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LEAD | 1 Samuel 17 : Humility | Ben Hess · The Salt Company Denver

0:01
SPEAKER_00: Good.
0:02
SPEAKER_00: You guys are doing all right.
0:05
SPEAKER_00: Thanks, guys.
0:06
SPEAKER_00: I appreciate that.
0:07
SPEAKER_00: The extra support there.
0:08
SPEAKER_00: Lord knows I need it.
0:10
SPEAKER_00: Alright, what's up, guys?
0:12
SPEAKER_00: My name is Ben.
0:13
SPEAKER_00: Excited to be with you all tonight.
0:15
SPEAKER_00: I'm on staff here at Salt Company.
0:17
SPEAKER_00: If you don't know me, I'd love to meet you.
0:19
SPEAKER_00: Come say what's up in the lobby.
0:21
SPEAKER_00: But tonight, guys, we're going to be starting a new series, and I'm excited for this series.
0:26
SPEAKER_00: It's a leadership series, and we're calling it lead virtues of gospel influence.
0:33
SPEAKER_00: Man, I am so excited about this series because I think right now God is doing something incredible across the world, and he's inviting people in to have the characteristics or virtues of the leaders that he desires to use to influence.
0:51
SPEAKER_00: And you have an opportunity, we have an opportunity to step into that.
0:55
SPEAKER_00: Now I also think that when it comes to leadership, in a lot of ways we've fallen short.
1:02
SPEAKER_00: In a lot of ways, our generation, and I'm in the same generation as you guys, our generation has fallen short.
1:09
SPEAKER_00: Why?
1:10
SPEAKER_00: Because we've turned to maybe TikTok or Instagram shorts to figure out what leadership looks like when we neglect the thing that sits on our nightstand that actually would inform us what true leadership looks like.
1:24
SPEAKER_00: We turn to influencers that we think have great influence and that might have platforms but aren't actually influencing in the way that God desires.
1:33
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not saying that there's not good things on social media.
1:36
SPEAKER_00: What I am saying is there's a lot better things in God's word.
1:39
SPEAKER_00: And so as we go into this series, we're actually going to turn to God's word to see what it has to say about leadership.
1:47
SPEAKER_00: And we're going to look at different characters or stories throughout the Bible that exemplify great leadership.
1:56
SPEAKER_00: And so tonight, that virtue or character quality we're going to be talking about is humility.
2:04
SPEAKER_00: And I hope when you hear that, one, when I've initially talked about leadership at the start, I'm guessing there's two different types of groups in this room.
2:13
SPEAKER_00: There's those of you who are like, yeah, I can see that maybe I'm a leader or I have some sort of influence.
2:20
SPEAKER_00: Or there's those of you who are like, man, that is not for me.
2:25
SPEAKER_00: Leadership is not for me.
2:27
SPEAKER_00: That's something for other people to do.
2:30
SPEAKER_00: That's not something for me to step into.
2:33
SPEAKER_00: For the first group, I would encourage you, as we're talking tonight, ask yourself the question, if I am a leader and I do have influence, start asking yourself the question if I'm a good one.
2:46
SPEAKER_00: And not just if I'm a good one, but am I influencing in the way that God desires for me to influence?
2:53
SPEAKER_00: We've been told that it's all about platform or personality when it's really about posture.
2:59
SPEAKER_00: It's really about the posture of your heart.
3:01
SPEAKER_00: So if you know that you're a leader or you can see that you have some sort of influence in your life, I'd encourage you to ask yourself that question.
3:08
SPEAKER_00: What's the posture of my heart?
3:10
SPEAKER_00: Are people following me because of my personality or my character?
3:14
SPEAKER_00: My platform or what God has done in and through me.
3:18
SPEAKER_00: And then to the latter group, to those of you who are like, man, that's just not really for me.
3:24
SPEAKER_00: I want to say to you, and please, if that's you, if you're like, I am not a leader, I will not be a leader, please look at me.
3:32
SPEAKER_00: You can be a leader.
3:35
SPEAKER_00: You can all be leaders.
3:39
SPEAKER_00: Because it's not about personality, it's not about platform, it's not about the things that the world has told us it's about.
3:47
SPEAKER_00: It's actually about what God is shaping and forming within you.
3:52
SPEAKER_00: You can be a leader, you can influence with the gospel virtues that the Bible lays out.
4:00
SPEAKER_00: Before we jump in tonight, I want to ask you guys this question, though.
4:03
SPEAKER_00: I want you guys to think about this.
4:05
SPEAKER_00: And turn to the people around you and let them know.
4:08
SPEAKER_00: Who has been the most influential person in your life?
4:12
SPEAKER_00: Who's been the most influential person in your life?
4:15
SPEAKER_00: Turn to the person around you, let them know who that is.
4:21
SPEAKER_00: Jesus.
4:47
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, brother or sister.
4:49
SPEAKER_00: Let's go.
4:49
SPEAKER_00: Come on.
4:50
SPEAKER_00: Uh who said like a family member in general?
4:54
SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
4:55
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, let's go.
4:56
SPEAKER_00: Who said like a teacher?
4:57
SPEAKER_00: Shout out, teachers.
4:58
SPEAKER_00: Come on.
4:59
SPEAKER_00: Uh I was almost a teacher.
5:00
SPEAKER_00: I love teachers.
5:01
SPEAKER_00: I had many teachers influence me.
5:03
SPEAKER_00: Uh, coaches influence me, but I'm I'm with you guys on family.
5:07
SPEAKER_00: The most influential person in my life uh is my mom.
5:11
SPEAKER_00: And I'm I'm a yeah, uh I'm gonna love my mom.
5:14
SPEAKER_00: Man, I'm yeah, let's go.
5:17
SPEAKER_00: I am uh a mama's boy.
5:20
SPEAKER_00: I love my mom so much.
5:21
SPEAKER_00: I call her often, and we talk for a long time on the phone.
5:25
SPEAKER_00: She might not tell you I call her often.
5:27
SPEAKER_00: It feels like often to me.
5:29
SPEAKER_00: Um so I I think I call her often, and she's not just influenced me because she carried me in her womb, although a lot happens in the womb.
5:38
SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm finding that out.
5:39
SPEAKER_00: My wife's pregnant right now.
5:40
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so yeah, thanks.
5:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
5:45
SPEAKER_00: If if you guys, like if you have, I'm sure girls are more aware of this.
5:49
SPEAKER_00: Guys, if you have no idea what happens in the it's wild, man.
5:52
SPEAKER_00: Like there's this app that you can like see the shaping and it's crazy.
5:56
SPEAKER_00: Uh some wild stuff happens and it's incredible, it's beautiful.
6:01
SPEAKER_00: But that's not the only reason, the only way my mom influenced me.
6:04
SPEAKER_00: Um, she influenced me in a lot of ways.
6:06
SPEAKER_00: Actually, every day she'd drop me off at school, she would say this to me.
6:09
SPEAKER_00: She'd say, Have a happy day and shine for Jesus.
6:13
SPEAKER_00: And every day I got out of the car, that's what she told me.
6:15
SPEAKER_00: And when I got in the car, she's she would say, How was your happy day?
6:18
SPEAKER_00: And she'd ask me, How my day, yeah, my mom's incredible.
6:21
SPEAKER_00: She's awesome.
6:22
SPEAKER_00: Um, but actually, the greatest influence she had on my life is when she went through the hardest time in her life.
6:30
SPEAKER_00: And what I got to see is a woman who was very diligent in God's word, and that diligence turned into devotion and dependency in a very difficult time.
6:41
SPEAKER_00: And that season of seeing my mom wrestle through one of the hardest things you can go through.
6:48
SPEAKER_00: Um, and the dependency on the Lord that came out of that influenced me in a greater way than I can even express.
6:58
SPEAKER_00: And I think the reason why that she was able to do that is because she had a humility and understanding who God is and who she is in light of that.
7:09
SPEAKER_00: Who God is, what his timing is for her life, how he's working in her life, and who she is in light of that.
7:17
SPEAKER_00: And so I really think that humility is where godly leadership and influence begins.
7:24
SPEAKER_00: Humility, I think, is where godly leadership begins.
7:28
SPEAKER_00: And it may just be the single most important characteristic of a Christian, of a Christian leader.
7:35
SPEAKER_00: I actually don't think that you can really influence the way God wants without at least some sort of humility.
7:42
SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying we have to be perfect in it, but God uses humility to influence the world.
7:49
SPEAKER_00: That's ultimately how he influences the world, and we see that all throughout scripture, and we see that God's design for his people is to be humble.
7:57
SPEAKER_00: Some scripture, Proverbs 3.34, he mocks those who mock, but mock, but gives grace to the humble.
8:03
SPEAKER_00: Micah 6 8, this is what the Lord requires of you, to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.
8:09
SPEAKER_00: Matthew 23, 12, whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
8:15
SPEAKER_00: Philippians 2 3, do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.
8:23
SPEAKER_00: James 4 6, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
8:28
SPEAKER_00: First Peter 5 5.
8:30
SPEAKER_00: Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
8:36
SPEAKER_00: Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in the proper time.
8:42
SPEAKER_00: And what we learn in Isaiah 57 15 is actually that God chooses to walk with the humble.
8:49
SPEAKER_00: That's who God chooses to walk with.
8:54
SPEAKER_00: We cannot have godly influence apart from humility.
9:00
SPEAKER_00: Because God wants nothing to do with us if we're not humble.
9:04
SPEAKER_00: He wants nothing to do with the pride, the arrogance.
9:08
SPEAKER_00: He walks with the humble.
9:10
SPEAKER_00: That's who he desires to be with.
9:13
SPEAKER_00: So if God desires humility, then humility must be a marker of a Christian leader.
9:18
SPEAKER_00: So I think it's a great place to start tonight.
9:21
SPEAKER_00: If we want to influence the way God wants, we must lead with humility, because God exalts the humble and resists the pride.
9:28
SPEAKER_00: That's how he chooses to accomplish his work.
9:33
SPEAKER_00: Now, if humility is the foundation of godly influence, uh then a great picture of it, and somewhere that we'll turn tonight is in 1 Samuel, and we're gonna be looking at King David, a picture of humility in leadership.
9:48
SPEAKER_00: Now, David, many of you know, was not flawless, but his leadership was marked by humility.
9:54
SPEAKER_00: And so as you turn there, you can you can turn to 1 Samuel and we're kind of we're gonna kind of be a little bit all throughout it, jumping around, but one of the first texts we'll be in is in in chapter 17.
