Church history is good information, albeit as a sidebar. The more pressing issues are how to effectively reach the lost and holistically minister to the saints. To use a natural example to illustrate a spiritual truth: the surgeon, while well versed in medical history, does not have the luxury of historical retrospection when the patient is on the operating table.

Historical perspective is essential in preparation and a luxury in debriefing, but almost useless in the theatre of battle. I think two of the biggest issues facing the modern church is a tendency to contemplate history and an inflation of ecumenical protocol. I understand the point of historical study on the part of some but I think that it is overwrought by many others.

My issue is not with history, rather the application of it. History is important, to be sure, but I have concerns about so many men and women of God bogged down in history and ecumenical affairs to the point that it draws our attention from more needful matters.

When you look out and see that folks are dying – literally – from gunshots, aids, cancer, traffic accidents and so forth, how is dedicated discussion of church history pertinent to that? Folks are dying without Jesus! We need sound preaching and teaching, not history lessons.

If we get mired in historical discussions, we will invariably head down the denomination path, and God only knows where that rabbit hole will lead.

No, we need to be ministering the Gospel of the Kingdom and the full counsel of God to this sick and dying world. We need to be about what Jesus said do – healing the sick, cleansing lepers, raising the dead, and preaching the Gospel to the Poor. While we sit up in our ivory towers of learning discussing history, the world is going to hell in a hand basket.

No discussion on church fathers and church history is going to get anyone saved, healed, delivered or prospered. Again, not saying historical discussion is not meaningful, just that there are more important things to do.

© 2012 – Derrick Day (www.derrickday.com)

Today we observe the birthday of a great American, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is clear the nation owes him a debt of gratitude for what his accomplishments in the realm of social justice and equality. However, I would like to speak briefly regarding Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., the man of God.

Dr. King understood something the Body of Christ misses today: that if you want to change the social fabric of a nation, you must first change the hearts and minds of that nation. He understood that what plagued America was a spiritual problem and that it required a spiritual solution.

There were other civil rights pioneers that proffered solutions to racial inequalities. Booker T. Washington believed that social change would follow addressing economic disparities. W.E.B. DuBois believed the path to change lie in education and political empowerment. Rosa Parks and Bayard Rustin thought that embracing socialism was the means to that end. All of these efforts were doomed to fail because they addressed symptoms without treating the root cause.

Dr. King studied the successful employment nonviolent resistance of Mahatma Gandhi in the liberation of India. Mr. Gandhi, in turn, derived his strategy by studying the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus, while a King in command of the heavenly army, withstood insults, beatings and, ultimately, crucifixion without resistance of any kind. As a result, Jesus changed the entire world!

Today, the country (indeed, the world) is plagued with all manner of social ills. In spite of Dr. King’s efforts, racial inequality is still an issue. There are violent political disagreements. Proposed changes to the social order (e.g., homosexual “marriage”) threaten the very fabric of our nation. Hunger, poverty, and physical illness still pose serious problems. But, like Dr. King, we must come to the realization that the root of the problems are spiritual and, likewise, the change must be spiritual.

The reason why the Civil Rights Movement was successful is that it had the Church as its power-base. It was only when the Church and its leadership stepped up and stepped in that the Movement gained traction.  Similarly, it is high time that the Church steps up and asserts itself to impact the world with the will, culture and intent of the Kingdom of God. Dr. King understood the Church was the world’s  spiritual trauma center and rehabilitation facility and sought to engage it to treat and correct social injustice.

Romans 8:19 declares that “For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.” In other words, the whole world is waiting for God’s people — the church — to stand up and speak out against the ailments of the world. Jesus, Himself, said it best:

For verily I say unto you , That whatsoever you shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that these things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. (Mark 11:23)

The problem today is that we — the Body of Christ — are reluctant to speak up. But it is when we speak God’s Word to the situations of the day — then standing in faith that we have what we speak — that we begin to see change!

Dr. King was a mighty drum major for justice but, first, he was a mighty man of God. He understood the power of speaking to the mountain. Today, we need to pick up where he left off — see the problem and then SPEAK GOD’S WORD  to the problem!

The hallmark of a great leader is that they not only leave organizations in BETTER shape than when they arrived but they leave the PEOPLE around them in better shape!

Good leaders equip and edify; poor leaders rob and tear down (John 10:10).

Having been a leader in both corporate America and in ministry, I submit the following:

Corporate America was at its zenith between 1935 and 1985. It was eminently successful because captains of industry were tested in the battlefields of WW1, WW2, Korea, and Vietnam. These folks understood the difference between leadership and management. Today, we have precious few leaders that have any combat-tested leaders in corporate boardrooms; just a bunch of B-school grads that fawn and swoon over numbers with no regard for human capital.

Likewise, in ministry, we are seeing the advent of pulpit managers instead of preaching leaders. In ministry, we’re seeing increased attention to monetary and material management without the manifestation of the power of God or the development and discipling of men. This is not an indictment of all ministerial leaders but it is an eerily growing trend.

I think corporate America would benefit from conscripted military service; indeed, there would be a fallout-benefit to the country at large. Likewise, the church needs to start reaching out to young people, engaging them in stewardship and service; thus equipping them to be leaders. Kingdom leadership begins with service and continues with stewardship.

In both cases, the leadership paradigm should be based on Jesus, who led and taught by example and, ultimately, laid down His life for those in His charge.

That’s my $.02…

© 2012 – Derrick Day (www.derrickday.com)