Latest / Crossway Radio / Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram Daily Podcast - Step In!, Part 1

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Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram Daily Podcast - Step In!, Part 1 · Crossway Radio

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Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
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Everywhere I go, I hear the same thing. There's
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a leadership crisis in the church. Pastors are
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hurting. Church leaders are hurting. What's it
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look like to be a leader of the Church of Jesus
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Christ? How do you do it? It's never been more
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difficult to lead, so we want to help leaders
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grow. That's today. Leadership in the church
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has never been more under fire, and the qualifications
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Paul lays out in 1 Timothy 3 couldn't be more
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countercultural. Today, Chip Ingram opens Chapter
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3 and asks, If you set your heart on being a
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godly man or woman, what would that actually
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look like? I'm Dave Drewy, and this is Living
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on the Edge. We're in a series called You Can
1:02
Make Disciples, Personal Coaching from the Apostle
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Paul. And let me remind you that all of these
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Bible teachings can be found or shared online
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at livingontheedge .org. Well, now here's Chip
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with today's message titled, Step In. So we're
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in Chapter 3, 1 Timothy, learning from the Apostle
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Paul, life coaching. Big takeaway and tip number
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one is that everybody needs a coach. You've got
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to step up. And we all have to ask, what's that
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look like in our life? Second, you've got to
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step down. Got to become men that are strong
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by kneeling, praying, surrendering our rights,
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our way, our agenda, and experiencing God's supernatural
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power to bring about change. Tip number three,
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coaching tip number three, is if you aim at nothing,
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you'll hit it every time, right? So I remember
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going out as a little kid. I was eight years
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old, and we had a lawnmower. And, you know, they
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used to have the handles, and then there was
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a little bar. And I wasn't big enough to reach
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the handles like this, but I could take the bar.
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And so, I mean, it took me forever, but I'm pushing
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it. My mom's going, please don't let him cut
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his feet off. So by the time I was nine, I had
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three lawns. By the time I was 12, I had a little
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lawn business of about eight or ten lawns and
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one really big one and two paper outs. And I
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did pretty well. So when I was 13, I lent my
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parents. $3 ,000 at 6 % interest. I was a little
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entrepreneur. And they paid me. They wanted to
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buy a piece of land behind our house. And then
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that played into everything. It was like, okay,
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I was about 13 and the basketball coach in junior
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high recommended because I was 5 '3 as a freshman
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that maybe wrestling was my career. I should
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be a wrestler. And that was just like screaming,
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no, be a basketball player. So it's in the Midwest
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so that, I mean, on Friday night, you could rob
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everyone in the entire town because they were
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either at the football game or the basketball
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game. And I remember sitting in there and thinking
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as a 13 -year -old, someday I want to be on that
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basketball court. I want to have a scholarship.
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I want to graduate near the top of my class,
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and I want to have a pretty girlfriend. Ready,
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set, go. And I was maniacal. in my pursuit. And
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I remember graduating from high school, taking
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my hat, throwing it there. And as an unbeliever
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sitting in a big circle of about 20 or 25 people,
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we used to call them reefers back then, passing
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it around and talking about what we're going
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to do with our future life. And I was sitting
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next to Jackie and I didn't have any convictions
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about drugs. At my size, I thought, I can't put
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anything in my body that's going to limit my...
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I was always so small. So I was about 5 '11 by
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then, and so I passed it on, and Jackie turned
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to me and said, you must be very happy tonight.
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I said, well, why is that? Well, you got a basketball
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scholarship, you graduated on top of your class,
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you got the cutest little girlfriend. And all
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I can tell you, I had... I'd never heard of the
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Holy Spirit. I mean, I'm sure I heard it in church
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or something. But I had the most overwhelming
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empty sense that I'd ever had in my experience
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up to that time at 18. Here's the problem. The
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goal was way too small. Even if you aim at something,
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if you hit the wrong thing, your life can be
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a disaster. And so what the Apostle Paul is going
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to do in his coaching tip to Timothy, Is he's
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going to say, Timothy, yeah, the goal is to straighten
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out the teaching, right? I mean, these false
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teachers, they're messing everything up. And
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the how -to is not in your power. I want you
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to kneel down. I want you to pray. I want the
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church, God's people, to live in such winsome,
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godly, loving life that we attract people rather
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than at this point raising a lot of negative
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attention. But like any leadership book you have
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ever read or ever will read, the only way you
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change an organization is it starts with leadership.
