Video Transcript: Why study Christian Leadership?

Henry - Welcome to Christian leaders Institute. I'm Henry Reyenga and I'm Pam Reyenga together, we welcome you on a journey of studying ministry, studying  Christian leadership. So the question is, why study Christian leadership?  

Pam - Well, we're going to be exploring the impact of Christianity in the modern  world.  

Henry - We'll look at such things as the great commission with so many gifted  Christian leaders. We'll look at Christian the Christian theory of reality, the  impact of ministry sciences, yeah,  

Pam - and the role of Christianity in today's world, like  

Henry - never before, the role of Christianity is a central discussion. You know,  recently, we went through a book from about Elon Musk and how he has a vision in it's to save the planet. They'll save the planet and head to Mars, Mars, and  you know the and how urgent we have to build a rocket ship, a better rocket  engine, a better starship, because if we can get to Mars, we can save the planet and themselves and themselves, but it's sort of like the Titanic save the planet.  Is it? No, it's like being on the Titanic. Some got to survive. Those in first class  got to survive, right? The gospel of Jesus Christ is for the whole world. God so  loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not  perish but have everlasting life. So as we study Christian leadership, we study  how the plan of salvation, the Lordship of Jesus Christ, affects every area of life. So let's get started and ask the simple question, why are you and I called to  study Christian leadership?  

Pam - Well, it's for making disciples. Christians are discipled and called to make disciples of all nations. You are part of a worldwide movement. In Matthew  28:19, it says, Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in  the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  

Henry - So first of all, you're here to be discipled. Mm, hmm, okay, you've been  discipled at your local churches. But here that takes that discipleship to the next  level. You're going to study the Bible, you're going to study ministry practices,  Christian leaders practices we have study that even includes general subjects  like astronomy and biology. But it is now time to be discipled, but in order to  make disciples of all nations, and as Jesus sets up the church, it's a movement,  and that movement continues today, and you are part of that. So why study  Christian leadership  

Pam - well? Because every gift matters for ministry in I Peter 4:8-11, we read 

and above all things, be earnest in your love among yourselves. For love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable one to another without grumbling, according  as each has received a gift. Be ministering with it, as good stewards of the grace of God in its various forms. If any man speaks, let it be as it were, oracles of  God. If any man ministers, let it be as of the strength which God supplies that in  all things, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory  and the dominion forever and ever, amen.  

Henry - So the apostle Peter, late in his life, is now talking about what's  happening in the movement, and he's contextualizing. He's saying, Okay, it's  about love. Christian leaders are life breath. Breath is to love. Then he says,  hospitality without grumbling. Just be open. Beat people. It doesn't matter if  they're rich or poor. It doesn't matter what skin color they are. It doesn't matter  who they are. They are image bearers of God. Welcome them without  grumbling. Then he says, Okay, you have a gift, and your gift will be used by the Lord in this great commission to minister to others. That word in I Peter there is  diakonos to minister to others and to be a steward of how you use your gift. So  in a sense, Christian leaders is something that everybody is part of once you are a believer, right? I often find too if you notice too Pam is we've read stories, the  testimonies of 1000s. We find that those gifts are so connected to the Salvation  process, how someone was saved, if they were saved out of addiction, then  God, put those in addiction. Yes, and we've seen, you know, like if you're saved  through a struggle with skepticism or doubt, you often are saved there and then  also new gifts appear in those areas. Right? Or if you always knew the Lord that gives you certain strengths and gifts, right? That when you study ministry or  study Christianity, it even grows from there. So everyone has a gift? Yes, so why do we study ministry  

Pam - well meaning and purpose? Christianity answers existential questions  and affirms life's inherent value. Psalm 8:3-4. Says, When I consider Your  heavens the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which you set in  place. What is man that You are mindful of him  

Henry - that's powerful, you know it. I was on the plane just recently, and I met a golfer sitting next to me, and I could tell he didn't really know too much about  Christianity. Found out I was a minister. Then one added questions, and in trying to I could see was that search for purpose. So at some point, I raised my hand  there, I started turning it around in different direction that I held it like a golf club,  and he looked at that, and I said in these hands are purpose, the purpose to hit  a ball, but the purpose to love and minister to someone else is that every part of  God's creation speaks of his Talos purpose, he has a plan for your life and every event of our lives. Whereas, again, we contrast that with so many in our world 

that have meaningless existence. They don't know why we're here, but we can't  give God the credit for anything, so we just have to sort of struggle to find out  why. But when you study ministry, you get open doors to so many worlds and  ideas. So why study ministry for  

Pam - for moral and ethical guidance moral it gives us a moral and ethical  framework of Christianity. In Psalm 86:11, it says, Teach me your way, oh Lord,  and I will walk in your truth. Give me an undivided heart that I may fear your  name.  

