Chapter Two

True Leaders Stand Up for the Church

By Dr. Lester Hutson

Ephesians 6:10-18

"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;"

Leadership in one of the Lord's churches demands courage, backbone, and the will to stand. It takes backbone to tell the truth, especially when the truth is not popular and when it would be easier to just keep silent. A position of church leadership, especially the pastorate, is no place for the weak and faint-hearted. Meekness? Yes. Weakness? Never. Pusillanimous chickens don't make good pastors. Stand up!

In true leaders, the church has a flesh and blood advocate. He's the church's first line of mortal defense. Yes, the Lord is the first defender and chief advocate of the church, but his first, visible flesh and blood tool is the pastor. Anybody who tries to mess around with the church ought to have to deal with the pastor first. And, if a pastor is the leader in fact, and not just in name, it will be clear to all that the minute they start dealing with the Lord's church, they're going to tangle with the pastor. He can and will be a great friend and comforter, an ally to all who treat the church right. He can and will be an equally formidable foe to all who would hurt or take advantage of the church. Many of the Lord's churches are hurting this very day because they have no pastor who'll really stand for them. The pastor, under the Lord, is a shepherd over the church. Acts 20:28 calls them overseers, as does I Peter 5:2. As an overseer or undershepherd, the pastor must stand in protection of the sheep God has given to him to tend. When a wolf or coyote attacks a sheep, it is the responsibility of the shepherd to defend the sheep and the whole flock, just as David did in I Samuel 17:34-36. A shepherd who won't do that is a no-good shepherd.

Beloved, a pastor is not a true leader if he's too timid to stand up for his church and its people. Like shepherds, true pastors must be a tough breed. They must be willing to face any and every adversary of the Lord's church eyeball to eyeball, toe to toe, without flinching. Some do and some don't. The difference is leadership, or the lack thereof, and invariably, as time goes by, the difference in effect on the Lord's churches becomes increasingly readable.

Yes, just this point shows the difference in the Lord's churches is leadership. It's a God-dishonoring shame when any pastor cannot be counted on to stand for his church and its people. Can you imagine what it does to the confidence, trust, and morale of a church to know the pastor really won't stand for it? Like the dad who hides in the closet while the robber comes in and hurts his family, the pastor who can't be counted on to stand first deserves nothing but scorn. As the pastor stands, his supportive leadership should stand with him.

In fact, one of the most important functions of a pastor is to develop around him leadership that will stand loyally with him. That's what Moses did with Aaron and Hur in Exodus 17:12. Paul taught us pastors that in II Timothy 2:2. One of the reasons too many pastors are afraid to really stand is the fact that they have nobody to stand with them. Why not? They've not developed loyal supporting leadership. Whose fault is that? That's right! It's the pastor's own fault. The key to multiple leadership is a leader who will develop that supportive leadership base.

Establishing proper administration

If a pastor's going to really stand up for the church, he's going to have to establish an administration whereby he can. He's going to have to establish the fact that he's the person in charge. Biblically he is. Hebrews 13:7 says to the rest of the church, "Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation."

In spite of the fact that God put them in charge, many pastors are unsuccessful in assuming that charge. They're afraid they'll be called dictators if they do. Very often, older, more established factions in the church have the true oversight, and aren't about to surrender it to a pastor. The pastor is too timid to tackle that entrenched power and become the true overseer or person in charge. Again refer to I Peter 5:1-2, which tells pastors to take charge.

"The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, out of a ready mind."

Let me tell you what this weakness of leadership in being unwilling to take a stand for God's program of church administration does. It makes a disrespected, expendable puppet out of many a pastor, who fails to exercise his true leadership responsibility. He's disrespected because everyone soon knows he's too weak to tackle the establishment. He's a puppet because somebody else is the true authority of the church and either directly or indirectly pulling the strings that determines what goes on. It may be the deacon board, the treasurer, the finance committee, or somebody else, but they're the real overseers, not the pastor. He's expendable because they can dictate his direction and the direction of the church, and if their leadership doesn't work out, they can blame the pastor and demand a change. The weak pastor, who refused or neglected to establish his own oversight goes off hurt and blamed for an administration he didn't create and couldn't control, while the real powers in the church piously act as though it was all his fault. They're just looking for the next preacher they can bring in and do the same way.

Whose fault really is this? It really is that pastor's fault. He should never have allowed himself to become the patsy of the deacons, the treasury, or anybody else. He should have listened to God, and stood up for the office into which God placed him. The fact that he didn't, and, in so failing, he became a victim of an unholy power base within a church, is nobody's fault but his own. Again, it's a clear cut case of lack of true, godly leadership in the Lord's church, which is the true variable that makes the difference in success and failure.

