We have to have some good leaders out there.
We've got to be developing great leaders.
And I think that's why Paul made that
one of his highest goals.
Today, I'm talking about Kingdom of God Principles
on Leadership from the Apostle Paul.
So I've talked about Jethro, I've talked about Jesus.
And today I want to talk about Paul.
And I want you to look, if you have a Bible,
it's 2 Timothy 2, 1 through 7.
2 Timothy 2, 1 through 7.
In my opinion, this is one of the best passages
on leadership where Paul writes to Timothy
about how to raise up leaders in the church.
And Paul models this in an extravagant and powerful way
throughout his whole ministry.
When you look at Paul's ministry in the Book of Acts,
you especially see him going from city to city,
village to village, province to province,
taking men with him.
He's always got these guys with him,
these disciples that he's working with.
And then in many cases, like Silas and Timothy and others,
he leaves them behind with a newly planted church.
They raise up leaders that then become the leaders
of that church.
And then those guys go on to plant other churches.
So it's very systematic form of leadership that's amazing.
But he encapsulates his passion and his understanding
of how God wants him to raise up leaders
in 2 Timothy 2, 1 through 7.
I'm gonna read the whole thing
and then we're gonna break it down into some principles
that I hope are helpful to us.
You, therefore, my son, he's writing to Timothy,
be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Verse two, and the things that you've heard from me
among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men
who will be able to teach others also.
You, therefore, must endure hardship
as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
No one engaged in warfare entangles himself
with the affairs of this life,
that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.
And also, if anyone competes in athletics,
he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.
Verse six, the hardworking farmer
must be the first partaker of the crops.
Consider what I say and may the Lord give you understanding
in all things.
So Paul's principles on leadership.
He starts off with saying this,
you, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace
that is in Christ Jesus.
So I would say, first of all, as Paul looked at leadership,
he was looking at it from the perspective
of gifting and grace.
In other words, not everybody is anointed
with the gift of leadership, but many are.
Now, let me just say this, everybody leads.
Everybody leads in some way, shape, or form.
I mean, if you're taking the trash out
and you have a little brother, you're leading
because somebody's watching you.
If you're a mother and you are nursing your baby,
there's leadership in that.
You're taking care of someone.
They're following you, they're with you.
So everything in life has some kind
of a leader-follower concept.
What I'm talking about here, though,
is that gift of leadership,
that anointing sovereignly given by God
for someone to lead.
So he starts with grace and we go to Romans 12.6,
also written by Paul, having then gifts differing
according to the grace that is given to us.
So Paul says here, and then he says in Romans,
that there are certain gifts that are given,
sovereignly given by God, according to his knowledge
and his wisdom, and here's the most important,
his purpose for one's life.
So when I speak of kingdom principles of leadership,
I'm speaking of those that are called to be leaders,
and not everybody's called to a position of rulership
or a position of leadership the way Paul
is defining it here.
But he's speaking here that there are grace gifts,
some have called it gracelets, that's given to everyone.
Everybody has a spiritual gift.
Most people have many spiritual gifts
with there being a primary spiritual gift.
So the first thing in leadership from Paul's perspective
is does this person have a gift of leadership?
Is there grace on them for leadership?
And the question you're gonna ask is,
well, how do I know if I'm gifted toward leadership or not?
Well, I would push back and say,
well, do you have a desire?
Do you have a desire?
If you have a desire to be a leader,
there's probably a gift, a latent gift of leadership in you
that may or may not have been developed.
And so let me make a differentiation though
between talent and gifts.
So I believe the spiritual gifts that we find
in 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12,
referenced in an indirect way here,
all throughout scripture,
we can even go to passages in the Old Testament
that appear to be about spiritual gifts,
are sovereignly given by God when we're born again.
When we give our heart to Christ,
there is a gift from the Holy Spirit,
many gifts in my opinion,
but there's a primary gift of leadership.
gift that God gives everyone. Everybody has that. Now what are talents? In my
opinion, talents are what we call natural talents and spiritual gifts.
There's a difference. You are born as a human being in the image of God with
natural talents that may or may not have anything to do with your spiritual gifts.
So you may have someone who's naturally talented athletically, someone
who's naturally talented to work on a computer, naturally talented to be a
lawyer. I mean there's natural talents related to the sovereign work of
God in placing that either genetically through one's background all the way
down to the environment in which they're raised. There's natural talents. Now
there's actually a third category which I covered in another episode that we did
not on this one but on another one on leadership what I would call acquired
skills. So there's spiritual gifts, there's natural talents, and there's
acquired skills. How do these work? Well you're born with natural talents. You come
to know Christ, you begin to discover your spiritual gifts. With your natural
talents, your spiritual gifts, what you do with what you've been given is what I
call acquired skills. So if you have a passion for engineering and you then go
to school to perfect this desire you have to be an engineer, that's getting an
acquired skill. Same in leadership. You have a desire to be a leader. You desire
to grow as a leader. So then you start going to seminars on leadership. You
start putting yourself in a position to have to lead. That's developing skills.