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Everything rises and falls with leadership. You
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want to change a culture, you can tweak anything
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under the world, but you either have to have
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a radical change in the leaders or you have to
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completely change out the leadership. That's
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why when teams lose, what do they do? They don't
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fire the players. What do they do? Fire the coach.
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When a company's going downhill, what do they
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do? File a CEO. Basically, what he's going to
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say to Timothy is, yes, we need to put a Band
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-Aid in this, and you've got to address the problems
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here. And in chapter 3, he says, if you aim at
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nothing, you'll hit it. What you have to do now,
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Timothy, is we have to develop leaders. who will
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be the kind of people that don't let false teaching
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happen and are the kind of people that live out
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this faith in a radical way so that we honor
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the Lord Jesus and the big agenda of the gospel
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goes forward. So we're in chapter three, 1 Timothy.
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We pick it up. It is a trustworthy statement.
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If any man aspires to the office of overseer,
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it is a fine work he desires to do. And then
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he's gonna give the qualifications. Two words
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by way of just, quick moment here. An overseer,
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the word is episkopos. The word literally is
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a compound word, someone that looks into something.
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It's in other words, someone who's in charge
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who looks into something to make sure things
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are going okay and then gives help or direction
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or support. The other word interchanged is the
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word elder. Or you could translate it shepherd.
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And that's just a different function. They're
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used interchangeably. So he says, look, Timothy,
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whether it's a house church of 20 or 25 or 30
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people or 10 or 12 people, you know what? Remember
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how wherever we went, we found who the best leaders
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were. We put them in charge. Here's the qualifications
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going forward of the kind of men that you need
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to choose. So we want a long -term play. We want
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to solve the issues in the church for the long
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-term. And the way to do that, is to develop
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leaders. And so the first thing he says, he says,
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if any man aspires, that's our good English translation.
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Literally, there's three little words. If any
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man sets his heart, if any man, in other words,
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his desire, his dream, sets his heart, like I
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set my heart to be on that basketball court.
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I set my heart to date that cheerleader. I set
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my heart to If any man sets his heart or aspires
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to the office of overseer, it's a fine work.
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And then he says an overseer or an elder must
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be above reproach. And what you're going to see
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is he sort of bookends. Above reproach includes
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from inside the church, outside the church, how
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he speaks, what he does, his money, his marriage,
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his family. In other words, everything is, he's
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not perfect, but what you see is what you get.
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At the very end of this list, he'll say someone
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who's dignified. It's another very general Greek
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word that basically has the idea that when you
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meet this guy, you respect him. He's the kind
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of person, you respect the kind of marriage he
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has. You respect his finances. You respect how
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he handles conflict. You respect how he raises
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his kids. And so now he's going to give sort
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of a very specific list. of the kind of men you
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want to look for. You know, in baseball, I played
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baseball in college as well, and the dream was
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to be, remember, a five -tool player? You hit
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for average, hit for power, you can field, you
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have an arm, and is it speed or is it one other
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one? Yeah. I mean, that's the ultimate player
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that you're looking for. So basically what he's
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saying is, look, Timothy, we're going to deal
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with a problem. And we're going to do it a really
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different way. We're going to use God's power,
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sort of not our human anger and stuff. And then
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we need five tool elders. We need elders that
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live this out. And you need to develop them because
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they don't grow on trees. But what you need to
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do is you need to have a perspective. You need
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to have a profile. Here's the profile. He must
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be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate,
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self -controlled, respectable, hospitable, skillful
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in teaching. All pretty positive. Not indulging
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in much wine, not a bully, but gentle, not contentious,
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free from the love of money. He must be one who
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manages his own household well, keeping his children
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under control with all dignity. But if a man
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doesn't know how to manage his own household,
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How will they care for the church of God? And
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by the way, not a new convert, so he will not
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become conceited and fall into the condemnation
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incurred by the devil. And he must have a good
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reputation with those outside the church, so
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he will not fall into disgrace and the snare
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of the devil. Deacons likewise, very similar,
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must be men of dignity, that big general word,
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not insincere, not prone to drink too much wine,
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not greedy for money, But holding to the mystery
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of, are you ready again? The faith, these truths,
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these doctrines, and how with a clear conscience.
