Involvement is an area that really weighs heavy upon our minds. Let’s face it, a church leader or even an active Christian has to do a balancing act. In CS Lewis’ book the Screwtape Letters a senior demon by the name of Screwtape offers his nephew Wormwood some advice on how to tempt the human patient under his jurisdiction. Screwtape says, “All extremes except extreme devotion to the enemy are encouraged. Not always of course, but at this period. Some ages are lukewarm and complacent, and then it is our business to soothe them yet faster asleep. Other ages, of which the present is one, are unbalanced and prone to faction, and it is our business to inflame them.” Solomon advised in Ecclesiastes 7:18, “It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes.” How can we fit all the things we should be doing into an already busy schedule? To many, the church leaders’ job is to pray in worship service, teach a class, and attend board meetings. Actually these visible acts of service are only a very small part of the Christian leaders’ work. We could participate in all the activities just mentioned and still fall short of complete involvement. The leader must realize that they are not in front of others to make an impression on them. Your purpose is not to draw attention to yourself. Your purpose is to serve God wholeheartedly and to help and encourage others to do the same. We face the challenge of being involved in a job that is never finished. It seems that no matter how much you get done there is always one more thing to do. However, if we become occupied with this idea Satan wins a pivotal battle by helping to convince us that Christianity and leadership is about doing instead of being. A works mentality leads to guilt, frustration and feelings of inferiority. The Lord wants us to use our spiritual gifts out of gratitude and devotion not out of guilt or duty. So today we want to gain insight into what it means to be completely involved.
I. Effective leadership requires complete involvement in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
A. The leader needs to have their heart fully submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
1. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. “ (John 15:5—NIV)
2. Many try to be good and honest people who do what is right but Jesus teaches the only way to live a life that is pleasing to God is to remain attached to Him.
3. This is a promise that reminds us that God will provide our leadership with what is necessary to bear fruit that brings honor and glory to God.
4. Apart from Jesus Christ are efforts are unfruitful.
5. To be nourished spiritually and to experience life the way God has intended requires us to remain attached to the Vine.
B. Paul shows in our text that single hearts and sincere hearts were necessary for Christian servants to please God and serve their masters acceptably. These instructions emphasized the positive side of obedience.
1. In our society we do not have slaves. But these principles apply to any kind of honest employment.
2. A Christian worker ought to be the best worker on the job.
3. The Christian ought to serve Christ and not the boss only, and he ought to work whether anybody is watching or not.
4. No matter what the job, our first priority is to please our Lord and Savior.
5. When we apply this principle to our life our relationship with Jesus Christ will shine through in every area of our lives.
II. Effective leadership requires complete involvement in a lifestyle of worship.
A. A great pitfall that many leaders face during worship is getting involved in anticipation instead of participation.
1. We may have a specific role to carry out in the worship service and our preparation for that role may cause us to miss out on the heartfelt experience worship is meant to be.
2. This often causes the person to not really be able to concentrate on what is going on in the worship service.
3. We need to realize that worship requires a concentrated effort.
4. Worship is something that you only get back what you put in.
B. Often if we truly examine our lives we will find that we are really hungry to experience God-honoring worship.
1. Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. (Romans 12:1—NIV)
2. This is a reminder of that necessity for the Christian, not in terms of rite or ritual but as renouncing the sins of the old life and being committed to a life of obedience to the divine will.
3. All that we say and do should be associated with the name of Jesus Christ. By our words and our works, we should glorify His name.
4. If we permit anything into our lives that cannot be associated with the name of Jesus, then we are sinning.
5. This reminds us that worship is more than just a Sunday thing; it is intended to be a way of life.
III. Effective leadership requires complete involvement in the spiritual growth of your family.
A. After God, your home must come first.
1. Providing for your family means more than just providing food, shelter and clothing.
2. We have the responsibility to help them develop a deep love for Jesus Christ.
3. Children will grow and be gone before we know it, so it is so vital that we impact them during their young formidable years because soon that chance to mold them is gone.
4. God has included this area of involvement in the qualifications of someone who would be a church leader.
B. We do God, the church and our families a grave injustice when we fail to invest in the spiritual nurturing of our families.
1. We have to be conscious of the example we set, are we telling our families that God needs to be the priority?
2. Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12—NIV)
3. The numbering of "days" is an act of recognition of the vast difference between God and finite man.
4. When we realize the preciousness of life we will be more likely to make the most of every opportunity.
IV. Effective leadership requires complete involvement in the mission of the church.
A. The most difficult thing to do is to gain an understanding of what the role of the church in our culture is.
1. Jesus has commissioned each of us to become communicators of His truth to those we come in contact with.
2. Remember the fact that the verse we are using as our main text stresses living out our faith in every area of our life on a daily basis.
3. Reaching others with the Gospel message is the primary purpose I believe that God has left us on this planet.
4. This is a privilege that we need to be involved in on a daily basis.
5. Do we truly believe that knowing and serving Christ is the best way to live and the only way to die?
B. As leaders it is our responsibility to do everything we can under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to bring more and more people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
1. If we truly love and know Christ than heart should be burdened to find a way to accomplish His mission.
2. Our time needs to be invested in making the church a place that will attract, challenge and teach those in the world to follow Jesus Christ.
3. Remember that the great commission is a mandate given to the church for all time and each of us are expected to do our part to carry it out.
4. We can spend all of eternity worshipping God, learning from His word, praying to Him and encouraging and edifying one another, but we only have the time that we spend on this earth to reach the lost with the Gospel message.
5. Do you desire to be this type of Christian and become a part of that type of church?
To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out for another is to risk involvement.
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.
To place your ideas, your dreams, before a crowd is to risk their loss.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To hope is to risk failure.
But risks must be taken.
Because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
If you risk nothing and do nothing, you dull your spirit.
You may avoid suffering and sorrow,
But you cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, and live.
Chained by your attitude, you are a slave.
You have forfeited your freedom.
Only if you risk are you free.
