Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / A Leadership Style That Works . . . Guaranteed! │ Msg 212

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A Leadership Style That Works . . . Guaranteed! │ Msg 212 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: The sign over the building reads, Al's Place, the best
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Speaker 1: burgers in town. Now in your mind flashes an image
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Speaker 1: of a juicy beef patty on a thick bun, garnished
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Speaker 1: with crisp lettuce and a hearty slice of tomato, maybe
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Speaker 1: a little onion as well. Licking your lips, you walk
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Speaker 1: right in. However, no host or hostess greets you, not
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Speaker 1: even a sign inviting you to take a seat. And
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Speaker 1: after a few minutes, you've seated yourself at the counter,
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Speaker 1: and you continue to wait. Eventually, a waitress emerges slowly
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Speaker 1: from the kitchen. Mashing the remainder of her break-time cigarette
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Speaker 1: on the floor, she fishes through the pocket in her
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Speaker 1: apron for a stained order pad. Well, what'll you have,
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Speaker 1: she yawns, pulling a pencil from her hair. Well, may
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Speaker 1: I see a menu, please? We don't have any menu,
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Speaker 1: she says. Oh, well, I'll just have a hamburger. Without
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Speaker 1: a word, she leaves for the kitchen. You're considering about
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Speaker 1: now heading for the front door, but the sign did
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Speaker 1: say the best, the best burgers. So, still hopeful, you wait.
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Speaker 1: After 20 minutes or so, she walks back in. Al
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Speaker 1: says he forgot to order meat this week, but we
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Speaker 1: got a little tuna left over. Can I slap some
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Speaker 1: on the bun for you? I'll do that if you
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Speaker 1: want it. It doesn't take long to spot a poorly
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Speaker 1: managed restaurant, does it? From the food to the surface,
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Speaker 1: a restaurant reflects one thing. It's leadership. Or lack of it.
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Speaker 1: You know, the same is true for businesses, sports teams, churches,
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Speaker 1: and and even families. Good leadership is never optional. It's essential.
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Speaker 1: In our message today, we'll be examining effective leadership traits
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Speaker 1: as modeled by the Apostle Paul. In preparation for our
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Speaker 1: studying Paul's example, let's turn in our Bibles to 1
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Speaker 1: Thessalonians chapter 2. I'll be reading for you the first
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Speaker 1: 12 verses of 1 Thessalonians 2. For you yourselves know, brethren,
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Speaker 1: that our coming to you was not in vain. But
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Speaker 1: after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi,
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Speaker 1: as you know, we had the boldness in our God
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Speaker 1: to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition.
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Speaker 1: For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity
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Speaker 1: or by way of deceit. But just as we have
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Speaker 1: been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel,
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Speaker 1: so we speak. not as pleasing men, but God, who
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Speaker 1: examines our hearts. For we never came with flattering speech,
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Speaker 1: as you know, nor with a pretext for greed. God
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Speaker 1: is witness. Nor did we seek glory from men, either
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Speaker 1: from you or from others, even though as apostles of
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Speaker 1: Christ we might have asserted our authority. But we proved
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Speaker 1: to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly
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Speaker 1: cares for her own children, Having so fond an affection
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Speaker 1: for you, we were well pleased to impart to you
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Speaker 1: not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives,
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Speaker 1: because you had become very dear to us. For you recall, brethren,
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Speaker 1: our labor and hardship, how working night and day, so
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Speaker 1: as not to be a burden to any of you,
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Speaker 1: we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses,
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Speaker 1: and so is God. how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly
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Speaker 1: we behaved toward you believers, just as you know how
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Speaker 1: we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of
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Speaker 1: you as a father would his own children so that
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Speaker 1: you would walk in a manner worthy of the God
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Speaker 1: who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. If
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Speaker 1: there is one ingredient that is essential to the success
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Speaker 1: of an organization, it is leadership. Peter Drucker, the famed
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Speaker 1: authority on the subject of management puts it another way.
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Speaker 1: If an enterprise fails to perform, we rightly hire not
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Speaker 1: different workers, but a new president. Whether it's business or
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Speaker 1: religion or industry or athletics, whether it's the military or
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Speaker 1: the home, the secret of success The secret of progress
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Speaker 1: rests with those in charge. It rests with the leaders.
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Speaker 1: During the prosperous 1960s, Dun & Bradstreet shocked us with
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Speaker 1: a report that an average of 13,000 private businesses failed
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Speaker 1: every year. According to their analysis, The lion's share of
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Speaker 1: these casualties was due to managerial deficiencies, some 92%, according
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Speaker 1: to their records. Who hasn't gone into a restaurant that
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Speaker 1: had been for years noted as the place to eat? Delectable,
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Speaker 1: delicious food served very well by efficient waitresses and waiters. Excellent,
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Speaker 1: excellent place to bring a friend or a business associate.
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Speaker 1: Only to come back in a few years and find
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Speaker 1: how far downhill the place had come. You knew when
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Speaker 1: you left, if in fact you stayed, that the problem
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Speaker 1: was not with some poor waiter or the personality of
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Speaker 1: the person on the cash register or necessarily a bad cook.
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Speaker 1: The problem was with the management. Those of us who
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Speaker 1: follow ball teams have seen some toppled from the top
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Speaker 1: to the bottom. It's not a need for that team
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Speaker 1: to have another split in to catch a pass or
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Speaker 1: another guard to bring the ball down the court. The
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Speaker 1: need is for someone else to coach the team or
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Speaker 1: someone else to be a leader within the team itself.
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Speaker 1: When Chrysler Corporation decided no longer to be one of
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Speaker 1: the the bottom end of the scale of the auto industry,
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Speaker 1: but to move toward the top, they didn't simply change
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Speaker 1: their body style. They didn't simply put a new coat
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Speaker 1: of paint on the front of all their dealerships across
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Speaker 1: the country. They went right to the top. And that
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Speaker 1: man's leadership is now notorious as it makes double pages
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Speaker 1: spreads in the average periodical across our country today. Now,
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Speaker 1: let me define leadership. It's hard to do. It's easier
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Speaker 1: to give a job description, isn't it? We all know
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Speaker 1: what leaders do or should do, but we don't understand
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Speaker 1: what leaders are. There is something elusive about it. As
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Speaker 1: someone said, it's kind of like nailing a poached egg
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Speaker 1: to a tree. You can't get a handle on it,
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Speaker 1: and when you do, it runs away from you. It's
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Speaker 1: something about Defining it that helps. So allow me to
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Speaker 1: address in one word what leadership is. It's influence. If
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Speaker 1: you gave me two words, I would add inspiring influence.
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Speaker 1: There's something remarkable about a person who can inspire a
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Speaker 1: group of people to follow even when they didn't think
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Speaker 1: they wanted to. There's something inspiring about a military officer
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Speaker 1: who can, in a few weeks time, turn a retreating
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Speaker 1: group into a devastating force. There is an inspiration about
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Speaker 1: that influence of the individual that you can't deny. Companies
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Speaker 1: turn the corner because of the appointment of the right
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Speaker 1: leader at the top. But let me clarify it. lest
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Speaker 1: we all have in mind that leaders are identical. If
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Speaker 1: you've been under leaders long enough, you know that nothing
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Speaker 1: could be further from the truth. Some people lead with
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Speaker 1: a dynamic force and they are the prima donna, aloof
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Speaker 1: kind of leaders. And that's one style. And then there
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Speaker 1: is another style where the leader gets dirty with the
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Speaker 1: troops and rolls up his or her sleeves and says,
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Speaker 1: we're in this together and has a hands-on style of
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Speaker 1: leadership and And that's another style. Some never raise their
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Speaker 1: voice above a conversational tone. Others are like the head
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Speaker 1: cheerleader at the ball game and they are shouting and
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Speaker 1: motivating with the great finesse. Some are excellent communicators and
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Speaker 1: others on the contrary are rather mild and people of
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Speaker 1: few words. So the clarification I want to make is
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Speaker 1: that leaders come in all different temperaments. You will find
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Speaker 1: them with all different styles of approach, and yet if
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Speaker 1: they are those right kind of leaders, they get the
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Speaker 1: job done. So there is an ingredient that's true of
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Speaker 1: all of them. They're able to get along with people.
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Speaker 1: I've never met a successful leader who didn't like to
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Speaker 1: get along with people. I've never seen a leader that
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Speaker 1: got the job done that all of those who followed hated.
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Speaker 1: There's something about the leader that is winsome. with those
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Speaker 1: with whom he or she is working. John D. Rockefeller,
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Speaker 1: the great entrepreneur, once said, quote, I will pay more
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Speaker 1: for the ability to deal with people than any other
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Speaker 1: ability under the sun.
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Speaker 2: End of quote.
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Speaker 1: According to a report by the American Management Association, An
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Speaker 1: overwhelming majority of the 200 managers who participated in this
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Speaker 1: survey stated that the single most valuable ingredient, the skill
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Speaker 1: that was paramount among leaders was the ability to get
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Speaker 1: along with people. They rated this above intelligence, decisiveness, knowledge
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Speaker 1: of the job or technical skills. The ability to get
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Speaker 1: along with people. I want to take a little bit
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Speaker 1: of your time in mind to find from this second
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Speaker 1: chapter of Thessalonians, some excellent guidelines for all leader types.
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Speaker 1: I don't care what your personality is. I don't really
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Speaker 1: even care if you don't think you're a leader. It
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Speaker 1: doesn't bother me if your IQ isn't as high as
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Speaker 1: the average IQ, or if you're still in the mix
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Speaker 1: of finding your way to where you want to be
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Speaker 1: in life. There are some things in these first 12
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Speaker 1: verses of 1 Thessalonians 2 that you'll find help from.
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Speaker 1: Trust me, you'll benefit from the time we spend in
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Speaker 1: these few verses. Let me give a little background to
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Speaker 1: start with. He begins the chapter by referring back to
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Speaker 1: something that has happened. The writer, as you know, is
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Speaker 1: a man named Paul. The people who got the letter
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Speaker 1: were individuals with whom he had spent not more than
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Speaker 1: five or six weeks. Rather remarkable. Not even two months'
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Speaker 1: time passed. And yet when he leaves, they go right
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Speaker 1: on successfully carrying out their mission. He refers to something
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Speaker 1: they will remember. Notice how often he does that. Verse 1,
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Speaker 1: you yourselves know. Verse 2, after we had suffered and
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Speaker 1: been mistreated in Philippi, as you know. Verse 5, we
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Speaker 1: never came with flattering speech, as you know. Verse 9,
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Speaker 1: for you recall, brethren. Verse 10, you are witnesses. Verse 11,
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Speaker 1: just as you know. See, all the way through these verses,
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Speaker 1: he's looking back over his shoulder into yesterday. And he's saying,
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Speaker 1: do you remember? Can you recall when, what is it
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Speaker 1: that he wants them to remember? Among other things, he
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Speaker 1: wants them to remember yesterday. where he was coming from.
