General Conference of Elders

Cincinnati, Ohio

Monday  May 7, 2001

The General Conference of Elders concluded today with five messages: the harvest analogy in doing Godâs work, preparing the Bride of Christ, principles of Christ-centered servant leadership, the urgency of the times, and going forward in preaching a message of warning and witness. Breakout sessions followed the first three presentations and allowed for discussion of the topics by small groups.

 The Harvest Analogy

Council member Victor Kubik initiated the dayâs proceedings. Quoting from the mission statement of the United Church of God, he pointed immediately to the clear focus on preaching the gospel. Paul clearly saw his task the same way, as he said in 1 Corinthians:9:16, ãFor if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!ä God has given this fellowship many blessings that it can use in fulfilling that goal, including its trained ministry.

Mr. Kubik talked of some of the biblical comparisons to the role of the ministry in preaching the gospel. Ministers are compared to fishermen in Matthew:4:18. They are called builders with God in 1 Corinthians:3:9-15. But the most common analogy is that of being a farmer (1 Corinthians:3:5-8). A farmer must work to bring in the crop, even though he canât create even one cell of organic life. Only God can give life. But the farmer must sow the seeds, cultivate and fertilize the crop, and bring in the harvest. Looking more closely at the components of his job can help us understand our task more clearly.

Robin Webber

The seed is the message, and can be ãsownä in many ways ö by article, radio or television broadcast, magazine, or booklet. The field is the world. Trying to match the seed to the field will give the best results. When he casts the seed, a farmer wants to send it into the most profitable field, so it isnât wasted. These are parts of his responsibility. Some, no doubt, will land by the wayside. But if he does his job well, more will land in the good soil. As God calls, each can have a part in the sowing, with the contribution made by all adding up to more effective sowing by the Church as a whole. Multiplying the number of sowers instead of restricting them to only a few means ãthe power of Îandâ beats the tyranny of Îorâä in sharing the effort of sowing, Mr. Kubik observed.

Sometimes, he reminded the group, we donât see the results of our efforts. The seed may lie apparently dormant for some time. But that doesnât impede our efforts to use all the tools at our disposal to keep sowing that seed. The growing season, of course, is necessary. No crop springs up overnight. During that time of maturing, the crop must be cultivated and fertilized. The purpose of the recently formed Media Oversight Committee is to help coordinate all efforts as effectively as possible.

Mr. Kubik reminded all of Les McCulloughâs comments at the time of his selection as president in 1998. ãMr. McCullough said we should be praying for growth,ä stated Mr. Kubik. ãAre we? If not us, who? If not now, when?ä

Indianapolis pastor Darris McNeely spoke next on ãThinking in the Bible: Sowing and Watering the Seeds of the Gospel.ä He outlined a plan successfully used in the Indianapolis area that involved ãthinking outside the box.ä But as Mr. McNeely stressed, it was more like ãthinking in the Bible.ä

The major innovation involved asking the home office for the subscription list to the Good News magazine in the church area for the purpose of directly contacting subscribers with an offer for sermon tapes. President Les McCullough gave the pilot program the green light, and the Indianapolis area sent three such mailings in 2000. The average response to the offer was 8.5% of the mailing list. Five offers are planned in 2001; coordination with home office mailings so as not to overload subscribers is an essential element of the program. Other pastors have tried similar efforts with approximately the same response levels.

Advantages include helping readers develop an identity and connection with the Church, spreading the truth of God in a new manner, and should they desire it, providing Good News subscribers with a regular contact with the local church congregation.

Los Angeles area pastor Robin Webber spoke on a similar program in the area he pastors. The Los Angeles program ties in an Open House invitation to the local Sabbath services once a year. Mr. Webber asked all present to think in terms of what hasnât yet been tried? What might still be done to try to reach out with Godâs message in our respective areas?

Preparing the Bride of Christ

Oakland pastor Bill Bradford outlined the nature of the calling to the ministry: love, service, and sacrifice. To share in preparing the Bride of Christ is as much a part of that work as anything else an elder may do.

Citing Romans 8, Mr. Bradford pointed out that the physical creation is bound by the physical limits of decay; the spirit-born children of God will not be. It is this special moment that all of creation awaits. If that is the end result of our efforts individually and congregationally, what must we do to get where weâre going?