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Remember what the goal of this, the goal of our
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instruction is love from a pure heart, a good
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conscience, sincere faith. He's going to weave
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that all the way through the book. These men
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also must first be tested, then have them serve
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as deacons if they're beyond reproach. So you're
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looking for these kind of men and these spiritual
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responsibilities. And then these that have more
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of the servant hands -on issues. I mean, the
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early church, we got to feed people. We got widows
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to take care of. We got all kind of very specific
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issues. So we want a little bit different giftings,
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but we got to have great character in both of
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them. Women must also be dignified, not malicious
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gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things.
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Commentators will agree or disagree whether this
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is deaconesses as an official role in the church
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or whether it's the wise of deacons. Either way,
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it just means that the women that are leading
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need to be godly just like the men. Deacons must
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be the husband of one wife, good managers of
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their children and their households. For those
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who serve well as deacons obtain for themselves
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a high standing and great confidence in the faith
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that is in Christ Jesus. You're listening to
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Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and we'll
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continue this lesson in just a minute. If you've
11:58
been blessed by this program and you'd like to
12:00
discover more of Chip's Bible teachings, we invite
12:02
you to check out our YouTube channel. Search
12:05
Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram on YouTube
12:07
and be sure to subscribe while you're there.
12:10
You'll find full video teaching series, life
12:13
lessons with Chip and content you won't see anywhere
12:16
else. Again, just go on YouTube and search Living
12:19
on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Now let's continue
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today's message. Right. I mean, you know what
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this list is? Be a Christ -like man. Be a godly
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man. Don't most of you know what a godly man
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looks like? Most of you know what it looks like
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to be a loving husband? Not perfect, but a really
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good dad. But he says, Timothy, this is a trustworthy
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statement. If any man sets his heart on the office
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of being an overseer. See, I think in God's perspective,
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the elder. Who's living the life and accepts
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this humongous responsibility of giving oversight
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to the church of Jesus Christ has far more standing
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than the biggest CEOs of the biggest companies
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in America or around the world. And it's just
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as big a job. Because as the leaders go into
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church, so goes the church. And so he gives qualifications
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and... And then in verse 14, he says, why? I'm
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writing these things to you, hoping to come to
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you before long, but just in case I'm delayed,
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I'm in verse 14, I write so that you'll know
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how one should act in the household of God. In
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other words, Timothy, I just want you to know,
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this is what a pastor does. This is what leaders
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do. And then he talks about the household of
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God, which is the church of the living God, not
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a religious institution. That's the pillar and
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the support, and put a box around this one in
13:54
your Bible, the truth. Over and over and over,
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he starts with the truth. There is a right. There
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is a wrong. There is a God. There is one. There's
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one mediator. He came to save sinners. There
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is an eternity. Everyone will stand before a
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holy God. Jesus has paid the price for all men
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of all time. Those who receive the gift, eternal
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life. Those who say, I don't need you, I'm on
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my own, maybe later, and dis God, God says, I
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respect you. I will give you the freedom to reject
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me. You can be apart from me, but whatever you
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choose in this life, you get for eternity. I
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don't need you now. God will say, I won't force
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myself on you now or ever. And it's a Christless
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eternity. And you're bombarded by an enemy who's
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orchestrated a world system that says success
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and salary and sex and security. That'll make
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you somebody. You drive this kind of car and
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you have this kind of wife and you have this
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kind of logo and you go to these sporting events.
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If your kid makes a traveling team or he makes
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a scholarship and if you can bench press so much
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and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,
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blah. It keeps changing and changing and changing.
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And believe me. Everyone on this planet has this.