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Speaker 1: Verse one, you remember, you know, brethren, our coming was
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Speaker 1: not in vain. By the way, that's not a term
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Speaker 1: that means fruitless or unproductive. It's a word that means hollow, empty.
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Speaker 1: You remember Thessalonians back a year or so ago when
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Speaker 1: I was with you, it wasn't a hollow, empty experience.
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Speaker 1: It had purpose and meaning. There was substance to it.
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Speaker 1: Verse 2 goes further. You remember that we suffered and
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Speaker 1: had been mistreated in Philippi, as you know. And you
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Speaker 1: Christians who hear these words today, you know that too.
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Speaker 1: That's where he was with Silas flogged. That means he
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Speaker 1: was stripped to his buttocks and the skin was stripped
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Speaker 1: off his back with a scourge. and he was outrageously
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Speaker 1: mistreated and dumped into prison. You remember that. When I
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Speaker 1: got to you, I had the scars of a prison experience.
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Speaker 1: You recall how I had been mistreated. It's a word
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Speaker 1: for outrageous mistreatment. Translated here, suffered. And we had the
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Speaker 1: boldness in our God while we were there in Philippi
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Speaker 1: to speak boldly To you, the same gospel that we
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Speaker 1: spoke there amid much opposition. Now, I camp on these
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Speaker 1: two verses because it is our great temptation to think
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Speaker 1: leaders somehow pop out of heaven, unscarred, sort of given
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Speaker 1: to mankind, almost angelic. That's not true. The best leaders
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Speaker 1: come from a scarred past. They understand suffering. They understand mistreatment.
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Speaker 1: They've earned the right to be respected because they have
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Speaker 1: labored against much opposition. I have a phrase that I
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Speaker 1: frequently tell myself, disabilities need not disqualify. So you come
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Speaker 1: from a background of a crippling disease, that disability need
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Speaker 1: not disqualify. So you are a victim of incest. As
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Speaker 1: tragic and as shocking and as scandalous and horrible as
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Speaker 1: that may be, you can still be a leader. So
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Speaker 1: you are from a broken home. So you have a
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Speaker 1: prison experience in your past. So you have not always
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Speaker 1: been a person of integrity. So, so you qualify. You
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Speaker 1: have been mistreated. You have suffered. You have come amid
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Speaker 1: much opposition to where you are today. You understand what
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Speaker 1: hope is all about. And if I understand leadership and
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Speaker 1: the statement I read this past week, you qualify. Someone
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Speaker 1: said a prime function of the leader is to keep
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Speaker 1: hope alive. You understand the value of that because there
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Speaker 1: was a time in your life when you didn't have
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Speaker 1: any hope and you've come back. For whatever reason, you've
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Speaker 1: come back. You may not even know it, but God
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Speaker 1: was in it. He was in the prison. He was
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Speaker 1: in the brokenness. He was in the misery. He was
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Speaker 1: in the disease. He was in the disaster. He was
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Speaker 1: in the calamity. He was in the bankruptcy. He was
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Speaker 1: in the failures of your Philippi. He was there. He's
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Speaker 1: never left you. And he's used that to prepare you.
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Speaker 1: As Alexander Solzhenitsyn said, after coming to Christ on that
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Speaker 1: rotting prison straw, praise you prison. for having been in
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Speaker 1: my life. This man can say, with all boldness, I
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Speaker 1: spoke to you because I had been seasoned by disability.
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Speaker 1: Now there are some things that you don't want to
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Speaker 1: have as a leader. In verses 3 through 6, you
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Speaker 1: will find those negatives, and there are four of them
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Speaker 1: I find here. And then verses 7 through 11, you'll
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Speaker 1: find four positives that you do want to have. And
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Speaker 1: if you like the idea of leadership, and if this
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Speaker 1: kind of thing rings your bell, take note of these
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Speaker 1: four things you don't want and the four things you
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Speaker 1: should desire to have. First, deception. Verse three, our exhortation,
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Speaker 1: it's a word for appeal. We would use the general
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Speaker 1: word leadership. Our leadership, our style of exhorting, our approach,
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Speaker 1: our ministry, does not come from error or impurity, it
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Speaker 1: has reference to a faulty motive, or by way of deceit.
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Speaker 1: Before you run on to the next verse, spend a
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Speaker 1: moment or two with this one. This is a picture
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Speaker 1: of being absolutely sincere, not double-tongued, no hidden agenda. This
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Speaker 1: is not a manipulative individual. On the contrary, this is
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Speaker 1: a simple heart. This is a pure mind. This is
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Speaker 1: a person who was what he appeared to be. You
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Speaker 1: didn't leave his presence thinking, I really wonder what Paul
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Speaker 1: is really like. I wonder what his real motive is.