Henry - So much of western culture is built on the moral framework of  Christianity. Now we're not talking here specifically a relationship with Jesus,  Christ, salvation, that we're just talking that you study Christian leadership  because it has had a moral impact upon the world. I just recently been studying  Plato. So since I have philosophy in my background and got my major in  philosophy, I just enjoy revisiting as I was listening to Will Durant, who's sort of  one of the stoneworks of Western thought he died in 1981 but he had this whole  thing about Plato. And I was listening to Plato again, and Durant says that  Plato's ethics, many of it, we would agree to and give be so grateful that Plato  was ethical, but Will said he also had other things, like he believed in  euthanasia. He believed in eugenics, if you are not of the fittest, he believed that those babies maybe don't need to live. Will was saying, and he contrasted it in  the presentation with the ethic of Jesus Christ that the weakest are to be  protected, you know, so the ethic of Jesus Christ is love, and that love is what  like the 10 Commandments are love God, then love your neighbor, and then  even those other commandments are About Love and joy. Do not commit  adultery. It's about love. It's not the law of don't cheat on your wife. It's the law of love. And then that law founds our moral fabric. So we study Christian  leadership, because it is an important piece of a lifestyle.  

Pam - that's right, and it has an impact on the role of the church. The church  provides worship, discipleship and community. Colossians 3:16 says, Let the  word of Christ dwell in you richly, as you teach and admonish one another with  all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in  your hearts to God  

Henry - a church may have reached you. That is the ministry of a church, a  sermon, a worship song, a program of the church, a ministry of the church. So  studying leadership is about that proclamation of the Christian religious society  called a church, and we're going to find out that that important institution still  fuels the movement of Christianity. 

Pam - all right, Christianity offers hope and resilience. It provides purpose,  comfort and endurance through life's challenges. So being anchored in Christ  does that as Hebrews 6:19 says, we have this hope as an anchor for the soul,  firm and secure it enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.  

Henry - I think today is the day of people looking for hope. I mean, again, to  hope to occupy Mars, in some ways, doesn't answer the question. When you're  85 years old, on your deathbed and you you can remember all the 50 years  earlier, when you were young, and now you're old, and I don't know if Mars is  gonna really be there for you, right, right? Okay, we're the dead. Are raised  eternal life, our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us far away is  them all. That is what the world needs. So we study ministry because we  understand the impact of hope.  

Pam - Yes, we also understand forgiveness and reconciliation, the importance  of forgiveness and reconciliation are found, found in Christianity brings  wholeness to relationships. As Mark 11:25 says, And when you stand praying, if  you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven  may forgive you your sins.  

Henry - Christianity is the forgiveness. Yeah, it's about that. It's about  reconciliation. How many times will you forgive your brother? 70 times 70 the  Lord's Prayer. Forgive us our debts, our transgressions, as we forgive those who transgress against us and again, there's acknowledgment in Christianity that  humans are fallen. God created a beautiful world. Humans fell into sin, there  was enmity, there was conflict, and the only antidote for conflict is forgiveness.  And Christianity, it does study that, because we're not talking phony forgiveness, where you just forgive, forgive, forgive, nor forgiveness, but then change  boundaries that are sustainable. Those are all topics of leadership, so that we  can learn how that goes and how we can lead others in that truth. 

Pam - right, altruism, charity and love. Christianity is motivated by love and  justice, even for people that do not agree with them or have no connection to  them. I Corinthians 16:14, do everything in love.  

Henry - You know, sometimes is forgotten the contribution that Christianity has  made to the world, the contribution toward the role of women in the Roman  Empire at that time, women, women were definitely the second hand citizens in  a marriage. They had to obey their husband in such a way that was abusive, not out of a mutual submittedness. And here comes Christianity, that image bearers  of God include men, women, slave and free. Christianity changed the fabric of  social justice, the fabric of a society. And today, you know these charities the 

earliest, some of the earliest charities were Christians who formed hospital  societies. When a plague would hit a community, everybody would leave the  sick, those who could to their villas, but the Christians would go into those.  Places and offer charity and hope they would just an incredible story of altruism,  charity and love. So we study Christian leadership, because this is our heritage  for impact,  

Pam - mental and emotional well being. Christianity supports mental and  emotional well being through ministry sciences I Peter 5:10, and the God of all  grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a  little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.  

