When Paul was considering his fate in prison, he wrote to the church in Philippi with confident hope that he would be freed. In Philippians 1:25-26 he tells them what he wanted to do on his release:
…[I will] continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.
His aim is them glorying abundantly in Jesus, full of joy in Him.
Jesus told the disciples in the upper room to remain obediently in Him – and thereby in the love of the Father – so that His joy would be in them and that their joy would be complete (John 15:11). He repeated this two chapters later, in His high priestly prayer, saying to the Father:
I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy in them (John 17:13).
This should be no surprise to us. After all, the Bible is clear that the joy of the Lord is our strength. Not our limited human capacity for joy, but the very joy of God. And yet it can be a surprise.
Despite the fact that we are in lockdown, in Living Leadership training we often use Philippians 1:25-26 as our starting point for thinking about spiritual leadership. Frequently even long-term full-time leaders say that it has never dawned on them that they are set aside to work with others for progress and joy in the faith, so that disciples and churches overflow with joy in Christ. Or if they do know it, that it is regularly swamped by other demands. As one leader put it: ‘This revolutionises everything. It puts hunger for God and His purposes, and worshipping Him, squarely at the centre of the church and of my calling.’
Leaders love, serve and equip others to be disciples who can’t stop overflowing with Jesus to everyone around us, because they are falling deeper and deeper in love with him. Whose prayer lives are alive and vibrant; who receive the word of God with worship, delight and obedience. These are the kind of disciples the Father wants.
When churches are glorying in Jesus we don’t even necessarily have to do a great deal of evangelism training. They naturally attract people to Christ – they are overflowing! And when they aren’t, evangelism training is no substitute, because it comes without any empowering joy. Churches are communities of witness because they are communities of Christ-captivated disciples. The reason the message rang out from the first churches despite severe trials was that they were full of inexpressible and glorious joy.
It is so tempting to put our confidence in programmes, structures or training, or even in the quality of our Bible studies or preaching. All of these are good, but none are our strength. That is people being alight with Jesus.
This is our DNA as leaders. Let’s recover it! Christian leadership is disciple-making. Every leader is prayerfully trying to figure out how to make disciples who are glorying in Jesus, daily dependent on His glorious grace, and full of inexpressible and glorious joy. We are calling people to be worshippers who delight themselves in the Lord and praise and commend Him to others. Paul’s goal – and our goal as leaders – is clear. We are:
1. making disciples who make disciples;
2. who are making progress in the faith and enjoying God;
3. who are full of joy in Jesus – being worshippers and witnesses;
4. who have experienced – and are experiencing – His grace, which is the wellspring of it all.
