Do you proudly exercise your authority in church? Do you jealously guard your decision making power? Are you determined to be viewed as a leader as opposed to a servant? Are you aiming to serve Jesus in the way of your choosing? Do you bask in a spirit of self-satisfaction? Are you self-righteous and pious to the congregation? Do you yearn to be chairman of the most important decision making body? Do you seek to be a member of important committees? Do you relish the power of being in charge?
Do you unabashedly believe it is your duty to sit in judgement of fellow church members when the need arises? Have you and your fellow leaders expelled individuals from the church because of perceived errant behavior (i.e. intoxication)? Do your various positions of authority in the church elevate you to a peerage above the ordinary member? Do you hope that certain types of people never visit your church? Do you believe in the intrinsic spiritual superiority of certain classes or types of people?
If your answer to any of these questions is yes or even maybe, you might want to re-read 1 Cor 13 and Prov 14:12. It may have slipped your mind that you deserve to spend eternity in Hell. You were saved, just in time, from eternal damnation by faith, the grace of God and the Substitutionary Atonement of Jesus Christ. You are redeemed from the bondage of sin, forgiven your sins by a Holy God, justified as sinless before God, adopted into the family of God, born again from the death of sin to a life of pursuing righteousness, guided along the path of sanctification, reconciled with fellow believers, united in the Church of Jesus Christ and looking forward to glorification only because Jesus died on the cross for your salvation. The higher Jesus allows you rise in Christian leadership, the more you become a servant of all.