Henry - Will himself restore you. Christianity has always been about healing,  emotionally, physical healing, prayer. The role of prayer ministry sciences is  about seeing what the Word of God, the Bible, has to say about mental health,  physical health. It's not just the social sciences out there who can comment  about these things. So when you study Christian leadership, you're going to  become aware of the coaching minister, pastoral care, other forms of ministry  where God is invited into the process of healing, of transformation, and that has  a lot to do with mental health,  

Pam - addiction and destructive behaviors. Combating addiction with faith  based transformation is what Christianity is about. Romans 13:12, the night is  nearly over, the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness  and put on the armor of light. So  

Henry - we have read stories of people who study Christian leadership. Here at  Christian leaders Institute stories of freedom. The shackles are broke, addictions dispensed with Jesus Christ, transforming someone's life and giving them a new lifestyle, as you are called to be a Christian leader. It's about studying that whole process. You know, the AA program is such an inspiration, and we've seen that  

in the world. And one of the things the AA program is, who is your higher power? And it it's a general program so they don't go on to define it's Jesus Christ.  When you study Christian leadership, we can focus in it is Christ who sets you  free. You are free. Indeed,  

Pam - family and relationships. Christianity strengthens marriage, family and  relationships. Ephesians 6:4, fathers do not exasperate your children. Instead,  bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. So  

Henry - you study Christian leadership through the Bible, the Word of God,  because all those essential primary relationships are in our life are dealt with 

throughout the Bible. I mean even marriage, even marriage intimacy, the Song  of Songs, the Book about marriage intimacy. And so much about marriage  intimacy is talked about the New Testament. Well, there's family. I quoted, we  quoted a passage before about fathers do not exasperate. There's parenting. All of that is done with love as being the ethic underneath at all is how to have  relationships of love, even to be a minister, one of the requirements is, if you can manage your family well, then go further in ministry. Now it doesn't mean that all  families are outcomes are going to be all perfect, but what it does mean is that  that love, that ethic, that relationship with Jesus Christ, is something that you  can learn how to provide in your home. And when someone is old, they will not  depart from what you have invested in sown into them. So families, we study  Christian leadership because it's about families. It's about Thanksgiving and  Christmas and why we get together. It's a powerful legacy of the gospel. 

Pam - Yes, environmental stewardship. Christianity calls for stewardship of the  earth. Psalms 24:1, the earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world and all  who live in it.  

Henry - Some people think that Christianity is not into the environment, and  really we are into the environment with this way that we can prioritize the goals  of the environmental outlook  

Pam - being a good steward of the creation God has given us. Right?  

Henry - You're environmentalistic And you don't have a compass, then what's  your priority? Well, yeah, then you're almost worshiping the earth. So, right?  And that, actually, yeah, issue. So you study ministry to learn about those  priorities. So as you're leading as a Christian leader, you might impact, you  know, just let's sum it up. Really, what happens is this,  

Pam - you become an agent of hope in a world filled with despair. II Corinthians 3:6, he has made us competent as ministers of the New Covenant, not of the  letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life  

Henry - to me, that's what it's all about. Each of us are reached by Jesus Christ  out of some community of despair. I mean, whether you're rich or poor, you the  fall of sin has made it that all of us understand and are touched by brokenness,  separation, hurt and pain, and the Gospel comes into all of our lives, wherever,  whatever state we're in, and brings you hope. The Gospel changes everything,  

and then, as you are changed by the gospel out of your community of despair,  you are called to be a leader, a Christian leader, a minister, an operative of  hope, a difference maker, back into that very community that you reached out of 

and at Christian Leaders Institute, we want to encourage you to recruit Christian  leaders then to reach others, and then they reach others, and they they reach  others. So these communities of despair are filled with the message of hope, so  that's why you study Christian leadership, because it's about a movement go  make disciples of all nations. It's about hope. It's about change. It's the real  change. It's not getting to Mars, it's getting to heaven. It's not worrying about  how many friends we can have or how much money we can get. It's worrying  about how we can love our neighbor and bring the restoration of Jesus Christ.  Pam, as we end this, would you be willing to lead us now in a prayer welcoming  people here to study Christian leadership, and may God bless you?  

Pam - Yes, Dear Heavenly Father, dear Lord, we just thank you so much for  these new students who are coming here to Christian leaders Institute and they  want to learn and to grow and to serve. Where you lead them, we just pray for  your blessing upon them, each student and as guide them and help them see if  they don't already know what their ministry calling is, what it is, and if they do to  just really learn all they can so that they can just minister in that area as  effectively as possible. Oh Lord, we just thank you for your many blessings. Holy Spirit fill each one of us now and lead us forward in the work and the study you  have before us. We love you, and we ask this in Jesus, precious name, amen,  

Henry - amen. So next time we're going to talk about the programs of Christian  leaders Institute, maybe you're here to just study classes. Maybe you're here to  get awards, certificate, diploma. Maybe you're here to get a college degree  through the Christian Leadership Excellence school here at Christian leadership, or maybe you're called to study ministry to get in a credential, a ordination  credential. So stay tuned. We're going to talk about the programs next May God  bless you as you pursue that calling to be a Christian leader.