Bill Bradford addressing the GCE

  Godâs Word makes clear that His flock needs to be fed spiritually. But our ability to feed depends on our own spiritual condition. If that is weak, little can be accomplished. Helping Christ to nourish and cherish His own Body is surely a wonderful calling. Romans:8:29 shows us that the goal is to conform to His image. Being Christian is not just ãanother lifestyleä but a way of life, a way of being. As His servants, Christ must not only be speaking through us, but living in us. We cannot speak above what we are.

Mr. Bradford listed five areas for consideration:

• Can we define specifically, and help the members in our care do the same, what we are accomplishing in this life?
• Our conduct must not contradict Christâs teaching
• We must not preach ourselves
• We must consider what we must be in Christâs service
• We must be able to look at ourselves and rightly conclude that Christ is in and with us.

As ministers, we have the privilege of serving the Body of Christ, which is a spiritual Body, not a physical structure. Physical structures are established to serve the spiritual Body. ãWhat we become in the organization is petty. What we become in the spiritual Body of Christ is everything,ä he pointed out. We must never lose sight of the need to use the physical organization God has blessed us to be able to build, to do the things for which it was built in the first place. That involves comparing ourselves constantly with the only true measure ö Jesus Christ.  

Mr. Bradford concluded his remarks with an anecdote about a lady asking questions of a silver refiner. Her final question involved asking him how he knew, as he watched the refining process, when to remove the silver from the refining fire so it would not be ruined. ãWhen I see my own image in the silver,ä he told her, ãthe process is complete.ä

Christ-centered Servant Leadership

  ãWeâve had six thousand years of Îserpent leadership,âä began Clyde Kilough, ãnow itâs time for servant leadership.ä

With those words, Sacramento pastor and newly chosen Council of Elders member Clyde Kilough led the General Conference into a closer examination of the true biblical motive behind service. In this area, as in so many others, Satan has most certainly played a role. Jesus Himself had to remind His disciples that ã·whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servantä (Matthew:20:26).

Mr. Kilough asked all to consider the example of Jesus Christ. Christ-like leadership must come from those who have learned to think like He does. As he stressed, the familiar passage in Philippians 2 states that Christ ãtook the form of a servant.ä It does not just say, ãHe served.ä The two are distinct concepts. Being a servant includes serving, but is not limited to it. And not all serving is really servant leadership ö there are in fact other less noble reasons why people sometimes serve others. Some serve for competition, some for reward, some for show. But true servant leadership has no ãdown side.ä It goes much deeper into why we serve and how we serve and asking us: have we become servants?

Mr. Kilough listed four areas in which servant leadership becomes a core issue:

• It is a core issue for being in the Kingdom of God. The disciples argued about who would be the greatest. Christ didnât browbeat them; but He made it clear that unless one is a true servant he or she will ãby no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven.ä
   
• It is a core issue for having an effective ministry. We all lie somewhere along a continuum of the ãworldly modelä of self-serving human leadership and the ãChrist modelä of godly servant leadership. As ministers, we must continually examine where we are, individually and collectively, in order to grow. Christ expects His shepherds to serve as He did. His servants put the spotlight on the job, not the person; on the mission, not the man. He expects future ministers to be trained in this approach. And He expects His ministers to model His servant leadership approach for His people ö a strong leadership style, not a weak one. Laying down oneâs life in service is not done by the weak.
   
• It is a core issue for building spiritually healthy members and congregations. Christ-centered servant leadership builds strong families. It appeals less to the emotions than to changing the heart. It seeks to fill the needs of those being served, and just as importantly, to do so in a manner that edifies everyone. It serves in ways that develop people, and builds stronger leadership in the Church. It does that by redefining greatness and reshaping our sometimes-worldly definitions of ãleader.ä Leaders following Christâs model are stronger because their leadership is earned and is given by those who look up to them and follow their example. Christ-centered leaders find and use their gifts, and help others to do the same. Christ-centered leadership will keep a church warm in a cold world, and guard against betrayal. As Jesus Himself said in Matthew:24:12, when ãlawlessness will abound, the love of many will wax cold,ä and ãmany will be offended and betray one another, and will hate one anotherä (verse 10). Christ-centered servants would never betray.
   
