
We were on our way to school and I asked the boys. Who leads our church? One of the boys said, "You, daddy." Ahh that's sweet, but no dad, helps but he isn't the leader of the church. Then the other boy, "Jesus leads our church!" My eyes welled up with tears, yes that's right! Hit! The! Nail! On! The! Head! I said that Jesus was the head of the church. Like the head of the body, he is the reason that the body can function at all. Of course, since they are six, we took some time to laugh and be silly about a body without a head and how funny that would be. The boys were listening intently and conversing about how without Jesus church just won't work and that everything we do should keep him as the leader. And then like every morning, we made it to the school and they jumped out to take on Kindergarten.
The next day I brought it up again and asked who were leaders in our church besides Jesus. "You're a leader in our church, daddy."
"Yes, that's true. Who else."
"Mr. Steve (one of our elders and now family friend) is a leader."
"Yes, ministers and elders are leaders in our church. What do leaders do?"
"Talk" I had to bust out laughing on this one. Yes I would imagine at their age, leaders seem to be people who talk a lot, but found out they really meant like preaching or teaching. They also mentioned singing and praying. They equate leadership in our church with what they see on Sunday morning. And for a six-year old that makes sense. But has it changed for us as adults? I shared with the boys how leaders also take care of people, are servants, and are full of love. By that time we made it to the lake in front of their school and it was time for silliness. I looked over at the lake on a cold 40 degree morning and asked, "How cold do you think that duck's bottom is?"....
You don' t want to know the answer I received.