FOR JESUS’ LOVE 20
Leadership Traits
By
Dr. Gale A. Ragan-Reid (December 27, 2017)
“So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.” (St. John 21:15-17, King James Version [Christ’s charge to Peter]}
Greetings in the Holy Name of Jesus,
My sisters and brothers, Jesus spoke to Peter, “Feed my sheep.” [John 21:16, King James Version, Christ’s charge to Peter]. Understandably, feeding the sheep with a long handle spoon, divesting the truth of the Word of God is not feeding the sheep. Stepping in on Christmas Eve to hear the Word of God at one of the local southern Baptist churches of African Americans---hate is witnessed as the speaker minister from a northeastern state (New York) said, “Eve did not eat fruit. She said she was deceived.” [Genesis 3:1-6, 13, KJV] Well, if you think feeding with a long handle spoon, divesting the truth of the Word of God is the right approach, then you have another thing coming, for feeding the sheep is not to hide the truth or take advantage of the vulnerable ones in the congregation---those with a weak conscious.
Just the same at a union gathering, I stepped in to hear a speaker minister retired from the military rank-and-file rebuke the old African American song (1825) when he said, “There is no such thing as climbing Jacob’s ladder” [Genesis 28:12, KJV, Vision of Jacob’s ladder]. For Jesus confirmed that he was the ladder (stairway to heaven)in Jacob’s vision, the bridge between God and man, the fulfillment and completion of all the prophesies of the Jewish religion (Judaism) and the sayings of pagan religions: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.” [John 1:51, KJV, Jacob’s ladder]. Interestingly enough, I recall via social media that someone posted the comment “God will not give you more than you can bear”, was also not in the Holy Bible. As in the time of the Prophet Amos God said he would not pass by them anymore and withhold the word: “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD GOD, that I will send a famine in the land,
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not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.” [8:11-12] Is this the confusion that the ministers spoke of?
Accordingly, The First Epistle Of Paul The Apostle To The Corinthians, said: “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints” [14:33]. I know I want to become vested in the Word of God, the truth. I do not think anyone wants to have to fight the good fight just to find out that what they thought they knew was a lie fed to them and their generation, especially when they are vulnerable---uneducated, not knowing how to read or write or even how to research to seek out the truth---the blind leading the blind, is not the answer to this problem. It might make it easier to control the congregation to feed them a lot of lies but what does it do for the eternal salvation of their souls for them to worship and practice false doctrine. The speaker from a northeastern state told them, “You need to study---deep so that it is in you for if it is not in you then nothing is coming out of you.” Obviously, those of a weak conscious engaging in witnessing the truth encounter great difficulty especially in the realm of leadership. And, it is not a secret that a Chairman with a 7th grade education does not feel inadequate about leadership just inadequate about what he must know at each task.
“Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which receiveth seed by the way side. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” [Matthew 13: 18-23, The parable of the sower]
Hence the sowing of seed in an uneducated leader renders the leader as ambitious as an educated leader, sometimes even more so, willing to do whatever it takes to knock out the competition. This is a dogged---dog eat dog mentality, vicious competition, at best. I know the dogged rivalry threw darts my way calling me a young lady, only to rebuke himself later calling me finally a sister in Christ Jesus. However, the dart of young lady was meant to minimize and degrade my efforts at fighting the good fight, defending the gospel Word---the doctrine of Christ Jesus as he said when closing out the
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Order of Service since the Sunday School session, “Thanks to the sister in the back. She stepped in on the study lesson.” However, I am not so sure he would have thanked and called me sister had the speaker minister from the northeastern state cited what I said in his speaking during the Adult Sunday School class meeting. As a seasoned soldier for Christ Jesus, I continued to defend the gospel teachings of Christ Jesus:
“Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him whom hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.” [II Timothy 2:1-6, KJV, Timothy exhorteth to constancy]
Finally at the end of it all, I said, You think you are better than me. You think God should take care of you better than me.” The congregation joined hands in prayer. For the sparring stopped and service was dismissed. As I age in grace, I accept the comment of the young lady as a compliment, indeed but I do recall my neighbor in the State of Florida some 15 years ago before I came to the Great State of Georgia, a white male adamantly respond to calling women, lady for he said, “She is a woman not a lady.” The Holy Bible does not use “young lady” in the Word of God or the gospel teachings of Christ Jesus. That is why a woman might feel slighted or defamed, even not included, if called a young lady in the House of God---the House of Prayer.
In closing, Christ Jesus stepped out of the temple, time and time again, to teach and preach the gospel, confirming the Word of our LORD God. Christ be with you. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