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Speaker 1: Paul says, I didn't have any deception. As he says
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Speaker 1: in the second Corinthian letter, verse chapter four, verses one
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Speaker 1: through seven, he says, we didn't come adulterating the word
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Speaker 1: of God. We didn't have craftiness or deceit or any
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Speaker 1: such thing. We came just simple-minded people. We came as
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Speaker 1: we were. The late President Dwight Eisenhower has said, in
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Speaker 1: order to be a leader, one must have followers, and
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Speaker 1: to have followers, one must have their confidence. Hence the
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Speaker 1: supreme quality for a leader is unquestionable integrity. Without it,
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Speaker 1: no real success is possible, no matter whether it's a
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Speaker 1: section gang, a football field, in an army or in
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Speaker 1: an office, if one's associates find him or her guilty
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Speaker 1: of phoniness, if they find that the individual lacks forthright integrity,
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Speaker 1: he will fail. His teachings and actions must square with
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Speaker 1: each other. The first great need therefore is integrity. Frank
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Speaker 1: Goble in a superb book called Excellence in Leadership writes,
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Speaker 1: Year after year, businessmen study college records, screen applicants, and
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Speaker 1: offer special inducement to proven people. What are they really
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Speaker 1: looking for? What are they after? Brains? Energy? Know-how? These
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Speaker 1: things are desirable, sure, but they will carry a man
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Speaker 1: so far if he is to move to the top.
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Speaker 1: If he is to be entrusted with command decisions, there
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Speaker 1: must be a plus factor, something that takes mere ability
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Speaker 1: and doubles or trebles its effectiveness. To describe this magic characteristic,
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Speaker 1: there's only one word, integrity. And that's what Paul states
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Speaker 1: in verse 3. Dates it in the negative, we didn't
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Speaker 1: come lacking integrity. We didn't come with deception. Verse 4
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Speaker 1: is the second negative characteristic. It's flattery. Or as he
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Speaker 1: puts it, being a people pleaser. Let me read it
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Speaker 1: for you. But just as we have been approved by
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Speaker 1: God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak.
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Speaker 1: Now the negative. Not as pleasing men are. Before I
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Speaker 1: go further, take a moment and stare at those words,
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Speaker 1: especially if you tend to be a people pleaser. It
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Speaker 1: is a quality of insecurity. You know that, I know that,
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Speaker 1: it's a known fact among all of us. Insecure people
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Speaker 1: struggle to be people pleasers. They want to sit on
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Speaker 1: the fence and they want to be liked by both sides.
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Speaker 1: And they try to maintain this balance as they hesitate
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Speaker 1: to put their feet down on one side or the other.
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Speaker 1: And so it is a forever merry-go-ride. How is it
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Speaker 1: possible to get off the fence and take a stand?
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Speaker 1: Keep reading. It's right here. We have been approved by God,
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Speaker 1: entrusted with the gospel, and so we speak, not as
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Speaker 1: pleasing men, but as God, who examines our hearts. So good.
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Speaker 1: When you come to the place where the word.
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Speaker 3: Of God, the goals of God, the principles of God
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Speaker 3: are the single most important ingredient of your mission, you
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Speaker 3: begin to stop pleasing people. And that's tough because most
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Speaker 3: leaders I know like to be liked. After all, it's
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Speaker 3: that liking quality that causes people to follow. However, no
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Speaker 3: one respects a people pleaser, not even the pleaser himself.
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Speaker 3: There's a great verse in Galatians 1.10 that you should
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Speaker 3: take the time to read. Well, let's do that.
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Speaker 1: What am I saying? Take the time to read. That's
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Speaker 1: why we're here. Great Scott. Look at Galatians chapter 1
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Speaker 1: verse 10. I found this verse at a particular juncture
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Speaker 1: in my life that really it was my salvation. And
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Speaker 1: I have thought of it often since then. Just shared
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Speaker 1: it with my older daughter this past week. The whole
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Speaker 1: encounter she knew nothing of as a little girl where
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Speaker 1: we were at that time as a family. And I
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Speaker 1: said to her, you can't believe the peace I got
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Speaker 1: from Galatians 1.10. Am I now seeking the favor of
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Speaker 1: men or of God? Or am I striving to please men?
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Speaker 1: If I were still trying to please men, I would
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Speaker 1: not be a bondservant of Christ. I mean, is that
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Speaker 1: a great verse? Now, if you're abrasive, that'll be your
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Speaker 1: favorite verse in life. And you will use it to
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Speaker 1: justify all kinds of things said against certain people. and
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Speaker 1: you're going to be independent if nothing else. And that's
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Speaker 1: not that kind of verse. It is a verse that'll
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Speaker 1: get you off the fence, however. You can't be a
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Speaker 1: slave of people and a slave of Christ at the
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Speaker 1: same time. Doesn't mean you have to be abrasive. But
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Speaker 1: it does mean your ultimate goal is to please the
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Speaker 1: living God, not the most powerful and influential person on
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Speaker 1: the board. Not the most significant person in your congregation.
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Speaker 1: Not the person with the most money in the outfit.
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Speaker 1: Not the biggest account. But God. God. Clyde Cook over
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Speaker 1: at Biola sent me a statement some time ago. It
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Speaker 1: was a great quotation. It said, I don't know the
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Speaker 1: secret of success, but I do know the secret of failure.
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Speaker 1: Try to please everybody. If you're struggling with pleasing everybody,
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Speaker 1: no wonder you're struggling with success. No wonder you're failing.
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Speaker 1: God help you to see in verse four of chapter
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Speaker 1: two in verse Thessalonians that you really are to please God,
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Speaker 1: and that means at any cost. Number three is greed,
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Speaker 1: verse five. We never came with flattering speech, as you know,
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Speaker 1: nor with a pretext for greed. Now, they couldn't know that,
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Speaker 1: that is deeply, only God could know that. That's why
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Speaker 1: he adds, God is the witness of that. Greed is
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Speaker 1: the desire to have more. It is the desire to
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Speaker 1: possess more than you need. And when taken to the extreme,
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Speaker 1: it is the desire to possess what belongs to someone else.