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Maybe it's not real clear in your mind, but you
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have this invisible picture of what success looks
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like. And if you could ever hit it, then you'd
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be a somebody. And you'd be a somebody. You just
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need to understand, the games that people play,
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it's just all relative. You got to ask yourself,
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what and who do you really want to be? And make
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sure, as the old illustration goes, that your
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ladder is really leaning on the right wall. Because
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you can be a successful failure. And when you
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have lots of money, it's really hard to raise
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good kids. Insurance companies have done demographic
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studies. The only people that have worst problem
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with their kids as measured by times in rehab
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and all the rest is the absolute lowest of the
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poor of the poor and the richest executives.
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Be careful what you set your heart to be. And
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what's great is If you set your heart to be a
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godly man, it's a fine work you desire to do.
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And you become then, you know how to act in the
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household of God, which is the church of the
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living God, the pillar and support of the truth.
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And beyond measure, great is the mystery of,
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circle the word, godliness. Great is the mystery.
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I don't understand. I know it means renewing
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your mind. I know it has to do with being in
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his word. I understand it has to do with repenting
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of my sin. I understand I need the fellowship
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of men that I can really be me with. I understand
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I have to take risk and challenges. I have to
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receive forgiveness. There's all kind of things.
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But great is the mystery of godliness. And then
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there's this. this mantra, this code that they
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wanted to summarize the work of Jesus in the
16:51
church. And so it went like this. He who was
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revealed in the flesh, incarnation, was vindicated
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by the Spirit at his baptism, seen by angels
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in temptation. Remember, after he defeated Satan,
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the text says, and he was ministered to by angels,
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proclaimed among the nations. The discipleship
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process went forward, believed on the world.
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taken up into glory, ascension. And he gives
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us this picture. The coaching nuggets that I
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have for you is that I write to you so that you'll
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know how one ought to conduct himself in the
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household of God. And what I would ask you is
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how are you conducting yourself in the household
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of God? And by the way, that's again... Don't
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just picture the building. I'm talking about
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the living stones, the relationship, the reality
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of the church of God, the pillar in support of
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the truth. And then our response, if any man
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aspires, and let me encourage you to underline,
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sets his heart on the office of overseer or I
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think just being a godly man, it's a fine work
18:04
he desires to do. And here's, I think, the ultimate
18:08
criteria. Honestly, His first line must be above
18:13
reproach. The way you're above reproach is you
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take all the other things and you go on a journey
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to become like that. And then you end up above
18:21
reproach. So, okay, thank you, Paul. If I was
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in Ephesus and my name was Timothy, I would kind
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of know what I was supposed to do, right? Who
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I'm supposed to look for? Here's the profile.
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I need to develop these kind of leaders. Here's
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my question. What's this got to do with us? What's
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the application in the 21st century? And I'm
18:43
gonna suggest that the subject here is leadership
18:46
in the church because all scripture, right, is
18:49
profitable. It's inspired by God. So this passage,
18:54
like the last chapter and every other passage,
18:56
is here to equip us and encourage us and help
18:59
us to be men of God who will be equipped and
19:02
adequate for the good work God has for us. The
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underlying issue here, I think, is integrity.
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And when I say the word integrity, I mean beyond
19:13
honesty. We tend to think of integrity as, well,
19:16
I'm honest. Integrity, it's actually a numerical
19:20
word. It's integration. It's the integration
19:24
of your faith in every area of life and relationships.
19:31
The way I think about it is you live the same
19:34
way Monday afternoon at four as Sunday morning
19:37
at 11 a .m. Same way at 2 a .m. watching TV with
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no one around. Same way in front of your computer.
19:45
Same way when someone comes on to you at work.
