CG7: Jesus and New Testament Leadership

In the latest issue of its Bible Advocate magazine (October 2007), CG7’s Jason Overman wrote:

Becoming children

Jesus’ view of discipleship involved this very principle. His followers, like us, understood the politics of power according to the conventional wisdom: Power is the measure of status and wealth; it is the luxury and domain of the strong. But against the traditional view, the politics of Jesus points the other way. “The kingdom and the power” that He embodied and bid us enter, and for whose fullness we pray, is the habitation of little children (Matthew 18:1-4).

The desire to be greatest is a temptation common to pride, but Jesus did not say that disciples must forgo all thought of authority. Rather, He challenged the nature of that power. Typically, the heathen kings exercised power by dominating their subjects, but King Jesus inverted that policy. He was committed to the counter-cultural idea that the greatest in His kingdom is the younger that serves (Luke 22:24-27). Powerlessness reveals God’s true power.

The New Testament emphasis on power in weakness should not surprise anyone nursed on the stories of Israel. The accounts of Moses and Pharaoh, Joshua and Jericho, Gideon’s three hundred, David and Goliath, Daniel and the lions den, the fiery furnace — and so many more — give weight to the prophetic maxim “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6)…

For it is not strength or status or position or wealth that rightly reveals true power, but humble service that locates greatness in the costly gift of Christ crucified.

Let us confess with the apostle Paul, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. . . .” It is the “exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe” (Romans 1:16; Ephesians 1:19). Amen.

Comments by COGwriter

And while I do not believe that CG7 itself truly understands governance, I do agree that church leaders need to follow after the teachings that Jesus established for them in the New Testament.

Information on CG7 can be found in the following two articles:

Church of God, Seventh Day: History and Teachings Nearly all COG’s I am aware of trace their history through this group. Whaid Rose is the president of the largest CG7 group (Denver). Do you know much about them?
5. The Sardis Church Era was predominant circa 1600 A.D. to circa 1933 A.D. Discusses Seventh Day Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, and COG-7th Day.