Leading the Charge
Parental Pictures of Spiritual Leadership – Part 2
by
John MacArthur
All Rights Reserved
(A copy of this message on cassette tape may be obtained by calling
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1 Thessalonians 2:10-12 Tape GC 52-6
This
morning as we come again to the study of God's precious Word we return to 1
Thessalonians chapter 2 and our text verses 7 through 12. The title we
have given to this section is "Parental Pictures of a Spiritual
Leaders."
I
am constantly amazed at how much the New Testament says about spiritual
leadership in the church. As one who has studied for many, many years the
New Testament, I see again and again the emphasis placed on the matter of
leadership. Obviously from the very beginning of creation God had
established in the human realm the need for leadership. And even in the first
marriage between Adam and Eve, God established Adam as the leader. And
from the time that God began His redemptive purpose and unfolded it in human
history, there were always those who were given the role of spiritual
leadership. In every family there was a husband and a father. There
were patriarchs whose leadership influenced not just a family but a whole tribe
of people. There were prophets and priests. There were judges. There were
kings. There were military leaders. Always God
mediating in one way or another His will and His Word and His purpose through
spiritual leaders.
You
come in to the New Testament and the greatest leader of all appears, Jesus
Christ, and immediately begins the process of training leaders. Calls to
Himself an apparently random collection of men and yet chosen from before the
foundation of the world to be trained to be leaders in order that when Jesus
left, they being filled with the indwelling Holy Spirit might produce more
leaders for the church and those leaders might reproduce themselves throughout
the centuries until we finally arrive today and still the premium is on the
training of spiritual leaders.
Because
this is at the very heart of the unfolding of divine purpose in the world, we
shall not be surprised then to find that it is repeated often in the Scripture
how important leadership really is. But what continues to thrill me and
amaze me, I confess, is how many, many different ways the Holy Spirit speaks to
the matter of leadership. You think that you have just sort of wrapped
your arms around it all and you are exposed to a whole new understanding which
thrills and challenges and excites the heart as well as informing the
mind. That has been my experience in coming to this particular
text. For in this text Paul identifies himself as a leader in two
pictures. In verse 11 he says we proved really to be a father to
you. In verse 7 he says we proved also to be a mother to you.
Now
I mentioned father first because that's our focus for this morning as mother
was our focus last time. And we stated, I think, last Sunday rather
clearly for you to understand that a spiritual leader has to have a mothering
side and a fathering side. This by God's design.
There is the need for us to be both father and mother to our spiritual
children. And so Paul gives us the portrait in verses 7 through 9 of the
spiritual leader as a mother or fulfilling the feminine role, and a spiritual
leader as a father in verses 10 to 12, fulfilling the masculine role. The
balance of these two is essential for effective spiritual leadership. And
may I hasten to add here we're talking here about men as spiritual leaders and
men must be both mother and father to their children in the faith.
Paul
was such an effective spiritual leader that when he was being empowered by the
Spirit of God he was able to become a living pattern for us to follow.
And this particular instruction could come in a no more compelling portion of
Scripture than in 1 Thessalonians since the Thessalonian church was such a
remarkable church. While the Apostle was only there for a few weeks, he
had an amazing impact on the people and the church that was established was a
pure and powerful church in a very strategic city. Paul just a few weeks
after leaving them can write back to them and say, "I know, I am confident
you are brethren beloved by God, you are elect," as he says in chapter 1
verse 4.
He
affirms in verse 1 that they were all in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus
Christ. In verse 2 he says, "I can be thankful for all of
you." Here was a redeemed elect church. He said to them in
verse 3 that you have a work of faith, you have a labor of love and you have a
steadfastness of hope that proves that you're genuine. In verse 5 he says
you were the object of some powerful preaching. In verse 6 you became
imitators of us and of the Lord. In verse 7 you became examples to
everyone else. In verse 8 you trumpeted out the gospel. In verse 9
your life was transformed and you became servants of a living and true
God. In verse 10 you're waiting for the return of Jesus. All this in a matter of a few weeks...a remarkable mission.
They were a real church, a regenerate church, a powerful church.
