DEDICATION AND LEADERSHIP: EVERYONE S CALL

Transcription

1 {Slide 1.1 & 1.2} DEDICATION AND LEADERSHIP: EVERYONE S CALL {Slide 2.1} I. What is the Body of Christ to seek? {Slide 2.2} A. Matthew 6:33 But seek first the Kingdom (of God) and His righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. B. We face temptations to put other things first: fitting in, being liked, affluence, material wealth, keeping up with the Joneses, getting rest, enjoying our hobbies, etc. C. None of these is bad in and of itself they become destructive only when they get ahead of seeking first His Kingdom and His Righteousness. The Lord has said, in a seeming paradox, that we will obtain these more when we subordinate them to seeking His Kingdom and Righteousness. {Slide 3.1} II. As a body within the Body of Christ, how are we in the Sword of the Spirit, and specifically in the People of God, to seek first God s Kingdom? {Slide 3.2} A. Build, Maintain, and expand the Bulwark B. Clearing up misinterpretations of bulwark. [In the Our Call course, there is a talk on mission that does this very nicely.] 1. Does involve fortification, but that is not its only essential component. 2. Bulwarks were centers of cultural influence conveying a way of life that they possessed to the Indians. 3. Linked together for mutual support in their mission of spreading the influence of a culture.

2 {Slide 3.3} 4. In the bulwark system, EVERYONE in them is on mission {Slide 3.4} 5. In our case, that means seeking first the Kingdom of God both individually and collectively as a community of disciples on mission. (J-term) III. An avenue of insight the importance of dedication and leadership {Slide 4.1} A. Gratitude to Paul Kersting for introducing me to the book Dedication and leadership, by Douglas Hyde, maybe 30 years ago {Slide 4.2} B. Douglas Hyde: From 1928 to 1948 was an active Communist. In 1948 resigned as editor of the London Daily Worker. He left Communism and shortly joined the Catholic Church along with his wife and children. {Slide 4.3} Although he whole-heartedly rejected Communism, he believed it had something to teach Christians about developing dedication and leadership things that were not intrinsic to Communism but that were applicable to building the Kingdom of God. IV. Themes of relevance to us it contains much more than I can discuss. {Slide 5.1} A. Dedication [Talking with a disillusioned ex-communist] Then, very wistfully he said: Do you remember what life was really like in the party? You got up in the morning and as you shaved you were thinking of the jobs you would do for Communism that day. You went down to breakfast and read the Daily Worker to get the Party line to get the shot and shell for a fight in which you

3 were already involved. You read every item in the paper wondering how you might be able to use it for the cause. I never had been interested in sport but I read the sports pages in order to be able to discuss sport with others and to be able to say to them, Have you read this in the Daily Worker? I would follow this through by giving them the paper in the hope they might turn from the sports pages and read the political ones too. On the bus or the train, on my way to work, I read the Daily Worker as ostentatiously as I could, holding it up so that others might read the headlines and perhaps be influenced by them. I took two copies of the paper with me; the second one I left in the seat in the hope that someone would pick it up and read it. When I got to work, I kept the Daily Worker circulating.at lunch.i made a practice of sitting with different groups in order to spread my influence as widely as I could. I did not thrust Communism down their throats but steered our conversations in such a way that they could be brought round to politics or the campaigns which the Party was conducting at the time. Before I left work there was a quick meeting of the factory group or cell. There we discussed the successes and failures of the day. And we discussed what we hoped to be able to do on the following day. I dashed home, went out, maybe to attend classes, maybe to be a tutor, maybe to join some Communist campaign, canvassing or selling Communist papers doing something for Communism. And I went home at night and dreamed of the jobs I was going to do for Communism the next day. Rather sadly he added: You know, life had some meaning and some purpose in those days. Life was good in the Communist Party. (22-24) {Slide 5.2} 1. This man was formerly devoted to a counterfeit gospel, an anti-gospel called Communism. Yet his life in the Communist Party had seemed good,

4 meaningful and purposeful because it tapped into a fundamental need in our nature to be dedicated to something greater than ourselves. 2. Augustine said to the Lord, Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee. The Lord recently spoke to us of His love and presence with us, of having different priorities from ours, of empowering us to do His Will, and of how we would find peace and fulfillment in doing His Will. 3. We are called to be dedicated to the Lord s Kingdom and His Righteousness, to seek Him and His Kingdom first, with the kind of singlemindedness that this sad former Communist once had for an ultimately foul and misguided cause. {Slide 5.3} 4. Are you now or have you ever been so dedicated to the Lord and His Kingdom as that man was to Communism? If so, you know that it is glorious. {Slide 5.4} It is how I want to live the rest of my days on earth. It is how I want you to live the remainder of your days here as well. {Slide 6.1} 5. A couple more thoughts on dedication things Hyde learned from Communism but how much more apply to us: a. If you ask me what is the distinguishing mark of the Communist,.I would say beyond any shadow of doubt it is their idealism, their zeal, dedication, devotion to their cause and willingness to sacrifice. (pp ) I do not say we lack this I say that insofar as we have this zeal, dedication and willingness to sacrifice for the cause of Christ, IT IS GOOD! b. Their aim is quite clear.it is a Communist world (p. 11). Let us be sure our aim is quite clear the Kingdom of God

