Although churches often talk about stewardship in regard to finances, it can be easy to overlook the importance of stewarding the gift that God gives to all believers. “The most important thing we have to steward as pastors and leaders is the anointing of God that is on your life,” said Lee Cummings, pastor of Radiant Church in Kalamazoo, Mich.
Cummings, who also leads the national Radiant Network of Churches, spoke at a recent meeting of the Midwest Ministers’ Fellowship in Kansas City. He illustrated four facets of stewardship found in the faces of the cherubs described in Revelation 4.
“John has a view of the throne of God, and around the throne are heavenly creatures that have four faces — an eagle, a lion, an ox and a man,” Cummings said. “Elsewhere, they are called the anointed cherubs. I believe they represent a dashboard that makes up the four facets of the anointing that was on Jesus. Our anointing is not ours; it is his anointing. This serves as a dashboard for how we steward the anointing in our lives.”
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Eagle. “The eagle is the visionary part of your anointing,” Cummings said. “As a leader, the greatest gift you offer to the church and the people you lead is vision — not just your vision, but the heavenly vision, which is the treasure of heaven that is entrusted to leaders. Vision depends on our obedience. Calling is permanent, but vision is conditional.”
Lion. “The face of the lion is talking about courage,” he said. “If you are leading people, there is an anointing on your life. Leadership is synonymous with courage. If we are not careful, we can begin to play it safe, because we don’t want to lose what we have. We need some lion leadership. Our nation right now has a deficit of courageous leadership. With every great opportunity and every vision that God gives to us, there also are going to come adversaries. People in our churches and communities are looking for courageous leaders.”
We are all human, but we are all anointed
Ox. “The ox is a picture of a leadership drive or ambition,” Cummings said. “An ox is used for three things in the Bible – as a beast of burden, for additional strength and an animal of sacrifice. An ox can be driven, and so can leaders. We need to learn to steward the ambition and the drive to succeed that’s on the inside of every single one of us. One of the things than makes you a leader is drive, and one of the things that can break you is drive. We have to sanctify our ambition.”
Man. “The face of a man is stewarding our humanity,” he said. “Every leader must manage their humanity, which is their weaknesses and all of the practical issues of life. If we don’t steward the practical parts of our humanity, we don’t have a right to lead anybody spiritually.”
For leaders and lay people alike, stewarding the anointing is a journey, not a destination.
“We are all human, but we are all anointed,” Cummings said. “Don’t speed up the process of getting somewhere you believe you are called to go and miss the joy of the journey. This is why we need to pay attention to the dashboard of the anointing.”
MMF host regular luncheons for regional pastors and ministry leaders. For more information about Midwest Ministers’ Fellowship, visit www.mmfellowshp.org.
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice