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Leading as Paul Led Msg 15 22 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: For obvious reasons. Last Sunday we pulled away from our
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Speaker 1: study of the life and times of Paul and addressed
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Speaker 1: where we are as a country. And we returned today
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Speaker 1: to our continued series on Paul. And I'd like for
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Speaker 1: you to turn with me to first Thessalonians Chapter two.
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Speaker 1: I want to read for you the first twelve verses
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Speaker 1: of this second chapter of Paul's first letter to the
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Speaker 1: people of Thessalonika. Here we will find some helpful negatives
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Speaker 1: and positives as related to leading like Paul lad We'll
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Speaker 1: begin at first Thessalonians two. One for you yourselves, no brethren,
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Speaker 1: that are 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: care 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 proclaim 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 you,
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Speaker 1: as a father would his own children, so that you
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Speaker 1: would walk in a manner worthy of the God who
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Speaker 1: calls you into his own kingdom and glory. Isn't that
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Speaker 1: a magnificent section of scripture, so candid, so pertinent to
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Speaker 1: the subject of leadership in a few moments we are
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Speaker 1: going to pray together, and following that we are going
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Speaker 1: to give to the work of God. One of my
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Speaker 1: mentors used to say that, if you want a surprise,
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Speaker 1: check the cornerstones of many of the great cathedrals and
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Speaker 1: churches in our nation. You will find they bear the
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Speaker 1: date nineteen twenty nine or nineteen thirty, or thirty one
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Speaker 1: or thirty two, in an era of time known to
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Speaker 1: my father and mother as the days of the Great Depression,
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Speaker 1: times of crisis, rather than pushing us from God, draw
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Speaker 1: us to Him. And I have found that also times
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Speaker 1: of God's great need result in times of great generosity.
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Speaker 1: Isn't it interesting how that works? Knowing this to be true,
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Speaker 1: and knowing that these last months of this year could
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Speaker 1: truly be days of great trial and need, we're believing
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Speaker 1: in our church that these will also be days of
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Speaker 1: great generosity. God will wonderfully meet our needs as he
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Speaker 1: has since our inception, and as he will do when
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Speaker 1: you and I are distant and forgotten memories. Join with
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Speaker 1: me in prayer for a few moments. Will you? You
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Speaker 1: came with your own needs and burdens and faces in
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Speaker 1: your mind that concern you. This is your time to
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Speaker 1: remember those things while the world around you is preoccupied
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Speaker 1: with the war and oh so many things about it.
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Speaker 1: You may be facing an illness that has really grabbed
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Speaker 1: your attention. You may be seriously ill or someone you love.
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Speaker 1: Maybe you may be a quiet sufferer going through a
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Speaker 1: time of a desperate situation that very few, if any,
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Speaker 1: may know about. You may have some great concern on
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Speaker 1: your heart that only your closest friends know about. Admittedly,
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Speaker 1: you may have a son or daughter on their way
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Speaker 1: to the war. You may know someone who grieves over
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Speaker 1: the loss of someone recently taken snuffed out because of
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Speaker 1: the tragedy. That's your prayer today. For a few moments,
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Speaker 1: may I lead you. We may tremble on the rock,
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Speaker 1: but the rock never trembles under us. And how grateful
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Speaker 1: we are that it's solid. That our hope is built
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Speaker 1: on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness, And we
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Speaker 1: don't trust the sweetest frame. We wholly lean on Jesus' name,
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Speaker 1: his oath, his covenant, his blood supports us in the
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Speaker 1: whelming flood when all around our soul gives way. You're
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Speaker 1: still our hope, and stay like father and solid stone
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Speaker 1: savior living and abiding within your people. Today we call
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Speaker 1: upon you as our only refuge, a very present help
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Speaker 1: in this time of need. You've heard the prayers of
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Speaker 1: your people, and the needs are as many as each
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Speaker 1: one filling this room of worship. Some are in grief,
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Speaker 1: some are in fear, some are confused, some seriously seriously
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Speaker 1: concerned about a loved one, And we often feel so helpless, Father,
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Speaker 1: like today, the enemy of our nation has no name,
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Speaker 1: only a characteristic terrorist, has no flag, no boundaries, no
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Speaker 1: single country. We're told that the enemy is among us
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Speaker 1: within these United States, and is multiplied around us in
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Speaker 1: some fifty to sixty other countries. This overwhelms us in
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Speaker 1: our own flesh, but with you it is as nothing.
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Speaker 1: You're the solid rock on whom we stand Now. Father,
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Speaker 1: I pray that as you use the teaching of your
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Speaker 1: word today to meet certain needs, that you will also
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Speaker 1: minister deeply and communicate personally to those who aren't necessarily
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Speaker 1: addressed in this sermon. You might choose to use this song,
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Speaker 1: You might use this moment of giving as a special
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Speaker 1: ministry to many. We began in kneeling and leaning on you,
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Speaker 1: our father, and we continue in that same way. We
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Speaker 1: trust you to meet our every need as a church
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Speaker 1: for the children, for the youth, for the adults right
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Speaker 1: now engaged in ministry and learning and growing. Together, we
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Speaker 1: pray that you would enrich those who teach, and those
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Speaker 1: who have taught, and those who are learning and growing.
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Speaker 1: And now we commit to you this offering. We asked
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Speaker 1: that you would watch over it with careful surveillance, that
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Speaker 1: every bit of it would be used with integrity and
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Speaker 1: spent with care. We take none of it for granted.
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Speaker 1: Meet needs through these gifts that are given. Father. I
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Speaker 1: ask this in the fair name of our fairest Lord Jesus,
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Speaker 1: and for his sake alone. And everyone said amen. We
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Speaker 1: call it Black Tuesday around our house eleventh of September
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Speaker 1: two thousand and one. There will never be another morning
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Speaker 1: like that. By God's grace, it rocked us back on
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Speaker 1: our heels. We weren't ready for it, We never expected it.
