Jesus like Leaders and Committed Disciples: By Tim Kernan

To the Jews who had believed in him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

It just blows me away sometimes about how unyielding and pragmatic Jesus really was. There was a Latin saying: “Fortis cadere, cedere non potest.” It means the “strong man can fall but he cannot yield”. Indeed Jesus strength of faith could not yield but he did fall. He fell in death so that we would have hope and an eternal future. However Jesus did not yield, ever, in his demand that everyone in the world submit to his teaching and become his students. Jesus’ church, his ecclesia, his group of called out souls, are a group of disciples.

I had the honor of being invited to preach at the Tallinn Church this week (Sermon is available here) and I was inspired to write this article after seeing their amazing sacrifice out of gratitude to God. I was also honored to see Robert and Natalie Wolfe step up to take over the day to day running of the church in Estonia! There is no doubt, the Tallinn church is a church of Jesus like leaders and committed disciples. When I was there I felt like I could have been in LA or Phoenix or London. It was the exact same commitment to being, first and foremost, followers of Jesus.

If anyone is not sure if their church is sold out I encourage them to visit the Tallinn church and contrast it. In Jesus’ church there is no concept of peripheral members. That means there were no distinctions such as the “marginal members”, “core members” or “ministry staff” that now seem to be the status quo in many churches. In fact biblically every member of the first century church was expected to be a fully committed disciple. Being a sold out disciple is the most rewarding and meaningful thing that anyone can be. It’s an absolute shame that it’s not preached in so many places. The lack of this preaching is stealing joy and reward from so many people that it’s staggering. I was delighted to see that in Tallinn Estonia discipleship is being preached.

Matthew 23: 5 Everything they do is for men to see…they love places of honour… and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them “Rabbi”.

One of the most effective weapons in Satan’s arsenal is hypocrisy. There is not much which is more destructive to the church than ceremonial leaders whose greatest wish is to be regarded as spiritual. They hunger for the praise of those around them and fail to call them to obedience. They lack the fortitude to withstand hardship. Unfortunately they are usually innocent of wrong doing other than this because they are incredibly careful not to make any mistakes that would in any way affect their popularity. Godly leaders who take action tend to make more mistakes as a consequence and it’s easier to see their faults. Subsequently ceremonial leaders are very difficult to correct and those who do correct them for endangering the church do so at great risk. In the passage above however Jesus, in true form, does challenge ceremonial leadership. In our day ceremonial leaders have become THE leaders in many churches.

Over the past years since our first meeting in Portland I have been so impressed with the Job like faith of Argo and his wife Anu. Instead of seeking glory and praise they set out in extremely difficult circumstances to plant the new church in Tallinn. Argo reminds me of an apostle in so many ways. Some leaders cannot serve unless they are paid. Argo has served without pay and almost completely supported the Tallinn church from his own pocket since its inception. He has done this out of gratitude to God and a simple and pure desire to be fruitful.

A true leader in the Kingdom needs to be someone of grit. A leader in the Kingdom is someone who imitates the leadership of Jesus. In a manner that is often misunderstood as arrogance they preach with an expectation of obedience. They preach even when in the bottom of their gut they know it could bring persecution down on them. They are men under accountability who also call others to accountability. They have high expectations and they get results. They confront those in the church who do not want to be disciples, regardless of what power they may wield. They even confront those who make large donations to the church, those who may be regarded as the most knowledgeable, those with a reputation of great expertise, those who have cultivated great personal popularity, those who are most willing to depict themselves as victims, even those with special titles. A true leader in the Kingdom has no hesitation to call them all to submit to Christ even if his life will be ripped apart as a consequence.

A leader who imitates Jesus does not need to be paid in order to act like a disciple; he is prepared to live and operate in the most austere conditions (2 Tim 3: 2). A leader who imitates Jesus does not defend his fruitlessness with a checklist of things he is “doing” for God; he keeps the initiative, evangelizing, discipling, and meeting new groups of people through service and genuine love so that he is always fruitful (Matthew 21: 18-19). A leader who imitates Jesus does not focus on the trivial things of the world; he keeps his eye on the most important object of his efforts: saving as many people as possible (1 Corinthians 9:19). A leader who imitates Jesus does not reject the lowly yet committed; he takes every committed disciple where they are at and elevates them to where they need to be (1 Thessalonians 5: 12-15). A leader who imitates Jesus does not shirk from working in small groups; in fact he has no preference to method, scale, location or time because he is focused on the goal (2 Corinthians 11:27). A leader who imitates Jesus does not make a big deal about himself; he learns the culture, language and customs of the people around him so that they may see the cross of Christ and not his ego (1 Corinthians 9:20). A leader who imitates Jesus loves his enemies but he does not ignore his enemies; he vigorously defeats their arguments so that their true motivations may be seen (Acts 18:28). A leader who imitates Jesus does not sit idle as non-Christians take membership in the church; he defends the church with his life and grows it one by one (John 6: 66-67).

Jesus was the most awesome leader of all time and it’s a shame that because of sin he is not imitated more. I was so encouraged to see that in Estonia Jesus is being imitated. I’m personally glad that God has seen fit to give Lianne and I loyal friends in the Talinn church. I want to thank all the disciples in Estonia for all your hard work in Christ. Can’t wait to see you again in April!

Tim Kernan