10:08
SPEAKER_00: So you can turn turn to 1 Samuel 17.
10:10
SPEAKER_00: Um but as you go there, I'll I'll summarize who David is.
10:16
SPEAKER_00: David is is the king of Israel, right?
10:19
SPEAKER_00: Many of us, how many of you guys have heard of King David?
10:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, like most of you guys have, right?
10:26
SPEAKER_00: He's he's a king of Israel, but the reason why he becomes king is because the Israelites had cried out to God for a king like the nations.
10:34
SPEAKER_00: And Saul is the first king.
10:36
SPEAKER_00: He becomes king because the Israelites desire this king of the nations.
10:39
SPEAKER_00: And the reason why Saul is anointed as king in many ways is because of his stature, the way he looks on the outside, um, the way he probably is personality, he's charismatic, right?
10:51
SPEAKER_00: He's strong, he's a good warrior.
10:54
SPEAKER_00: But he slowly walks away from God.
10:56
SPEAKER_00: And so God then rejects Saul as king because he lacks humility.
11:03
SPEAKER_00: And then we see David enter the picture in the kings of Israel.
11:08
SPEAKER_00: And David enters the picture uh in a in a subtle way.
11:12
SPEAKER_00: He's actually kind of the last son that uh the prophet Samuel goes to.
11:18
SPEAKER_00: There's eight sons of Jesse, and he he goes to this place, and as he's looking at the first son, God says to him, Do not look at the outward appearance, for God uh God sees what's on the inside.
11:30
SPEAKER_00: And then gets to David.
11:32
SPEAKER_00: And David is the shepherd of the family, taking care of the flock, and he comes and Samuel anoints David.
11:39
SPEAKER_00: And then David from there, uh, you you would think would kind of step into the throne, but really has a long season of patience and waiting till he takes the throne.
11:48
SPEAKER_00: He actually serves in Saul's court.
11:52
SPEAKER_00: Uh he he kills Goliath, which we'll talk a little bit about here in a minute.
11:56
SPEAKER_00: Uh, he refuses to kill Saul when he can.
11:59
SPEAKER_00: He has opportunities to kill Saul as Saul is pursuing him and trying to kill him.
12:04
SPEAKER_00: He he chooses not to kill Saul and to be patient for the throne to come to him.
12:09
SPEAKER_00: He's a fugitive and eventually becomes king.
12:12
SPEAKER_00: And then once he becomes king, he he establishes Jerusalem and brings God's presence or the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem.
12:19
SPEAKER_00: And his reign is characterized characterized largely by military conquest, the establishment of Jerusalem, bringing the ark to the city.
12:28
SPEAKER_00: He unifies the nation and expands its border and makes Israel a powerful kingdom.
12:34
SPEAKER_00: He is a great king, he's a strong king in a lot of ways.
12:39
SPEAKER_00: But what we'll see tonight is his way to that strength is through humility.
12:46
SPEAKER_00: He he doesn't get anointed and then revolt and try to take the throne.
12:52
SPEAKER_00: He actually waits impatients.
12:54
SPEAKER_00: He's shaped and formed in the wilderness.
12:56
SPEAKER_00: He he he doesn't kill Saul in the cave.
12:59
SPEAKER_00: He he waits and he waits until the throne God delivers him to the throne.
13:05
SPEAKER_00: And he's a strong king because he is humble.
13:08
SPEAKER_00: And so tonight there's three things that I want us to see from David's leadership.
13:13
SPEAKER_00: Humble leaders are confident, humble leaders are patient, and humble leaders repent.
13:20
SPEAKER_00: Now, the first one, humble leaders are confident.
13:23
SPEAKER_00: Man, there's probably some of us who are like, oh, humility, confidence.
13:27
SPEAKER_00: It's like, do those really go together?
13:29
SPEAKER_00: I don't know, Ben.
13:31
SPEAKER_00: And what I want to bring forth to you guys is that actually humble leaders are the most confident people in the world because they know where their confidence is placed.
13:43
SPEAKER_00: I think there's two ditches that we can fall into: a self-confidence and a lack of confidence.
13:49
SPEAKER_00: And both of those, neither one better than the other, they're both based upon our strength, not God's strength.
13:57
SPEAKER_00: Hear that again.
13:59
SPEAKER_00: Whether you have, if you have a lack of confidence or a confidence in yourself, it's the same reality of that you're placing your confidence or your strength in yourself, not in God.
14:12
SPEAKER_00: Oftentimes I think we can mistake lack of confidence for humility when really it's just like, I don't understand the God that I serve.
14:21
SPEAKER_00: And so we're gonna see that in this story.
14:23
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna see all three of those in this story.
14:26
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna see a confidence in God, but then we're also gonna see a self-confidence and lack of confidence.
14:31
SPEAKER_00: And the first one, so we're gonna start in 1 Samuel 17, and I'm gonna summarize kind of three through seven, and then we'll read eight through ten.
14:42
SPEAKER_00: So in three, we meet, we meet uh this Philistine called Goliath.
14:47
SPEAKER_00: And so there's these two, uh they're in camp, the Philistines and the Israelites, and they're they're facing each other, waiting for battle, and Goliath comes out.