And
yet there were some detractors who apparently had come along and said to these
Thessalonian Christians, now that Paul, Silas and Timothy had left town, Paul
is no different than the rest of the charlatans and fakers and religious frauds
of the world. All he wants is your money, your possessions. He
wants to abuse you, to manipulate you. He wants power. He wants
control over you. He may even want sexual favors from your women.
He is a deceiver. He's like all of the rest of the fakers on every corner
and in every agoura
or marketplace who are deceiving and beguiling the unwitting victims, capturing
their bodies, their minds, their money, their possessions for himself. He's just another one of them.
And
so, apparently in chapter 2 Paul has to remind them of the genuineness of his
leadership, the genuineness of his heart. And so he writes in this
chapter and says basically, "Please remember what you know to be true
about me," and over and over again he says, "As you know...as you
recall...you are witnesses." He says it throughout that first part
of the chapter. You remember how I was. You remember my
leadership. You know I wasn't a fake. You know I wasn't a fraud.
You know I took nothing from you. And so here in this marvelous section,
verses 1 through 12, as he reminds them of the character of his spiritual
leadership, he gives to us principles for effective spiritual leadership. And
in verses 1 to 6 we got the inside look at what characterized the inside of
that man. And we saw tenacity, integrity, authority, accountability and
humility.
Now
starting in verse 7 we get the outside view and he shows himself as a mother
and a father. He mothered them and he fathered them. Now last week
I told you that we were going to give only one half of the picture, we were
going to talk about the leader as a spiritual mother. And we did
that. Let me just read the verses to you to set it in your mind
again. Verse 7, "But we proved to be gentle among you as a nursing
mother tenderly cares for her own children, having thus a fond affection for
you, we were well pleasing to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also
our own lives because you had become very dear to us. For you recall, brethren,
our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to
any of you we proclaimed to you the gospel of God."
Twice
he says the goal was to proclaim to you the gospel of God, God's good news in
all of its fullness. That was our goal and in doing it we proved to be
like a nursing mother. In verse 7 he says we gave you tender care.
We gave you gentleness. In verse 8, "We had a fond affection for you
and we gave you not only the message but our own lives because you were so dear
to us." In verse 9 he says, "Like a mother we labored and had
hardship and we worked night and day and we weren't the burden to you at all in
this process." So there is the mothering aspect. Far from
being a greedy licentious flatterer seeking power, prestige, sex and money,
desiring to manipulate and abuse, he says we were a tender gentle nursing
mother, around the clock personal intimate care...that's part of spiritual leadership,
providing a haven for people's souls, providing security and peace and
affection and kindness and gentleness and mercy and love. That's the
mothering part. And every spiritual leader has to do that.
But
this morning we come to the second part...the spiritual leader as a father in
verses 10 to 12.
Now
let's look at that male part of leadership, that father part rather than the
mother part. And let me talk generally about what makes a man a
man. May I do that? I think it's vital to our understanding of this
text. Now let me see if I can get you to grasp this.
If
I were to ask you what is the most basic fundamental virtue
of manliness, I might get a lot of different answers, so let me help
you. What is the one trait that evidences distinctive manliness?
What is the solitary quality foundational to manhood? That's a fair
question. Let's see if we can't find an answer.
Go
to 1 Corinthians chapter 16. First Corinthians chapter 16, and please
look with me at verse 13. Now if you know anything about the Corinthian
church, you know that they were a church given over to compromise, right?
They were weak, sinful, compromising, and so forth. So in 1 Corinthians
16:13 Paul says something to them that is most interesting. After
reminding them to be on the alert and stand firm in
the faith, in verse 13 he says, "Act like men." Now let me ask
you a question? How do men act? Now in our society they act any way
they want.
I
mean, if I were a leader in government and I said to the Congress, "Act
like men," they would blink, look around and wonder...how do men
act? Some of them are couch potatoes, some of
them are wimps which is a combination of the old English word for an effeminate
man wet and limp. Some of them put on women's clothes. I mean, how
act like men...how do men act?
Would
you please notice the next command in that verse which is an explanatory to the
previous one, act like men, be...what?...strong.
The verb there "act like men," that verb is a very very interesting verb. It means to conduct oneself in
a courageous way. It means to conduct oneself in a courageous way.