5 {Slide 6.2} established on earth as far as possible, with as many brought into it as possible. {Slide 6.3} c. [T]he first requirement, if you are going to produce a leader for a cause, is that he should be dedicated. (p. 26) {Slide 7.1} B. Leadership 1. The winning combination for forming leaders: {Slide 7.2} a. To zeal and enthusiasm must be added understanding. (p.30) {Slide 7.3} b. [I]f you are going to be equipped to lead in the modern world, you must learn as much as possible about the things in which you believe. {Slide 7.4} C. And you must use what you learn. (p. 30) {Slide 7.5} 2. Leadership is formed of dedication, receiving teaching, and putting it into action. {Slide 8.1} a. We have much teaching and a strong body of common and important teaching in the Sword of the Spirit. {Slide 8.2} b. Almost any Communist tutor worth his salt finishes each class with these words: What are the comrades going to do about what they have learned

6 today? How are you going to apply it to the hospital.school.factory.neighborhood where you are living? (p. 56) {Slide 8.3} The first item on the agenda when the class next meets will be: How did the comrades apply what they learned last week? (p.56) {Slide 9.1} 3. So the Communists set about trying to use just as effectively as they can the human material that is at their disposal. Every Communist a leader, every factory a fortress is one of their slogans. But it is more than a slogan, it is an aim, and one which they set out very determinedly to achieve. The meaning behind the slogan is this: each party member must be so trained that no matter where he may find himself he will be qualified to come forward and lead; and, when you have sufficient such members together in a given factory or within some organization, they can make this a fortress for Communism. (p. 29) 4. Every member of the People of God a leader maintaining and expanding the Bulwark wherever we go this makes an excellent slogan and aim for us. {Slide 9.2 & 9.3} 5. They cannot all be leaders of the Communist Party itself, for it would be a case of all chiefs and no Indians.Each Communist Party member is expected to be a leader in any field of activity into which life may take him. (p. 148) {Slide 10.1} a. We cannot all lead inside the community however given our size and resources, it is probably important that we all serve within the community as best we are able. Some possible internal ways to serve the maintenance and expansion of the Bulwark, none of which necessarily is feasible for all: {Slides 10.2 & 10.3} Serve in Children s Ministry

7 {Slide 10.4} Work Summer Camp {Slide 10.5} Make newcomers feel welcome at our meetings {Slide 10.6} Help with the various nuts and bolts things that make a gathering, a breakfast, a retreat or other event possible. {Slide 10.7} Serve UCO and/or our Youth Groups {Slide 10.8} Help brothers & sisters with material needs or labor to accomplish things, etc. {Slide 10.9} Give alms Intercession {Slide 11.1} The Lord hears us {Slide 11.2} We have spiritual armor and weapons such as the world does not comprehend. {Slide 11.3} I am very happy to say that we do these things. Thank you. I encourage you to recognize that you are building God s Kingdom and helping to pass it on to others (including subsequent generations) when you do these things. If the Lord shows you a new avenue of service, I encourage you to respond to the Lord.

8 {Slide 12.1} b. Contributing is important to feeling truly a part of something. {Slide 12.2} If you do not feel a part of things, I sincerely apologize for that failure. However, my counsel to you is that no matter what the failings of myself or others, offer your service in service of the community of disciples on mission, in service to building God s Kingdom, in service to building the Bulwark {Slide 12.3} AND PERSIST UNTIL YOU ARE INTEGRALLY CONTRIBUTING {Slide 13.1} 3. Every member of the People of God a leader in their situation outside Community Lenin said he wanted a party of what he called professional revolutionaries.they were to be professional in the sense that they would not be amateurs, that their methods would not be amateurish. They would fight for Communism as though they were fighting a war. (p. 147) We ARE fighting a war Christ has won already, but we still have a life-long rescue mission to impact the culture where we can and to do whatever we can to help the lost become found and become disciples. a. What is a good reason to work at our jobs or in our homes or at whatever it is our lot to do as unto the Lord? What is important about being as loving and morally upright as possible? Because, as the Communists understood, to accomplish the best for your cause, you must be the best you can. {Slide 13.2} The workplace, home, school or neighborhood provides the Communist with his field of labor as a Communist and with vast audiences. Such also is true for the Christian.

