When God brings a word over the pulpit, oftentimes He is not finished with that word after one delivery.
He wants to continue building upon it. He wants to be sure that word is deeply rooted in us to where the enemy cannot pluck it out. The word confronts our mindsets. Sometimes, we don’t readily agree with the word when it initially comes forth. Sometimes it may take several weeks or months for our minds to come into agreement with that word. Our minds have to change. The word is not going to change and God is not going to change. We must change. The most dangerous thing to become is a Christian that is not bendable. If God is shaping and molding us in a certain way, we should want to be in agreement with that shaping. We have to allow ourselves to be corrected by God. Even those who are not currently under-shepherds need to embrace the word.
Senior leaders and under-shepherds must be accountable for the word they minister to the people in word and deed. When the word is not passed down through the administration set forth by God, there is room for discrepancy and error. One reason for discrepancy in ministry is the disconnect between the under-shepherds and the senior leader. There are many cases in which there is no cohesiveness between the under-shepherds and the senior leader. When they are not connected, spiritual growth is stunted. Truth be told, the reason for this disconnect is a lack of trust and great fear. People fear their leader. They fear the intentions of the leader. They occupy space in a ministry, always at a place of decision; trying to decide whether they will truly be with this person as a leader. This is present in the body of Christ as a whole, not only in one particular location or ministry. In contrast, it is powerful when under-shepherds take on the spirit of their leader.
An example of this is Timotheus having taken on Paul’s spirit. When he said that Timothy had his spirit, Paul meant that Timothy felt and thought as he did about God, the people and ministry. He felt comfortable leaving the ministry in Timothy’s care. In the body of Christ today, if certain apostles or senior leaders were to be caught up, under-shepherds who have previously sat in judgment of their leader, would begin to take the word and the location of the ministry to a different place. When an under-shepherd takes on the spirit of the leader and recognizes that there is a reason that the person is a senior leader, there would be so much accomplished. The ministry would be so powerful. If under-shepherds trust their senior leader, they could easily sit back and allow the senior leader to lead as they see fit.