You know how men act? They have courage and they have strength. Put
those two words together and you have the old word fortitude. The
dictionary says fortitude is courage and strength. They have strength of
conviction and they have the courage to stand on it, fortitude. That's
how men act. Men are strong. Men are courageous.
Women
seek security, men seek accomplishment. God designed them. There's
something in a man that needs to accomplish. That's why the man who doesn't hates himself, resents himself. The
greatest leaders the world has ever known and all effective leaders are risk
takers because they exhibit strength and courage. I mean, you know, it
starts in the old pictures that you saw as a little kid with the guy standing
on a rock beating his chest, looking at the world and taking it on as a
challenge. They lead with strength and courage. And if a man doesn't have
strength and courage, he's not a leader. Tribal people would always
choose the man with the greatest courage and strength to be their leader.
That's maleness at its epitome.
And
when he says to them in verse 13, "act like men, be courageous, be strong,
take a stand, conduct yourself in a courageous way," but look how he pulls
the X along, look at verse 14, "Let all that you do be done in
love." Don't forget that.
So
how do men act? They act with courage and strength. Men are not vacillating,
they're not made by God to be weak, depressed, defeated. John Calvin said
of this verse, "He stirs them up to a manly fortitude." A
real man wants to face life with courage. He believes certain things and
he's going to stand on his belief. He has been called by God to achieve
certain things and he's going to achieve those things. He's going to be
courageous whatever the opposition and he's going to make his move. He's
going to do what he believes is right and he's going to pay the price.
He's going to make the hard decisions and if he makes a bad first one, he'll
make a quick better second one and he'll adjust. That's a man...that's a
manly man.
Now,
this little phrase here in 1 Corinthians 16:13 doesn't appear anywhere else in
the New Testament. So if we want to get a little richness to it we've got
to go back to the Old Testament. And the Greek translation of the Old
Testament called the Septuagint, because there were 70 men involved, that Greek
translation of the Old Testament, of course, uses New Testament Greek and so we
can see how the New Testament Greek terms used here were used in the Old
Testament. And we see some very, very wonderful insights. Let's go
all the way back to Deuteronomy chapter 31...Deuteronomy 31. Now follow
closely cause I want to move rapidly but I think
you're going to be greatly encouraged by this.
Moses
is speaking to
Down
in verse 23 of the same chapter, "Then he commissioned Joshua the son of
Nun and said, Be strong and courageous."
That's how men act. Look with me at 2 Samuel chapter 10 and verse 12,
"Be strong and let us show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people
and for the cities of our God." Joab and
the troops are moving out and he says be strong and courageous...that's how men
act.
First
Kings chapter 2...1 Kings chapter 2, David came near
to the time to die. He charges Solomon, his son, What
are you going to say, father, to your son? What are you going to say in
your last hours? What's the most important word to give your son?
You want him to be a man? Here's what David said to Solomon. Verse
2, "I'm going the way of all the earth, be strong therefore and show yourself a man." Men are strong and men are
courageous. By God's design they are. That's how God designed man
to be...strong and courageous.
First
Chronicles chapter 22 opens that up to us even further. Verse 11, David
talking to Solomon, "Now, my son, the Lord be with you that you may be
successful and build the house of the Lord your God, just as He has spoken
concerning you," 1 Chronicles 22:12 now, "Only the Lord give you
discretion and understanding and give you charge over Israel so you may keep
the law of the Lord your God. Then you shall prosper if you are careful
to observe the statutes and the ordinances which the Lord commanded Moses
concerning
The
point is this, look, you're going to go out there and be a leader, you're going to have to face all kinds of opposition.
You want to live for God, keep the law, observe the commandments, and do what
is right. And when you get attacked, don't waver, be strong and
courageous. Let me tell you, the heart of every woman longs for that kind
of man, a man who is strong and courageous. And, gentlemen, you want to
know what kind of son you would like to produce? You would like to
produce one who is strong and courageous, who is strong in his faith, who is
strong in the things of God, who is strong in his understanding and discretion
and wisdom and who has the courage of his conviction to live boldly the way he
knows God wants him to live and you have the responsibility to teach your sons
to live like that. That's your responsibility. That's what a father
is supposed to do. And you do that by being strong and courageous
yourself. You do that by living according to the courage of your
convictions yourself. That's David's message to his son, be a man, be a
man, be strong and courageous, don't be fearful and don't be dismayed.
