And in the hearing of all the people, he said to his disciples, “Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces, and the best seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows houses and for a pretense, make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
– Luke 20:45–47
Man, there is so much here, and I’m just going to go ahead and say from the start, there’s a personal reason why I’m reading these verses because they’re a warning to me and every leader in the church of any kind, in particular, every leader among God’s people.
Luke 20:45–47 Teaches against religious leaders’ lack of integrity.
Jesus is clearly, in a very sobering way for any church leader, pronouncing condemnation upon those who lead without humility, or authenticity, or integrity, or justice. And I just want to encourage us right now to pray for spiritual leaders to be guarded against these things.
I would ask that you pray these things for me, but I also want to encourage you to pray these things for spiritual leaders in your life. Just think of anybody who’s in a position of spiritual leadership in your life, and I have people like that in my life. So to pray specifically for spiritual leaders right now, knowing this is so important. We all need leaders in the church, in our lives, who are showing us what it means to follow Jesus. We need that in order for us to be healthy followers of Jesus. And so this is good for them, and it’s good for you and me to have spiritual leaders who reflect the character of Christ, and not that of the scribes who are described by Jesus here. Can we just join our hearts right now in praying for spiritual leaders?
Luke 20:45–47 Teaches that leaders should imitate Christ’s character.
God, for all the spiritual leaders in our lives that we are thinking of right now, that have influence in our lives, God, we pray for their humility before You and others. We pray that You would guard them from the intoxication of the best seats, and the places of honor, and the greetings that would cause them to seek after those things, instead of seeking after You, and faithfulness to You, and humility before You and others. God, we pray for their humility. We pray for their integrity. We pray for their authenticity. God, we pray that they would lead Your church out of the overflow of true love for You with all their heart, and all their soul, and all their mind, and all their strength. That they would love You wholeheartedly, that You would put Your love in them for others, that they would love others selflessly.
Praying for Genuine Leadership in the Church
Not loving others based on what they can get, but loving others in ways that bring others good and bring You glory. God, we pray for authentic, real, genuine, spirit-led praying and proclaiming of Your word, and leadership in the church, and in each of our lives. Lord, we ask for leaders that reflect the character of Jesus and the heart of Jesus, and as one of those leaders, God, I pray for all these things in my life, and in the leaders who influence my life. God, we pray for a revival of spiritual authenticity, integrity, and humility among church leaders today, according to Your word, Your warning, in Luke 20:45–47. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