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Speaker 1: We often apply it to money and perhaps we should.
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Speaker 1: But it isn't limited to money. There can be greed
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Speaker 1: of glory. And as a leader, you'll wrestle with that.
25:43
Speaker 1: There can be greed of results. There can be greed
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Speaker 1: of numbers. There can be greed of facilities, bigger buildings,
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Speaker 1: greater impact. There can be greed of popularity, greed of
25:58
Speaker 1: even truth. We have more of the truth than anyone else.
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Speaker 1: I read this past week, greed has three facets, love
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Speaker 1: of things, love of fame, love of pleasure. And these
26:14
Speaker 1: can be attacked directly with frugality, anonymity, and moderation. Isn't
26:22
Speaker 1: that a good quote? These things can be attacked with frugality, anonymity,
26:29
Speaker 1: and moderation. Put the brakes on as a strong leader.
26:33
Speaker 1: Control yourself. Get a hold of this greed that drives
26:38
Speaker 1: you to be the top, the best, the most, the fastest,
26:42
Speaker 1: the most successful, the one with the most money, the
26:45
Speaker 1: most sales. Take a look at your greed and ask,
26:50
Speaker 1: is that really what's driving me? See how this directly
26:54
Speaker 1: addresses those things that people can't see? That's why God
26:57
Speaker 1: must be the witness. Number four would be authoritarianism. That's
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Speaker 1: verse six. We didn't seek glory from men, either from
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Speaker 1: you or from others. Now I like the next phrase,
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Speaker 1: you will too. Even though as apostles of Christ, we
27:19
Speaker 1: might have asserted our authority. Isn't that great? There was
27:23
Speaker 1: something believable about Paul. Here was a man who could
27:27
Speaker 1: have flown into the city with pomp and demanded the
27:33
Speaker 1: top treatment. and gotten it. Spiritual leaders get away with
27:38
Speaker 1: murder because they do it all in the name of God.
27:45
Speaker 1: And who's going to pull rank on God? I love
27:49
Speaker 1: the story Jay Kessler told me some time ago. He
27:51
Speaker 1: said when he took over Youth for Christ, he said
27:55
Speaker 1: he had a lot of great vision. He says he
27:57
Speaker 1: called the board together and he said, now listen everybody,
28:00
Speaker 1: God's talked to me and God's led me to make
28:02
Speaker 1: certain decisions and God's leading us to do this, this
28:05
Speaker 1: and that. And the board members sat there, they broke
28:07
Speaker 1: up for lunch and crusty old board member named Fred
28:11
Speaker 1: Smith out of Dallas, whom some of you know, pulled
28:14
Speaker 1: Jay aside and said, now Jay, if you want me
28:21
Speaker 1: to be on the board and be a part of
28:22
Speaker 1: your board, I'm glad to do it. But please don't
28:25
Speaker 1: bring me from Dallas to vote against God. Jason, I
28:31
Speaker 1: learned a very important lesson. Be careful about quoting God
28:37
Speaker 1: as your single source of authority. Be careful about that.
28:42
Speaker 1: The point is clear, and there are some who hear
28:45
Speaker 1: me right now who are superb spiritual leaders. Your followers
28:49
Speaker 1: will let you get away with all kinds of things.
28:53
Speaker 1: Part of the reason is they're afraid of you. Part
28:56
Speaker 1: of the reason is just your position is intimidating. Part
29:01
Speaker 1: of the reason is that's what you do with spiritual leaders.
29:06
Speaker 1: You put them on a pedestal. And you hold them aloof.
29:12
Speaker 1: You protect them. You do it out of respect, to
29:16
Speaker 1: be sure, but you do it. And the spiritual leader
29:21
Speaker 1: can assert an enormous amount of authority and get away
29:24
Speaker 1: with it. Got to be human. has to live with
29:32
Speaker 1: himself or herself. Take a look at the rights you're
29:37
Speaker 1: taking advantage of, if in fact you are, and only
29:40
Speaker 1: you know. The best kind of leader is the servant leader.
29:47
Speaker 1: I don't mean a guy that sticks his hand in
29:49
Speaker 1: his pocket and says, oh, shucks, all day. That's not servanthood.
29:53
Speaker 1: Not a person that says, no, I can't. No, I'm
29:56
Speaker 1: not qualified. No, I'm not the one. No, I'm the
29:58
Speaker 1: worst in the group. That's a worse kind of pride.
30:03
Speaker 1: But one who knows himself or herself well enough to
30:07
Speaker 1: tell himself the truth and will put brakes on where necessary.
30:17
Speaker 1: The 150th anniversary of the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, Carl
30:20
Speaker 1: Sandburg addressed an assembled diplomatic corps and a joint session
30:25
Speaker 1: of Congress. The date was February 12, 1959. Lincoln students
30:30
Speaker 1: will remember it. His address was called Lincoln, man of
30:34
Speaker 1: steel and velvet. Among other things, he said, not often
30:39
Speaker 1: in the story of mankind does one arrive on earth
30:41
Speaker 1: who is both steel and velvet, who is as hard
30:45
Speaker 1: as rock and as soft as drifting fog, who holds
30:49
Speaker 1: in his heart and mind the paradox of terrible storm
30:54
Speaker 1: and peace unspeakable. While the war winds howled, he, insisted
31:00
Speaker 1: the Mississippi was one river, meant to belong to one country,
31:04
Speaker 1: that railroad connections from coast to coast must be pushed through.