Second
Chronicles chapter 32, 2 Chronicles in a completely different setting regarding
Sennacherib, verse 7 we read, "Be strong and courageous, says Hezekiah, do
not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria, nor because of all the
multitude which is with him." Listen to this, "For the one with
us is greater than the one with him. With him is only an arm of flesh,
but with us is the Lord our God." Be a man, be courageous, be strong.
Now
that's maleness. And it transfers right over into the spiritual
dimension.
Boy,
I can remember when
But
how can we be so strong? How can a man be strong and courageous?
One last Old Testament passage which uses the same terminology, Joshua
1...Joshua 1 verse 2, "Moses my servant is dead, now therefore arise cross
this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to
the sons of Israel." This, by the way, is the Lord speaking.
"You're going to get everyplace the soul of your foot treads,
I've given it all to you just as I told Moses." So they're moving
into the land.
Now
what is God's word to Joshua? Verse 6, "And this to him and to all
the people, Be strong and courageous...strong and courageous." Verse 7, "Only be strong and courageous, this time very
courageous." Verse 9, "Do not tremble or be
dismayed." Now here it is, compelling words, you're going to in to
hard places, you're going in to a battle field, you're going in to take a land,
be strong and courageous, act like men.
But on what basis? Where do I
find this fortitude to deal with difficulty, face challenge, meet the enemy,
contend with problems and obstacles, bear pain, press
to a difficult goal? Follow the thought, back at verse 5. The first undergirding variety, God says at the end of verse 5,
"I will be with you, I will not fail you or
forsake you." The first thing that gives you courage in spiritual
leadership is the presence of God...the presence of God. I'm there, He
says, I won't leave you and I won't fail you.
Secondly,
verse 6, "Be strong and courageous for you shall give this people
possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them."
All you're going to do is take what I have promised. Second principle of
fortitude, the cause was just, God is present and the cause is just...the cause
is right.
Thirdly,
verse 7 says, "Be careful to do according to the law which Moses My
servant commanded. Don't turn to the right or the left and you'll have
success." Verse 8 elucidates on it. "This book of the law, the
holy Scripture, don't let it depart from your mouth, meditate on it day and
night, be careful to do according to all that is written in it and you'll make
your way prosperous and you'll have success." What moves me to
courage and strength? One, the presence of God.
Two, the cause is just. Three, the unfailing sovereign
power of God. He says you'll succeed.
Courage
in spiritual leadership, the manliness is undergirded
by the presence of God, the just cause and the unfailing promise to be
fulfilled by His sovereign power. People sometimes say to me, "Well,
you know, sometimes you say things that cause problems and you get in trouble
and you create issues, does that concern you?" Not primarily at all, what
concerns me is is it right? Is the cause
just? Is this the truth? Do I know that God is with me in this
enterprise and do I have the promise of success because it is consistent with
His Word? That's what matters. This is a virtue that makes a man a man,
courage and strength. And this is very necessary in spiritual leadership.
A spiritual leader is decisive, he is a risk taker, he is bold, he is strong, he is courageous. He doesn't fear making a wrong decision
because he's humble enough to turn it around and make a right one. That's
decisiveness.
If
you want to raise a son who is a man who is strong and courageous in what he
believes and what he lives for, then you must set the standard. That is
true for a father and that is true for a spiritual leader. He sets the
pace by example of life and precept. You teach your sons to be strong and
courageous and you live with strength and courage and they catch both...the
example and the lessons. If you live boldly by the Word without
compromise, if you resist the pressure to do as little as possible and you give
your life to do as much as possible in a great cause, if you resist the
pleasure to please men and seek to please God and if you don't sell out
integrity for comfort, then you live a strong and courageous life if you hold
your convictions without compromise you fill the fatherly role of a
leader. That's Paul.
