Being in Ministry or
Other Leadership Roles
Titus 1:1-3 “1Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to Godliness— 2in the hope of eternal life, which God, Who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, 3and which now at His appointed season He has brought to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,…”
Titus is the most important book to read if you have been “getting” that you are called into the ministry. Read it all. Several times. The Lord gives clear direction on how to be a leader and what the Lord expects.
Roles
Whether the Lord has called you into ministry or other leadership roles the bottom line is your relationship with the Lord has to be solid in the Word and in prayer, continual, abiding in forgiveness, and love, and doing whatever the Lord leads you to do, even when it’s uncomfortable and may result in backlash from others. As long as you are truly following the Lord, that’s all you need. It’s that simple.
2 Peter 1:10 says, “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.”
Great verse that is generally used for calling but lets look at the whole thing the Lord states from verse 5: “5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities[ are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.”
These qualities Peter wrote of through the Holy Spirit are the fruit of the Spirit on Galatians 5:22-26 - “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”
These qualities abound in you as you spend time with the Lord. They are the result, the fruit, of spending time with the Lord.
Bottom line is you need to be willing to step out in the giftings that God has placed within you. It’s God’s calling on you, He has got it worked out. Now just trust Him and do what He tells you to do. Not based on ego - pride. If there’s pride that you’re noticing, GET IT OUT!! Cast out the spirit of pride in the Name of Jesus and cut all cords to it, and repent of any prideful actions. (Prov. 5:21-23.) And stay on top of your thought life. If you notice a prideful thing trying to come in to your thoughts, cast it out in the Name of Jesus and replace that with the Word of God. Many times Philippians 4:8-9 is a good one to replace it with, “8Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”
Speak out loud and state: “No, in the Name of Jesus, I cast out that pride because I only think on those things that are true, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy, I thank You Father God for teaching me and I put it into practice in Jesus Name.”
In a leadership role you have to be willing to state when you missed it. That is what a good leader does. And when you are living in a right relationship with the Lord this is easier to do. Like Paul when he spoke of how he attacked Christians before he got saved. He was very upfront about it. He acknowledged it. When a leader is honest, most people, Godly people, respect that and naturally forgive the person. If it is something in which major error has happened, you need to get away and spend time with God. You may have to resign your position. As I said earlier, Titus is key to reading and following for how you are to live a Godly life when you are in a leadership position - if there are problems in these areas then you need to withdraw from the position.
This is why the role is so “heavy.” You are leading others. And leadership roles come with a heavier judgment. James 3:1 AMP - “Not many [of you] should become teachers [serving in an official teaching capacity], my brothers and sisters, for you know that we [who are teachers] will be judged by a higher standard [because we have assumed greater accountability and more condemnation if we teach incorrectly].”
I’m stating this NOT to steer you away from your calling. Not at all. If this is the calling the Lord has put on your life, you need to obey the Lord. Although we have to be very aware of the responsibility. For it is mighty with the Lord. And we need to handle it soberly.
Titus 1:16-2:1 - “16They (teachers) claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good. 1You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine.”
Titus 2:7-8 - “…In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.”
Titus 2:15 - “These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.”
Titus 3:10 - 10Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them. 11You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned.
Like stated earlier, Titus is important to study when going into leadership, especially in ministry. The last two scriptures state when correction is to be given. So many ministers are not willing to give correction when it’s needed. Instead they don’t want to offend anyone and want to keep people in their church, specifically to keep the tithers. That is the wrong motivation. This person is compromising and will suffer the results of it if they don’t make it right.
Bottom Line
Whatever the Lord is leading you to do - do. He is the One Who enables you. He gives you everything you need for the calling. And He gives you the wisdom and revelation knowledge to do it. In fact, if you don’t know of the Ephesians 1:17-23 and Ephesians 3:14-21 prayers, read them and pray them everyday for yourself. It makes a huge difference. The Lord will increase the wisdom and revelation knowledge He reveals to you, and will give you continuous strength in the calling He's given you and keep you in His love which teaches you. Love and knowledge work together. You can’t have one without the other. You have all of this because the Holy Spirit is in you but you need to pull it up and out of you by your faith, praying those prayers and expecting God to do them within, and with you. He certainly will.