31:11
Speaker 1: While the war wavered and broke and came again as
31:13
Speaker 1: generals failed and campaigns were lost, he held enough forces
31:18
Speaker 1: of the North together to raise new armies and supply
31:22
Speaker 1: them until new generals were found. who made war as
31:26
Speaker 1: victorious war has always been made with terror, frightfulness, destruction, valor,
31:32
Speaker 1: and sacrifice, past words of man to tell. In the
31:37
Speaker 1: mixed shame and blame of the immense wrongs of two
31:40
Speaker 1: crashing civilizations, often with nothing to say, he said nothing.
31:48
Speaker 1: He slept not at all, and on occasion, He was
31:52
Speaker 1: seen to weep in a way that made weeping appropriate, decent,
31:56
Speaker 1: and majestic. A little anecdote that Sandberg adds. A man
32:05
Speaker 1: from Indiana at the White House overheard the president say, Voorhees,
32:11
Speaker 1: don't it seem strange to you that I, who could
32:14
Speaker 1: never so much as cut off the head of a chicken,
32:16
Speaker 1: should be elected into the midst of all this blood?
32:21
Speaker 1: There's a humanness about that. He isn't affected by his position.
32:29
Speaker 1: He's a leader you could sit down with and talk.
32:34
Speaker 1: Be like that. Now, there are some positives. First is
32:42
Speaker 1: sensitivity to needs, verse 7. We prove to be gentle
32:46
Speaker 1: among you. as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her
32:52
Speaker 1: own children. I think it's significant that Paul picks up
32:56
Speaker 1: on a feministic trait of tenderness and he applies it
33:01
Speaker 1: to himself. How much we need it. There's a tenderness.
33:08
Speaker 1: I think he was at times close to tears and
33:10
Speaker 1: maybe in them, giving them as Lincoln, a decency and
33:16
Speaker 1: majesty that fits tears. He wasn't a glory hog. Mothers
33:22
Speaker 1: aren't that. He tenderly cared for them as a mother
33:26
Speaker 1: would for her own children. There's nothing of selfishness in
33:31
Speaker 1: the mother role. There is this constant giving. There is
33:35
Speaker 1: this deep commitment. There is this absolute resistance against running.
33:41
Speaker 1: There is this staying with the family if it means
33:43
Speaker 1: living on the street, because that's the way it is
33:46
Speaker 1: with mothers. There is this caring for deep needs. And
33:51
Speaker 1: so it is among good leaders. As a nursing mother,
33:54
Speaker 1: there is a sensitivity to needs. Second is affection for people.
34:01
Speaker 1: Having thus a fond affection for you. People weren't used
34:06
Speaker 1: by the apostle. They didn't find themselves at the end
34:09
Speaker 1: of the tether as he swung them from one objective
34:12
Speaker 1: to another. That wasn't Paul's style. He loved them too
34:17
Speaker 1: much for that. The popular idea is that the tough-minded
34:22
Speaker 1: executive is a professional with a cool air of sophistication
34:28
Speaker 1: who carries himself at a distance from the people. You
34:32
Speaker 1: don't find that in Scripture. You certainly don't see that
34:35
Speaker 1: in the life of the Savior. That's why he made
34:37
Speaker 1: such an impact. He wasn't like most of the religious leaders.
34:42
Speaker 1: You could touch him. He made sense. He had an
34:48
Speaker 1: affection for people. Just a moment, when was the last
34:54
Speaker 1: time you said to some other adult outside your family,
35:00
Speaker 1: I love you? You have no idea what that would mean.
35:13
Speaker 1: Speaking to a man I greatly admire, just two weeks ago,
35:16
Speaker 1: just as we were ending the conversation, he said, oh,
35:19
Speaker 1: and Chuck, yeah, Hey, I love you. I could hardly
35:29
Speaker 1: say goodbye. Even though I sensed down inside there was
35:34
Speaker 1: a love relationship. He told me. And not just love you.
35:41
Speaker 1: Songs say that. Love you. Love you. But I put
35:46
Speaker 1: a pronoun on it. Say you. Put a name on it.
35:50
Speaker 1: Call the name. I dare you. It's remarkable what that
35:54
Speaker 1: will do. I love you. Paul said that. That was
36:00
Speaker 1: fond affection. And look at this. There was transparency and
36:05
Speaker 1: authenticity of life. We were pleased to impart to you
36:10
Speaker 1: not only the gospel, but our own lives. Isn't that wonderful? Why?
36:15
Speaker 1: Because you became dear to us. Don't miss this third one.
36:19
Speaker 1: and authenticity of life. We imparted life. Are you a
36:23
Speaker 1: teacher of the scriptures? You are imparting life. You are
36:27
Speaker 1: imparting secrets. You are imparting struggles. You are imparting scars.
36:32
Speaker 1: You are imparting reality. Impart that. Paint the real picture.
36:38
Speaker 1: Add the browns and the blacks and the grays. Leave room.
