Got Leadership? The qualities you need and the ones you don’t need!

Got Leadership? The qualities you need and the ones you don’t need!      Kelly Durant 1-28-18

I Timothy 3:1-7  ¹ Here is a saying you can trust. If anyone wants to be a leader in the church, he wants to do a good work for God and people.  ² A leader must be free from blame. He must be faithful to his wife. In anything he does, he must not go too far. He must control himself. He must be worthy of respect. He must welcome people into his home. He must be able to teach. ³ He must not get drunk. He must not push people around. He must be gentle. He must not be a person who likes to argue. He must not love money.

 ⁴ He must manage his own family well. He must make sure that his children obey him and show him proper respect. ⁵ Suppose someone doesn't know how to manage his own family. Then how can he take care of God's church?

 ⁶ The leader must not be a new believer. If he is, he might become proud. Then he would be judged just like the devil.

 ⁷ The leader must also be respected by those who are outside the church. Then he will not be put to shame. He will not fall into the devil's trap.

2. In South America there are often funny jokes about politicians. The past ten years the environment here has been too heavy for jokes and I don’t even dare make a joke about any certain politician, because some people claim they get very offended when you laugh at their favorite person’s mistakes. I wish people had the ability to laugh at their selves!

In Colombia there was a former president who seemed to always confuse things. He visited the United States and laughed that the Americans could not spell Colombia right, they spelled it Columbia. Anyway, he was disturbed at how unprofessional people were. When he was saying his last words and leaving all the people were saying, “Goodbye, good-bye!”

Pres. Turbay thought, that’s it, that’s enough, I need to educate these English speaking gringos, “You are not saying my name right, you must yell, Turbay, Turbay, not goodbye, goodbye (you idiots)! Ha! In is pride he thought he knew more than others, but he was the wrong one!  The mistake of pride keeps repeating itself in many world leaders.

3. Let’s go direct to the Word of God; What are the qualities needed in a leader? We just read them. If a person is going to lead in this Corps, in this church, they need these things here as the scripture of today states.  Leaders must: free from blame, faithful to his wife, not go too far, control himself, be worthy of respect, welcome people into his home, be able to teach, not get drunk, not push people around, be gentle, not like to argue, not love money, manage his own family well, his children obey him with respect, manage his own family, not be a new believer to become proud, must be respected by those who are outside the church.

I can tell you there are people with many of these things, but if they are failing in several of them, then it ruins their testimony, and then they cannot lead because no one will respect them thinking that they are a hypocrite in the faith.

One of the worst things is pride! I have preached against pride more than any other subject! The problem is, people who think they know more than you, who do not like what you do, who always have a critical word, do not even perceive that they are prideful. Pride comes when a person has not been praying to ask the Lord to keep them humble, and keeping them faithful whether they get any gain from leading or not.

5. So the Holy Scriptures makes it clear each thing a person needs to be a good leader. Now let’s look at the things a person cannot have if they are going to be a good leader. To know what something should be, you need to know also what it should not be, right?

There exists the disrespectful type of person, one who thinks it is normal to complain, to criticize, to talk bad things about the pastors or leaders. Maybe you have meet people like this in the church, or at your job, they seem to have more bad to say than good about others. This is a bad quality, because if they cannot respect an authority here on earth, how are they going to respect the Lord when they are in eternity?

Related to this is pride. Proud people think they know how things should be done and they do not listen to others to learn new things. These kind think that if it is not their way, then it is wrong, so they are often argumentative. They do not take suggestions and they create divisions. And for the third type, there is the novice, and this is person who when they are in authority with not too long of a record of serving the Lord get lifted up and their ego. This makes them big headed and impossible to work with since they lack maturity and experience. Instead of serving others, they think others should serve them doing the little jobs. All jobs are important.

6. How do you think Jesus led? Did He lead by being a one man show? No! Did He lead by not trusting anyone to take over His job of evangelizing about the kingdom of God? No! In every way possible He was the perfect leader. Let’s recall just a few points.

Briefly, we can deduct that He was very meek and humble. He connected deeply with everyone, with the Jews and gentiles alike. He loved everyone no matter their shame and sin, He trusted them to repent, not caring if they were a cheating tax collector, or a prostitute.