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Speaker 1: But what we did expect shortly after it was in
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Speaker 1: one word, leadership. If there was ever a time that
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Speaker 1: our national leaders needed to step up and provide what
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Speaker 1: we would call a command performance, it was then. It
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Speaker 1: was then we need clear and absolutely certain words brought
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Speaker 1: about by a sense of responsibility and vision. It was
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Speaker 1: no time to sit and stare paralyzed in confusion and fear.
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Speaker 1: The savage acts of aggration called for words and actions
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Speaker 1: that would bring confidence and reassurance and strength to go
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Speaker 1: on and certainly hope. Remaining silent and neutral at a
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Speaker 1: time of crisis, those were not options. Nor was it
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Speaker 1: time for political rhetoric or screams of rage, or for
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Speaker 1: that matter, feelings of panic. And it all hung on leadership.
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Speaker 1: Certainly our president needed to rise to the occasion. I
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Speaker 1: am pleased to say, in my opinion, he has done that.
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Speaker 1: Matter of fact, that speech he delivered on that Thursday night,
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Speaker 1: it's one of the finest speeches I have ever heard
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Speaker 1: in my life. Sent and I were cheering and applauding
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Speaker 1: and giving thumbs up. You know you're getting old when
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Speaker 1: you talk to the television. And we were walking around
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Speaker 1: the room and we were shouting and we were affirming,
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Speaker 1: and I thought, whoever helped him write that speech needs
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Speaker 1: a serious raise. To the surprise of some within the Beltway,
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Speaker 1: he stepped up and showed himself to be the leader
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Speaker 1: that many of us already knew he was. I appreciated
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Speaker 1: the words that appeared in a special edition of Newsweek
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Speaker 1: magazine that told me a lot more about the man
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Speaker 1: than I had known before. It was the result of
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Speaker 1: a meeting that was held in his office where several
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Speaker 1: had gathered, each one with his or her own agenda,
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Speaker 1: and they came expecting to be disappointed. Were they surprised?
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Speaker 1: The article reads, they all got more than they bargained for.
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Speaker 1: The meeting didn't last minutes but half an hour. The
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Speaker 1: President was relaxed and in control. As for their aid request,
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Speaker 1: I'm with you, the President responded eagerly, and it was
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Speaker 1: approved by Congress the next day. The Virginians got their
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Speaker 1: promises of aid too, and the warlike words that all
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Speaker 1: of them yearine for they heard. For example, listen, when
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Speaker 1: I take action, I'm I'm not going to fire a
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Speaker 1: two million dollar missile into a ten dollars empty tent
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Speaker 1: and hit a camel in the butt. That's a great line.
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Speaker 1: That is my kind of leader. He added, It's going
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Speaker 1: to be decisive. The Newsweek reporter added the sentence following,
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Speaker 1: Winston Churchill might not have used those words, but he
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Speaker 1: would have loved the sentiment and admired the maturation of
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Speaker 1: the man who uttered them. Most people of my generation
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Speaker 1: would have to name Winston Churchill as one of the
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Speaker 1: leaders of the past and other war heroes. Who doesn't
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Speaker 1: remember the qualities that Churchill not only wrote about, but
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Speaker 1: emulated in the life of a leader. Optimism, kindness, magnanimity, gratitude,
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Speaker 1: independent justice, judgment and self criticism, loyalty to the team, rest,
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Speaker 1: relaxation and a change of pace, calmness under stress, the
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Speaker 1: ability to face and communicate bad news squarely, to name
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Speaker 1: only a few. But I'll tell you, having studied the
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Speaker 1: life of the man we're looking at in the scriptures,
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Speaker 1: I have to confess to you I am more impressed
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Speaker 1: with Paul than I am of any leader I've ever studied.
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Speaker 1: As great as the other men and women we could
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Speaker 1: name from other generations and this generation, none, none could
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Speaker 1: stand alongside Paul in my opinion. Woven through the texture
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Speaker 1: of his life like gold and silver threads in a
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Speaker 1: priceless garment, are qualities of leadership that deserve our special
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Speaker 1: time and attention. My problem today is not what should
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Speaker 1: I emphasize, but what can I leave out? Because the
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Speaker 1: material is enormous, So to keep from overloading you with
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Speaker 1: a truckload of things that you'll never remember. I'm going
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Speaker 1: to deliberately limit my remarks to Paul's own words from
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Speaker 1: a little letter he wrote early on in his missionary
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Speaker 1: travels from the city of Corinth. He wrote to the Thessalonians,
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Speaker 1: and he was remembering back to the days when he
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Speaker 1: was with them, and from the memory of days gone by,
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Speaker 1: he draws to our attention, and I think, not necessarily
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Speaker 1: meaning to do so, some of the qualities of leadership,
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Speaker 1: four of them negative, four of them positive. But before
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Speaker 1: we get into those eight qualities, let me say something
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Speaker 1: by way of a general observation, and let me draw
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Speaker 1: a couple of impressions from the observation. The observation I
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Speaker 1: make is that they knew Paul. He was no distant celebrity.
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Speaker 1: He was no pit house dwelling prima donna who lived
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Speaker 1: away from them and above them. He walked with them
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Speaker 1: and worked alongside them. The reason I say that is
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Speaker 1: because of the seven references in a very few verses
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Speaker 1: to his comment you know you know you are witnesses.
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Speaker 1: Let me show you chapter one, verse five, For our
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Speaker 1: gospel did not come to you in word only, but
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Speaker 1: also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with
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Speaker 1: a full conviction, just as you know, I've got that
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Speaker 1: underlined in my Bible, just as you know what kind
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Speaker 1: of men we prove to be among you. Look at
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Speaker 1: Chapter two, verse one. For you yourselves know brethren. Second time,
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Speaker 1: he mentions, the second verse continues, after we had already
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Speaker 1: suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, so
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Speaker 1: they knew of his suffering and mistreatment. Third time, verse five.
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Speaker 1: We never came with flattering speech, as you know. Fourth time,
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Speaker 1: verse nine. For you recall fifth time, verse ten, you
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Speaker 1: are witnesses. Sixth time, verse eleven, just as you know.
