Marks of A Servant Leader/Follower
1 Thessalonians 5:12-15
There is a term that I find used in the New Testament Scripture, which is used of all Christians. It is the term brother. That in the writings of the apostle Paul, even though he uses terms like saints and servants, the most frequently used term by Paul to describe those who are leaders in the church, and those who are followers in the church is the term brother.
In what is perhaps the first letter that Paul wrote, the letter to the Church of Thessalonica, Paul in that letter and the second letter he writes uses the term "brother" thirteen times, to describe all Christians, to describe Christians who are leaders, to describe Christians who are followers.
I want us to listen this morning to four verses of Scripture. And I guess, in some ways, I want the leaders to listen closely to these four verses. But I want the members of this Church to listen to these four verses as well.
Paul says this in 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15:
Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.
In too many of our Churches we have to strong of leadership. That is possible. In too many of our Churches we have to weak of following. That is possible, isn’t it?
And what Paul lays out for us this morning in the worship services are some responsibilities of those who serve in Christian leadership, ministers and elders. But he, also, lays out some of the responsibilities that we have toward them as they perform their leadership ministry.
So what I want to surface with you this morning is this. I want to surface with you a sermon that is shaped like a funnel.
Sermons come in all different sizes and shapes, don’t they? Some are long. Some are short. Some are well crafted. Some are constructed more like a Brillo pad, there is no beginning or ending.
This sermon is shaped like a funnel. In which I see Paul laying out three responsibilities of a brother who is a leader. And then I see him surfacing two responsibilities for the people of the church who are what I would like to call brothers who are followers. And then finally, he points out a responsibility for all who are leaders and all who are followers.
1) Responsibilities of a Servant Leader
First, three responsibilities of our brothers who serve as leaders. Verse 12, Paul says this: "Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord, and who admonish you."
Three responsibilities leaders must discharge:
a) Work Hard
First is this, Paul says that a person who is a leader is a brother who works hard. Now in the language that Paul was writing, he could have used any number of words. He could have used the word (let me illustrate it this way), he could have said, "Now we ask you brothers, to respect those who work among you …"
You know what it is like when you come home from the the factory, or from the office, and your husband or your wife say to you, "How was work today?" And you say, "I had a good day at work."
But then there are those days that we come home, when we are asked that question by the children or by a spouse, we are tempted to say, "Boy, did I work today. I really worked today!"
My mother was remarried when I was eight. And for the first time in my life my family planted a garden. I remember that first year going out and sitting next to the garden, perhaps a 12’ x 12’ plot, when my step-dad would go out to weed and to hoe. I could not wait for my opportunity to help.
He told me that when I had turned 9, he would buy me my own hoe, and I would go to the garden and work with him. In April, we were all given our chores for the planting. My mother planted the bell peppers. My step-dad planted the tomatoes and the beans. And my sister and I were assigned to the carrots and the corn.
And I remember daily pleading with my step-dad, "Can we go out in the garden and work today?" And for some time the answer would always be the same, "No, the weeds have not come up yet?"
I think I was being psychologically set-up. I think my step-dad wanted me to believe it was a privilege to work in the garden.
One day, he came to me and said, "Steve, let’s go work in the garden. I took my hoe that
Had been cut-off for my height, and my step-dad took his. I took my spot and began weeding between the peppers and the beans. And after what was probably 10 minutes, but seemed to me to be an eternity. I turned and said, "Dad, this is work." He glanced at me, smiled, and said," Yeah, isn’t it fun." And in my own little way I responded, "You don’t understand. I mean this is really work."
That is precisely the word that Paul uses here in 1 Thessalonians 5:12. To be a leader, to be a servant of Jesus Christ is work. You see what we have here, elders, is what is adequately translated in the New International Version, "You work hard."
There is no room for mediocrity. There is no room for shortcuts. There is no room for laziness in Christian leadership, is there?
b) Over You In the Lord
The second responsibility that Paul lays out before the leadership, this morning, is this. He refers not only to those who work hard, but also to those who are "over you in the Lord."
"Those who are over you in the Lord," now what does he mean by that? There are a lot of people today who are flaunting their authority, who are flaunting their power.
