God-Up Leadership, Part 2: Beginnings, the Early Church

During his earthly ministry, Jesus Christ set the foundation for leadership and service to God. He taught his twelve apostles how to lead. They became the genuine leaders in the early church.

Mark 10:42-45:
But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles [nations] exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them.
But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister:
And whosoever of you will be the chiefest [first], shall be servant of all.
For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

The Greatest Leadership Requires the Greatest Fellowship

Jesus Christ was the greatest leader because he had the greatest fellowship with God, his Father. He had fellowship with God because of the sinless life his Father gave him at his birth (the only begotten of the Father), because he received holy spirit when he was about thirty years old, and because he always did the will of the Father by his freewill decision to do so.

John 5:30:
I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

Jesus Christ understood God-up leadership. His Father was the source for his life and ministry.

John 4:34:
Jesus saith unto them, My meat [food, nourishment] is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

God supplies Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ supplies the believer. With God as the husbandman, Jesus Christ is the vine and we are the branches. Without Christ, of our own selves, we can do nothing.

John 15:1,4,5:
I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Early Church Leaders

God-up leadership requires the foundation of Jesus Christ. After the apostles were born again on the day of Pentecost, they took on the leadership of the church. They manifested God’s power and brought deliverance, as Jesus Christ had taught them to do.

Acts 2:4:
And they [the twelve] were all filled with the Holy Ghost [God’s gift of holy spirit], and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

This gift of holy spirit was the “comforter” that Jesus Christ had promised (John 14:16,26; 15:26; 16:7). It is “Christ in you” and allows believers to have fellowship with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

Colossians 1:27:
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

I John 1:3:
That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

I Corinthians 1:9:
God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

As believers, our lives are hid with Christ in God. We have only one God, our Father. And we have only lord, Jesus Christ.

Colossians 3:3:
For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

I Corinthians 8:6:
But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom [out of Whom, the source] are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom [through whom], the way to the Father are all things, and we by him.

This is how Peter, Paul, and the other leaders in the early church were able to serve. They trusted in God, their Father, by way of what Jesus Christ made available. When Jesus Christ is lord in our lives, we can lead others and do the will of the Father.

Acts 4:7,8,10-12; 6:4; 27:23:
And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them…
Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
But we [the twelve] will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.
For there stood by me [Paul] this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve.

True Service with Humility

These leaders served the Lord Christ.

Colossians 3:23,24:
And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

God-up leadership requires humility and service. As leaders in the body of Christ, we can be like Jesus Christ, the chief shepherd. When we humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand, He will give us what we need to care for His people.

I Peter 5:3-6:
Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.
And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.

God-up Leadership Means Trusting God

Like Jesus Christ, we can keep our heavenly Father first and love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30). Our trust is through Christ, toward God. He is our sufficiency, and it is God who makes us able ministers.

II Corinthians 3:4-6:
And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament.

Leaders in the early church knew that they could of their own selves do nothing. With Christ as lord, they saw God’s mighty power enable them to valiantly lead and serve. In the end, it’s all a matter of trust.

Proverbs 3:5,6:
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Coming Soon

God-up Leadership: Serving in the Body Today