leader? Be very careful with your heart.

Some Scribes challenged Jesus about his followers eating with unclean hands (I can just see these guys in mid scoop of bread in the humus looking at each other then at their hands). Jesus never missed a teachable moment:

And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ (‭Mark‬ ‭7‬:‭6-7‬ ESV)
Later Paul said this:

But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. (‭Romans‬ ‭7‬:‭6‬ ESV)

My application of this is that we need to realize our liberation from the religious laws of man. I would even expand it to the policies and procedures, the rules and ideas to make our leadership better, our ministry more effective, our church bigger. 

If what we are about is not drawing US and those that we walk with into a deeper knowledge of, and walk with God, are we really any different than those Scribes?

Let’s be very careful that our heart is to know HIM first and help others know him in an ever growing manner. Let us not fall into the trap of letting our hearts chase worldly things that look like Christan success.