Who’s serving whom?

I often (perhaps too often) find myself thinking about the intended purpose for leaders in a church.  This is a natural progression from my studies in leadership development and yet I always feel a sense of guilt in the middle of these thoughts.  Never wanting to be critical or worse yet a cry baby I tend to hold these things in so as to not offend anyone.  In reality not finding a release valve for these thoughts forms a desire to rage against the machine and start flipping tables.  This is never a good option for me!  Let me paint a picture from the “other side” or thought process first.

Training and building up our leaders is a good thing and requires a level of diligence.  This may involve extra biblical training at various conferences or perhaps retreats in order to allow the leader to vent with those who can relate.  If the leader is to lead anyone he or she must have something to offer after all.  This makes logical sense and I can see the reasoning in these statements or thoughts.  I just do not believe they’re even remotely true.  It is not as if I did not enjoy these times when put in these positions but that was when I thought as a child (this is my own point of view) but as a man this is not leadership it is pampering. 

These are strong statements of opinion I have written here and that is what they are in every way.  This does not mean I do not think I can defend my position.  If Jesus did indeed come not only to die for us but also to live for us then He is the example in every living way.  That is to say when it comes to leadership Jesus is the standard.  Can I simply ask this question:  Would Jesus spend money on taking his disciples to a mountain side anything (resort, hotel… swamp for that matter) in order to teach and train them for the mission coming up?  You may say, that’s not fair because Jesus had no money and He did take them to quiet places to pray and even learn.  Why did they have no money in the first place?  What were their days filled with?  These are fair questions even in light of the fact that we are speaking about Jesus and His followers. 

I do not think Jesus set the bar too high for us, the problem is that the bar has been set.  But where would the church be without paid leadership?  Right where it should be.  I am not opposed to providing for a workers needs at all... It should be a sacrifice however and not a promotion!  Jesus said he came as one who serves... Just how much do you think he got paid for his services?  Surely it was the highest amount as his qualifications speak for themselves.  How did Jesus compensate his followers when he sent them out?  Did he not tell them to take nothing!  How would this go over today and would the argument come back to, "but that was Jesus and his followers."  Who do you follow?  If the answer is Jesus then you are his follower, no different than the followers we read about today.  At the end of the day my real beef is that the church has come to serve the leaders and the leaders have come to expect this along with a paycheck.