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Speaker 1: Seven times, he says, when you look back to my
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Speaker 1: years of or my weeks of ministry with you, you remember,
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Speaker 1: you know you were witnesses. You were there, you saw
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Speaker 1: it in action. So I draw a couple of things
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Speaker 1: from that. First, these are not theoretical ideals. Paul isn't
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Speaker 1: writing a text book that offers theories. He's writing of
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Speaker 1: what they remember that they saw modeled in his life.
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Speaker 1: So understand what I share these several thoughts with you.
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Speaker 1: I'm not giving you theoretical ideals. These are attainable, and
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Speaker 1: these are worth the time to cultivate. Second thing I
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Speaker 1: want to say by way of impression, he was neither
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Speaker 1: aloof nor secretive. He was among them. They knew where
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Speaker 1: he lived, He talked to them. He doesn't speak one
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Speaker 1: day and then absent himself from the whole world around him,
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Speaker 1: and then come back a week later and bring another talk.
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Speaker 1: He lived among them, he worked among them, He sweated
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Speaker 1: alongside them, and as a result, he wasn't afraid to
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Speaker 1: be candid when he wrote them. We would say today
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Speaker 1: his life was an open book. And isn't it refreshing
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Speaker 1: to find people you admire today whom you are comfortable
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Speaker 1: being around. Isn't it enjoyable to know that individual that
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Speaker 1: you would confess represent the kind of leadership that you
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Speaker 1: would wish to emulate. Are people who are accessible, They're believable.
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Speaker 1: John Stott writes Paul's ministry in Thessalonaika had been public.
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Speaker 1: It was exercised in the open before God and human beings,
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Speaker 1: for he had nothing whatever to hide. A person lives
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Speaker 1: a life out in the open when that person has
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Speaker 1: nothing to hide. But if they're always on the move,
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Speaker 1: if they are forever hiding behind locked doors and drawn blinds,
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Speaker 1: you have reason to suspect there's something more going on,
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Speaker 1: and I would caution you about following leaders like that now.
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Speaker 1: Then Paul gets extremely personal in the twelve verses of
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Speaker 1: chapter two. The first twelve verses he's thinking back, and
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Speaker 1: when he thinks back, his initial response verse one, you
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Speaker 1: yourselves know that our coming to you was not in Vain.
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Speaker 1: Isn't that encouraging? You may not know a number of them,
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Speaker 1: but I know many pastors who look back on former
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Speaker 1: churches and say, as they shake their head, that was
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Speaker 1: a ministry in Vain. That was a disappointment that has
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Speaker 1: a hollow ring to it. Paul is saying just the opposite,
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Speaker 1: whether in public or private, whether busy or still. When
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Speaker 1: I look back and I remember that short period of
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Speaker 1: time that you and I shared lives together, I know
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Speaker 1: this it was not in Vain. It was not in Vain.
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Speaker 1: It's a wonderful thing to be able to say that
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Speaker 1: looking back. However, he did come from a time of
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Speaker 1: great suffering. You may have forget gotten that before he
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Speaker 1: got to Thessalonika, he had been at Philippi. You remember
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Speaker 1: what happened there. They beat him, Both Paul and Silas
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Speaker 1: were beaten. You know what that means. One authority says
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Speaker 1: it had not only been an extremely painful experience, but humiliating,
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Speaker 1: since they were flogged naked in public, without trial and
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Speaker 1: in spite of their Roman citizenship. I've never seen such
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Speaker 1: a beating, and thankfully I've never had to endure one
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Speaker 1: like that Paul had, which makes us admire him all
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Speaker 1: the more. After we had already suffered and been mistreated
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Speaker 1: in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in
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Speaker 1: our God to speak to you the Gospel of God
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Speaker 1: amid much opposition. You got to take your hats off
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Speaker 1: to people like that. I think when he got to Tessalonaika,
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Speaker 1: he still had the scabs over the wounds on his
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Speaker 1: back and buttocks and legs where they had thrashed him,
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Speaker 1: dropped him in a prison carelessly, unconcerned about who they
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Speaker 1: were dealing with. And you think he quit? Why as
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Speaker 1: soon as the Lord freed him, he was on his
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Speaker 1: way to Thessalonaika, and wouldn't you know it, he met
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Speaker 1: opposition even there. So this is a leader who led
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Speaker 1: in the midst of a very unpopular public. There was
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Speaker 1: a handful of folks who really did believe him. But
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Speaker 1: he had been beaten in Philippi, and he came to Thessalaonaika,
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Speaker 1: and he brought with him the Gospel of God amid
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Speaker 1: much opposition. Keep that in mind as we look at
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Speaker 1: these qualities. I find four negatives in verses three through six,
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Speaker 1: and then I find four positives in verses seven through twelve.
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Speaker 1: Verse the negatives. The reason I say they are negative
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Speaker 1: is because of the repeated use of the word not
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Speaker 1: or nor or never verse three. Our exhortation does not
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Speaker 1: verse four, not as pleasing men verse five, nor with
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Speaker 1: a pretext for greed verse six, nor did we seek glory.
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Speaker 1: Those are little signs along the way as you read
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Speaker 1: your Bible that should cause you to perk up your
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Speaker 1: ears and take notice. This is a series of negatives.
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Speaker 1: In other words, they are things that good leaders are
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Speaker 1: not or do not do. The first of the four
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Speaker 1: good leaders are not deceptive verse three. Our exhortation does
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Speaker 1: not come from error or impurity, or by way of deceit.
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Speaker 1: Look at those three words error. The original Greek term
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Speaker 1: means wandering, and interestingly it's used for planetary motion. As
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Speaker 1: they seem to wander through the sky, we know they
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Speaker 1: don't but it seems as though they are on a
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Speaker 1: wandering path, and it came to be used with reference
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Speaker 1: to people or relationships as delusional. Our leadership does not
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Speaker 1: come from delusion. See the word impurity. It is frequently
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Speaker 1: used for sexual impurity. We didn't have several women on
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Speaker 1: the side. To put it straight, we weren't living a
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Speaker 1: so called godly life in front of you, but a
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Speaker 1: shameful life in behind closed doors. It wasn't impure, And
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Speaker 1: the word deceit or by way of deceit simply means
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Speaker 1: nothing devious in method or motive. Paul didn't conceal the
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Speaker 1: cost of discipleship. He told them it was a rugged journey.
