Joshua and Judges: The doctrine of leadership part 18 - Final thoughts on 1Pe 5:1-7; Essential qualities of leadership: Discipline, vision, wisdom.

Title: Joshua and Judges: The doctrine of leadership part 18 - Final thoughts on 1PE 5:1-7; Essential qualities of leadership: Discipline, vision, wisdom.

 

Announcements / opening prayer:  

 

 

1PE 5:6 Humble [be humbled by God] yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,

 

Therefore, whether being persecuted for righteousness' sake or being under the chastening hand of God we are to cast all of our anxiety and cares upon Him.

 

Persecution or discipline is a fertile ground for the sin or worry or anxiety. We must be careful to cast all of our anxiety and cares upon Him.

 

1PE 5:7 casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.

 

All means the whole of your anxiety. We are not to keep a portion of it for ourselves. Don't be selfish with your anxiety.

 

Cast is a word that means "having deposit with." It is literally used of casting a garment over a colt.

 

Here, casting refers to a direct and once and for all committal to God of all that would give us concern.

 

Peter says here that you are God's number one concern. Humility accepts that concern and so anxiety or worry is a contradiction to humility.

 

The pressures of leadership can cause us to worry, but when we do, we are exalting ourselves as leaders rather than God.

 

Unbelief is, in a sense, an exalting of self against God in that one is depending upon self and failing to trust God. Why worry therefore, if we are His concern? He is more concerned about our welfare than we could possibly be. Furthermore, since the humbling process has been allowed to come to us in the permissive will of God, and He is using it to accomplish His purpose in our lives, He has it under His control and has us in His care. In it all He is concerned about us, therefore, again, why worry?

 

1PE 5:1 Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed,

 

1PE 5:2 shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness;

 

1PE 5:3 nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.

 

1PE 5:4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

 

1PE 5:5 You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

 

1PE 5:6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,

 

1PE 5:7 casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.

 

To summarize Peter's look at leadership:

Leader: Does not exalt himself over other leaders.

Tends, feeds, guides, and protects God's flock with eagerness.

Is in the pattern of TLJC.

Is rewarded.

Is clothed with humility.

All worry is cast upon the Lord.

 

7. Essential qualities of leadership.

 

Jesus trained His disciples superbly for their future roles. He taught by precept and also by example. His classroom was not always in a classroom setting but so often He taught them while they traveled, while He ministered to others, debated the religious leaders, and healed the sick and lame. He sent them out, ahead of Himself, to preach in the cities, which in essence was giving them an internship. This enabled them to learn through failure and success. He delegated authority and responsibility to them, giving them the power to cast out demons and healing the sick. God knows the exact training regimen that we all need and so He allows the circumstances that He desires into your life in order to get you ready for His work.

 

A. Discipline: He is not slothful, lazy, or disorganized. He is able to lay aside play when it is time to work, daydreaming when it is time to pray, procrastination when it is time to do the unpleasant.

 

Before a believer can conquer the world around him, he must be able to conquer himself.

 

PRO 16:32

He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty,

And he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city.

 

A leader is a person who has learned to obey a discipline imposed upon him by another and so learns discipline within. The enforced humility imposed upon him has developed genuine humility within him.

 

Those who rebel against authority and scorn self-discipline, and shirk the rigors of work and turn away from sacrifices that need to be made, do not qualify to lead.

 

Discipline comes to the believer who has given over all areas of his life to the Holy Spirit in walking with Him.

 

GAL 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is… self-control [temperance]

 

Lazy and disorganized people never rise to true leadership. Many who aspire to leadership fail because they have never learned to follow. Learning to follow starts in the home with parental authority and then it continues as a young man grows into adulthood. He should be willing to work at menial jobs, showing up on time, working hard, obeying the boss, whether the boss is good or bad. He must learn to obey the teacher, the police officer, the coach, the pastor, the deacon, etc. A parent who takes the side of their child over the authority of the teacher is abusing the soul of their child. Of course there are extreme cases where the teacher is abusive, but this does not establish the rule of truth.

 

2TI 1:7

For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline [sound mind].