Nobody else qualifies. Sadly, this otherwise obviously means that Christianity in general is saturated with scads of unreal “leaders” not in alliance with God.

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THE WORD “LEADER”

The English word “leader” occurs nine times in the NASB95 New Testament in eight verses and in only four books. It occurs in the singular form four times and as a plural five times. It is capitalized twice. However, “leader” is translated from five different Greek words, as follows in order of their occurrence:

Leaders [Matthew 2:6] G2232: ἡγεμών hēgemṓn (hayg-em-ohn’)

leaders [Matthew 23:10] G2519: καθηγητής kathēgētḗs (kath-ayg-ay-tace’)

Leader [Matthew 23:10] G2519: καθηγητής kathēgētḗs (kath-ayg-ay-tace’)

leaders [Luke 14:1] G758: ἄρχων árchōn (ar’-khone)

leader [Luke 22:26] G2233: ἡγέομαι hēgéomai (hayg-eh’-om-ahee)

leader [Acts 18:8] G752: ἀρχισυνάγωγος archisynágōgos (ar-khee-soon-ag’-o-gos)

leader [Acts 18:17] G752: ἀρχισυνάγωγος archisynágōgos (ar-khee-soon-ag’-o-gos)

leaders [Hebrews 13:17] G2233: ἡγέομαι hēgéomai (hayg-eh’-om-ahee)

leaders [Hebrews 13:24] G2233: ἡγέομαι hēgéomai (hayg-eh’-om-ahee)

The key teaching regarding this leadership question utilizes G2519 as seen in the preceding chart in the following significant verse in which the Lord Jesus applies a complete restriction upon His disciples (and all disciples present and future) in the given context:

“Do not be called leaders (G2519); for One is your Leader (G2519), that is, Christ.” [Matthew 23:10]

As we see from our chart the essential Greek word is καθηγητής kathēgētḗs (kath-ayg-ay-tace’). It is defined by Strong’s Concordance as: “a guide, i.e. (figuratively) a teacher:—master.” The Lord is specifically stating here that His movement has only one Leader and that this Leader is the long awaited Messiah. By the use of the word He is also relaying that He is the only ultimate spiritual Guide, the only definitive Teacher, and the only legitimate Master. He is quite clear. There is therefore no reason whatsoever for any false “interpretation” claims to muddy the waters or for any causes of confusion regarding who’s in charge.

The point here is that every legitimate minister honors the Lord Jesus exclusively as his only Master and strives to serve Him according to His specific leadership and teaching curriculum. He will thus not teach what the Lord did not teach and he will teach only whatever the Lord taught.

In order to gain even greater understanding of the Lord’s statement in Matthew 23:10, we must consider it in the broader context of the overall instruction the Lord is giving and why He is adamant about this particular point. At that time He was teaching His close disciples and followers about the excesses of the Pharisees, about how they are so strongly concerned with religious authority and control, about gaining and maintaining their power and wealth, about putting forth a ridiculously overblown outward image, and why they insist there is a good reason for such adornment. He said His own followers should never engage in that sort of behavior or be like the Pharisees and the Rabbis thereof because, while they might actually quote Scripture correctly and get it right on occasion, they most often teach their own false traditions (in their case the ultra-casuistic [1] and false commentary-based Oral Law) and fail to do what the actual Scriptures teach. Sound Familiar?

He notes that their approach is all about making verbal declarations and assertions to be applied to others but not to themselves in that the Pharisees say but do not do. This is in further keeping with their dual class clergy-laity division model in which the establishment of their rule over everyone else is paramount. All of this comes down to leadership and is why the Lord stated the following to His disciples:

“But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. But the greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.” [Matthew 23:8-12] [2]

THE REAL AND THE UNREAL

Based on this teaching, we can deduce that there are only two kinds of Christian ministers. First, there are the relatively few legitimate ministers who are actually called by the Lord Jesus to assist Him in His ministry (and there is actually only one legitimate Christian ministry—His) and do so to the best of their ability. These real ministers possess and produce the spiritual fruit and consistent evidence of their work to confirm their standing and legitimacy which matches the evidence and confirmation as listed in the historical record in the New Testament. Yet it must be noted that every real follower of the Lord Jesus is a legitimate minister of the Gospel. Remember, He said. “For One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers.”

Secondly, there are the great many Christian ministers who were never called by God in the place they are working and who do not assist the Lord Jesus in His ministry and who effectively start ministries on their own of which each is the sole leader thereof. Or they join existing ministry organizations and preacher unions as members and fellow “ministers” which were never founded by God. Such organizations, including “churches” and even large to universal denominations give forth a misleading air of legitimacy through their authority, power, wealth, longevity, and vast number of adherents.

How can these two be distinguished? How can one tell the difference between the real and the unreal? How can one identify the legitimate and detect the illegitimate? Such a means is not actually all that difficult once one locates the source material with all the answers and the means of confirming the spiritually genuine. Without the source material and confirmation means and process, a person can be easily deceived and led astray. He or she can be made to believe things that are not true and led to accept things that are in opposition to the very God one claims to believe in and possibly honor and serve. One can even be deceived into rejecting actual spiritual confirmation as given by the Lord and accepting a false form of confirmation based on illicit claims of authority.

Therefore, the source material is mandatory as are the means God uses to confirm it and the work of those who use it and teach from it. Real Christians know this source material as the New Testament. They know the New Testament Scriptures are the legitimate Word of God. They know this not only because the NT has stood the test of time but also because the teachings and instructions within it when applied correctly and fully actually work.

This also proves the presence of the Lord.

© 2025 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved. [To Be Continued…]

[1] Casuistry (noun): Specious, deceptive, or oversubtle reasoning, especially in questions of morality; fallacious or dishonest application of general principles; sophistry. © Copyright Dictionary.com

[2] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.