Let's
go back to our text. Paul acted like a man. There was a side of him
that acted like a mother but there was another side of him that acted like a
man, like a father with strength and courage. And he never flinched from
the immeasurable risks of life and the challenges that he faced because one, he
was assured of God's presence; two, he knew the cause was just; and three, he
trusted an unfailing sovereignty. That's the man fit for spiritual
leadership. He's a man of moral courage. And I say every father
should be such a man if he expects to raise such a son.
Now
let's look specifically at our text. With all that as a backdrop Paul
says in verse 11, "I came to you as a father to his own children,"
and notice the strength of this, verse 10, "You are witnesses." And
here again he's reminding them of what he said in verses 1, 2, 5 and 9 and will
say again in verse 11, "I'm calling on your own first‑hand
knowledge." You saw me, I was there. You were witnesses and so
is God. And that reverts back to verses 4 and 5 where he said I live very
much aware that God examines my heart and God is my witness. So you know
and God knows...watch this...how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we
behaved toward you believers. That's a father's responsibility. A
father's responsibility is to set the standard of integrity in the family.
That's a spiritual leader's responsibility.
The
first word "devoutly" means piously, holy. It has to do with my
life before God. My duty to God was done, I did
my duty to God devoutly. The word "uprightly," righteously, refers to
how a man responds to the law of God which is doing his duty to God and man for
the law requires that we deal with God in a certain way and man as well.
So he says from the perspective of my relationship to God, I was devout.
From the perspective of my relationship to the law which considers God and man,
I was upright, righteous. And then he says, "blamelessly."
That word refers to one's reputation before men, before God devout, before God
and man upright, before man blameless. That's a spiritual father. That's
how we behave toward you believers.
Many
people ask me, "What is the key to producing strong spiritually solid
children?" It starts with living devoutly, uprightly and blamelessly
where there is integrity and where there is moral courage and the strength of
conviction and you live that life, you build strength. You set a pattern,
living an uncompromising life of fortitude, consumed by what is right, aware of
the presence of God and trusting in unfailing sovereignty, you live the
life. And so fathering starts with modeling...modeling.
You model virtue.
Look
at verse 11, he goes a step further. It's not just modeling, it's also
teaching. Verse 11, he says, "Just as you know," and reminds
them again that it's nothing they're getting second hand,
they were there when he came. "Just as you know how we were
exhorting and encouraging and imploring," and here's another triad of
virtues, just like the three in verse 10. "And we did it to each one
of you as a father would his own children." I believe that God has
designed the father in the family to set the pattern of virtue to live the
life. He brings his wife under that pattern of virtue and she becomes so
secure. You provide for a woman a devout upright and blameless life and
she will find the haven of her security. That's the father's role.
He lives the virtuous pattern the children are to follow.
But
it has to go beyond that. It goes beyond pattern to precept in verse
11. "You also know it wasn't just the way we behaved when we were
with you, we were exhorting, encouraging and imploring each one of you as a
father would his own children." What do these words mean? The
word "exhorting" means to come along side, to move someone in a specific
line of conduct. The Holy Spirit is called the paraklete, it's the
same word, parakaleo, the one who comes
alongside to move us in a specific course of conduct. A father gets
alongside his child and moves that child in a specific course of conduct.
Now whatever it takes it takes to do that, strong exhortation. Hey, I
have preached some of my most passionate sermons to one child. You come
alongside and you exhort that child in that path of conduct that you believe is
right. That's instruction...personal instruction.
Then
he says not only did we do that fatherly task, but also not only exhorting but
encouraging. Now we move from instruction to motivation. The
father's role also is to come alongside, to encourage the emotion and the will
to act in that course. Here is the specific course of conduct, I'm moving
you in that direction and encouraging you to keep moving because of your own
will, your own choice because the way is hard. Exhortation says this is
the way to walk. Encouragement says I know it's tough but keep doing it,
right? Keep doing it.
And
then he says there's a third thing I do as a father, imploring each one of
you. You know what verb that is? Marturomai,
witness...you say, "What do you mean? A father is supposed to
witness to his son?" Yeah, you know what he's supposed to say?
