Leadership in the Body
Notes
Transcript
A young man was appointed president of a bank. Intimidated by his new responsibilities, he nervously sought the advice of his gray-haired predecessor: "Sir, what has been the secret of your success?"
"The secret, young man, is two words: right decisions!" replied the older man.
"But how do you make right decisions?"
"One word: experience."
"But how do you get experience?"
The old man smiled. "Two words: wrong decisions."
Source:
Ted W. Engstrom and Edward R. Dayton, editors, "Murphey's Law," Christian Leadership Letter (February, 1981), p. 1
Christianity is about Jesus and what He has done for us. His grace.
Leadership in the Body while having some overlap with leadership in other arenas has some key differences. Leadership is helping people focus on what Jesus has done and follow Him through the example of our lives and the words we speak.
One term vs deacons - Pheobe, Paul,
Servant leadership
Being an elder means taking the long view by example rather than domineering.
Being an elder means taking the long view by example rather than domineering.
Clan heads / Jewish synagogue
1 For behold, the Lord God of hosts is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah support and supply, all support of bread, and all support of water;
2 the mighty man and the soldier, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder,
3 the captain of fifty and the man of rank, the counselor and the skillful magician and the expert in charms.
4 And I will make boys their princes, and infants shall rule over them.
5 And the people will oppress one another, every one his fellow and every one his neighbor; the youth will be insolent to the elder, and the despised to the honorable.
13 The Lord has taken his place to contend; he stands to judge peoples.
14 The Lord will enter into judgment with the elders and princes of his people: “It is you who have devoured the vineyard, the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
15 What do you mean by crushing my people, by grinding the face of the poor?” declares the Lord God of hosts.
1 Thus says the Lord, “Go, buy a potter’s earthenware flask, and take some of the elders of the people and some of the elders of the priests,
2 and go out to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the entry of the Potsherd Gate, and proclaim there the words that I tell you.
3 You shall say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing such disaster upon this place that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle.
4 Because the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; and because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents,
5 and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind—
6 therefore, behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when this place shall no more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.
Elders in synagogues - Tradition
External and internal threats
5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
Promoting what’s honorable = Living for others - especially the next generation (without idolizing it)
China’s One Child Policy
Me coaching soccer
Against external and internal threats
Being a shepherd means providing for and protecting the flock rather than working for their own gain.
Being a shepherd means providing for and protecting the flock rather than working for their own gain.
Shepherd / King - Protecting against internal and external threats
The trouble with being a leader today is that you can't be sure whether people are following you or chasing you. Source: Bits & Pieces. Leadership, Vol. 2, no. 1.
Primarily by teaching truth
Peter in 1 Peter - your mindset in suffering
The temptation of the elders with Saul
Qualifications of a pastor: He must have the mind of a scholar, the heart of a child, and the hide of a rhinoceros. Source: Stuart Briscoe, Leadership, Vol. 6, no. 1.
Being an overseers means focusing on grace willingly rather than out of obligation.
Being an overseers means focusing on grace willingly rather than out of obligation.
12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees,
13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.
14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;
16 that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.
10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully,
13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:
5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
... At Sagamore Hill, Theodore Roosevelt and I used to play a little game together. After an evening of talk, we would go out on the lawn and search the skies until we found the faint spot of light-mist beyond the lower left-hand corner of the Great Square of Pegasus. Then one or the other of us would recite: "That is the Spiral Galaxy in Andromeda. It is as large as our Milky Way. It is one of a hundred million galaxies. It consists of one billion suns, each larger than our sun."
Then Roosevelt would grin and say: "Now I think we are small enough! Let's go to bed."
Source: William Beebe in Leadership, Vol. 1, no. 3.
Humility needs to guide us all.
Humility needs to guide us all.
So that we receive grace upon grace from God.
…the Christian way not about us; it is about God. The Christian way of life is not a life project for becoming a better person. We are in on it, to be sure. But we are not the subject. Nor are we the action. We get included by mean of a few prepositions: God with us (Matt 1:23), Christ in me (Galatians 2:20), God for us (Romans 8:31).
Pastors/Elders/Bishops have the noble role of reminding people in their midst of their suffering that we live in the grace of God and live that out by example and by exhortation so that the community does not live for itself but for its Savior by caring for its spiritual children.
Historically
21 When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch,
22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
Vision : To be a Scripture-loving family that disciples in grace and truth in order to impact the community for the Gospel of Christ.
Community Group questions
Why would pastors as elders be important in a church? What benefits do you see?
Why would pastors as shepherds be important in a church? How can they be encouraged?
Why would pastors as overseers be important in a church? How can you better listen to their calls to grace?
What does humility look like in a church setting between congregation and pastors?