Before defining the leadership of the church, a question arises about its mission. First and foremost it is worth noting that the mission is God’s whose purpose in Christ is to reconcile all things to him. To fulfil this purpose, God uses the church in the world to spread the gospel, to evangelize, to proclaim the good news to the lost and embody in its corporate life the message of reconciliation. The church is to manifest God’s mercy and bring humanity to its purpose. In order for the church to achieve its mission in today’s contemporary world, it has to analyse at every moment the signs of the times and interpret them in light of the Bible. This will enable the church to respond to the questions that regard the meaning of life, both current and future.
Its mission is being a symbol of salvation to the entire world so as to redeem people to God since it has received from the risen Christ the role to make disciples of all people. This clearly illustrates that the heart of the mission is to go out and form the church which is the body of Christ. The Church being the body of Christ defines that God is the head; the body is a living organism with many parts that work together. God being the head illustrates that He sustains and supplies the body needs for life. The church being a living body implies that it is constantly growing and adapting to changing conditions of life with its source of Christ being its source of life. It is clear that the fundamental mission of the church is evangelizing (Lôndero 2).
The church puts into context various theological themes in its daily practise and in evangelizing to the world. The themes include the body of Christ, Spiritual warfare, the return of Jesus Christ and final judgement. Firstly, the body of Christ: those who have received Christ and are united with God and with other believers. God has given his people the privilege of reaching the lost around them and hence the impulse to withdraw and protest must be resisted. Secondly, Spiritual warfare: God’s enemy, Satan, is constantly trying to derail Christians from their purpose through persecution, division, temptation and deception. The believers are encouraged that God has provided them with the weapons they need to defend themselves. Lastly, the return of Jesus Christ and final judgement: this encourages the believer that as they struggle with holiness there is the hope of attaining everlasting life. The theme notes that Jesus will return and bring an end to all suffering and sin, reward people for their service to him.
In addition, the church fulfils its mission by being a servant body and renouncing all power to present itself as ministerial. This brings about the need to overcome possible structures of domination and supremacy in Jesus’ example who revealed himself as a servant by washing the disciples’ feet. The other concept is whereby the church sees itself as a community formed by fraternal relationships with all persons being of equal dignity. Therefore, a model church in the current age consisting of those who are consecrated by faith and baptism are always at a place of service to both the church and the world. This jointly forms in the world witnesses to the love of the father (Lôndero 6).
In a world full of so much economic turmoil and strife, the church fulfils its mission of showing God’s mercy to humanity by being a church of mercy to the oppressed and suffering. The church becomes: light for the blind, speech to the dumb, hearing to the deaf and health to the sick. The churches stand out to defend the young ones, aged, excluded and take care of the abandoned and marginalised in the society (Lôndero 6-7).
The leadership of the church has numerous roles, which include: build harmony and unity in the church they preside over, prepare others to be leaders and teachers, represent God and His church, delegate responsibility and ensure accountability in all church activities, prepare written agendas for meetings and encourage reverence.
Pope Francis has made a significant push toward more pastoral, less doctrinaire Catholic Church saying that the church had locked itself to small-minded rules. The Pope has often been accused of not been vocal on issues such as abortion and homosexuality. The pope stated that he placed himself with the regular Catholics. The pope critiqued the institutional church and promotes a more accessible Catholicism. The changed leadership role of the pope reports a return to mass especially by the homosexuals, young people and the elderly. Others believe that the pope is a call for self-critique and reports of a return to the confessional. Generally the pope is energizing the faithful and making papacy popular after a rough decade.
In conclusion, the role of the church in the modern age is very critical since it affects all spheres of humanity. The leadership in the church greatly influence the realisation of its mission and hence should be entrusted on people with the best qualities.
Works cited
Lôndero Ângelo. Living the Mission with the Church Today: The contribution of the Union to the mission of the Church in the world of today. n.d. web.