"Hey, son, can I tell you something? I'm a personal witness to the
fact that if you keep doing that this is what's going to happen. So you
don't need to fall into the same hole I've been in." You know how
your kids hate that when you say to them...Look, when I was a boy...ah, man,
not this again...I would never have...I'll tell you what, I learned when I was
a kid, don't do that because...ah, come on, dad, everybody has got to
learn... No they don't. You have a responsibility to a solemn charge, you are summoned as a witness to witness to the fact
that any deviation from the prescribed course of conduct has very serious
ramifications. That's the lesson. So you say, "Son, daughter,
here's the course of conduct. I know the way is hard but keep doing
it. And just to encourage you a little further, if you don't do it the
consequence is severe." And that's where discipline comes in.
And you do it with each one, that's the personal touch.
Every
spiritual leader, every pastor is here to love his people, to embrace his
people, to treat them with tender compassion, affection, kindness. But on the
other hand, there's that balance that says this is the way you're to
live. I encourage you to do it even if it's hard and I'm telling you if
you don't do it the consequences are severe. Any father who is worthy a
nickel knows you have to come alongside your children personally and pattern
for them the course of conduct. You have to encourage them to be faithful
to it when the choices are hard. And then you have to tell them...Look,
if you violate it I'm going to discipline you. Because that's exactly
true in the spiritual dimension and you'll build someone with courage and
you'll build someone with conviction and you'll build someone who can act like
a man. And even women have occasions in the spiritual dimension of course
when they must act like men, with courage. And they will have seen it in
their fathers and hopefully their grandfathers and their brothers.
So
the father gives this enthusiastic affirmation and exhortation to his children
and the mother is there for the tender security. You know how that works,
you get your son and you give him that impassioned speech and you call him to
courageous and strong conduct. And a few minutes later you see him in the
kitchen and his mom has got her arm around him and he's run for a little
balance. That's the way it is.
Verse
12 focuses it down. This is so good. Does this sound like a
father? "Exhorting, encouraging, imploring each one of you as a
father would his own children so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the
God who calls you into His own Kingdom and glory." Paul says the
spiritual father is trying to produce the product. The difference between
the mothering and the fathering is the mother wants to provide what is needed
in the moment. The father wants to produce the product at the end.
That's the balance. The mother wants to cherish and nurture and love and
hold and affirm. And the father comes along and says that's all wonderful but
we want to be sure at the end that he's living according to God's
standards. A father wants you to walk in a manner worthy of the God who
calls you. And he reaches back again to that glorious election that he
mentioned in chapter 1 verse 4 and will mention again in chapter 5 verse 24,
faithful is He who calls you. You're elect, the very fact that God has
graciously elected an unworthy sinner should give you such a thankful heart
that you need very little exhortation, encouragement and imploring to walk in a
worthy way. Walk means to conduct your life.
So,
he says...look, you responded to God's call, chosen by Him, now live in a way
that's worthy of it. The end of verse 12 says, "God has called you
into His own Kingdom and glory." God who calls you
into His Kingdom. When you were saved you came into the
Kingdom. When you were saved you entered into the Kingdom. And
you're now ruled by the King, Jesus Christ. You're not yet in the
glorious fulfillment of that Kingdom. You haven't yet seen the millennial
kingdom and you haven't yet seen the eternal kingdom, but you're in the
kingdom...you're in the kingdom. You're in the
So,
spiritual leader is a balance. He has a tender side, a mothering side and
he has a strong courageous side in which he demands the highest and lives by
the highest and uncompromising life. That's the balance. The mother
comes along with her tender love and the father comes along exhorting to the
conduct God requires, motivating the heart to respond, solemnly
showing the consequence of failure. And then he lives the life that he demands
of his children. Beautiful balance God has designed.
And
spiritual leaders must be that. It's not enough to just be compassionate
and tender and caring. There's got to be that uncompromising pure life that
sets the standard to live by. And there's got to be the courage of
conviction that comes alongside someone and exhorts and encourages and implores
and demands that you live in a worthy way of the God who has called you to such
glory. That's leadership by God's design. On the one hand a concern
for the person, on the other hand a concern for the process. On the one
hand a concern for kindness, on the other hand a concern for control. On
the one hand a concern for affection, on the other hand a concern for
authority. On the one hand embracing, on the other hand exhorting.