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Speaker 1: Neither did he hold out a promise of fraudulent blessings
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Speaker 1: and benefits, such as name it and claim it. Or
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Speaker 1: if you really want something great from God, you really
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Speaker 1: have to give a lot more to God. And when
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Speaker 1: you give a lot more to God, he is obligated
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Speaker 1: to give you even more in return. Nonsense. Some people
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Speaker 1: give their lives in places of obscurity and never know
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Speaker 1: such a bargain. Paul never did that to his people.
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Speaker 1: He never manipulated them. It wasn't from error delusion or impurity,
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Speaker 1: hidden immorality or deception. That is nothing devious. He had
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Speaker 1: no guilty conscience. There were no tricks, there were no
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Speaker 1: hidden motives. General Dwight Eisenhower wrote, to have followers, one
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Speaker 1: must have their confidence. Hence, the supreme quality for a
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Speaker 1: leader is unquestionable integrity. If one's associates find him or
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Speaker 1: her guilty of phoniness, if they find that he lacks
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Speaker 1: forthright integrity, he will fail. His teachings and actions must
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Speaker 1: square with each other. That's what Paul is saying. A
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Speaker 1: good leader is not deceptive. Second, good leaders are not
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Speaker 1: people pleasers. That's in verse four. But just as we
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Speaker 1: have been approved by God to be entrusted with the Gospel,
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Speaker 1: so we speak here's the negative. Not as pleasing men,
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Speaker 1: not as pleasing men, but God. A sure sign of
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Speaker 1: personal insecurity is wanting to be liked by everyone, peace
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Speaker 1: at any price, remaining neutral lest someone be offended or
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Speaker 1: someone in the group feel alienated, telling people what they
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Speaker 1: want to hear rather than what they need to hear.
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Speaker 1: Paul said, as you look back over these weeks I
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Speaker 1: was with you, you can't name a time that what
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Speaker 1: I did was prompted by wanting to be liked, I
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Speaker 1: wanted to be right. I'll tell you an experience of
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Speaker 1: my own life that I refer back to on a
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Speaker 1: number of occasions and maybe have mentioned before. I was
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Speaker 1: serving another church and I was caught in the middle,
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Speaker 1: we say in Texas, between a rock and a hard place.
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Speaker 1: There were seven of us on the elder board. Three
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Speaker 1: were voting in one direction, three were voting in another.
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Speaker 1: And they reminded me that whenever there was a tie,
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Speaker 1: the pastor cast the deciding vote. And I was caught there,
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Speaker 1: I would not win. And I remember we took a
29:49
Speaker 1: twenty four hour break so that I could screw up
29:52
Speaker 1: the courage to do what I ought to do. As
29:56
Speaker 1: I look back, I think that was probably what prompted
29:58
Speaker 1: them to do that. I went home and said to Cynthia,
30:01
Speaker 1: I'm going to spend some time alone. I'm going to
30:04
Speaker 1: spend the night at such and such a place. And
30:06
Speaker 1: I had a good friend who was a pharmaceutical salesman,
30:09
Speaker 1: and I knew where he was on the road, and
30:11
Speaker 1: he was an awfully wise individual, and I thought I
30:15
Speaker 1: would spend some time in prayer with him and some counsel.
30:19
Speaker 1: But on the way there. I was reading my Bible.
30:22
Speaker 1: Who drove a little volkswagon at the time. I remember
30:25
Speaker 1: propping my Bible up on the windshield. I mean on
30:28
Speaker 1: the steering wheel, not the windshield on the steering wheel.
30:35
Speaker 1: People love it when they hear that story that I'm
30:37
Speaker 1: driving along reading from the Bible and Galatians. And I
30:41
Speaker 1: got to Galatians one and verse ten you got to
30:43
Speaker 1: turn to it. And I pulled off the road, pulled
30:47
Speaker 1: off the shoulder of the road, and I read it
30:49
Speaker 1: aloud about five times. And I thought, if this isn't
30:52
Speaker 1: a direct answer from God, I don't know what he is.
30:56
Speaker 1: Listen to one ten of Galatians. Am I now seeking
30:59
Speaker 1: the favor of men or of God? Or am I
31:04
Speaker 1: striving to please men? If I were still trying to
31:07
Speaker 1: please men, I would not be a bond servant of Christ.
31:12
Speaker 1: By the way, Paul used to be a man pleaser.
31:14
Speaker 1: That's why he says still, if I were still trying
31:19
Speaker 1: to please men, I would not be a bond servant.
31:21
Speaker 1: You cannot be a faithful bond servant of Christ and
31:26
Speaker 1: spend your life making people happy, telling people what they
31:31
Speaker 1: want to hear. Back to first Thessalonians, I turned around.
31:37
Speaker 1: I never went to my planned destination. I drove into
31:40
Speaker 1: the driveway and Cynthia met me at the door and
31:42
Speaker 1: was surprised. I said, I know exactly what I need
31:46
Speaker 1: to do. I know what my heart's telling me. And
31:49
Speaker 1: I just didn't want three of the men not to
31:52
Speaker 1: like me. And I was told, by the way, by
31:55
Speaker 1: the board that could easily split the church depending on
32:00
Speaker 1: how I voted. That's always encouraging when you hear that
32:05
Speaker 1: from one of your friends. Not only did we not
32:08
Speaker 1: split the church, our church doubled in about the next
32:11
Speaker 1: two two and a half years. I realized that I
32:18
Speaker 1: needed to please God. That sounds pretty pious. I don't
32:22
Speaker 1: mean it that way. By the way, it's a good
32:24
Speaker 1: time for me to say this is not a word
32:27
Speaker 1: of encouragement to you who are abrasive thinking hot dog. Now,
32:31
Speaker 1: I've got a biblical reason for offending as many people
32:34
Speaker 1: as I possibly can, because I'm not supposed to please people.
