Cont’d…
I want to end this article with an appeal to younger Christians. When you think of significance and greatness, don’t let the celebrity ideals of society spoil your vision. God may give some Christians those privileges and perks. But they are not a big deal. The big deal is doing God’s will. Whether you end up famous or not, guard your life, and ensure that you avail yourself of those essentials for maintaining a life and ministry that is approved by God.
Ajith Fernando is Teaching Director of Youth for Christ, Sri Lanka, the ministry he led for 35 years. These days, in addition to teaching and preaching, he spends his time mentoring and counselling younger Christian leaders and pastors. His latest book is Discipling in a Multicultural World (Crossway).
[1] I heard this in a training session of Youth for Christ International, but I am not able to supply a reference for it.
[2] See Philip Graham Ryken, King Solomon: The Temptations of Money, Sex, and Power (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2011).
[3] There has been a welcome interest among Christians today about the need to be emotionally healthy, represented, for example, by the writings of Peter Scazzero.
[4] The first time I read about this connection between powerful leaders, insecurity and sexual affairs was in a reprint of a North American article in a Sri Lankan newspaper.
[5] See Scot McNight’s comments on “Autonomy” in https://www.christianweek.org/willow-creeks-bill-hybels-had-too-much-power-scot-mcknight-on-scandal/
[6] See Ajith Fernando, “Jesus: The Message and Model of Mission,” in Global Missiology for the 21st Century, edited by William D. Taylor, (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2000), pp. 209-211.
[7] Julyan Lidstone, Give up the Purple: A Call to Servant Leadership in Hierarchical Cultures (Carlyle, Cumbria, UK: Langham Publishing, 2019).
[8] Tony Lane, The Lion Concise Book of Christian Thought (Herts, UK: Lion, 1984), 40.
[9] F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone, Dictionary of the Christian Church, (Oxford University Press, 1997, reprinted by Hendrickson Press), p. 129
[10] A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1971 reprint of the 1894 edition), 39.
