Two-Ply Christian Leadership
(2 Thessalonians 3:4-12)
1. Christian leadership is a fascinating study. But it is often paralleled by leadership principles in other realms:
"You Attract the People Your System Invites
It’s no secret that healthy environments attract healthy people. Healthy people leave environments that are not or more often than not, get pulled down by them. Yet, it is something we tend to forget. When we find a system or environment that is wrong, there is something wrong at the top. It is from there that the change must come if something is out of kilter." [secular source: http://www.leadershipnow.com/leadingblog/index.html]
When it comes to churches, leaders not only determine what sorts of people are attracted to the church, but also in which direction believers mature. Spiritually and relationally healthy leaders attract people who are comfortable with a healthy, balance, Biblical Christianity -- and they also develop disciples in that image. So leadership is crucial.
2. Since one the main criteria for an elder is how he relates within his family, it should be no surprise that the same principles of family management apply to church management and vice-versa.
3. What applies to Christian leadership often applies to life in general.
Main Idea: Like God Himself, good Christian leadership means leading in two different manners; leaders must have two sides.
I. The WARM, Encouraging Side (4-5)
A. The Shepherd, the NURTURER
B. ENABLING and TRUSTING (4)
1. Our desire to Obey and serve Him (4a)
Michael Velasquez writes, "If you look for goodness in others, you will find it. If you choose to interpret a person’s actions as friendly, you will have good feelings towards that person. Conversely, if you expect that others are intent on doing you harm, you will always interpret their actions as hostile, even when they’re not."
Not always true, but it often is!
Matthew 6:24, "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
By making a genuine commitment to follow Jesus Christ, true Christians have already taken a big step; it is reasonable to expect the best from such people…we should assume that our brothers and sisters in Christ really want to follow Him deep down in their hearts…
Many people profess Christianity but have a religion, not a relationship; they cannot understand the burning we have within to serve God because they have never experienced it…
We cannot fix their problem through badgering, guilt, or pressure; they simply do not have a new nature because they have never been born of the Spirit…
2. Responding humbly to God’s commands
• Again, we should expect God’s children to take their responsibility to obey the Lord seriously. Authority struggles are nothing new; people have rarely enjoyed being commanded, but God has that right --and so do leaders if their commands are clearly based in Scripture
• Ego resents submitting; we should not allow others to take advantage of us or manipulate us…but…we all need to submit to someone or some group…
“Teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” (Matt. 28:20)
Those who have been born by the Spirit view themselves as God’s servants and God as their Master and Friend; they see no conflict with their Friend also being their Master, and vice-versa.
C. BLESSING (5a)
• "May the Lord direct"
• His working within us (5)
The Rabbis were concerned that people directed their hearts toward God in the sense of praying towards the Temple:
"Our Rabbis taught: A blind man or one who cannot tell the cardinal points should direct his heart towards his Father in Heaven, as it says, And they pray unto the Lord. If one is standing outside Palestine, he should turn mentally towards Eretz Israel, as it says, And pray unto Thee towards their land. If he stands in Eretz Israel he should turn mentally towards Jerusalem, as it says, And they pray unto the Lord toward the city which Thou hast chosen." [Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Berakoth Folio 30a]
Paul, here, is dealing with something deeper: the motives and desires of our hearts
D. DIRECTING (5b)
1. He directs our hearts into His love
This can mean several things:
(1) We can better experience God’s love;
(2) We can better appreciate and understand God’s love, or
(3) We can draw closer to God and thus have more of His love to share with others…or a combination…I think #3 is most instinctive
2. He directs our hearts into Christ’s perseverance
Does this mean that we better appreciate Christ’s perseverance for us in His sufferings, or to imitate Christ’s example of endurance, or does it refer to letting Christ help us to persevere in life’s trials? I think the latter.
Hebrews 12:1-3, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."
Like God Himself, good Christian leadership means leading in two different manners; leaders must have two sides.
What applies to Christian leadership often applies to life in general.
The first side is the warm, encouraging side. But there is a second side.
II. The FIRM, Holding People Accountable Side (6-12)
• Jesus connected love to correcting and disciplining those under our charge if necessary: "Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent" Jesus said in Revelation 3:19.
What Paul did not condone:
A. LOPSIDED alternatives
1. First side only: ENABLER
Everyone likes such a person, but sometimes hard to trust because they will not stand by their views but agree with everyone…they think they are helping people by pleasing people… but people need boundaries, not always accommodation…
Parents who find it painful to say "no" --or feel they must justify saying "no" to their young and pre-teen kids do their kids a great disservice…
2. Second side only: A WITHHOLDER
3. A VACILLATOR is worse than either
--especially true in child rearing…
What applies to Christian leadership often applies to life in general.
B. Willing to use AUTHORITY when needed (6)
1. Paul used his authority with regret: 2 Corinthians 13:10 "This is why I write these things when I am absent, that when I come I may not have to be harsh in my use of authority—the authority the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down."
2. Titus 1:13, "This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith…"
3. Titus 2:15, "These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you."
D. EXEMPLIFYING the standard (7-8)
1. In many situations, Paul took financial support from those to whom he ministers, and he maintained that he had that right; in other situations, he worked making tents to support himself to set an example, even though he had a right to receive support.
2. In that culture, becoming religious meant not having to work; Paul needed to correct that by setting an example at the top…
3. Why? Because religious charlatans (like some of today’s tele-evangelists) were the norm in Greek society…they abused others to enrich themselves…so Paul chose to make a distinction between the Gospel and the false religions around him…
4. Because we have rights does not mean we have to avail ourselves of them…
E. POINTING OUT error (9-11)
1. Paul had tried to address this problem in his first letter more tactfully and generally, but it didn’t work: "And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle…" (I Thess. 5:14a)
2. I Timothy 5:8, "If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."
3. Our Code of Jewish Law states that a person should work for a living, but he should "work to live," and not "live to work." After morning Torah study, a person "should go to work, for all Torah which is not accompanied by work is destined to be nullified and in danger of causing transgression, because excessive poverty may cause him to deviate from the will of his Maker. But even so, a person should not make his work primary, but secondary, and his Torah the center; in this way both will succeed. And he should deal faithfully." (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 156.) [source: http://www.besr.org/ethicist/workethic.html]
F. Providing REALISTIC Corrective Alternatives (12)
Many people love to complain or go on a verbal tirade. Webster defines tirade as, "A long angry speech; a violent denunciation; a prolonged outburst full of censure or abuse."
But Paul’s criticisms had realistic suggested solutions, not emotionally driven ones.
1. This was a reasonable expectation -- it was attainable
2. This was clearly the right thing to do, not a matter of opinon
3. This was a practical solution, not idealistic or divorced from reality
Like God Himself, good Christian leadership means leading in two different manners; leaders must have two sides.
CONCLUSION
1. Paul preferred to display his warm, encouraging side rather than his firm side.
I Corinthians 4:18-20,
Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit?
2. Some people love to be withholders. They think they are motivating others by putting them down.
3. But the example of Paul is clear: motivating by being positive and encouraging, but getting negative and harsh only if and when necessary. That’s still the best approach to life and ministry.
What applies to Christian leadership often applies to life in general.