7. Let’s observe other details about how Jesus led and what we should be doing. We all should be imitators of Christ, amen? He formed a team of 12 disciples. The great thing about Jesus was He had the power to give them power. He gives each of us His power if we ask!

Matthew 10:1 And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.

8. We can also notice that Jesus did not expect His followers to instantly become leaders. He took His time to train them. How long was their training? It was 3 ½ years before He resurrected and then He sent them out in all different directions to preach of God’s Kingdom.

Jesus was an expert in what we identify as doing on-the-job-training.  The disciples learned from His example and teachings how to love God, how to love others, and how to obey God’s will by observing the laws that are above all laws.

He rebuked when it was necessary. Basically, every encounter with every person Jesus met was a teaching moment. We who know the Lord must do the same for those who are younger in the faith, we must lead by showing them the way, and using life’s circumstances to highlight God’s will for us.

9. And finally, when Jesus was ready to leave the earth and leave His disciples in charge He left them several commandments. Mark 16:15 ‘to go and preach the gospel to every creature’, and Matthew 28: 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

And the good thing is Jesus will always be with us! He gave us the Holy Spirit, and he never asked His disciples to do anything more than what He did Himself. He was the maximum example for all eternity of pure love and sacrifice, giving His life to all humanity, and for Him to expect that we give our lives in loving service as well is not too much to ask.

10. There are many people who think they cannot be a leader because they are not smart enough, not educated enough, or gifted enough to be of any use for God. If you think like this then rebuke the liar, the devil, because you are God’s child and He will give you the power if you ask Him! God values the humble and rebukes the prideful!

The disciples waited on the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost as Jesus commanded and it came down like a fire and suddenly the ones who were ignorant and unlearned men became empowered to preach to others, even in a new languages. God gives us the power for the hour,  but you have to ask Him for it and be obedient to do what He expects you do. Each person has a different calling. Now let’s see Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Now to Acts 8:1. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

After the disciples got the power, God allowed a persecution in Jerusalem and they spread out into all the world to preach the gospel as He wanted. The each went in all directions even as far as India! And God used them as leaders because they were ready and they set up churches all over the Roman Empire, Greece, Turkey, Asia Minor, and Africa.

11. Here in Winchester God is expecting the ones who have already had their time in preparation to lead. And each of us need to see where you and I are on the leadership path.

Are you just starting out in the faith and you need more preparation? Or have you been around a few years y already but just need a little more on the job training. Or for those who have been around awhile, God expects you not to be a novice, but to be humble and pure, leading with all the qualities found in God’s word we are focusing in on today. 

If you think to lead here is difficult, think about how hard the ones in Jesus and Paul’s day had it! Many of them were called to be martyrs in the faith travelling far away: Dying for the entertainment of the Romans! Thank God we are not in a persecution time, but persecution could happen at any moment under an anti-Christ leader. It is happening in other countries and we must pray more for our Christian brothers who are killed every day in the hands of communists, religious fanatics, and demonic leaders!

12.  So this year our focus will be on developing leadership. Each one of you here are our team! Every Soldier has a job to do and everyone has a place of service. We will define this in a more detailed way soon.

Some of you may need to come serve with us during our daily duties so you learn more about what we do in the Salvation Army. We will gladly give anyone on the job training. Do you know what your gifts are? What about your passions and desires in God’s will? Ask yourself, how can I develop this and identify who you think could help you.

And my wife and I can help you with Word studies, so you advance in your walk with the Lord. Leaders are needed and we are commanded to “teach others to teach others”. Will you talk to us about what your role can become?

13. So the challenge is Jesus had 12 disciples but how many people have you ever taught or trained in the things of God? If you are a true Salvationist then you are living in holiness and you are qualified (review 1 Tim 3:1-7) Will you take up the leadership challenge?

Don’t be stuck in a rut here in the church, getting bored because you aren’t active enough, there is plenty to do! Become a leader and experience God’s power through you!

And finally above all, a leader needs to know how to lead a person to Jesus, to explain Salvation, that is what all of this whole operation is about; positively changing lives through the knowledge of Jesus! And His Words of truth transforms the heart of those who believe and obey. Lead today! Lead your family, lead your friends, lead strangers to know Jesus!