• It is a core issue for healing the hurts of the past. It offers a path to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past by not continually dragging up past events, wearily living in the past, or beating up on anyone. Instead, it honestly acknowledges past mistakes and simply goes to work on correcting them. This is a long-term commitment and sends a message about the leadership of the Church. It can go a long way to healing past hurts inflicted by human leadership styles. It presents a gentle approach that engages people and draws them into the process rather than intimidating them. Committing to this kind of Christ-centered leadership is the most effective way to reestablish trust when it has been broken. That trust, of course, is a two-way street That is why all His people, not just the ministry, are enjoined by Christ to become servants. To the degree we recapture the true values of Christ-centered leadership, we will preclude any possible future abuse of authority. The thrust of servant leadership has nothing to do with whether or not authority exists, but with how to properly use that authority.

Mr. Kilough summed up with the account of Rehoboam in 1 Kings:12:7, who was advised ã·if you will be a servant to these people today, and serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.ä The future of the nation hinged on his decision to be a self-server instead of a servant leader. The future of the people of God and how we will meet the challenge of the last days will also hinge on whether all of us choose to be servants, and to serve, as Jesus Christ.

The Urgency of the Times

 ãDonât worry about the future. It will always be there.ä Don Ward introduced his topic with those words. ãThe question is ö will we be there?ä 

From Italy: Carmelo Anastasi and Angelo Di Vita

That thought lies at the heart of the biblical admonition to ãwatchä with which members of the United Church of God are so familiar. Are we discerning the times in which we live, and helping Godâs people to do the same? Godâs Word says that Satan has deceived the whole world· which means the world is not what it appears to be to human eyes.

Two prophecies in the book of Ezekiel, one in chapter 22 and one in chapter 13, speak of walls constructed with ãuntempered mortar.ä Such walls canât stand. But the servants of God must be equipped to stand in the gap, build up the hedge, and help prepare a people. Our challenge is to seek the truth in all things. Can we help Godâs people not to be swallowed up in the complacency engulfing our society? Satan and his agents continue their onslaught against godly values. Some have characterized our age as ãpost-Christendom.ä Prevailing views of tolerating evil in the name of love, brotherhood, and peace are not compatible with Godâs instructions.  

Dr. Ward asked the ministry to exert every effort to help Godâs people develop a realistic world view ö and to do it ourselves! Citing the efforts of one of the widows in his congregation who regularly sends him news ãclippingsä from the Internet, he urged the ministry to ãkeep up with the widows!ä 

Are we watching?

Where Do We Go From Here? Preaching a Warning Message

President Les McCulloughâs address to the Conference was the last major topic of a day filled with much solid material to thoughtfully digest. As he asked, ãWhere do we go from here?ä It is possible to be so caught up in the doing that we lose sight of where we are going.

Our society has long ago reached that point, and has lost contact with its moral foundations. As a result, it has no idea where it is headed. It is a world filled with information, but with little guidance in how to use it. Noting a recent poll with surprising percentages of Christians who believed in astrology and reincarnation, and who have consulted with fortune-tellers, Mr. McCullough wondered how many had consulted with God?

Not that technology is bad in itself. But it can so distract people from their roots and their destinations in life. In the words of Gertrude Stein, ãthere is no Îthere,â there.ä Where are they going?

The Church of God has an ambitious job to do ö to preach the gospel in all the world, and make disciples in the nations. The early disciples learned some astounding things as God worked with them. They had an amazing beginning. So have we. God has blessed the United Church of God from the start with scores of faithful ministers and thousands of faithful brethren. What would He have us do with those blessings?

He would have us preach the words of repentance. They are the words of Jesus Christ (Mark:1:14), of John the Baptist (Matthew:3:2), and the words of Peter (Acts:2:38). Thatâs the most important message we can have in this time too. How much more can be asked than to have our sins taken away? Than to stand blameless before our God? Than to be given the gift of the Holy Spirit? It is the message that eternal life is available.

The field is bigger than ever before ö six billion people now crowd this planet. And they all have to repent ö sometime. Is it possible that God is even more urgent now than He was in 31 A.D.?

We have a marvelous opportunity to share in this life-saving message. Repent or die. Thatâs the choice. Itâs urgent. Itâs a warning. Itâs an encouragement. Itâs the gospel. And we have the chance to preach it. Does this world need it? Will we do it as Godâs servants? Thatâs the chance He makes available to us in His service.

In his closing remarks, Chairman Roy Holladay thanked all for their service in making the success of the General Conference of 2001 possible, and wished all a safe journey back to their respective areas to serve Godâs people. 

Doug Johnson

© 2001 United Church of God, an International Association