Those skills are developed through your effort and through the power of the
Spirit working through your effort. So it's always in a cooperation. But here
Paul seems to be indicating as he begins his his admonition to Timothy, look this
is how you develop leaders. First thing, be strong in God's grace and gifting. And
Timothy, I see leadership in you. Be strong in that. Be strong in the calling
on your life. In Romans 12 6 I read before, having then given gifts according
to the grace that is given us, but then two verses later he says this, he who
exhorts in exhortation. He who gives with liberality. And then listen to this, he
says he who leads with diligence. So that so leadership is a spiritual gift
actually in the list of spiritual gifts. And the Greek word for lead here has the
meaning to be set before or over others. To be a protector and to be a guardian
over others. And someone said and it's always been the definition I've used when
people have asked me about a definition for leadership. I've heard John Maxwell
say leadership is influence. And that's that's it. And that I always think this
the shorter definition is probably more right. But the one I've used is one who
knows where he's going and can motivate others to follow him. So a leader is one
who knows where he's going and can motivate others to follow him. So a
person can know where they're going but they can't motivate anybody to follow
them. That's not a leader. That's probably someone who's got a great vision for
their life. Nothing wrong with that. But a leader is one who knows where they're
going. They have a vision for that. And then through conversation, through
motivation, through inspiration, they cause others to want to come along on
that vision. That's a leader. John Maxwell says it's influence which it is. I'm
saying it's it's knowing where you're going. It's it's it's having the
influence as it were with others for them to want to follow you as a leader.
Everything, everything in life rises and falls on leadership. So when you see a
company going under, bad leadership. You see a store going under, going bankrupt,
bad leadership. You see a government going under, being taken over by another
nation, probably bad leadership. You see a nation that's flourishing, there's good
leadership there. You see a company that's flourishing, it's probably good
leadership there. You see a church that's growing, having an impact, there's
probably good leadership there. You show me a good marriage and I'll show you
someone in that couple or in that family who's a good solid leader. So everything,
everything in life rises and falls on leadership. So that's why men and women,
we have to have some good leaders out there. We've got to be developing great
leaders. And I think that's why Paul made that one of his highest goals was that
he was going to develop leaders. And so let me give you some characteristics of
people who have the gift of leadership. These are people who I see who have the
gift of leadership. Number one, they recognize that their position is by God's
appointment, not man's.
have a person, a human, who gives you a position
of leadership, but a spiritual leader,
one with the gift of leadership,
recognizes God's behind that.
God's the one that, indirectly or directly,
is speaking to that leader to give them
that position of leadership.
Number two, they realize they've been given
an important stewardship, and that's a huge word
to me, personally, about leadership,
is recognizing that God has given you a stewardship,
and the stewardship is human capital.
The stewardship is human capital.
It's what we do with people that makes us
a good, bad, or great leader,
and so it's stewarding people well.
It's putting people in the right place,
at the right time, in the right way,
that they can have the most powerful impact they can have.
I see that at the road, in my ministry.
I see that in my family.
I wanna see each one of the individuals
that are within my scope of leadership find their way,
discover their calling, and that I get to be a part
of the, maybe, catalytic converter that helps them
get directed and empowered to reach their full potential
and their destiny.
Number three, they know that they must be led
and directed by the Holy Spirit.
A spiritual leader, a godly leader,
is someone who knows they don't have all the answers,
they do not have all the wisdom, but God does,
and so they're a seeker after God.
They're continually growing, continually seeking God
for wisdom on decisions that need to be made.
Number four, the truly anointed leader knows
he or she is simply a servant of the Lord.
So Paul continually called himself a servant of the Lord,
and he also called himself a bondservant of the Lord,
which means like a legal slave of God.
He saw himself as a servant of the Lord.
And so this kind of a leader, a true spiritual leader,
doesn't lead so that other people will serve them.
He leads, or she leads,
so that he or she can serve her people.
So it's a servant leadership role,
and that's so vitally important.
So as Jesus said, I did not come to be served,
but to serve and to give my life a ransom for many.
That's what leaders do.
Spiritual leaders, godly leaders, Christian leaders
are men and women who give their life
to those that are serving with them,
not for them, but with them,
and they choose to serve,
even try to out-serve their own people.
And then fifthly, the main responsibility of leadership
as modeled and expressed by Paul
is the empowerment of new leaders.
So leadership's not just a position appointed by God.
It's not just a stewardship.
It's not just being directed and led by the Holy Spirit.
It's not just being a servant of the Lord,
but it's also raising up other leaders.
And in the next episode,
I wanna talk about how Paul shows us in this passage
how to raise up other leaders around us
so that we have a multiplicational leadership style
that is empowering others.
♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