I heard a rumour this week, and it may only be gossip, but apparently Australia has no government! Confusing times, as the battle for political supremacy continues and only God knows how things will work out. It is a reminder for us of just how important leadership is and how we need to pray for those who are willing to exercise leadership in whatever shape or form it may take. I guess it also reminds us that in life there is good leadership and bad leadership and everybody likes to be the judge of who is and who isn’t a good leader.

Today’s leaders emphasize grandiose strategies and plans with carefully thought out costings, all presented with glamorised advertising intended to convince people that they are stable and responsible leaders who can get the job done most effectively and efficiently. Jesus had an interesting style of leadership that differed greatly from the kind of leadership we see today.

He spoke of and demonstrated the importance of servanthood – the willingness to quietly and humbly serve others with no thought of recognition or reward. He had a strategy and a purpose, but it wasn’t widely promoted nor was it the centrepiece of his leadership, loving others was. Teaching and caring formed the foundation of what he did as he sought to connect with the depressed and the discouraged, the hurting and the humble. He had no inclination to connect with the top end of town; washing feet and feeding the poor was his priority and He taught His followers to do likewise.

Society places little to no value on these priorities, and sadly even the church misses this point as we struggle and strain to create a plan that will impress everyone who hears it. Any pastor presenting a New Year vision to simply “tell others about Jesus and feed the poor” would be criticised for being shallow and unimpressive as a leader. We crave for something far grander in our flashy media driven world. In reality, Christianity at its core, is neither flashy nor grandiose, and therefore disappoints many who think that life’s values are found in the loudest, the brightest and the most expensive.

Jesus revealed the opposite, teaching and demonstrating that death to self is life, the poor are the rich, and the humble are the greatest. If we applied these principles to our leaders and ourselves, I wonder how it would change our lives and the lives of those around us? It certainly would be a new kind of leadership and one that we could easily afford!

Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ²⁶Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ²⁷and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— ²⁸just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."  Matthew 20:25-28

Over the last two years, three exploratory teams from EBC have visited the Philippines to investigate mission partnership on the island of Cebu. After much prayerful consideration and consultation, IMPACT CEBU was launched last Sunday! We communicated to the church the significant door of opportunity that God has opened for us in the Philippines; an opportunity that will allow us to potentially partner with a drug rehabilitation facility, an orphanage, community development program, pre-school children’s ministry, Sunday school outreach and a possible prison ministry. These opportunities will develop in partnership with two churches allowing us to bring the Word of God, and the love of Jesus, to a nation that is open and responsive to the gospel. 

The first short term team to be sent will leave this December for a 12 day visit to be involved in ministry and to further evaluate the opportunities before us. Our plan, the Lord willing, is to send two teams each year, one in early December and the other in March/April (yet to be finalised). There is another team booked to visit Cebu this year in late December which consists of a few of our Filipino families whom, whilst visiting family and friends in Cebu, will also be involved in ministry amongst our partners. Following our launch on Sunday a significant number of people have responded and in the coming weeks they will be contacted to discuss their specific involvement. If you have an interest in being involved in IMPACT CEBU, or require further information we ask that you speak with Julio Alejo or Wayne Burgan. Thank you for your prayerful support of what God is doing in and through us as a church.

As I write this, it is a very important time for our nation as we prepare for the Federal Election. As Christians our responsibility is to pray for our leaders and our nation. We are a land that is in desperate need of the blessings of God to rain down: the blessing of a spiritual awakening, the blessing of leaders and a people that acknowledge God, the blessing of wisdom to know how to function as a just and compassionate society, the blessing of a God fearing society who are repentant and embrace holy living, the blessing of a peaceful and prosperous society – that we might be a blessing to others – and the great blessing of strong, healthy and missional churches that are responsive to God and energised by the Holy Spirit. May God hear our prayers and answer us.

Please pray for me next week as I have a 10 minute opportunity on Life FM on Thursday at 11am to share a little of my testimony and to speak about EBC. Please also pray for those that I had the opportunity to share the gospel with this week – that their hungry souls might respond to the love and invitation of Jesus to come to Him.

Ours is a God of opportunity

For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.” ’ Luke 7:33-35

Did you ever wonder why John the Baptist and Jesus had such different lifestyles? John lived a life of strict discipline, frugality and hardship, in contrast, Jesus’ lifestyle was far more ordinary and normal. Jesus lived how most people lived. The reason they chose the lifestyles they did would no doubt have been related to the kind of audience they were endeavouring to reach and relate to.

While John was used of God to challenge the righteousness of the religious leaders, who lived a life of excess and ease at the expense of others. Jesus identified with the common people, the ones who had drifted far from social norms in Jewish society and more importantly far from God. Jesus loved them and related to them by choosing a lifestyle that would remove unnecessary barriers.

Interestingly, both were criticised for their lifestyles, John was accused of being demon possessed, Jesus of being a drunk. The response of the religious leaders, who themselves were hypocrites, warn us that we cannot expect to be applauded for making intentional lifestyle choices to reach out to society. There will always be people who do not understand or approve of genuine attempts to share the gospel and the love of God.

In response to the lives of John and Jesus and the lifestyle choices they made to reach people, let me ask you a question. What choices are you making to reach out to others? How are you living your life to be effective at sharing Jesus with those around you?

When a person decides to be a missionary overseas they make some fairly radical lifestyle choices, and for the most part we applaud them for it, as they study a new culture, learn a new language, change their educational focus, quit their job and career, and leave family and friends behind. How many of us staying at home make anything like these kinds of radical decisions to reach out to people in our own community? Why don’t we? Is it really just those who go overseas who are missionaries called of God, called to make sacrifices in His service?

I can’t imagine life was easy for John, wearing an itchy camel hair cloak, living on nothing but locusts and honey and sleeping among rocks in the wilderness. Jesus too would have struggled with the broken humanity and sinful lifestyle choices of those He was endeavouring to reach. This teaches us that to effectively share the gospel means making sacrificial choices that are never easy. We will need to mix with those who are different, annoying, disappointing, frustrating – sinful! Perhaps that’s why we don’t make radical lifestyle choices to reach others, it’s all too hard and we lack the patience and love needed to touch people’s lives.