Leadership
This is who
This is who
leads here.
Every person in this room. Every hand raised. Every life surrendered to Jesus. This is the leadership of The Gathering CTX.
Every person in this room. Every hand raised. Every life surrendered to Jesus. This is the leadership of The Gathering CTX.
"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."
Most churches have a leadership page that lists names and titles. We are doing something different, because we believe the Bible does something different. Peter writes to ordinary people, not apostles or elders, and calls them a royal priesthood. That word priesthood meant something to his readers. Priests do not just receive ministry. They carry it. They bring it to others.
When you stepped across the line of faith and said yes to Christ, God did not just save you from something. He commissioned you for something. You became part of a people whose purpose is to proclaim who He is in every room you walk into.
That is not a metaphor. It is a calling. And it is yours.
Paul writes that Christ gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers to the church. But notice what he says they are for: "to equip the saints for the work of ministry." The work of ministry is yours. The gifts exist to prepare you to do it. No pastor or teacher was given to do the work for the body. They were given to strengthen the body so the body can carry the work together.
This is not a small distinction. It changes everything about how we understand the church. You are not the audience. You are not the recipient waiting to be served. You are the sent one, being equipped to go.
When Jesus stood on that mountain in Galilee and said "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations," He was not assigning a task to a committee. He was speaking to a people. A community. A body that would scatter into every corner of the world and carry what they had received.
That commission has not expired. It did not pass from the eleven to a professional class of ministers. It was given to the church, which means it was given to you. You are the mission. You are the sent one. Sunday is where we gather the strength. Monday through Saturday is where we live the commission.
Leadership does not require a title. It requires surrender. Here is what it looks like when ordinary people walk in what Christ has already won.
The most significant church you will ever lead gathers around your dinner table. The way you love your spouse, raise your children, and open your home to others is not separate from your faith. It is the expression of it.
Your neighbors were not placed next to you by accident. Knowing their names, showing up in their hard moments, and pointing them toward Jesus when they are ready -- that is leadership. That is priesthood.
Every room you walk into as a believer, you carry the presence of the Holy Spirit into. How you work, how you handle conflict, how you treat people who cannot benefit you -- that is a proclamation. You are always leading something.
When you gather on Sunday and someone next to you is falling apart, you have a role to play. When someone walks in for the first time and feels out of place, you are the welcome they needed. You are not a seat filler. You are the church.
We gather Sundays at 5:00 PM at the Cleburne Conference Center. The door is open. There is a seat with your name on it and a role that only you can fill.