Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you. (Hebrews 13:17)
I'll never forget a particular conversation I had with my mom when I was around 16 years old. I had a newer friend at the time, who was a particularly bad influence on me, and I had been invited by this friend to a party. My parents had generally been very open-handed with me, allowing me to mostly do what I wanted, so I was surprised when I received a big, fat "no" to a request to attend a party I had been invited to by my friend.
I argued my points and got heated as they were all rejected one by one. My mom made it clear that she had a bad sense about my new friend, and even his family, so the answer was a firm "no." Then, in my anger, I uttered the words: "I hate you!"
I soon regretted this (I've always been a bit of a momma's boy and can't stand to see her hurt by me), but to this day, I am amazed at the capacity of the fallen heart to hate and rebel against anything that gets in the way of what we want.
And you know what? My mom was more right than she knew. This friend had introduced me to drugs, and his parents allowed underage drinking and drug use in their home, even when they were present. In retrospect, the heartbreak and devastation in my friend's life and his family have been tremendous. My mom, as a good parent, saw past my immediate desires for freedom, fun and acceptance to the overall health and goodness of my life, and she bore the brunt of my anger as her thanks for it.
This story illustrates well for me personally the role of leaders in our lives, and why we, as followers of Christ, are called to "have confidence in" those the Spirit has appointed over us in this life. Our leaders are gifts of grace to us from God to see past our immediate desires to the overall health of our walk with Christ, and the overall health of the congregation before the Lord.
How often are we like I was with my mom? So set, so lost in the moment that we become the very instruments of pain and suffering for those caring for us. In Christ, this should not be so, and thus the author of Hebrews exhorts us to instead make "their work a joy."
These are not suggestions, but commands from the Word of God. Just as when we were young, to be good children, we must be obedient to our parents, and so as Christians, we are to be a joy to our leaders by having confidence in them and submitting to and being led by them.
If my mom had not held the line, if she had allowed my cruel words and accusations to break her will, it would have been I who would have suffered the most. My life would have become more filled with sin, pain and difficulty. So also the author of Hebrews warns us that it is we who suffer when we make ourselves a painful burden to our leaders. It is we who forsake the grace of protection and guidance the Spirit provides to us through those He has chosen to "keep watch over us."
Our sinful nature crashes hard against anything that stands in the way of fulfilling our desires, and the evil one is standing by, as a demonic Absalom, to win our hearts away to folly and self. But as we trust in our heavenly Father, we trust in His Word, which calls us to be a joy to those He has appointed to care for us. Let us trust and obey His Word, and let us be a joy to those He has entrusted with our care, for "God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5).
And, with God's help, we will do so!
A NOTE TO LEADERS
While the writer of Hebrews addresses his exhortation to those under leadership, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on something for leaders themselves from this passage. We see here that the Scripture refers to Christian leaders as "...those who must give an account." How crucial for us to understand this.
You see, it can be very tempting for those of us who lead to want to please those in our care. It can also be tempting to measure our leadership by how successful (or unsuccessful) it appears we are. In the end, however, it is not ourselves or our people to whom we must give account, but rather the Lord Himself. A day is coming when we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give account for what we have done while in the body (see 2 Corinthians 5:10), and for those among us entrusted with the shepherding of God's people, we will give account to Him for that care.
Blessedly, He will not find fault with us if people do not respond to our care. Even the Lord Jesus, during His earthly ministry, had those, like Judas, who would not respond to His leadership and disobeyed and betrayed Him. All we must do in order to be found faithful before Him is to truly love those in our care by the Spirit and with the Word of God.
So, whether or not those we care for in the Lord make our job a joy or a burden, we must keep in mind that it is to the Lord that we must one day give account, and do all that we do in order to please Him. And He will be the One when we see Him face to face, who will reward our faithful service.
Stay in the fight of love, and keep watch over those the Lord has entrusted to your care.
Essene Press Team
