Cheryl Schatz

Mike,

You said:

Then why would they be leaders, if they have no real purpose or no authority?

First of all there is authority in the church and that authority over us is the Lord Jesus and his Word.

Leaders on the other hand are called to serve and to lordship.  What Paula has written is right in that the view we wish to express is that the authority is in the word and leadership is advocated but not with a view to take authority over other members of the body of Christ.

I understand that this may be a brand new concept for you.  I can understand that.  This is the reason why I do not advocate for women taking authority over the church.  It is because no one should be doing this since Jesus said that the greatest leaders should be the greatest servants.  The servants should be sacrificing of themselves to lift us up so that we are empowered to serve.  There has been way too much of superstar leaders who believe that the church is there to serve them.  Their way leads to abuse.  The way of the Master does not lead to abuse.  It is the servanthood model and since Jesus is the one who created this model and showed us how it can be accomplished by his serving the church while he was here on the earth and then taking his servanthood to the ultimate place of sacrifice by dying for us, we should fear God and not even consider lording it over others.

I do appreciate your thoughts!  Your questions and your concerns are accepted and they keep us on our toes!

There is much on this blog that can be of service to you.  There is a whole lot of teaching on the hard passages of scripture as well as other articles that deconstruct faulty thinking.

Go ahead and keep pushing for understanding and your comments are welcome even if you don’t agree.  My purpose here is to serve in anyway that I can so that the body of Christ is built up in love.

Much blessing,
Cheryl