Trusting on Church Leadership: What It Means to Walk In the Footsteps of Jesus

Hebrews 13:17 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.
That Jesus's love is pure, and that you and I can do more than he did remained true biblical praxis. But, to say that Jesus is not black and white in thinking, that he is not dogmatic, have had no basis in philosophy, literature and scripture. Isn't that a bolt from the blue -- licentiously extreme? Honestly, Jesus, being the firm, uncompromising and strong apologist of God's will over the created, is an advocate to himself. And that makes him an apologist to himself, God incarnate while he was on earth and a third in the trinity of the Godhead. All apologists are dogmatic; Jesus was by no means an exception. From birth in Galilee, baptism at the Jordan, preaching all over Judea, and unto his death in Jerusalem, he has been apologist and dogmatic for the Father. Every teaching, right or wrong, inevitably veers into dogma and history is full of it. By dogma, we refer to a belief or set of beliefs that a religion holds to be true. Christianity is God's dogma1 and if you and I accept the commission of discipleship and swear to be God's spokesman and ambassador in this troubled world, we inescapably become apologists of the bible, and dogmatic for God and the biblical teachings. After all, we listen only to one voice Jesuss own and follow his example.

Any inferior and/or muddled version of Christianity may take shape any time soon somewhere else if you and I lose sight of Jesus and his word. Any version of truth, even any form of organized fallacy, has had dogma built around it. Now, how can we say that every bit of Christian praxis isn't black and white in Jesus's eyes, mind, and heart? Who has walked, from among us here, with Jesus? Has anyone here been able to fathom the heart and mind of Jesus, other than what the bible says? We need to be careful with our opinion by holding biblical exegesis separate from what we think or understand, on the one hand, and what corporeal, mundane, ecclesiastical thoughts should be, on the other. The trouble with us is that, by being able to read a handful of books about a certain subject and from having built a large collection of notes and a library of references, we begin to think that you and I have gained or obtained expertise. Surely you and I may live and die aspiring to be like Jesus; but we will never ever become Jesus. We may live and die trying to walk in his footsteps, and we may be able only to leave our own footprints on his. Haven't you heard in school that he who walks in other's tracks leave no footprints of his own? When we walk the way he walked, Jesus becomes more evident (not us). 2 The Lord will acquire prominence (not you and me). He will attract a bigger following, but not a flock we can call our own. We will gain spiritual depth and become knowledgeable and empowered with a wisdom that precedes the Lords name and reputation (not our fame or monument of greatness). But, as has been happening now, up to a point we begin to think we are superior than others, even higher in knowledge compared with our leaders. We somehow tend to believe we have a license to mix facts and opinion; we become tactless and careless that what you and I believe, what you and I think, what you and I do, should be the direction that everybody should be accepting, thinking, and doing. By desiring recognition for our knowledge and experience, we downgrade the Lord. By putting Christ as second fiddle in the orchestra of our learning, we grab the limelight for ourselves and expect our brotherhood to acknowledge our contribution; to me that is no longer discipleship. In humility, we should be able to realize that the more we read, study, and meditate the deeper our conviction must be that we have learned little. The more we make disciples3 and abide by veritable church leadership directive we must conclude that by far we have accomplished little; that the Master's view prevails, and that we leave so much to be desired in the Lord's global outreach to make disciples of all nations. Wasn't it taught when we were younger that little knowledge is dangerous? It is. Canturias, Abbey B. Metro Cebu Christian Church
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Acts 11: 25-26: The public pattern of Christianity

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John 3:30: Jesus must gain prominence Matthew 28:19-20: Core teaching of discipleship and Christianity