The Zone Gathering

This is Part 5 of the Laying the Foundation series on Thursday Leadership Lesson. As we build our groups and ministries, we must ensure that we are building on a solid foundation. This series will explore characteristics of leaders who lay and build on firm foundations. Today, we will talk about the Doctrine of a Leader.

An old Lutheran hymn declares, “How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!”

In the New Testament Paul warns that whoever builds must be careful because the only sure foundation is Jesus Christ. Thus, we must base our lives and leadership on the Word of God. Author and theologian Wayne Grudem said, “Today, the Bible contains all the words of God that a person needs to become a Christian, live as a Christian, and grow as a Christian.”

Doctrine may sound like a scary word, but it’s simply the intellectual framework for our faith. Grudem defines doctrine as “what the whole Bible teaches us today about some particular topic.”

What kind of foundation are we building upon? Are we building on the foundation that Christ laid and that the first century church built upon? Or are we building on a foundation of our own making?

Importance of Doctrine
First and foremost, doctrine helps us to grow as Christians. 1 Timothy 6:3 says that the teachings of Christ “are the foundation for a godly life.” The more we know about God and his ways, the more we can trust him, praise him, and tell others about him. It’s important because the way we think affects the way we act, and right thinking leads to right action. As Paul said in Titus 2:1, “Promote the kind of living that reflects right teaching.”

Secondly, growing in our understanding of God’s truth enables us to obey the command of Christ to teach others everything he commanded (Matthew 28:19-20). We typically view this verse as a challenge to evangelism, but it includes a challenge to teach.

Finally, commitment to sound doctrine is a pre-requisite for leadership in the church. In 1 Timothy 3:9, Paul tells Timothy that leaders in the church must “be committed to the revealed truths of the Christian faith,” and in 1 Timothy 4:16, Paul encourages Timothy to “watch your life and doctrine closely.” Titus 1:9 says that a leader must “have a strong and steadfast belief in the trustworthy message he was taught.”

Application of Doctrine
Paul describes the proper application of doctrine in 2 Timothy 2:16-17: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (NIV)

In his book Bible Study Methods, Rick Warren summarizes these four applications as follows: “Teaching shows us the path on which we are to walk; rebuking shows us where we got off the path; correcting tells us how to get back on the path, and training in righteousness teaches how to stay on that path.”

Let’s look more closely at these four applications.

Teaching- As leaders, we must teach the principles of Scripture to those we lead. What is the content that you are teaching your group? Is it based on and consistent with the truths of God’s Word?

Rebuking- Our job as leaders is not to rebuke; that’s the Holy Spirit’s job. We do have a responsibility, however, to help other people use the Bible as their foundation. We must lovingly elevate Scripture as the authority and as the standard by which we judge all things.

Correcting- Half of spiritual growth is correcting those areas that are not aligned with Scripture. As leaders, we can come alongside others and encourage them as they align their lives with the truth of God’s Word.
Training- The other half of spiritual growth is training to do the work that God has given us to do. As leaders, we are responsible to equip others to do the work of the ministry. How are we using the Bible to help others pursue God’s calling on their lives?

Doctrine in Groups
As we develop true, transparent, real-life community, questions of faith and doctrine will be a routine part of group life. We must know the truth of the Word of God and be confident in establishing it as the standard.

Here are some specific and practical guidelines that may be helpful as you strive to build your life, leadership, and group on a solid doctrinal foundation.

• Focus the group on what Scripture says, not on what it says to us. Too often, groups go in circles discussing what a passage of Scripture “means to them.” We should never ask “what does this passage mean to you?” We should only ask “what does this passage say?” and “what does this passage mean?” There is a difference between asking how a passage of Scripture makes us feel (which can be a helpful discussion) and asking people to attach their own individualized and personalized interpretations (which doesn’t really help at all).

• Bring everything back to Scripture. If you’ve led a group for long enough, you’ve probably encountered a disagreement here or there. That’s fine. Just require that everyone support their point of view using the Bible. You’ve probably also encountered situations where someone said something that was totally contrary to Scripture. Again, encourage them to back up their argument with the Bible.

• Point people towards the Bible for answers. As an NCC leader, you are not expected to know all the answers and you should not feel pressured to give all the answers. You should, however, be confident that the Bible is the ultimate authority and be prepared to “guard the Gospel” (2 Timothy 1:13-14). If a question comes up that the group would like to explore in depth, give them an assignment to search it out in the Scriptures for the next group meeting. Teaching sound doctrine in the right attitude will create places where truth meets life so that transformation is possible.

• Pray Scriptures over your group members. We talked about this last week in the Prayer Life of a Leader post. One way to build your leadership and group on a solid foundation is to pray the promises of Scripture over your group members. Do it within the group meeting time to model for them one way of praying according to God’s will. It also demonstrates to them the importance of the Bible.

A Warning
If we are not careful, we can become prideful and pompous in our Biblical knowledge. Building on solid doctrine does not mean we become legalistic. Rather, building on solid doctrine means that we create opportunities where people can learn the truth and experience the freedom of living in that truth (John 8:32).

To preach and implement sound doctrine, we must hold two things in tight tension. First, we must have an unswerving, uncompromising love for the Word of God. Secondly, we must have an intense, unconditional love for people. Anything else results in imbalance. (2 Timothy 2:25)

Action

• Spend some time this week meditating on Psalm 119.
• Ask yourself what place the Bible is given in your small group and in discussion time.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 15th, 2007 at 1:02 pm and is filed under Foundations, Leadership Lessons, News and Updates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.