14:55
SPEAKER_00: He's nine feet nine inches tall.
14:57
SPEAKER_00: That's pretty tall.
14:59
SPEAKER_00: Nine feet that's like a basketball hoop, right?
15:02
SPEAKER_00: Um many of you probably couldn't touch the top of his head.
15:05
SPEAKER_00: Uh some of you could.
15:07
SPEAKER_00: Many of you couldn't.
15:08
SPEAKER_00: I would be like pretty close.
15:09
SPEAKER_00: I think I I can touch rims still, so I'd be alright.
15:12
SPEAKER_00: Nine feet nine inches tall.
15:13
SPEAKER_00: He wore bronze a bronze helmet, bronze scale armor.
15:16
SPEAKER_00: It weighed 125 pounds.
15:19
SPEAKER_00: He's a big, strong dude.
15:21
SPEAKER_00: Uh his spear, the tip of his spear was 15 pounds.
15:24
SPEAKER_00: Um man, like this is a a specimen, a physical specimen in a lot of ways.
15:30
SPEAKER_00: It's like almost to the level of Gabe, right?
15:33
SPEAKER_00: Like he's like, shout out Gabe.
15:36
SPEAKER_00: Um anyways, okay, so maybe get that out of your head.
15:40
SPEAKER_00: Think of Goliath.
15:41
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
15:42
SPEAKER_00: Goliath, this physical specimen.
15:44
SPEAKER_00: And then in verse 8, we see this.
15:45
SPEAKER_00: He stood and shouted to the Israelite battle formations.
15:48
SPEAKER_00: Why do you come out to line up in battle formation?
15:51
SPEAKER_00: He asked them.
15:52
SPEAKER_00: Am I not a Philistine?
15:54
SPEAKER_00: And are you not servants of Saul?
15:56
SPEAKER_00: Choose one of your men and have him come down against me.
15:59
SPEAKER_00: If he wins in a fight against me and kills me, we will be your servants.
16:03
SPEAKER_00: But if I win against him and kill him, then you will be our servants and serve us.
16:08
SPEAKER_00: Then the Philistine said, I defy the ranks of Israel today.
16:14
SPEAKER_00: Send me a man so we can fight each other.
16:17
SPEAKER_00: The reality is that Goliath has a self-confidence in himself.
16:21
SPEAKER_00: He says, I defy the ranks.
16:24
SPEAKER_00: Man, it it kind of reminded me, um, again, thinking about Gabe and his car.
16:28
SPEAKER_00: Uh, that story just like was if you guys are here, it's so funny.
16:32
SPEAKER_00: Um, but puts the wrong oil in the car.
16:35
SPEAKER_00: It man, the self-confidence is like putting the wrong gas in the car.
16:39
SPEAKER_00: It's like seeking the wrong source.
16:41
SPEAKER_00: It's like plugging a lamp into itself instead of the power outlet.
16:45
SPEAKER_00: That that's what self-confidence is like.
16:48
SPEAKER_00: You you're it's not gonna work.
16:51
SPEAKER_00: It's good, may I mean maybe like I don't know, maybe it's more like a battery-powered outlet and then it'll just run out, so you get a little bit of juice, but it's gonna run out eventually.
17:03
SPEAKER_00: You're the car's not gonna go very far.
17:05
SPEAKER_00: The engine is gonna blow up eventually if you put the wrong fuel in it.
17:11
SPEAKER_00: That's what self-confidence is like.
17:15
SPEAKER_00: But then we see in verse 11, we see Israel.
17:19
SPEAKER_00: When Saul and all Israel heard these words from the Philistine, they lost their courage and were terrified.
17:26
SPEAKER_00: We see a lack of confidence in Saul and Israel.
17:30
SPEAKER_00: A lack of confidence is still a result of putting the wrong fuel in the engine or depending on the wrong source.
17:36
SPEAKER_00: Ultimately, it's the same.
17:38
SPEAKER_00: You're still trying to plug the lamp into itself, but you just have a lower view of yourself.
17:44
SPEAKER_00: Like you think you're not strong enough, whereas the self-confidence is you think you're stronger than you are.
17:50
SPEAKER_00: But then we're we're let's jump down to verse 36.
17:54
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna see what confidence in God looks like.
17:57
SPEAKER_00: And this is an absolute bar from King David.
18:01
SPEAKER_00: He says, This when preparing to go fight Goliath, your servant has killed lions and bears.
18:08
SPEAKER_00: This uncircumcised Philistine or filthy Philistine will be like one of them.
18:14
SPEAKER_00: For he has defied the armies of who?
18:17
SPEAKER_00: Of the living God.
18:19
SPEAKER_00: Then David said, The Lord, the Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.
18:30
SPEAKER_00: Come on, man.
18:32
SPEAKER_00: Like, I need to just start reading that every morning.
18:34
SPEAKER_00: It's like, dude, I also need to find some lions and bears to fight.
18:38
SPEAKER_00: Um, I mean, this guy is a stud.
18:41
SPEAKER_00: The Lord, though, what does he say?
18:44
SPEAKER_00: The Lord has rescued me from the paw of the lion.
18:48
SPEAKER_00: The reality is, is God's people and Saul have forgotten whose army this is.
18:54
SPEAKER_00: They've forgotten that it's not their army.
18:57
SPEAKER_00: It's not about who's in the army, it's that it's the Lord of armies army.
