Jesus Lordship and the World

"Jesus wants to be Lord of His church"
Well you might wonder to yourself, “I thought He is Lord of the Church”, to say that 'He wants to be Lord of His church' implies 'He is not Lord of His Church' - right?

To Clarify: Jesus certainly is Lord of the Church , always has been and always will be –  in fact, Jesus is Lord of All!

What I mean, when I say “Jesus wants to be Lord of His church” is more accurately; Jesus desires His Lordship to be visibly manifest and expressed in local churches. I say this because, although it is true to say 'Jesus is Lord of all!' It is also patently obvious that His Lordship is not always visibly expressed. All over the world we see human rebellion being expressed rather than Jesus Lordship. In the local church Jesus Lordship is expressed in varying degrees.

Often, it is not Jesus' Lordship that defines churches and church gatherings, but rather, the ‘Leader’s‘ of the church run things how they think best. This is not necessarily rebeliion. Sometmes it is a wrong understanding of theology, sometimes it is fear, sometimes ignorance, or to put it more politely, leaders do not know 'how', at a practical level, to allow Jesus to Be Lord at a Church gathering. Consequently, Leaders end up being the ones who control and define how the church gathering is going to be and there is very little space, if any for the Holy Spirit to do as He pleases. Even when space is given, there is often ignorance on the part of both the congregation and leaders in discerning the Holy Spirit as He works among His people.

It is my passion to see the Lordship of Jesus visibly expressed in New Life Church. That means the leadership must learn to let go of control.

Proviso
However, I am not advocating chaos or simply a 'free-for-all' I am not saying our gatherings are not to be led. After all, one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is ‘leadership’.  

Romans 12
4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.