19:48
Same way when you have a couple beers with the
19:51
guys. It's just that your faith is integrated
19:55
in every relationship with everyone. That's basically
19:59
what it means to be a godly man, isn't it? It
20:01
sounds like just someone who's taken the instruction
20:03
of the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ. And is
20:07
loving others with a pure heart, a good conscience,
20:09
and a sincere faith? And so I think the underlying
20:13
question is, am I willing to set my heart to
20:15
become a godly man and fulfill God's purpose
20:19
for my life? You've been listening to Living
20:23
on the Edge with Chip Ingram and a message he's
20:26
titled, Step In. It's part of our current series
20:29
called You Can Make Disciples, personal coaching
20:32
from the Apostle Paul. And did you know that
20:35
each of these daily messages is available to
20:37
stream on the Living on the Edge podcast? Subscribe,
20:41
take it with you, and share it with someone you
20:43
know. Plus, you can find Chip's full -length
20:45
sermons on the Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast wherever
20:48
you listen. Chip's question today lands personally.
20:52
Have you set your heart on becoming the kind
20:55
of person Paul described? Someone whose private
20:57
life and public life tell the same story? If
21:00
this week has stirred something in you, a desire
21:03
to step up, step down, or step in, Chip's book,
21:07
Yes, You Really Can Change, is the practical
21:09
companion for that journey. It explores the key
21:13
truths of authentic transformation, why change
21:16
is so hard, where the power comes from, and how
21:19
you make it last. Right now, we've got a special
21:22
offer where you can buy one book and give one
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away. Just go to livingontheedge .org slash offers.
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30 years of this ministry have been funded by
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ordinary people who decided it was worth their
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support. If you'd like to be part of that, give
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today by going to livingontheedge .org or by
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calling 888 -333 -6003. You can also give through
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the mail by writing to us at Living on the Edge,
21:49
P .O. Box 3007, Atlanta, Georgia 30024. Well,
21:55
Chip, you're really calling leaders and all of
21:58
us to some honest self -examination here. If
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someone is listening who has compromised their
22:03
integrity, maybe quietly, maybe no one knows
22:06
yet, would you share with us what's the first
22:09
step to take? I'd be glad to, Dave. This is something
22:12
that is very, very painful, I think, for us in
22:16
the church and especially us maybe who are Christian
22:19
leaders to really own the reality that we have
22:22
not acted well. in the household of God. And
22:26
whether it's Protestant pastors falling with
22:31
big denominations, as we've read recently, or
22:34
whether it's priests with immoral behavior, or
22:37
whether it's evangelists and scandals, or megachurch
22:40
pastor, or celebrity worship leaders. We have
22:43
to own the reality that in significant measure,
22:48
we have not been leaders or Christians that,
22:51
in my words, have lived like Christians. And
22:54
it's undermined the gospel. It's undermined the
22:56
credibility. And honestly, at the heart of most
22:59
of it has been the cover -ups. And I think, honestly,
23:04
we just have to own where we failed. Instead
23:07
of being defensive, when you blow it, when I
23:10
blow it, and whether it's with our family, whether
23:12
it's at work and there's an outburst of anger
23:15
or we don't tell the truth or there's hypocrisy,
23:18
this is what builds credibility. You own it.
23:22
You don't cover it. You don't fake it. You don't
23:24
act like it didn't happen. I've certainly had
23:27
to really own. things I've said or things I've
23:31
done wrong, and it was very humbling, and I hated
23:34
doing it, but it was so cleansing. And even when
23:37
I've had to do that with unbelievers, I have
23:40
found that the response is the opposite of what
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you would think. It's like, wow, really? Thanks.
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And then I apologized. And people are not looking
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for Christians that are perfect, but boy, they
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are looking for Christians that are real. So
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here's our application today. Could I encourage
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you to at least get two or three minutes today
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and bow your head, close your eyes, and say,
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Lord, is there anything in my life that I've
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concealed? Is there anything that needs to come
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to light? And then own it. And then ask that
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next hard question. Is there anyone that I need
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to go talk to, to not just confess it, but forsake
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it and make this right? And as you do that, God's
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going to work. And as tens of thousands or maybe
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hundreds of thousands of people listening to
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my voice, can you imagine the cleansing power
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that would occur in the next couple days as we
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would just own our stuff and then make things
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right? I'm Dave Drury. Next time, Chip Ingram
24:44
explains exactly what it looks like to be a leader
24:47
who can actually be trusted. That's ahead on
24:50
Living on the Edge. Today's program is produced
24:56
and sponsored by Living on the Edge.