36:42
Speaker 1: Leave room for the humanity. You're imparting life. I think
36:48
Speaker 1: at times some young Christians must listen to our story
36:51
Speaker 1: and just kind of, oh, I'll never make it. Because
36:57
Speaker 1: we don't impart life. I imparted not only the gospel,
37:02
Speaker 1: but our own lives. Why? Because you were dear. You see,
37:06
Speaker 1: having someone dear to you means you let down the barriers.
37:10
Speaker 1: You open up. You recall. See, he's saying it again,
37:14
Speaker 1: verse 9. Remember how we worked among you? We labored
37:16
Speaker 1: night and day. So as not to be a burden
37:19
Speaker 1: to any of you, we proclaim to you the gospel.
37:21
Speaker 1: So he didn't hedge on that. But you're witnesses, and
37:24
Speaker 1: so is God. How devoutly, uprightly, and blamelessly we behaved.
37:28
Speaker 1: I've circled those two phrases. We proclaimed, line, we behaved. See,
37:33
Speaker 1: the triangles were congruent. I remember being under the ministry
37:42
Speaker 1: of a certain Bible teacher, and I listened to what
37:44
Speaker 1: he said, but I couldn't square it with his life.
37:48
Speaker 1: Confused me for the longest time it confused me And
37:53
Speaker 1: I kept explaining it away thinking. Well, I'm not really
37:56
Speaker 1: seeing what I'm seeing but I was To get out
38:01
Speaker 1: of that tailspin took me the better part of 10
38:03
Speaker 1: 12 years Because he didn't impart life Imparted truth and
38:11
Speaker 1: it was true good truth. I still rely on some
38:14
Speaker 1: of it, but his life was a lie There is
38:21
Speaker 1: nothing like incarnating the truth so that what you say
38:25
Speaker 1: mixes with what you live. And it is an undeniable,
38:29
Speaker 1: invincible message. All hell can break loose and you stand fast. See,
38:37
Speaker 1: there's authenticity of life. Fourth, there is enthusiastic affirmation. Verse
38:47
Speaker 1: 11 says, You know, we were exhorting and encouraging and
38:51
Speaker 1: imploring each one of you as a father would his children.
38:55
Speaker 1: Isn't that good? Dads will understand. If you have ever
38:57
Speaker 1: sat in front of the father of the quarterback of
39:01
Speaker 1: the team, you'll understand. I love sitting in front of
39:05
Speaker 1: fathers of quarterbacks. I mean, they have got a connection.
39:10
Speaker 1: Now that son can't hear that dad, but that dad
39:13
Speaker 1: is continually giving messages to that son. And he's sacked
39:18
Speaker 1: and he's a, you know, 12, 15 yard loss. That's okay.
39:21
Speaker 1: Let's go. Let's take him down the field. Take him
39:24
Speaker 1: down the field. Now I can barely hear the father.
39:26
Speaker 1: It's under, you know, it's under his breath, but that son,
39:29
Speaker 1: he takes him down the field. him down the field.
39:31
Speaker 1: Now go for it. Shoot that pass out to the right.
39:33
Speaker 1: The guy's got to take it to the right. Now
39:35
Speaker 1: you got to go over to the right. And it's amazing.
39:37
Speaker 1: The guy goes over the right and he shoots the
39:39
Speaker 1: pass and they go right on down the field because
39:42
Speaker 1: this father is imploring and encouraging his son. There is
39:47
Speaker 1: continued affirmation. I have never heard a good father of
39:51
Speaker 1: a quarterback say, why don't you give up? Coach, put
39:57
Speaker 1: somebody else in. No, father is forever affirming, enthusiastically affirming
40:08
Speaker 1: his boy. I've seen him stand drenched in rain on
40:13
Speaker 1: the bench. Go for it! Go for it! This kid's
40:17
Speaker 1: out there knocking himself dead, mud up to his thighs,
40:21
Speaker 1: you know, trying to just survive. And his father never
40:24
Speaker 1: thinks of quitting. People need affirmation. Ladies and gentlemen, Christian
40:32
Speaker 1: people need affirmation. We have been beaten black and blue.
40:36
Speaker 1: We have been stripped to the bone. We have been
40:38
Speaker 1: told we are sinners until we can spell the word backwards.
40:44
Speaker 1: We need to know that we are in Christ and
40:46
Speaker 1: therefore as righteous as Christ himself. That there is hope
40:52
Speaker 1: for sinners, that there is a future for failures, that
40:56
Speaker 1: there is forgiveness for the saint. We can't let our
41:01
Speaker 1: wounded die. We got to stop shooting them. Somehow they
41:10
Speaker 1: have to know if they come back, there'll be affirmation
41:13
Speaker 1: like a father Who waits for a son that lived
41:15
Speaker 1: in a pig pen? Imploring, encouraging, and exhorting. Who knows
41:22
Speaker 1: how many would come back if they really believed they
41:25
Speaker 1: would be affirmed and forgiven. The ultimate objective? To get
41:30
Speaker 1: the biggest church? To have the greatest reputation? To have
41:38
Speaker 1: the largest practice? You know better than that. so that
41:43
Speaker 1: you may walk in a manner worthy of the God
41:46
Speaker 1: who called you into his own kingdom and glory. Now,
41:48
Speaker 1: the good thing about it is it's for your benefit.
41:51
Speaker 1: Those you are leading are to discover if you do
41:54
Speaker 1: as I lead, you'll benefit. It'll be good for you, Christian.
41:58
Speaker 1: It'll be good for you as you lead your class.
