The two greatest passions of my life are Jesus Christ and his ecclesia. I find myself thinking on these two things for most of my life. It occurred to me that there must be leadership and ministry gifts within churches and in the kingdom of Jesus, leadership is absolutely essential.

Leaders; not necessarily clergy and authoritarian titles. I think many would agree with me on that at least in principle.

BUT something else is needed. Boundaries are important, we know about a particular boundary from Jesus Christ and from the apostles.

There also needs to be added a boundary added. A boundary that is mostly not present in the majority of churches that I have experienced all over the world. And that is A HUGE RED LINE around Christian gatherings. This red line we should talk about, we should enforce and establish in every new fellowship. Teach extensively about all new converts.

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The red line I am suggesting is drawn around Christian gatherings within which Jesus is given absolute Lordship. And no one else, no clergyman, no priest, no pastor can or should dare dominate one of these gatherings of the ecclesia. And especially not for prolonged periods. If one person needs to dominate to teach something important have separate, special, temporary meetings.

If there are objections of even just one Christian, perhaps that one has the mind of the Lord for that gathering and should be given voice.

Outside the line, of the gatherings, anyone can lead and do ministry as they feel led, but within the ecclesia gatherings is special and unique and reserved for only the Lord through the Spirit.

Inside the red line … Jesus Christ is Lord, he calls the shots, the spirit of Jesus runs the meeting! Come hell or high-water Jesus gets to dominate, come conflict and correction or peaceful, love and miracles, probably all will happen. Jesus rules supreme through every member.

This takes training by people who know from the Lord how to train others along these lines. Real ministries from the Spirit of Jesus prepare Christians for these types of gatherings.

Christian gatherings are not the place for domination of any one Christian. Not anymore, it’s time to mature. It’s time to submit to Jesus Christ together in our gatherings, no one else deserves this high place but him, he has earned it. Even in a teaching meeting where a gifted teacher is equipping there needs to be open back and forth participation with freedom to interject and interrupt, with order and respect.

Christian gatherings are unique and special events in the earth that only the spirit of Jesus himself can run …and be in charge of.

That HUGE RED LINE line was absolutely there with the apostles … and I believe and pray is returning to the body of Christ all over… (the easy way or the hard way.)

Crossing that red line is mentioned by the apostle Paul in Corinth and more directly by the apostle John about a certain Christian “who loved to have the preeminence.” In 3John1, John and his workers show his Jesus-like, hands-off, respect for the body of Christ, a godly authority that doesn’t impose and demand and act authoritarian, he mentions Diotophres the authoritarian dominating a fellowship, who was also driving godly people out, and not acknowledging or submitting to godly leadership who were visiting from outside. I suspect that this Diotrephes would likely be seen as a great leader by modern pastoral standards. He might have the most popular church in town.

We didn’t learn to demand, hire, and become dominators of church meetings like we do today from Jesus Christ. We learned it by tradition from more recent history but perhaps even from “church fathers” following in Diotrephes footsteps.

Christians who insist on ignoring and not allowing this red line and dominating Gods people perpetually are free to do so (apparently).

But, spiritually their places of domination run the strong risk of ceasing to be churches at all, and perhaps become something FAR LESS (spiritually speaking). They become at best just a ministry of a certain great Christian. Might even be a good thing, but no substitute for an ecclesia of Jesus Christ, heaven coming to earth. An ecclesia can evangelize far better than any great leader.

Perhaps great ministers and great clergy to follow is all that we’ve been taught to want and expect. But it is not what the world needs. And it is absolutely not what Jesus is after. Is not that, all that matters to a Jesus-follower? ! ?

Are there Jesus-followers in the churches? Or just self-motivated, self-described, I’ll do it myself “evangelicals”.