19:03
SPEAKER_00: That's whose army it is.
19:05
SPEAKER_00: And that's why David has the humble confidence to step forward.
19:11
SPEAKER_00: To say, as a shepherd boy with my sling, why can I go fight David?
19:16
SPEAKER_00: And if you don't know, he wins.
19:19
SPEAKER_00: Um, spoiler alert, sorry for that.
19:21
SPEAKER_00: David wins.
19:23
SPEAKER_00: Why?
19:25
SPEAKER_00: Because he remembers the God that he serves.
19:30
SPEAKER_00: He remembers the God that he serves, the God who has delivered his people.
19:34
SPEAKER_00: That's whose army it is.
19:38
SPEAKER_00: Again, like I said earlier, lack of confidence can be mistaken as humility, and self-confidence often can be mistaken as just strong leadership.
19:48
SPEAKER_00: But for for the the one who maybe has self-confidence in the room, I want to ask you this.
19:54
SPEAKER_00: And I think this is a helpful diagnostic question.
19:58
SPEAKER_00: And I think you know who you are.
20:00
SPEAKER_00: Um the the like, man, I find confidence in myself.
20:04
SPEAKER_00: I think the question we should be asking ourselves is what do we have that has not been given to us?
20:09
SPEAKER_00: I think what David recognizes in this moment is that there's not a thing that God has not given to him and to his people, and therefore he's able to step out in a confidence that only comes from the Lord to fight the giant, Goliath.
20:23
SPEAKER_00: And if you tend towards lack of confidence, I think the question you should be asking yourself is who is God?
20:33
SPEAKER_00: Who is God?
20:35
SPEAKER_00: Man, if I lack confidence in my life to step forward and lead in humility, if I lack confidence to share the gospel with my classmates, my neighbors, the people I walk with, if I lack confidence to kill the sin in my life, if I lack confidence to do these things, to put myself out there, to be vulnerable in C group, to apply for leadership, if I lack confidence to do these things, then I would encourage you to ask yourself, who is the God that I serve?
21:04
SPEAKER_00: Because if you understand the God that you serve, then there is a confidence that can only come from him.
21:10
SPEAKER_00: There is a confidence that results in a shepherd boy who came to bring food to the front lines for his brothers, who grabs a stone and a sling and walks out against a giant.
21:20
SPEAKER_00: That's a different level of confidence, guys.
21:23
SPEAKER_00: Self-confidence won't get you there, and a lack of confidence sure won't either.
21:28
SPEAKER_00: So where is your confidence and who is the God that you serve?
21:34
SPEAKER_00: So that's number one.
21:35
SPEAKER_00: Humble leaders are confident in God.
21:37
SPEAKER_00: Number two, humble leaders are patient.
21:39
SPEAKER_00: Um, you guys know uh Harry Potter?
21:42
SPEAKER_00: Any Harry Potter people?
21:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
21:44
SPEAKER_00: Uh man, I actually really like Harry Potter.
21:48
SPEAKER_00: Some of you maybe are like Christian, like you're like, oh no, I can't believe he's talking about Harry Potter, I'm gonna leave right now.
21:54
SPEAKER_00: Um, no, uh I actually think Harry Potter is a great example of the gospel in a lot of ways.
21:58
SPEAKER_00: Um, but one of my favorite Characters is Neville Longbottom.
22:03
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
22:04
SPEAKER_00: Kind of underrated character.
22:06
SPEAKER_00: I know like he does get glory in the end, but he's like an underrated character.
22:10
SPEAKER_00: He's kind of clumsy.
22:12
SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, just awkward.
22:14
SPEAKER_00: You're you kind of feel for this guy.
22:16
SPEAKER_00: He just makes mistakes.
22:18
SPEAKER_00: He like fumbles into class.
22:20
SPEAKER_00: You're like, what's going on with Neville?
22:22
SPEAKER_00: Um, but and we we don't get all of how this happens, really the in-depth character growth of Neville, but we see later in Harry Potter is that he's actually one of the leaders standing up against Voldemort.
22:36
SPEAKER_00: He's actually the one leading the students at Hogwarts.
22:40
SPEAKER_00: Like he's the one who's sneaking around and trying to train them in different spells and equip them to fight.
22:48
SPEAKER_00: And he's kind of flown under the radar.
22:51
SPEAKER_00: In a lot of ways, he's this like patient character that develops over time.
22:58
SPEAKER_00: And eventually, man, this is like gospel um the connection.
23:03
SPEAKER_00: He kills the serpent.
23:05
SPEAKER_00: Like, come on, the serpent slayer, Neville.
23:08
SPEAKER_00: Okay, anyways, that that was like a side note.
23:11
SPEAKER_00: Um, but in a lot of ways, I think David is similar to Neville.
23:15
SPEAKER_00: Um, man, he serves in the shadows, he's patient.
23:19
SPEAKER_00: Although uh Neville is not anointed, David is anointed, and he he serves though in the shadows, he's patient.
23:26
SPEAKER_00: He kind of drifts through the wilderness and is obedient to what God has for him.
23:31
SPEAKER_00: And we're not gonna read, you guys should read the story of David, but this is in a lot of ways, he's like anointed, but then he ends up playing the harp for Saul.