32:38
Speaker 1: That's an extreme reaction. Please see the word flattering in
32:44
Speaker 1: the next verse. We never came with flattering speech, only
32:48
Speaker 1: time in the Greek New Testament, where that Greek term
32:51
Speaker 1: is used translated flattering flattering. Well, how do I keep
32:57
Speaker 1: a balance between pleasing God flattering people, or pleasing people
33:00
Speaker 1: and flattering them and pleasing the Lord. Look at the
33:04
Speaker 1: end of verse four. You spend your time focused on
33:08
Speaker 1: what God would have you do, and he's the one
33:10
Speaker 1: that examines your heart. You listen closely to him. If
33:15
Speaker 1: you don't know, you say I don't know. If you
33:17
Speaker 1: feel certain that you know, you say it like you
33:20
Speaker 1: believe it, and you blind yourself to the fact that
33:23
Speaker 1: some may not want to hear it. Some may get
33:25
Speaker 1: up and walk out. Rarely have I preached a sermon
33:28
Speaker 1: where nobody walked out on me. And I see anger
33:32
Speaker 1: on some people's faces at times, I see disapproval and disagreement,
33:36
Speaker 1: and I've gotten to the place where when I don't
33:39
Speaker 1: see it, I'm a little surprised. And I don't mean
33:41
Speaker 1: not to be funny. Invariably, when you come down on
33:45
Speaker 1: certain areas pretty strongly, you'll have some who won't like it.
33:48
Speaker 1: They'll leave and audios. That's my response, because I am
33:54
Speaker 1: not here to get my way. I am here to
33:57
Speaker 1: help us find God's way, and if it works against
34:01
Speaker 1: what I would have wanted, so be it, or what
34:04
Speaker 1: you don't want to hear, so be it. Good leaders
34:08
Speaker 1: are not people pleasers. He is the one who examines
34:12
Speaker 1: the hearts, and not one of you can examine my heart.
34:16
Speaker 1: That's why I don't answer to any one of you
34:19
Speaker 1: in the sense of getting your approval before I say
34:22
Speaker 1: what I believe should be said. There's a third one.
34:26
Speaker 1: Good leaders are not greedy. Look at verse five. We
34:33
Speaker 1: never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with
34:37
Speaker 1: a pretext for greed. Eugene Peterson in the message paraphrases
34:43
Speaker 1: that we never used words as a smoke screen to
34:46
Speaker 1: take advantage of you. Isn't that a good rendering Preachers
34:51
Speaker 1: can do that. People who deal with spiritual things are
34:54
Speaker 1: fairly good with words, and they can manipulate people, and
34:58
Speaker 1: they can often say things that come back to their
35:01
Speaker 1: own advantage. Greed is a vicious master, and it's not
35:07
Speaker 1: always related to money, though it often is. You could
35:11
Speaker 1: be greedy for desire. You could be greedy for a dream.
35:15
Speaker 1: It could be greedy for a hidden with a hidden
35:19
Speaker 1: motive in mind, and you manipulate things to bring it
35:23
Speaker 1: back into your favor. Really, it comes from discontentment. When
35:29
Speaker 1: one is discontented with things and he's under pressure or
35:33
Speaker 1: she's under pressure about it. Greed can prompt the wrong
35:36
Speaker 1: kind of action. Sometime it backfires on you. I read
35:42
Speaker 1: a huge story a couple of weeks ago that illustrates
35:45
Speaker 1: that a couple was having a double celebration, both of
35:50
Speaker 1: them celebrating not only their sixtieth birthday but their fortieth
35:55
Speaker 1: wedding anniversary. During their quiet evening of celebration together, a
36:00
Speaker 1: fairy appeared to them and said, because you have been
36:05
Speaker 1: such a loving couple all these forty years, I want
36:08
Speaker 1: to give each one of you a wish, whatever you
36:11
Speaker 1: may ask. Being the faithful, loving spouse that she was,
36:16
Speaker 1: the wife wished that she and her husband could have
36:18
Speaker 1: the most memorable and romantic vacation they've ever had together.
36:22
Speaker 1: She wished for a cruise around the world, and whush,
36:27
Speaker 1: the tickets appeared in her hand, paid for with their
36:30
Speaker 1: names on it, and she had that to look forward to. Next,
36:35
Speaker 1: the fairy turned to the husband and said, it's his
36:38
Speaker 1: turn to ask for whatever he wished, and whatever is
36:42
Speaker 1: his heart's desire, the fairy would do. He pulled the
36:45
Speaker 1: fairy aside and whispered, in all honesty, I'd love to
36:51
Speaker 1: have a wife thirty years younger than I. The fairy
36:56
Speaker 1: picked up her magic wand and whush, he was suddenly
36:59
Speaker 1: ninety years old. Gotta watch out for greed, folks. A
37:23
Speaker 1: good leader is not deceitful. A good leader is not
37:27
Speaker 1: a people pleaser. A good leader is not greedy, and
37:30
Speaker 1: good leaders are not self serving. Verse six. Nor did
37:37
Speaker 1: we seek glory from men, either from you or from others.
37:42
Speaker 1: But don't miss the last part of the verse. Even
37:44
Speaker 1: though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority,
37:51
Speaker 1: I wish to shout apostles, you've never met one, nor I.
37:58
Speaker 1: Apostles were breed. They literally had seen the resurrected Christ.
38:05
Speaker 1: They literally could perform miracles. They literally founded churches. They
38:10
Speaker 1: had incredible discernment and gifts of words of wisdom. They
38:16
Speaker 1: were like the Lord's right hand men at crucial and
38:19
Speaker 1: critical times. And Paul was one of them, one of them,
38:25
Speaker 1: the apostle. Paul stepped in proved himself a worthy apostle,
38:31
Speaker 1: and with that comes a sense of recognition and respect.
