Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain. Galatians 2:1-2 (NIV).
Sometimes we need to consult with headquarters. In Paul’s time, the headquarters of the church of Jesus was Jerusalem, where most of His disciples still resided. After fourteen years of preaching, church-planting, struggling, persecution and glory both, and more. Paul went there to consult with leadership, to make sure that what he was preaching was in line with the direction in which leadership was moving the church. Again, sometimes we just need to do that.
Project managers know this. So do franchisees. My wife works at a franchisor pool company, and she’s teaching new franchise owners how to perform certain functions that ‘headquarters’ requires. She does this in person because sometimes those owners need to learn how to stay in line with how the franchise grantor manages the company.
And just the other day I was reading an article about Dwight Eisenhower. Did you realize that, in the spring of 1941, six months before the US entered World War II, Eisenhower was just a staff lieutenant colonel? Less than four years later, he was a five-star general: the highest rank possible. How did this happen so quickly? The short answer is that those kind of things happen in war. Yet the reason behind it is that leadership – Washington DC – needed general in Europe who could organize, administer, and develop a grand strategy for a multi-nation war. Leadership found that man in Eisenhower, who was promoted quicker and above others who far exceeded him in grade and time in service. Eisenhower wasn’t a battlefield commander; he didn’t have that set of skills. But, like George C. Marshall, he had other skills that were just as critical, and he was promoted for that. Defeating Nazi Germany, then a free Europe since 1945, are living monuments to the what Ike did. Ike also frequently consulted with higher headquarters, both in Washington and in heaven.
That was Paul. He was a field general, a mission worker who took ‘the battle’ to the field. Yet, now and then, he needed to meet with his own leadership to make sure things were on track, both at home and in the field. How are you leading in your field today, and do you occasionally need to meet with higher headquarters, to ensure your mission is on track?
For further reading: Galatians 2:3
Lord, You are my headquarters. Speak to me today that I might be reassured of You leading me in my mission.
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