23:40
SPEAKER_00: He carries his armor, he risks his life in the battle with Goliath, and yet he still has to dodge spears when Saul tries to kill him and he doesn't fight back because he doesn't want to disobey God's command of the holy anointed one that is the king.
23:55
SPEAKER_00: He runs instead of revolting, he spares Saul multiple times.
24:00
SPEAKER_00: And where does his patience come from?
24:03
SPEAKER_00: I I think it actually stems from the first point a confidence in God's timing.
24:08
SPEAKER_00: Guys, the most patient people I know are so, so confident in God.
24:14
SPEAKER_00: Again, back to my mom.
24:15
SPEAKER_00: Like she in that season was the most patient woman, waiting for God's timing, waiting for healing, waiting for things to come and being devoted to God.
24:27
SPEAKER_00: I I think, again, his patience stems from confidence in who God is.
24:33
SPEAKER_00: But what this doesn't look like is laziness.
24:38
SPEAKER_00: Um how many of you are single in the room?
24:42
SPEAKER_00: So now we're just gonna like look around and we're gonna no.
24:45
SPEAKER_00: Um some of the guys got really excited right there.
24:49
SPEAKER_00: They're like, yeah, let's go.
24:51
SPEAKER_00: Um, no.
24:52
SPEAKER_00: Uh so and maybe a lot of you are like, I would like to be in a relationship one day, which is okay.
25:02
SPEAKER_00: Some of you are like, no, I don't.
25:03
SPEAKER_00: Honestly, when I was in college before I met my wife, I was like, I don't want to be in a relationship.
25:08
SPEAKER_00: This is incredible.
25:09
SPEAKER_00: Um, but anyways, uh some a lot of you guys probably do.
25:14
SPEAKER_00: Now, what patience doesn't look like, and this is maybe for the guys in the room, is to just sit on your backside and wait for a woman to come into the room.
25:24
SPEAKER_00: It actually looks like being around women.
25:28
SPEAKER_00: It actually looks like maybe asking a girl on a date.
25:32
SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, I know, it's crazy.
25:35
SPEAKER_00: What my point is sometimes we can mistake patience or mistake laziness for patience.
25:46
SPEAKER_00: That's not what David does.
25:48
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't sit on his backside playing video games, waiting for God to do something in his heart.
25:55
SPEAKER_00: He steps up and he serves in his patience.
25:58
SPEAKER_00: He he plays the harp, he carries the armor, he fights Goliath, he dodges spears, he wanders in the wilderness.
26:07
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't sit back and wait for the throne to come to him, he steps into what God is calling him to, which looks like obedience in that moment.
26:15
SPEAKER_00: Of maybe not sitting on the throne, but serving the throne.
26:20
SPEAKER_00: And so, for us, guys, what what does that look like for you guys?
26:24
SPEAKER_00: What does that look like for you in your life?
26:27
SPEAKER_00: Man, to be patient but not lazy, to serve others in patience, waiting for what God is creating in you, developing you for.
26:38
SPEAKER_00: To be a humble leader who is who is patient.
26:42
SPEAKER_00: Man, maybe it looks like more patience with your roommates.
26:46
SPEAKER_00: Maybe do the dishes every once in a while.
26:49
SPEAKER_00: And don't actually complain to them.
26:51
SPEAKER_00: Like, maybe there's a pile of dishes and you should just clean them.
26:56
SPEAKER_00: Because guess what?
26:57
SPEAKER_00: The rest of your life you're gonna have to do dishes that aren't yours.
27:02
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
27:02
SPEAKER_00: Like I thought when I got married, it's like I'm going to only have to do my dishes, she'll do her dishes, it's gonna be great, it's gonna be perfect.
27:08
SPEAKER_00: That's not how it works.
27:10
SPEAKER_00: It's not.
27:10
SPEAKER_00: And and she does my dishes too.
27:12
SPEAKER_00: I don't just do hers, just to make that clear.
27:14
SPEAKER_00: Um so, guys, maybe you should do that and be patient with your roommates.
27:22
SPEAKER_00: Uh, Colin often says and said this to me probably like the first time we met.
27:27
SPEAKER_00: He said, Leadership is not above you if service is not beneath you.
27:31
SPEAKER_00: I'm sure he uh, like a lot of you leaders, you've heard that.
27:33
SPEAKER_00: You've met with him and he said that.
27:35
SPEAKER_00: What does that look like in your life?
27:38
SPEAKER_00: Being patient and serving others.
27:40
SPEAKER_00: Um, man, maybe it looks like walking with others in hard times.
27:44
SPEAKER_00: When you want to kind of shy away from the hard time, you actually walk with them in it.
27:49
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it looks like mourning with those who mourn.
27:51
SPEAKER_00: Uh, man, the best way to do that is to join a C group.
27:55
SPEAKER_00: Be patient with those around you, bear one another's burdens, walk with them through these moments and serve them in this patient humility as you help lead.
28:08
SPEAKER_00: And maybe the next step of obedience is not those things, although they probably are, but it's actually having the heart posture of David that we see in 2 Samuel 12 and Psalm 51.
28:20
SPEAKER_00: And that's our third point is humble leaders repent.
28:25
SPEAKER_00: David has a heart posture of repentance.
28:29
SPEAKER_00: You see, in 2 Samuel 11, David sins egregiously against God.
