I have a confession: for the longest time I have made chronological age and intellectual age equivalent. In layman's terms, I have often assumed that the older you are, the wiser you are. That the teacher should always be older, and those younger should assume their rightful place as the student.This is wrong. I have had the pleasure to serve on committees and other organizations where the leadership was younger than me, and yet far more equipped than me had I been in their shoes. It was a blow to my pride, for sure, but a wonderful lesson to learn.
But to every lesson is another question: does this apply to faith?
I've been trying to understand the roles of spiritual leadership in relationships, from peers to peers, peers to mentors, boyfriend to girlfriend, husband to wife. What does spiritual leadership mean? How is it manifested? Does being a leader mean you know more than the other person? Are we only challenged by those who know more than us? Or is challenge and leadership more found in the pursuit of holiness, not in the scale of holiness to which you have achieved?
I cannot possibly dissect this in the 10 minutes remaining in my lunch break, but I think the Bible shows us that all of us, no matter where we are on the faith scale, can present equal challenge and strength to eachother. Today, I take my example from the apostle Paul:
Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles. He was their spiritual father, mentor, teacher, rebuker, encourager, and the list goes on and on. Despite his constant battle with sin and humility as the "chief of all sinners," he revolutionized the world with his ministry. I am both humbled and encouraged by his letters, especially Philemon which I may write about in future blog post.But this afternoon, these words from Romans 1 just melted my heart:
"For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; that is, I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine."
These words remind me that we are encouraged by one another's faith. Whether you have been walking with the Lord for 10 years or 1...whether you approach God from an intellectual or a musical level...whether you know 2000 verses by memory or simply pray constantly for His guidance and wisdom...however the Lord has blessed us as His children, so should we use those gifts to encourage one another. We are encouraged by faith.
As a speech therapist, I am constanly in awe of my superiors who know more than me and can approach my tasks from different angles. Yet, at the same time, the children whom I am teaching blow me away, sometimes even more so. Even as a Christian, my one superior is very black and white, hardcore about his faith in Christ, and sometimes a bit overwhelming. And yet I will never forget the encouraging words from one my pint-sized clients:
Me: Wow, babe, you look like you've gotten taller!
Child: *smiles* I've been pwaying.
God bless your pursuit of His Son and His glory.
