.
I’ve also heard those who take a much more theological approach to Jesus’ statement by saying, “until Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, He could not take His rightful place as ‘head of the church”. It’s the second of these ideas that I would like to focus on. The Apostle Paul made this statement to the church in Colossians 1:18 (ESV)
“And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
I was texting back and forth with a dear friend today and she mentioned how John the Baptist had to lose his head. John the Baptist was “the voice crying in the wilderness’ to “prepare the way for the Lord”. John’s focus was on repentance to prepare for the Kingdom Jesus focus was on receiving the kingdom because it “was at hand”. I believe there is a strong application as to where we are today.
To me, John the Baptist represents the old and present way of doing church. The emphasis is on repentance and ridding yourself of everything that hinders your walk with the Lord. However, much of the church is still gripped in the old system as the five-fold leadership which maintains a “CEO” mentality and welds their authority in the church. Ephesians 4:11 clearly states the role of the five-fold; to equip the body of Christ and allow them to move into maturity in their connection to Jesus with Jesus being the head; Ephesians 4:11-16 (ESV).
“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
Jesus must be returned to His position as the “head of the church”. The five-fold ministry gifts must give up their “lordship” of the church and restore their function as preparation of the church as the “image” of Christ. The Apostles and Prophets must reclaim their roles as wise “master – builders” and lay the foundation of the church so that all those in the church can capture their original purpose and design Ephesians 2;20 (ESV).
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,
The future is so exciting. If we allow God to lead and discipline us in the present day, we will become the image of Christ in the world that will be irresistible to the broken. The only hinderance is not being willing to go where He is leading us. We all have a tendency to demonize that which we don’t understand. My good friend “John Arnot” said that those who grasped what God did in the previous move always persecutes and resists what God is doing in the new or next move. When we’re uncomfortable, we always have a tendency to go back to the comfortable instead of pressing into the new thing that God is doing. We must go forward and not backward.
This final move of God will totally release Jesus to be the Head of the church. As Jesus “only did what He saw the Father doing”, so those who totally love Jesus will only do what He instructs them to do. This is the essence of the “Gospel of the Kingdom” that Jesus said that must go to the ends pf the earth (Matthew 24:14). He is the head and the those in the body only do what the head tells them too. Like John the Baptist, we must be willing to lose our heads so that Jesus can have His rightful place as being the head of everything, especially the church.