On the one hand cherishing, on the other hand challenging. And where
there is that balance God can work in a glorious way. Where there is that
tender considerate gentle mothering brought alongside a holy righteous
blameless exemplary life where there's teaching and commanding and persuading
with fatherly authority, you have a leader who stands head and shoulders
above. You have a Paul and because you have a Paul you have a
Thessalonian church.
I
ask myself the question you must be asking yourself...is anybody
sufficient? Certainly I'm not. Is anybody sufficient to be this
leader? Wherein would our sufficiency lie? Let me give you some
principles, just a handful quickly.
Number
one, realize your inadequacy. If you're ever to be this kind of spiritual
leader it starts when you admit you're not because according to 2 Corinthians
12:9 and 10, "His strength is made perfect in our...what?...weakness and
God exalts the humble." Realize your insufficiency, realize your
insufficiency.
Secondly,
be intense in the study of the Word because it's only the Word that can produce
this balance. In 2 Timothy 3:17 Paul speaks about a man of God which is a
technical term for a spiritual leader, not just a generic term for
anybody. But Paul speaks about a man of God being perfect, equipped for
every good work. And he says what equips him is the inspired Scripture. Realize
your weakness because in that humility you'll generate a life of prayer and
study the Word.
Thirdly,
accept suffering as God's tenderizing process. First Peter 5:10 in the
beginning of the chapter he exhorts the elders and in verse 10 he says,
"After you've suffered a little while the God of all grace who called you
to His eternal glory in Christ will Himself perfect, confirm strength and
establish you." But it can't happen until you've suffered a
while. You will be perfected, strengthened, confirmed and established in
this life, I think he's referring to, but not until you've suffered.
One,
realize your weakness, that will drive you to prayer and trust in God.
Two, study the Word because it is the tool which produces the spiritual balance
in the spiritual leader. And three, let God come to you in any form of
trouble He chooses to come in order that you might be tenderized in the
process.
And
then I guess fourthly, give your whole life...give your whole life to the
process of becoming the leader God wants you to be. Paul says, "Do
you not know that those who run in a race all run, only one receives the prize,
run in such a way that you may win." He says I run in such a way, I
box in such a way, I buffet my body and make it my slave because I don't want
to be disqualified. Realize your weakness, diligence in the Word, allow God to tenderize you through suffering and give
your whole heart, soul, mind and strength to the process of spiritual
development and leadership.
That's
the leader God wants. And that's the model Paul portrays. Let's bow
in prayer.
Father,
we can only think of Jesus Christ at this moment who
had the perfect balance here. Jesus even when He walked in the world was
so tender, obviously women found in Him security, love of the purest kind. They
wanted to be near Him. He was manliness at its epitome, unlike any they
had ever seen in any man. And yet He was a tender gentle person. We see
Him relating to children. We see Him with that motherly tender forgiving
compassion, drawing those around Him to love in an intimate fellowship, such as
Mary and Martha. And yet we see His fatherly authority and His discipline
and the demanding standard of holiness and the call to unwavering obedience and
the establishment of pure and perfect example that He set. And we hear
His words of judgment and condemnation on those who fail. Lord, You've given us...You've given us such a magnificent
analogy, metaphor of the perfection of spiritual leadership in this matter of
masculinity and femininity, the mothering and the fathering picture. And
the world is filled with it in every family we can see that metaphor and we
would pray, first of all, Lord, that we would not only understand the matters
of spiritual leadership but we would back in to the metaphor and understand
what You're asking in our families. And may the mothers be all that a
mother is designed to be, accepting that glorious, magnificent God‑given
role and not endeavoring to be a man and may men be
all that men are to be accepting that glorious God‑given role and not
falling into characteristics that are anything but manly. Give us
affectionate tender caring compassionate loving mothers and give us strong
courageous virtuous teachers as fathers. And the same, Lord, may they be
true of our spiritual leaders. We are not adequate for this. We
acknowledge it. Give us Your Word in its richness, give us suffering to
produce that perfection which suffering alone can accomplish and may we have
the energy of the Spirit to work diligently to be all we can be that Your
church might know the blessing the Thessalonian church knew and become as
effective as they were because of the quality of their leadership. We
pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Added to
the John MacArthur Collection located at:
Bible Bulletin Board
Box 119
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