38:37
Speaker 1: Why the thought of being mentored by or taught by
38:42
Speaker 1: an apostle who wouldn't stand in line for that? They
38:48
Speaker 1: could speak ex cathedra remarkable, remarkable individuals. But even though
38:57
Speaker 1: as an apostle of Christ we might have asserted our authority,
39:02
Speaker 1: we refuse to throw our weight around. One of the
39:11
Speaker 1: most obvious marks of genuine humility is the restraint of
39:16
Speaker 1: those who have great authority. It's not what they display,
39:21
Speaker 1: it's what they hold back that reveals true leadership. They
39:29
Speaker 1: don't throw their weight around, they don't try to impress
39:32
Speaker 1: other people. They don't take unfair advantage. Oh, speaking of
39:38
Speaker 1: that was almost fifty years ago. It was nineteen fifty
39:42
Speaker 1: two when Elton Trueblood wrote a fine book called Your
39:47
Speaker 1: Other Vocation. If you're a professional, listen to this statement
39:52
Speaker 1: from true Blood. It's hard to think of any job
39:56
Speaker 1: in which the moral element is lacking. The skill of
40:00
Speaker 1: the dentist is wholly irrelevant if he is unprincipled and irresponsible.
40:07
Speaker 1: There is little in that case to keep him from
40:09
Speaker 1: withdrawing teeth unnecessarily. Because the patient is usually in a
40:14
Speaker 1: helpless situation, it is easy to see the harm that
40:17
Speaker 1: can be done by an unprincipled lawyer. Indeed, such a
40:22
Speaker 1: person is far more dangerous if he is skilled than
40:26
Speaker 1: if he is unskilled. Every one of us engaged in
40:31
Speaker 1: a profession has an enormous opportunity to take advantage of
40:37
Speaker 1: and to seek the glory from others. Just the very
40:43
Speaker 1: calling of our role, and just the education and just
40:46
Speaker 1: the command of it causes people just naturally to listen
40:52
Speaker 1: to us and to be willing to cooperate with us.
40:58
Speaker 1: The apostle says, we never once sought the glory of men.
41:04
Speaker 1: It's a remarkable statement. Good leaders are not self serving
41:12
Speaker 1: so much for the things that are not to take place.
41:16
Speaker 1: Did you get them? Deception? People pleasing, greed, conceit, or arrogance.
41:24
Speaker 1: It's time for the positive. See the word butt in
41:28
Speaker 1: verse seven. But it's a very sharp and strong adversative conjunction.
41:36
Speaker 1: Doesn't that thrill you? Adversative conjunction meaning at this point,
41:41
Speaker 1: he says on the contrary exclamation point, rather than these
41:47
Speaker 1: four qualities, let me tell you, and you know it
41:51
Speaker 1: to be true, because you and I lived among one
41:53
Speaker 1: another during those weeks. I ministered to you, but we
41:57
Speaker 1: proved I like that. The first quality that's true of
42:03
Speaker 1: good leaders is that they are sensitive to needs. That's
42:07
Speaker 1: in verse seven. We prove to be gentle among you
42:11
Speaker 1: as a nursing mother, tenderly cares for her own children.
42:17
Speaker 1: I love that word picture. I have lived long enough
42:23
Speaker 1: not only to see my own wife and the mother
42:26
Speaker 1: of our children nursing our little babies, but I have
42:30
Speaker 1: now lived to see our daughters do that. It is
42:34
Speaker 1: the most I rarely use the word as a man,
42:38
Speaker 1: but I got to use it. It's the most precious sight.
42:43
Speaker 1: It's the most tender moment as either with their own
42:46
Speaker 1: breast or with a bottle, they're cradling this helpless infant,
42:52
Speaker 1: and they're holding that child's life in their hands, and
42:56
Speaker 1: they are tenderly caring for that little baby. Paul says,
43:03
Speaker 1: I was like a mother nursing a child. I was
43:08
Speaker 1: that gentle among you. You see what I mean about
43:14
Speaker 1: the greatness of this man. May I urge you, who
43:19
Speaker 1: are in places of unique leadership responsibilities, don't lose your gentleness.
43:27
Speaker 1: Your tenderness will work. I loved it that various leaders
43:35
Speaker 1: in our nation came to the site of destruction and cried.
43:44
Speaker 1: I loved it when the Mayor of New York stood
43:46
Speaker 1: before the people and regularly gave his report till you
43:50
Speaker 1: know it was just those words stung in his throat,
43:54
Speaker 1: and he often had tears that ran down his face.
44:01
Speaker 1: I love it when leaders treat me with tenderness and gentleness.
44:09
Speaker 1: So do you. We proved to be gentle as a
44:14
Speaker 1: nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children, sensitivity to needs.
44:22
Speaker 1: Good leaders have that. They also have affection for people,
44:29
Speaker 1: having so fond an affection for you. And look how
44:32
Speaker 1: the verse ends verse eight, because you had become very
44:36
Speaker 1: dear to us and crypt here is this strong man,
44:41
Speaker 1: an apostle of Christ, looking back on the Thessalonians, and said, oh,
44:47
Speaker 1: what an affection I had for you, How dear you
44:50
Speaker 1: were to me. He used intimate terms to keep this
44:57
Speaker 1: simple and easily remembered. I want to suggest that people
45:02
Speaker 1: affection boils down to two qualities. Number one, small yet
45:07
Speaker 1: frequent acts of kindness, and second, stated are written words
45:13
Speaker 1: of appreciation. Those you lead should have a few notes
45:19
Speaker 1: from you by now where you are saying thank you,
45:24
Speaker 1: or where you have said I appreciate such and such,
45:28
Speaker 1: or I noticed so and so. Along with that, the
45:32
Speaker 1: people affection includes small yet frequent acts of kindness. We're
45:38
Speaker 1: never above kindness, and to do that one must have
45:46
Speaker 1: courage himself and security. I came across a little couplet
45:51
Speaker 1: that says life is mostly froth and bubble. Two things
45:55
Speaker 1: stand in stone, Kindness in another's trouble, courage in your own.