28:38
SPEAKER_00: David is not a perfect king by any means.
28:40
SPEAKER_00: And you read his story and you'll find out.
28:43
SPEAKER_00: But he's still called a man after God's own heart.
28:46
SPEAKER_00: And we get a picture of what his heart looks like after he sins.
28:49
SPEAKER_00: What he does is he commits adultery with a woman named Bathsheba, and then he doesn't stop there, he doubles down on it because he gets her pregnant, and then he sends off her husband to war, to the front lines, and sends a message saying, Send him in a place where he'll be killed.
29:05
SPEAKER_00: So basically, David is an adulterer and a murderer, and yet he's a man after God's own heart.
29:15
SPEAKER_00: Guys, there are there are few scripture that I've read and I've wept over.
29:22
SPEAKER_00: And Psalm 51 is one of them.
29:25
SPEAKER_00: Why?
29:26
SPEAKER_00: Because it's so so relatable.
29:30
SPEAKER_00: It's so, so relatable.
29:31
SPEAKER_00: I don't know about you guys, but I've sinned and doubled down on it.
29:35
SPEAKER_00: I have found myself deep in a hole, and actually I've needed someone to come to me like David does and say, hey, this is sin.
29:44
SPEAKER_00: Where you're living right now is sinful.
29:47
SPEAKER_00: For me, that was my brother.
29:50
SPEAKER_00: For you guys, though, man, again, like another plug for C Group.
29:54
SPEAKER_00: Guys, you can you cannot be a humble leader and not be an authentic community.
30:02
SPEAKER_00: If you are not known, if you are not known, you are not influencing the way that God wants you to.
30:13
SPEAKER_00: If you are not deeply known and in a community where people know your sins and they love you still, you cannot be a faithful, humble leader for God.
30:28
SPEAKER_00: It's so hard.
30:29
SPEAKER_00: You can be for a season, but there will hit a point where it all comes crashing down.
30:33
SPEAKER_00: Trust me, I've seen it, I've lived it, I've experienced it.
30:38
SPEAKER_00: Deep, authentic community.
30:40
SPEAKER_00: So David gets called out, and these are his words.
30:43
SPEAKER_00: In Psalm 51, verse 16, he says this.
30:47
SPEAKER_00: He gives us a picture of what God desires.
30:49
SPEAKER_00: And this is what we see is why David can be called a man after God's own heart.
30:53
SPEAKER_00: He says this you do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it.
30:56
SPEAKER_00: You are not pleased with a burnt offering.
30:59
SPEAKER_00: A sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit.
31:01
SPEAKER_00: You will not despise a broken and humbled heart of God.
31:09
SPEAKER_00: Man, there's there's not many things that I am, I know I can bring before a righteous and holy God, but man, a broken and humbled heart is probably one of them.
31:25
SPEAKER_00: That is the heart posture of David when he sins.
31:29
SPEAKER_00: He says, God, I have sinned against you and you alone.
31:33
SPEAKER_00: I've been sinful from my womb, is what he says in Psalm 51.
31:38
SPEAKER_00: My iniquity is before me, my sin is before me.
31:42
SPEAKER_00: Lord, would you blot out my transgressions?
31:45
SPEAKER_00: Would you wipe them away?
31:47
SPEAKER_00: And I would offer you a sacrifice if you desired it, but what you really want is a broken and humble heart.
31:54
SPEAKER_00: Guys, we all can offer that.
31:56
SPEAKER_00: That is humility.
31:59
SPEAKER_00: Humility is recognizing who you are apart from God.
32:02
SPEAKER_00: And if you're not confessing and repenting of sin regularly, you are not humble.
32:16
SPEAKER_00: If you're not confessing and repenting of sin regularly, that goes for everyone in the room, myself included.
32:23
SPEAKER_00: You are not humble.
32:25
SPEAKER_00: That's not true humility.
32:27
SPEAKER_00: Humility oftentimes looks like vulnerability.
32:32
SPEAKER_00: That's what it looks like.
32:34
SPEAKER_00: And what we see, a great picture of this, is from a parable that Jesus tells of a tax collector and a Pharisee.
32:42
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus tells this parable and he says, uh, there's a tax collector and a Pharisee who go up to the temple to pray.
32:48
SPEAKER_00: And the Pharisee goes up to the temple and he says, uh, he begins to pray.
32:53
SPEAKER_00: And he prays like this, God, I thank you, I'm not like other people, greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, even like this tax collector.
33:00
SPEAKER_00: I fast twice a week, I give a tenth of everything I get.
33:03
SPEAKER_00: But what did the tax collector do?
33:06
SPEAKER_00: The tax collector, standing far off from the temple, was striking his chest, and he says, God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
33:20
SPEAKER_00: What does Jesus say?
33:21
SPEAKER_00: He says, I tell you this.
33:24
SPEAKER_00: This one went down to his house justified rather than the other, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.
33:34
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes exaltation of self looks like just not being vulnerable with others.
33:40
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't always look like trying to put yourself on a platform.
33:43
SPEAKER_00: It sometimes just looks like hiding the sin in your life.
33:48
SPEAKER_00: What the tax collector does is he says, I am a sinner before a righteous and holy God, and my only hope is God and God alone.
34:00
SPEAKER_00: So if humility is where godly leadership begins, we must be more like the tax collector than the Pharisee.
