Agents of God's restoring mercy

A prayer I wrote using quotes from chapter 10 - Restoration - of Pau Tripp's Lead: 12 Gospel Principles for Leadership In the Church

Lord, the One who restores us, 

Thank you for the restoration work you have done, are doing, and will continue to do in my life.   

I pray that no matter the circumstances, my heart would be turned to you because that is what is right.  As I think about your forgiving, restoring, and delivering grace, I am utterly amazed.  Help me and the leadership communities I am part of to always trust in your restorative grace.     

Help me not make assumptions about the leaders I work with.  I don’t want to make assumptions about the spiritual conditions of leaders and at the same time, I don’t want to be passive.  Help me represent a restorative heart to my fellow leaders and the church. 

I want to be used, when needed, as an agent of God’s restoring mercy.  God help me to better understand that restoration is about glorifying you not getting back to a specific job or ministry position.

I pray that my confessional theology and functional theology would be the same.  Just because I am doing well in my assigned ministry does not mean I am spiritually where God wants me to be.

quotes

Even if sin necessitates a leader's removal from his position and ministry duties, turning toward him with grace is always right. (179)

We sinners don't just need forgiving grace; we need restoring grace.  And we don't just need restoring grace; we need delivering grace.  (179)

It is beautiful to see the power of restorative grace up close and personal, and it is sad to see that so many leadership communities don't actually trust its power when a key leader's sin has been revealed by the divine restorer.  (179)

Every church or ministry leadership community must be a restorative community if it's going to have long-term spiritual health and ministry effectiveness.  (180)

If it is true that every leader is in the middle of the ongoing work of God's sanctifying grace, then it is also true that there is still the presence of remaining sin in every leader's heart. (180)

Ministry effectiveness is not to be confused with the cleanness of the heart.  (181)

Assumptions that a leadership community makes about the spiritual condition of its leaders, assumptions that allow the community to passive rather than pastoral, result in a shocked and unprepared community when a fellow leader falls in some way and needs restorative care.  (181)

Every leadership community has moments when they are called to be agents of God's restoring mercy.  (181)

Every leadership community should commit to representing, in their leadership culture and relationships, the restorative heart of the Redeemer.  (183)

If we think it's possible to escape God's presence, we have gone spiritually insane!  (184)

By cultural identity, he is a God-fearer, but in terms of his response to God's call, he doesn't act like someone who fears the Lord.  In this way, his words confront us with the difference that may exist in a leader between his confessional theology and his functional theology.  (185)

Restoration is much deeper and more foundational than doing what is necessary to quickly get a leader back into his ministry position.  (186)

Restoration that isn't heart deep sets up that leader and his community for further problems because the core of the problem, the leader's heart, has not been restored to where God designed it to be.  (187)

We should not assume that because a leader is still doing his assigned ministry duties that he is spiritually where God wants him to be.  (188)

Restoration never minimizes the damaging reality of sin, but while it takes sin seriously, it also believes in the power of restorative grace.  It believes in God's power to turn a heart and rebuild a life.  (189)

No leader is impervious to temptations, because no leader is sin-free and sanctification-finished.  Not one.  (189)

So every leadership community needs to be committed to, and prepared for, those said and difficult moments when the Savior calls them to a restorative agenda.  (190)

We cannot be so protective of the institution, the church, that we discard leaders and members of the church as if they're broken and no-longer-needed commodities.  (190)