Boldness in your stand

If a pastor's going to be a true leader, he's got to be bold enough to stand up. He can't be afraid to speak up to sinners. They need to be saved, and, of all people, the pastor cannot be timid or afraid to speak up for Jesus. Paul is a classic example. Before kings, to fellow prisoners, house to house in Ephesus, to the furious multitude as he stood on the stairway of the Antonia fortress in Jerusalem, to antagonistic Jews, he boldly proclaimed Christ to sinners. A pastor who is afraid or embarrassed to speak up for Jesus to sinners is no leader.

True leaders stand up boldly for their church in the community. I'm talking about to the media, in places of business, or wherever they are in the community, they stand up for their church. They try to get the best business deals they can for it, and they ever seek its welfare in the marketplace. True leaders stand up boldly for the church in all the affairs of the church. In a committee meeting, they keep things on track, and will not allow un-christian surmisings, jumping to conclusions, vicious attacks on others, off the subject ramblings, biased opinions and the development of the "tail wag the dog" rationale. At a business meeting or testimony time, they will stand against off the wall cracks, domineering, and any move, word, or direction harmful to the whole. You talk about taking some real courage and backbone, that kind of standing does, and a bunch of pastors just won't do it. Then, they want to blame this leadership failure on the Lord or the people when the church gets in a turmoil because of the absence of a firm, guiding hand. True leaders stand up boldly against heresy. Paul warned those Ephesian pastors, and all of us, in Acts 20:29-30,

"For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them."

Jude tells how heretics crept in, and he said we "should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints" in verses 3-4. The Ephesians 6 text is dealing with just such evils that Satan will raise up against us, and Paul said stand. A pastor who won't stand as a bulwark for the church against error isn't a leader. A true leader will meet head-on the heresies of works salvations, apostasy, baptismal regeneration, ecumenicalism, denial of verbal inspiration and all the rest. True leaders stand up boldly against sin. He will stand against tobacco, even if his biggest giver is a smoker. He'll stand against immodest dress, even if his deacons wives are immodest. I'm saying a true leader takes a stand on the issues. You know where he is. He makes sure his church knows what's right and wrong. Leadership means obedience to Isaiah 58:1, which says, "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." True leaders stand boldly for the truth and what's right. That's pretty easy when all is well and you're not personally involved, but taking a stand for right against your friend, big giver, or your child, is not easy. Yet, a true leader will stand for right, regardless of who's involved and regardless of the circumstances.

True leaders stand boldly against external foes. It means standing against internal foes. It means standing when you're tired, and it means standing when you're not popular. It means standing, regardless of the cost.

Some years ago, in another church, a missions committee man caught me gone and talked the committee into presenting a resolution to the church that no visiting missionary be paid unless the church was notified several days in advance of his coming. Really, the issue was not over missionaries. It was over who would pastor the church. I told the church that if it saw fit to dictate the leadership of the church in that fashion, I could not continue as pastor. Standing for the well-being of the church and God's program for leadership means risking all. I was forced to lay my job, my home, my ministry there, all on the line by standing. It would be hard for you to fully comprehend what that stand did in rallying those people behind me. When they saw that I'd stand regardless of the cost, their respect and willingness to place themselves under my wing shot up dramatically.

Resisting Pressure

Many pressures are placed upon a pastor. There's the pressure to waste too much time standing around talking, playing sports, or getting late starts. He must withstand the pressure to go to too many fellowship meetings, and spend too much time with other preachers. He must stand against the pressure to have in the wrong preachers and singers. Somebody's always got a cousin or friend whom you just must have in the church. Then there's the pressure to conform to old church practices. "We've always done it that way, Preacher." We can fall into the trap of mother who cut off her roast because grandma did. But grandma cut off her roast because it wouldn't fit in her roaster. There's the pressure to play it conservatively, risk nothing, to let the church's ministries and emphasis get out of balance.

You talk about pressure. It's enormous to get the preacher to do the wrong kind of weddings, and to get him hooked into endless counseling.

Consistency and faithfulness

A truly leading pastor will stand wherever and whenever he has to. He's the kind of person who has the best interests of the Lord's church and people at heart. You won't always find him down and discouraged and whipped in spirit. Yes, like Joshua, he'll have his valleys, but like Joshua, he too will get up and go on. I'm talking about a man who will stand through the thicks and the thins. I'm talking about a man who will say with Paul in II Timothy 4:16-18,

"At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory forever and ever."

That's leadership, folks! I'm talking about that essential element in the Lord's churches. I'm not talking about some ethereal, mysterious quality. I'm not talking empty titles. I'm talking about responsible men of God who in word and deed dedicate themselves to the work of leading the Lord's churches.

"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"