"Until God breaks your will He will never use you…unless I was broken I would be too proud to lose my life for sinners. I would be too proud to give my life away for people who were not perfect. I would wait for the perfect person and the perfect community, and I would never find them. I would end up like Judas, making only a partial commitment to the body of believers to whom I belonged and finding my identity in my rebellion from them."  

A Distant Grief, by F. Kefa Sempangi

Be Strengthened By God’s Grace: Keep A Good Conscience

Paul insists that keeping a good/clear conscience is essential for effective leadership (Acts 24:16; 1 Timothy 1:5,19; 3:9; 2 Timothy 1:3).  Keeping a good/clear conscience is a synonym for being sensitive and responsive to God’s ongoing moral correction.

Why is this a key way of being strengthened by God’s grace?  

Because the heart of effective ministry is love, and love is motivated by fresh appreciation of God’s grace—and one of the main ways we freshly appreciate God’s grace is by responding to his personal exposure of our sin. (See also Psalms 32:1-8; 51:12,13; John. 13:6-10; Hebrews 9:14; 1 John. 1:3-7).

How is this different from an unhealthy sin-focus or obsessive, negative introspection?

We are not to look for sin in our hearts.  Instead, we are to ask God to probe our hearts for hurtful ways (Ps. 139:23,24), to let God’s Word expose our thoughts and intentions (Hebrews 4:12,13), and to allow other Christian friends to speak into our lives (Hebrews 3:13).  And as God convicts us, we are to receive his correction humbly and respond to it obediently.

Which do you think is the greater current problem in your life and your house church—too much unhealthy introspection, or too little healthy openness to God’s moral correction?  Is it possible that many of us are either hiding sins, or deceived and self-righteous with all kinds of sins of omission?  This chokes the attractive joy of the Spirit in freshly forgiven sinners!

Consider these questions:

• What is your typical response to God’s moral correction of both sins committed and of omissive sin? In addition to active sin, God addresses passive sins – failing to do the right thing when we should (see James 4:7 and Luke 10:25-36). Do you respond quickly when you sense God is bringing a moral problem to your attention, or do you feel the freedom to ignore his correction in certain areas?
• Do you really believe that you can ignore God’s moral correction in any area of your life without it eventually adversely affecting every area of your life (Psalm 32:8-10)?  
• Would the people in your house church say that you model openness about God’s recent moral correction in your life?
• How commonly do people in your house church share about this part of their relationships with God (James. 5:16)?

Be Faithful: Love Your People Like A Mother And A Father

Jesus said that the mark that should distinguish his followers is that they sincerely and sacrificially love their brothers and sisters.  He said that this kind of loving community is critical to others coming to know him (John. 13:34,35; 17:20,23).  

Therefore, modeling this kind of love is an essential aspect of leadership faithfulness!  This is why Paul reminded the Thessalonian Christians of his example in this area (1 Thessalonians. 2:7-12).

How did he love them “like a mother?”

• He gently and tenderly cared for them.
• He had a fond affection for them; they had become very dear to him.
• He was well-pleased to give himself to them.
• See also Paul’s example of and emphasis on this throughout his letters.

How did he love them “like a father?”

• He gave them an example of a devout, upright and blameless life.
• He exhorted, encouraged and implored each of them to live as representatives of Christ.
• See also Paul’s emphasis on this in Acts 20:20,27,31, and in the Pastoral Epistles (e.g., 2 Timothy 2:24-26; 4:1,2).

I believe that God may grant hungry souls to churches where he knows they will be cared for like this.  Conversely, he may withhold hungry souls from churches where this is not happening.

How might you make progress in this crucial area of leadership faithfulness?  Consider these questions:

• “Do I really know who I am, where I am going, and who is with me?”
  Without the kind of security that Jesus had (see John 13:3-4), you will not be motivated to keep “washing the feet” of those God has put in your life to serve.  Instead, you will relate to them self-protectively.  You will have no fresh encouragement to give them.  You will lack the inner security to correct and challenge them for their good.  You will either avoid this, or do it out of irritation or fear.  You will protect your heart from them when they disappoint or hurt you.
• “Do I really believe that giving myself away to them in this way will lead to a blessed (truly happy) life (John. 13:17)?”  Do you really believe that your capacity to experience God’s love will increase as you give his love away to them?
• “Am I choosing by faith to invest in them until I feel affection for them?”  We may think that we must feel affection before we express it, but it often just the opposite. As we invest in them and treat them affectionately, we develop feelings of love and affection.
• “Am I known as a consistent and creative encourager of the brethren?”  It is impossible to exaggerate how important this is in house church work! It is worth spending time pondering this related question: “Why do I have a hard time encouraging others?”
• “When God prompts me to challenge them, how do I normally respond?”  Some of us know we’re not personally invested, so we know we’d be hypocritical to challenge.  Do you tell others about these promptings to help you to act on them?  Do you help each other follow through in this area?