42:02
Speaker 1: Your followers will walk better. Isn't that exciting? It'll be
42:06
Speaker 1: good for them, not good for you. Leader works himself
42:10
Speaker 1: out of a job. The followers become the new leaders.
42:14
Speaker 1: They emerge if you give them breathing room. They take charge.
42:19
Speaker 1: They begin to carry the torch. Catch the switch. It
42:24
Speaker 1: isn't simply your objective to get something done. It's for
42:26
Speaker 1: their good. Love that whole idea. So that you may
42:32
Speaker 1: walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls
42:35
Speaker 1: you to his kingdom and glory. If we ever caught that,
42:38
Speaker 1: what a remarkable change would occur. in the church of Christ.
42:42
Speaker 1: Three essentials. Number one, there must be inner security to
42:46
Speaker 1: operate like this. There must be inner security. Second, there
42:50
Speaker 1: must be a commitment to excellence. You can't fudge on that.
42:55
Speaker 1: Commitment to excellence. And third, there must be deliberate faith
42:59
Speaker 1: in the living God. That's in between the lines. And
43:04
Speaker 1: inner security, that'll keep you from pleasing people. That'll keep
43:08
Speaker 1: you from flattery. And it'll keep you from manipulating and
43:12
Speaker 1: inner security. Second, there'll be a commitment to excellence. No
43:18
Speaker 1: matter how tough it is, you're gonna make it. You're
43:21
Speaker 1: gonna get there and you're gonna do the very best
43:23
Speaker 1: you could do. And you're committed to that. If no
43:26
Speaker 1: one else in the organization is, you're committed to excellence.
43:29
Speaker 1: And third is a deliberate faith in God. I've chosen
43:31
Speaker 1: those words carefully, deliberate. You don't stumble into faith because
43:35
Speaker 1: everything else fails. You deliberately decide that you will leave
43:39
Speaker 1: room for the living God in your life, that Jesus
43:41
Speaker 1: Christ will indeed be supreme. He will reign as King
43:46
Speaker 1: of Kings and Lord of Lords. Does the name Howard
43:52
Speaker 1: Rutledge ring a bell? Howard Rutledge? Pilot in the Air Force, Vietnam,
44:00
Speaker 1: good leader. Fine pilot, shot down. He had been a
44:05
Speaker 1: busy man working his way up in rank in the
44:07
Speaker 1: Air Force. He found himself now with time that he
44:11
Speaker 1: hadn't had before as he became a part of that
44:14
Speaker 1: horrible ordeal in Vietnam as a prisoner of war. He
44:20
Speaker 1: writes in his book, In the Presence of Mine Enemies,
44:25
Speaker 1: during those longer periods of enforced reflection, it became so
44:28
Speaker 1: much easier to separate the important from the trivial. the
44:33
Speaker 1: worthwhile from the waste. I was too busy, too preoccupied
44:39
Speaker 1: to spend one or two short hours a week thinking
44:41
Speaker 1: about really important things. Now the sights and sounds and
44:46
Speaker 1: smells of death were all around me. My hunger for
44:48
Speaker 1: spiritual food soon outdid my hunger for a steak. Now
44:54
Speaker 1: I wanted to know about that part of me that
44:56
Speaker 1: will never die. Now I wanted to know about God
45:00
Speaker 1: and Christ and his church and But in heartbreak, the
45:06
Speaker 1: name of the prison camp, solitary confinement, there was no pastor,
45:11
Speaker 1: no Sunday school teacher, no Bible, no hymn book, no
45:15
Speaker 1: community of believers to guide and sustain me. I had
45:18
Speaker 1: completely neglected the spiritual dimension of my life. It took
45:25
Speaker 1: prison to show me how empty life is without God.
45:33
Speaker 1: What's it going to take to convince you that life
45:35
Speaker 1: is empty without God? You're surrounded by people who've learned
45:41
Speaker 1: that lesson. Good people, strong leaders, capable people, some of
45:48
Speaker 1: them affluent because of the blessing of God that's fallen
45:52
Speaker 1: upon them, apart from any manipulation. They have deliberately chosen
45:58
Speaker 1: to follow Jesus Christ. Now, why haven't you? Good leaders
46:06
Speaker 1: follow the right people. There's none better than the Savior.
46:11
Speaker 1: Let's bow together. Please come to know the Savior now.
46:18
Speaker 1: Please acknowledge that you're not the leader of your life,
46:20
Speaker 1: the captain of your soul, the master of your fate.
46:22
Speaker 1: How stupid. That's not even smart. You will die and
46:28
Speaker 1: whatever power is greater than you will take over after death.
46:31
Speaker 1: You know that. Trust Jesus Christ who came, lived, led,
46:38
Speaker 1: and died for your sins and built the bridge to heaven.
46:45
Speaker 1: Believe in him now. Deliberately make room for the living
46:50
Speaker 1: God today. Come thou almighty king. Help us thy name
47:01
Speaker 1: to sing. Help us to praise the Father, the Son,
47:07
Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, our leader, our Lord. To
47:18
Speaker 1: you we submit our lives for Jesus' sake.
47:23
Speaker 3: Amen.
47:25
Speaker 2: The preceding message, a leadership style that works, guaranteed. was
47:30
Speaker 2: copyrighted in 1984, 1985, 1993, 2003, and 2024, and the
47:37
Speaker 2: sound recording was copyrighted in 2024 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.
47:42
Speaker 2: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
47:46
Speaker 2: commercial use is strictly prohibited.