9 {Slide 13.3} With a good deal of justification, they reason that you are most likely to be effective if you are respected. (p. 98) {Slide 13.4} And so, the Communists say, if you are going to be really effective in your place of work, you must set out to be the best man at your job. (p. 98) [Story of William Gallacher, MP Made himself available to help and serve any constituent of his district they loved him for it.] [Story of unemployed agitator, who went back to his profession, made himself the best he could be, earned respect and rose to high positions in trade union] WE CALL IT WITNESS {Slide 13.5} b. Whatever we can do, from the micro to the macro 1. Caleb and school prayer 2. HS youth group inviting teammates 3. Patty K greeting everyone on the trail c. Serve LSS, serve in our Congregations, be a daily (sometimes vocal) witness in our job, school, home or neighborhood, etc. {Slide 14.1} V. What was one of the first big blows to Communism? The loss of unity as division developed between the USSR and China. {Slide 14.2} A. Christ is our Head, but overall in Christianity there are issues with the body working with sufficient connection, coordination, etc. B The ecumenism of the Sword of the Spirit and of the People of God has been making a contribution to restoring integration within the body of Christ.

10 C. Helping build relationships across groups of Christians is important to this as well. (Paul D, Tom) D. The big question for each of us: {Slide 14.3} 1. I was struck by the following: [In the midst of anything non-communist to which they belong, if there are three or more Communists, they form a cell and work together for Communism true in a trade union, a department at work, a group formed around an interest or hobby, etc.] 2. I am going to try to keep that in mind and work with it, even though we might be three Christians not only from different denominations but from different groupings otherwise. ( Christ is counting on you. ) VI. The People of God will be as strong as our collective seeking first the Kingdom of God. {Slide 15.1} {Slide 15.2} A. My prayer for me and you is that we wake up each morning thinking about what we will do today for the Kingdom of God; that we discern and engage in actions both direct and indirect to fulfill that purpose; that we seek to learn more about our Christian faith and how to apply it; and that each night we dream of how we will serve God s Kingdom and Righteousness the following day. So: {Slide 16.1 (push past the blank title} B. What are the brothers and sisters going to do about what they have heard today? How are you going to apply it?

11 {Slide 16.2} {Slide 16.3} I hope our pastoral workers and brothers and sisters will follow up on that, and upon how we do apply it. Let us, in a kind and gentle manner, encourage each other in this.

12 DEDICATION & LEADERSHIP EVERYONE S CALL

13 WHAT IS THE BODY OF CHRIST TO SEEK? Matthew 6:33 But seek first the Kingdom (of God) and His righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.

14 How shall the People of God seek first His Kingdom? Build, Maintain, and expand the Bulwark In the Bulwark system, EVERYONE is on mission Seeking first the Kingdom of God both individually and collectively as a community of disciples on mission

15 DEDICATION & LEADERSHIP by Douglas Hyde From 1928 to 1948 was an active Communist. In 1948 resigned as editor of the London Daily Worker. He left Communism and shortly joined the Catholic Church along with his wife and children. Although he whole-heartedly rejected Communism, he believed it had something to teach Christians about developing dedication and leadership things that were not intrinsic to Communism but that were applicable to building the Kingdom of God.

16 Awakens a sense of meaning and purpose Single-minded devotion to the Lord is GLORIOUS How I want to spend my remaining time on earth

17 OUR AIM The Kingdom of God established on earth as far as possible, with as many brought into it as possible.

18 LEADERSHIP Formed from: Zeal (Dedication) + Learning Put into action

19 LEARNING What are the comrades going to do about what they have learned today? How are you going to apply it to the hospital.school.factory.neighborhood where you are living? How did the comrades apply what they learned last week?

20 A SLOGAN AND GOAL FOR US Every member of the People of God a leader maintaining and expanding the Bulwark wherever we go

21 NOT ALL LEADING WITHIN, BUT ALL SERVING Examples: Children s Ministry Summer Camp Welcoming Infrastructure of gatherings, breakfasts, retreats and other events UCO and Youth Groups Labor and material assistance Almsgiving

22 INTERCESSION The Lord hears us (Psalm 4:4) We have armor and weapons beyond what this world understands (Romans 13:12; Ephesians 6:10-20; 2 Cor. 6:7; 2 Cor. 10:3-6)

23 BEING AND FEELING A PART OF THINGS Contributing is important to feeling truly a part of something. PERSIST UNTIL YOU ARE INTEGRALLY CONTRIBUTING

24 Every member of the POG a leader in their situation outside Community You must be the best you can be: Best in love, best in mercy, best in purity, best at your work, most humble, most patient, most helpful = Most Respected WITNESS

25 UNITY IF THE OVERALL BODY OF CHRIST ON EARTH IS DISUNIFIED, HOW WILL HE BE ABLE TO STAND, LET ALONE WALK OR RUN? WHAT AM I GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

26 The People of God will be as strong as our collective seeking first the Kingdom of God. My prayer for me and you is that we wake up each morning thinking about what we will do today for the Kingdom of God; that we discern and engage in actions both direct and indirect to fulfill that purpose; that we seek to learn more about our Christian faith and how to apply it; and that each night we dream of how we will serve God s Kingdom and Righteousness the following day.

27 What are the brothers and sisters going to do about what they have heard today? How are you going to apply it? A week, a month, a year from now, let us ask each other how we have applied it.