34:05
SPEAKER_00: We must be willing to confess and repent, to open ourselves up to others around us and to the one and only holy God.
34:15
SPEAKER_00: You see, humility is an imperative to influence the way God wants because that's how exaltation takes place in the kingdom economy.
34:25
SPEAKER_00: Guys, the way that leaders are exalted is through humiliation.
34:31
SPEAKER_00: It's all throughout the story of the Bible.
34:34
SPEAKER_00: Read the Bible and you'll see it.
34:36
SPEAKER_00: Man, we see it in Abraham, in Joseph, and Moses, and David, in Job, and then ultimately Jesus.
34:43
SPEAKER_00: He is exalted through the humiliation, and we see that most clearly in Philippians 2, verse 5.
34:50
SPEAKER_00: It says this, right after it, this is a passage about humility, and it says this about Christ's humility.
34:56
SPEAKER_00: Adopt the same attitude of Christ, who existing in the form of God, he had every right, every right to stay in the form of God, every right to be high and lofty.
35:10
SPEAKER_00: Did not consider equality with God as something to be exploded.
35:14
SPEAKER_00: Instead, he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant servant, taking on the likeness of humanity, and when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even to death on a cross.
35:30
SPEAKER_00: For this reason, God highly exalted himself and gave him the name that is above every name, so that every knee will bow at the name of Jesus, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
35:48
SPEAKER_00: Influence comes through humility, and we see it most perfectly in Jesus Christ.
35:54
SPEAKER_00: What does he do?
35:55
SPEAKER_00: Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, puts on flesh.
36:01
SPEAKER_00: He's in heaven, reigning and ruling.
36:04
SPEAKER_00: He puts on flesh to be like us, to be a servant.
36:07
SPEAKER_00: Why?
36:07
SPEAKER_00: Because we could not deliver ourselves from sin.
36:12
SPEAKER_00: You and I had no hope to become true, humble leaders who influence and are exalted.
36:19
SPEAKER_00: Ultimately, we're separated from God.
36:22
SPEAKER_00: So he puts on flesh and he goes to a cross, and actually, on that cross, guys, on that cross, he's not just humiliated, he's actually exalted.
36:34
SPEAKER_00: That is the throne from which he reigns.
36:38
SPEAKER_00: He reigns on the cross because through humiliation and humility is how God exalts.
36:45
SPEAKER_00: And so if you want to have godly influence, you must be willing to humble yourself.
36:53
SPEAKER_00: And oftentimes becoming more and more humble comes from being humiliated.
36:58
SPEAKER_00: And that you have to have a confidence in God, a patience in his timing, and a willingness to repent and confess, to be able to step into that humiliation to become more and more humble and not more and more calloused.
37:14
SPEAKER_00: That's what we need.
37:16
SPEAKER_00: That's what this world needs.
37:18
SPEAKER_00: We need confident leaders who are humble, who are confident in God.
37:23
SPEAKER_00: We need leaders who are patient with God's timing, who wait for what God has for them, but steps forward in bold obedience because of the God that they serve.
37:33
SPEAKER_00: And we need leaders who are open and vulnerable to repent.
37:38
SPEAKER_00: Those are the people who will ultimately influence in God's kingdom economy.
37:45
SPEAKER_00: And so, what does that look like for you?
37:50
SPEAKER_00: Last thing.
37:51
SPEAKER_00: This is what that looks like.
37:53
SPEAKER_00: The way that God's mission goes forth is through the church.
37:57
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna I'm unapproached about that at Salt Company.
38:01
SPEAKER_00: And specifically the local church.
38:04
SPEAKER_00: That is the way God's mission goes forth, the way influence goes forth.
38:09
SPEAKER_00: So if you're not a member of a church, be a member at a church.
38:13
SPEAKER_00: Take that next step of obedience.
38:15
SPEAKER_00: But guys, I can't think of a better way at Storyline Church within Salt Company to grow in humility than to be a leader at Salt Company.
38:23
SPEAKER_00: To apply and go through the interview process.
38:28
SPEAKER_00: Many of you, that is your application step.
38:31
SPEAKER_00: Some of you, it's just like, man, I'm gonna do the dishes and not cuss out my roommate.
38:36
SPEAKER_00: And that's okay.
38:37
SPEAKER_00: Take that step, please.
38:39
SPEAKER_00: Take it.
38:40
SPEAKER_00: That's a great step.
38:41
SPEAKER_00: Some of you, it's like, man, I'm gonna make dinner once a month because all I know how to do is serve myself.
38:47
SPEAKER_00: Some of you, it's something else, but for many of you, it is thinking about how I can be deeply known in the context of the local church to be a part of the way that God influences the world in his kingdom.
39:02
SPEAKER_00: So I would encourage you guys.
39:04
SPEAKER_00: Would you guys ask God for what obedience looks like in your life?
39:08
SPEAKER_00: Would you guys pray with me?
39:13
SPEAKER_00: Father, we thank you for examples of the faith that we can look to, but ultimately we thank you for the example of Jesus Christ, the one who came to humble himself and then was exalted on the cross, and ultimately exalted on a throne in heaven where he reigns and rules and pours out his Holy Spirit.
39:36
SPEAKER_00: And we ask God by the power of your spirit.