Gifts of Leadership #2

The point: Soberly assess yourselves and be assessed by others to determine if God has endowed you with the gifts essential for wise and helpful leadership.

Jeremiah, naturally fearful and a 'child,' was empowered by God to confront the nation and false prophets, demonstrating that spiritual courage transcends natural temperament.

with the gifts essential to why we are so important and we are to have a wise and helpful leadership in the cause of Christ's church then surely an element of that endowment will be more than an ordinary degree of spiritual courage now I want to establish from the scriptures that it may have nothing to do with one's natural temperament now if I say among the prophets reticence, fearfulness the consciousness of being just a kid totally unprepared for a message of confrontation of judgment has the prophet's name come to your mind yet?

1:27 - 2:12 Read in full sermon

The point: Soberly assess yourselves and be assessed by others to determine if God has endowed you with the gifts essential for wise and helpful leadership.

Timothy, by nature reticent and timid, needed Paul's repeated exhortations to stir up his gift and not let anyone despise him, showing that spiritual courage is a divine endowment, not a natural trait.

is nonsense you're God's people all will be well but God helped Jeremiah to be faithful even though it meant being put down in a slime pit and having ultimately to be drawn up out of that pit and in the New Testament a careful study of the life of Timothy would clearly indicate that by nature and temperament Timothy had a problem with natural reticence and timidity Paul had to say to him do not be ashamed of me or of the testimony of the Lord he had to encourage him to stir up the gift of God and I wonder if the exhortations repeated throughout his letters to him these things command and teach

2:57 - 3:42 Read in full sermon

Driving home: this matter of spiritual courage may or may not have anything to do with one's natural temperament but rather it has to do with a divine endowment that is a combination of a number of spiritual dynamics

The difficulty of private confrontation is compared to Nathan's direct rebuke of David ('You are the man'), highlighting the courage needed to confront someone 'eyeball to eyeball'.

whom we preach warning every man admonishing every man teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect or mature in Christ and brethren you know as well as I do already it is far easier to give appointed courageous rebuke reproof admonition in public than it is to front someone eyeball to eyeball in the privacy of your own study and say with Nathan-like faithfulness you are the man you are the woman

7:23 - 8:07 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin introduces spiritual courage as the third essential gift for leadership, distinguishing it from natural courage. He uses Jeremiah and Timothy as examples of individuals…

A father gathering his family to address an erosion of respect for their mother illustrates the moral courage needed by a leader to confront sin and impart necessary consolations within the church family.

and it took moral courage to say but I determined I determined to know nothing among you say Jesus Christ and him is crucified and in those who are called I knew God would make that very message the wisdom of God and the power overcoming all the native prejudice in Jew and Gentile well brethren you can't do that and be true to your message publicly or privately without the grace of moral courage and the times when you've got to call a congregation together and just as a father with his family notices certain trends where there's been an erosion of respect for mom you call the kids together and...

9:34 - 10:19 Read in full sermon

The point: If you are in spiritual leadership, take heed lest you fall into an adversarial relationship with your people when insulted, ignored, or misjudged.

Moses, a seasoned saint, lost his temper and 'lorded it over' the recalcitrant Israelites by striking the rock instead of speaking to it, illustrating how even mature leaders can fail in maintaining a Christ-like disposition under provocation.

You see, the man who doesn't have this spirit and finds that he's been insulted, he's been ignored, he's been misjudged, all kinds of things, you're the lightning rod in any place of spiritual leadership. If he doesn't have the spirit of Christ, he's going to constantly be tempted to develop, if not patently in his words, in his spirit, an adversarial relationship, between himself and his people. And if a seasoned man like Moses can fall in this area at the end of his life, wherefore let him that thinketh he stand take heed lest he fall. And God punished him for it.

24:30 - 25:14 Read in full sermon

The point: If you are in spiritual leadership, take heed lest you fall into an adversarial relationship with your people when insulted, ignored, or misjudged.

Martin shares his personal experience of being misjudged or having negative constructions placed on his words/actions, leading to the temptation to develop an adversarial spirit, which he then connects to the need for Christ's spirit.

Well, now that I'm not as old as Moses, but I've seen my three score and ten, I understand that passage like I never have before. By the grace of God, you've walked before some people for three decades. And with all your sins and failures, you've never once given them occasion to be ashamed that they were a member of the church. Your name has never been justly associated with immorality, with the illegal and the sinful desire for money and things, etc.

25:52 - 26:24 Read in full sermon

Driving home: There is a spiritual mindedness in the concept of rule. Humility and servanthood in the posture of that rule. And without it, a man will be a tyrant in a situation that holds to a biblical view of rule by elder.

Christ's prayer in John 17 for his disciples, even knowing they would scatter and deny him, illustrates the spirit of a leader who loves, preserves, and unifies his people despite their failures.

You come back to this, not so shall it be among you. What did he bear? From his own. This struck me in preparation for that recent ministry where I had to work in John 17.

27:02 - 27:18 Read in full sermon

Driving home: There is a spiritual mindedness in the concept of rule. Humility and servanthood in the posture of that rule. And without it, a man will be a tyrant in a situation that holds to a biblical view of rule by elder.

Paul's statement to the Corinthians, 'the more I love, the less I be loved,' and his refusal to close his heart to them, exemplifies a leader's enduring love and willingness to be wounded for his people.

That's the spirit that's got to be in us. The spirit of the apostle who says, the more I love, the less I be loved. So be it. You Corinthians, our heart is open to you.

27:39 - 27:49 Read in full sermon

Driving home: You can't follow a clown into heaven and hell issues. You can't do it. You may laugh at a clown who stands on the brink of hell, but you sure are about to follow him.

A.W. Tozer's decision to be a prophet rather than a clown illustrates the need for seriousness and gravitas in ministry, enabling people to entrust eternal concerns to the leader.

You can't follow a clown into heaven and hell issues. You can't do it. You may laugh at a clown who stands on the brink of hell, but you sure are about to follow him. And I'll never forget A.W. Tozer

32:09 - 32:24 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The man whose Christian character does not command confidence and respect would, as a minister, only dishonor God and his cause.

R.L. Dabney's discussion on 'respectable force of character' as a necessary qualification for ministry underscores the importance of a leader's moral authority and ability to command confidence and respect.

Dabney addresses it, attempts to address it. On page 31, volume two of his discussions on his essay on a call to the ministry, the scriptures which define the necessary qualifications of the minister may be digested in substance into the following particulars. A hearty and healthy piety, a fair reputation for holiness of life. Now listen to the third one.

34:15 - 34:43 Read in full sermon