46:05
Speaker 1: It always troubles me when I witness a strong leader
46:08
Speaker 1: walking over people that always bothers me. I know they
46:14
Speaker 1: can and I know they can get away with it
46:17
Speaker 1: as they are whisked off in their limousines. I understand
46:21
Speaker 1: that it just troubles me, And just an extra piece
46:28
Speaker 1: of advice for no extra charge. If you don't enjoy people,
46:33
Speaker 1: please do us a favor. Don't go into leadership. Say
46:39
Speaker 1: no when you're offered an opportunity to lead. Love does
46:44
Speaker 1: an enormous amount of motivation when words fail and times
46:52
Speaker 1: are hard. If they know you'll love them, they'll go
46:56
Speaker 1: to the wire for you. He told me he loved him
47:01
Speaker 1: not only sensitivity to needs, but an affection for people.
47:05
Speaker 1: But third, there was an authenticity of life. I left
47:09
Speaker 1: out the middle of verse eight on purpose until now,
47:12
Speaker 1: having so fond an affection for you, Now look at
47:15
Speaker 1: this authenticity of life. We were well pleased to impart
47:19
Speaker 1: to you not only the gospel of God, but also
47:21
Speaker 1: our own lives. Chuck, are you telling me that the gospel,
47:31
Speaker 1: that the gospel isn't important. I'm not saying that. Well,
47:36
Speaker 1: then what are you saying? The gospel alone isn't enough?
47:43
Speaker 1: Just giving people gospel truth isn't enough if you hope
47:47
Speaker 1: to be an effective leader. This man says, I had
47:53
Speaker 1: such an affection for you that when it came time
47:55
Speaker 1: to serving, I decided I would just give you my
47:58
Speaker 1: whole life and wonderful In fact, look at nine you
48:05
Speaker 1: recall our labor and hardship, working night and day, so
48:09
Speaker 1: as not to be a burden to any of you. Hey,
48:11
Speaker 1: this is in Macedonia. Times are hard. It wasn't as
48:15
Speaker 1: rich as Corinth. And he said, knowing that it was
48:18
Speaker 1: hard for you, I didn't expect, not only not expect
48:21
Speaker 1: to raise. I wouldn't accept anything I earn my own living,
48:27
Speaker 1: so as not to be a burden. We proclaim to
48:29
Speaker 1: you the Gospel of God, your witnesses, and so is God.
48:32
Speaker 1: How devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behave towards you believers. Wow,
48:39
Speaker 1: he's not bragging. He's just saying, remember the diligence and
48:42
Speaker 1: the thoughtfulness, and the devotion and the purity we behave
48:45
Speaker 1: like that, and call me into question if I'm wrong
48:48
Speaker 1: he's implying low. Holts addresses rights and privileges in one
48:54
Speaker 1: of his comments to a reporter. Holts was the head
48:58
Speaker 1: coach for Notre Dame for eleven year and led them
49:00
Speaker 1: to over one hundred victories, remarkable achievement, tough schedule, tough school.
49:06
Speaker 1: Then he went to a smaller school and was interviewed
49:08
Speaker 1: by a reporter who was interested in the difference between
49:13
Speaker 1: twenty five years ago. But he began to coach and
49:15
Speaker 1: now as he continues to coach, his answer is profound.
49:20
Speaker 1: He said, today everybody is talking about their own rights
49:23
Speaker 1: and privileges. Twenty five years ago they talked about obligations
49:27
Speaker 1: and responsibilities. You have to lead people like that, and
49:34
Speaker 1: most of us are selfish. Most of us look out
49:38
Speaker 1: for our own rights and want our own privileges, and
49:41
Speaker 1: that becomes tough for a leader. If there isn't an
49:46
Speaker 1: authenticity of life. There's one more, and that's enthusiastic in
49:56
Speaker 1: affirmation verse eleven, as you know how we were exhorting
50:01
Speaker 1: and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a
50:05
Speaker 1: father with his own children. That's great, isn't It Starts
50:08
Speaker 1: with a mother, tenderly, caring, nursing. We see a father.
50:13
Speaker 1: What are the words? Does this sound like a dad
50:15
Speaker 1: encouraging and exhorting and imploring. You ever been around or
50:20
Speaker 1: sat in front of the father of the high school
50:22
Speaker 1: quarterback who was on the field. God for God, your frank, Frank, Frank,
50:30
Speaker 1: you got it?
50:30
Speaker 2: Do it?
50:31
Speaker 1: You go? What in the world? Good job, Frank? Goodnes's great,
50:36
Speaker 1: that's great. Let's go for it. Let's go for it.
50:38
Speaker 1: Go all the way, Frank. You think could give me
50:40
Speaker 1: a break? What's the problem? He's a dad. You see
50:46
Speaker 1: the high school killed in the field, going dad, come on,
50:49
Speaker 1: like it off? But he's loving it. Would you have
50:53
Speaker 1: enjoyed more affirmation from your father? And wouldn't I encouraging
51:02
Speaker 1: and exhorting and imploring. No one should be getting more
51:06
Speaker 1: encouragement from us, more encouragement than our own children. Convicting,
51:19
Speaker 1: isn't it? Good? Leadership has a balance between the tenderness
51:24
Speaker 1: of a nursing mother and the affirmation of a caring father.
51:29
Speaker 1: I read somewhere that encouragement is oxygen for the soul.
51:34
Speaker 1: It is an oasis in the desert of daily living.
51:38
Speaker 1: What's the desert? Well, it's the pressures that bear down
51:41
Speaker 1: on us, the criticism from those who don't often understand.
