Monday, May 9, 2011
Be a Faithful Lightouse Keeper
In the Leading today section of the May/June issue of Preaching, Ron Walter wrote an article titled Be a Faithful Lighthouse Keeper. The article talks about Sostrates the builder of the Pharos Lighthouse in Alexandria. The Lighthouse was the tallest building in the ancient world. Sostrates asked Ptolemy II the king of Egypt at the time for permission to inscribe his name on the lighthouse, but Ptolemy said no, in fact Ptolemy ordered Sostrates to inscribe his name on the light house. What Sostartes did was inscribe his own name in the marble of the lighthouse, than he coved it with plaster and inscribe Ptolemy’s name in the plaster. As time went on the plaster was blasted away by the elements reviling Sostrates inscription.
Walter states that Sostrate’s lighthouse is a parable of the church. The church belongs to Christ , and he has written his name on it. We are the lighthouse keeps of the church, as such we have three duties
• Be committed to God through worship
• Be committed to are fellow believers through nurturing , this will aid in building up the body of Christ
• Be committed to the world through evangelizing and caring.
As leaders we do have to see ourselves as keepers the church. It is Gods church, but he has entrusted us with its care. That is an awesome responsibility, but it is also a great honor, and we should see it as such.
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This makes me think of so many articles I've read and observations I've made of leaders mistakingly building their own kingdoms rather than building God's kingdom. It is easy--and probably a quality of human nature--to think like Sostrates. He was the artist building the lighthouse; why shouldn't his name be upon his work? But he worked for a king. Likewise, it is our King who gives us the ability to serve (in whatever capacity) as a reflection of his glory; not our own.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that a leader really gives his/her followers a great gift when he/she leads and develops a company, community, or church that does not revolve around personal ego, but rather is centered on Christ. In likeness to this story, it would be as if the leader's name were written in plaster, only to be washed away over time to reveal the name of the King beneath it. This is perhaps one of the difficulties of Christian leadership: a leader must not settle to grow and build his own kingdom; he or she must always remember that they are a steward.