Cheryl Schatz

PK,

Thanks for your comments and welcome to my blog! I do believe that God has given us all authority to use our gifts and the body of Christ needs to submit to the gifts that God gives in order for them to grow and be protected from spiritual danger. The problem is that many are not like you and do not see authority as a responsibility to protect and serve the body but rather as a way to demand respect and demand their own way by requiring people to follow them by the means of their authority instead of by the reason of their example as one who fulfills a calling to feed the sheep. When the “shepherd” becomes the focus instead of the service to the sheep, “authority” and “leadership” can become so distorted that it becomes a way to abuse the sheep instead of feed and protect them. Then the term “leader” becomes an abusive term and we all want to stay away from that.

However if a true “leader” has only the welfare of the sheep in mind and a deep love love for the body of Christ, that kind of leadership will naturally be welcomed because the sheep will hear by the example the good Shepherd’s voice.

PK that was a wonderful testimony that you gave about your wife’s abilities. Praise the Lord for a man who is not threatened by a godly woman who operates in her giftedness!