51:46
Speaker 1: It's failure when we tried so hard to achieve or
51:49
Speaker 1: to succeed. It's a lack of progress when we just
51:54
Speaker 1: wanted it to happen. It's the breakdown in relationships, and
51:58
Speaker 1: it's a thousand other things. Desert, it's the desert. It's
52:01
Speaker 1: the desert, and you long for an oasis, to get
52:04
Speaker 1: a cool drink of water. And that comes from the
52:07
Speaker 1: affirmation of the leader who dips his ladle in ice
52:12
Speaker 1: water and brings it out and splashes it all over you,
52:19
Speaker 1: and it cools you off. Why concern ourselves with these
52:24
Speaker 1: qualities as leaders? Verse twelve. I love this. Here's the
52:29
Speaker 1: whole goal, So that you would walk in a manner
52:32
Speaker 1: worthy of the God who calls you into his own
52:36
Speaker 1: kingdom and glory. So that you would walk in a
52:39
Speaker 1: worthy manner, So that you would walk in a worthy manner.
52:45
Speaker 1: We lead like this so others will live like that.
52:49
Speaker 1: That's it. We lead like this so others will live
52:55
Speaker 1: like that, so that we would walk worthy of the
53:00
Speaker 1: God who calls you into his kingdom and glory. Question,
53:09
Speaker 1: where'd Paul learn that the soul of Tarsus we've studied
53:17
Speaker 1: about and that I've read about, was the most arrogant
53:19
Speaker 1: pharisee on the face of the earth. He was a
53:23
Speaker 1: vicious savage around Christians when he was lost. What happened?
53:32
Speaker 1: What happened to his pride? What happened that caused him
53:35
Speaker 1: to say, all those things that I had I counted
53:39
Speaker 1: as nothing compared to That's where he learned in Christ Jesus.
53:49
Speaker 1: I had walked life's way into an easy tread. I'd
53:51
Speaker 1: traveled for pleasures and comfort lad until one day, in
53:54
Speaker 1: a quiet place, I met the Master face to face.
53:57
Speaker 1: With station and rank and wealth from my God, much
54:00
Speaker 1: thought from my body, but none for my soul. I'd
54:03
Speaker 1: entered to win this life's mad race. When I met
54:05
Speaker 1: the Master face to face, I'd built my castles and
54:09
Speaker 1: reared them high till their towers had pierced the blue
54:12
Speaker 1: of the sky. I'd sworn to rule with an iron mace.
54:15
Speaker 1: When I met the Master face to face, I met him,
54:18
Speaker 1: and I knew him, and I blushed to see that
54:21
Speaker 1: his eyes full of sorrow were fixed upon me. I
54:25
Speaker 1: faltered and fell at his feet that day, while my
54:27
Speaker 1: castles melted and vanished, away, melted and vanished. And in
54:31
Speaker 1: their place nothing else could I see but the Master's face.
54:34
Speaker 1: My thoughts are now for the souls of men. I've
54:36
Speaker 1: lost my life to find it again. Ever since that
54:41
Speaker 1: day in a quiet place, when I met the Master
54:47
Speaker 1: face to face, somewhere between the Damascus Road and the
54:54
Speaker 1: visit from anonaias a transformation to place that continued to
55:04
Speaker 1: be revealed in the life of Paul, because Christ came
55:12
Speaker 1: to live as a master his life. I want you
55:17
Speaker 1: to bow your heads. I want you to close your eyes.
55:21
Speaker 1: I want you to forget how this talk has been
55:23
Speaker 1: appropriate for so and so or somebody else, or how
55:26
Speaker 1: you wish somebody could have heard this. This is for you,
55:31
Speaker 1: This is for me. And if you've never met the Master,
55:36
Speaker 1: this is your moment right now. You won't be struck
55:42
Speaker 1: down and stricken blind. You won't be in the midst
55:46
Speaker 1: of some hidden spot for three days waiting for somebody
55:50
Speaker 1: to come and tell you what it's about. That was
55:52
Speaker 1: Paul's experience. But you know how strong willed and proud
55:58
Speaker 1: you are. You know how slow you are to encourage
56:02
Speaker 1: and how reluctant you are to affirm. You know if
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Speaker 1: you're greedy, you know if you're self serving. This is
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Speaker 1: your moment to have the Lord turn you into a
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Speaker 1: nursing mother and a gentle father who encourages and exhorts
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Speaker 1: and affirms, who can bring about integrity where there has
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Speaker 1: been deception and error and self will. I invite you
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Speaker 1: right where you're sitting to turn your life over to Christ.
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Speaker 1: Don't even think about waiting. This is your moment. We
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Speaker 1: have a staff of very qualified people who would love
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Speaker 1: to talk with you. They'll help you find your way
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Speaker 1: to what real leadership and living is all about. Thank you,
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Speaker 1: Father for never giving up on us, for working with us,
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Speaker 1: and amazingly by your grace working through us. Thank you
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Speaker 1: for the part of this talk that has been most
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Speaker 1: appropriate for each one of us. You've pierced through and
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Speaker 1: you've penetrated down to where we live, and we're grateful.
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Speaker 1: We feel convicted. I know I do, and I thank
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Speaker 1: you for your patience with me. I thank you for
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Speaker 1: putting up with me in all of my impatience and
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Speaker 1: strong will. Thank you, dear Father, for speaking in such
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Speaker 1: a way that each one of us knows what the
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Speaker 1: next step needs to be with us as we take it.
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Speaker 1: Let us never return to the way we were. Thank you,
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Speaker 1: for Christ not only comes to transform us, but he
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Speaker 1: enables it and energizes it. Meek and humble of heart,
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Speaker 1: the son of God, who could have blasted this earth
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Speaker 1: with a thousand self serving miracles, tenderly walked and worked
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Speaker 1: among the people of his time, and some were never
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Speaker 1: the same again. Do that now, Lord, at this place
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Speaker 1: and in our midst, for jesus sake. For Jesus' sake.
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Speaker 2: The preceding message leading as Paul Lad was copyrighted in
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Speaker 2: two thousand and one, two thousand and three, and twenty
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Speaker 2: twenty four, and the sound recording was copyrighted in twenty
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Speaker 2: twenty four by Charles R. Swindall Incorporated. All rights are
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Speaker 2: reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is
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Speaker 2: strictly prohibited.