Joshua and Judges: The doctrine of leadership part 12 - The leader travels the course himself and there is no one personality type. 1Co 9:27; Eph 4:11Title: Joshua and Judges: The doctrine of leadership part 12 - The leader travels the course himself and there is no one personality type. 1Co 9:27; Eph 4:11.
Announcementsopening prayer:
3. The Master's master principle: servant and slave of all.
Isa 42:1 "Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations.
Isa 42:2 "He will not cry out or raise His voice, Nor make His voice heard in the street.
Isa 42:3 "A bruised reed He will not break, And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.
Isa 42:4 "He will not be disheartened or crushed, Until He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law."
His zeal will not be extinguished, nor will anything break His strength, till He shall have secured for right a firm standing on the earth.
The contrast is just beautiful. In order to save the broken hearted He cannot become faint of heart. In order to save the dimly burning wick His zeal cannot be extinguished and it was not. While the Bible tells us that He was crushed for our iniquities, He was never broken. He said, "It is finished," from the cross - alive! And then and only then did He give up His spirit.
The spiritual leader cannot be a pessimist. He must have hope in God and optimism that he will accomplish what God has called him to do. When things look like they may fail he must not despair. If he despairs it is more likely that those under him will also.
Summary of My Servant: Dependence, approval, filled with the Spirit, humility, compassion, strength from trust, and zeal.
4. The leader must travel the course and not just point the way.
Spiritual leadership requires the leader to personally execute the plan of God for his own life. His leading and teaching will be far less effective if he himself has not travelled the road of the high lands.
We can only lead others as far along the road as we ourselves have traveled. Merely pointing the way is not enough.
1Co 9:24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.
1Co 9:25 And everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
1Co 9:26 Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air;
1Co 9:27 but I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified [adokimazo].
I've known some parents who are great at telling their kids what is right to do and not do but do not themselves live that way. It doesn't take long for a child to figure that out and then he has no real leader.
Sending someone ahead to a place that you have not explored is not leading. You must be heading to that place yourself if you are going to actually lead someone there.
There are a million articles and books that have been written on leadership. Countless people have developed lists of good leadership characteristics of which there are about fifty at current. Fortunately we have only to study the aspects of spiritual leadership and we will stick with the scriptures.
5. Is there a type of person that makes a good leader? No. The apostles chosen by our Lord were of many different types.
If someone else were in Jesus' sandals and had to pick a twelve man team to assist him in building a spiritual organization, where would he look? He might go to the already established clergy, he might pick a financial guru, a management expert, etc., in other words he would likely pick a team who already had a stellar reputation for religious service, directing, advising, and managing. Yet Christ didn't do that.
Christ chose from the ranks of common working men, fishermen, for the majority of His twelve, but He also chose a tax gatherer and a Pharisee.
It is significant that the majority of His choices were working men of the time and not the educated elite. Yet we would not say that the uneducated make the best leaders, but that some of the educated, having their minds spoiled by falsehood have little potential for great leadership. It isn't likely that the fishermen were chosen because they were hard workers, though they were, but that they were unspoiled by religion and legalism and that Jesus saw something in them that no one else saw - their potential. And, added to that is the fact that they are not afraid of hard work, so then you have a great potential, which they all showed. It is interesting that several of them are related and that James and John are related to Jesus, but it is difficult to infer anything of substance from that.
So, being careful not to imply anything uncertain in reference to Christ's choosing of His leaders, we would conclude:
He chose those whose hearts were not spoiled by false doctrines, who had potential that only the Son of God sees, and that they were willing to follow Him and lay down their lives for Him.
When we refer to potential we are of course taking into account that God had given them a spiritual gift that would empower them in their endeavor.
Eph 4:11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,
Eph 4:12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
Eph 4:13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
But what if the chosen twelve were unwilling to use their spiritual gift to equip the saints? If that was the case then the given gifts would be meaningless to serve anyone. Judas Iscariot was chosen to be one of the twelve, a great gift indeed, but he refused it. We would not conclude that Judas had a spiritual gift as an unbeliever, but he was given a great gift, being chosen as one of the twelve. He rejected that gift and was of no service to anyone.
So then, the leaders that God chooses are not of a particular personality or profession or social class, but those in whom He sees the potential of the given gift, the willingness to grow in grace and knowledge and serve in humility and to have the proper motivation and patience to understand that if they are not promoted it is only because God has not done so, or at least not yet, and they are perfectly content with that. That willingness to grow in grace and knowledge gives him humility and patience.
1Pe 5:6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time
Heb 10:36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.
6. Insights on leadership from Peter, 1Pe 5:1-7.
Since we have studied 1Pe 4:1-6 in this study I would like us to see 1Pe 5:1-7 in the context of that.
1Pe 4:1 Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh [gone through suffering for the sake of Christ] has ceased from sin [from sin nature dominance over their lives],
Passive: "has been released from sin,"
1Pe 4:2 so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
1Pe 4:3 For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousals, drinking parties and abominable idolatries.
1Pe 4:4 And in all this, they are surprised [think it foreign] that you do not run with them into the same excess of dissipation, and they malign you;
1Pe 4:5 but they shall give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
1Pe 4:6 For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead [in heaven], that though they are judged in the flesh as men [unfair treatment from the world], they may live in the spirit according to the will of God. |