But when Paul says that (name of the elders) are over us in the Lord, it does not mean that they are our lords. It doesn’t mean that they are dictators.
But, rather, that little word, "those who are over you in the Lord", he means two things. Number one they provide guidance. And number two of one who is over us in the Lord it is one who provides care.
You see not because of who the elders are, are they over you in the Lord. Not because of who the preacher is, is he over you in the Lord. It is because of what they do, isn’t it?
Who is in charge of (Church name)? Not the preacher, not the elders, not a certain or certain families. The Lord Jesus Christ is in charge, isn’t he?
And only because of what the elders do, and only because of what the preacher does, in the servant leadership ministry, does one then find themselves in the position of leadership.
I think a lot of ministers need to be reminded of that (that it is not their church). I have difficulty with the thing of calling the preacher the pastor or the minister, as if there were no other pastors or ministers in the church. Many preachers seem to have the need to have the final say. Rather, ministers are not over us because of what they are, but because of what they do.
I want you to listen to a quotation from a book from a German Lutheran minister. His name is Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer said this:
The church does not need brilliant personalities, but faithful servants of Jesus Christ. Not in the former, but in the latter is the lack. The church will place its confidence only in the simple word of Jesus Christ, because it know then it will be guided, not according to human wisdom, but by the Word of the Good Shepherd. The question of trust, which is so closely related to the question of authority, will be answered by the faithfulness of the man, rather than by the extra ordinary talents which he possesses.
You see, what Dietrich Bonhoeffer was saying in 1938, is what Paul was saying nearly two thousand years ago. Leadership comes not because of who you are, but because of what we do.
And what do we do. Not only do we work hard. Not only are leaders "over us in the Lord". But thirdly, "those who admonish you."
c) Admonishes you
And that word admonish means once again, to encourage, to exhort, to rebuke, to lift up people who are down, to rebuke people when they need rebuking, to encourage when encouragement is needed.
The more I have pondered this one verse of Paul, it has occurred to me that verse 12 is like a sandwich. With one slice of bread being "those who work hard," and the other slice of bread being "those who admonish." But the meat of the matter being because they work hard and because they admonish you, they are "over you in the Lord."
Leaders, that is a significant charge, isn’t it (To work hard, to provide the care and guidance for people in the name of Jesus Christ, and to admonish)?
2) Responsibilities of Servant Followers
But, I don’t want to stop there. I want to notice, this morning, two responsibilities that this congregation had toward those in leadership ministry.
a) Knowledge and Appreciation
In verse 12, Paul says, and I think the King James Version says it best; "Now we ask you, brothers, to know those…"
You see there is not only a call for the leaders to know the members of this Church, but there is a call for the members of the Church to know their fellow servants.
You see, knowledge leads to appreciation doesn’t it? There is a plea in today’s churches that we have shepherds and we have flocks, and I think that is correct. I think it is right on target. But far too many times we can stress that the shepherd is to know the flock. And it becomes easy to forget that the New Testament stresses, equally so, that the sheep are to know the shepherd.
There is a call for the fathers and the mothers and the children among whom the leadership minister to know the leaders as a brother. They put on their trousers the same way we put on our trousers. They have to take a bath the same way as we take a bath. He has his moments of weakness, as well, that he faces his temptations, as well.
And when we have a deeper knowledge of one another, we can have a deeper appreciation for one another, can’t we?
b) Hold Them In Highest Regard Because of Their Work
There is a second responsibility that Paul lays out for those in this church. Vs. 13: "Hold them in highest regard because of their work." Hold them in highest regard. Again the King James Version says, "You esteem them highly because of their work."
One man wrote about this verse, "Effective leadership demands effective following." It does, doesn’t it?
I was talking to a mother and a father whose won wanted to go into youth ministry. But the mother did not want him to because she knew of all the criticism that he could receive. Maybe because of what he had done with the kids, maybe because of what he had said that would be the constant gnawing criticism.
My brother, when we do that we are dividing the church. Aren’t we?
That is not to say the leadership had no responsibilities. No their responsibilities are all summed up in vs. 12. Aren’t they?
So what are the responsibilities of the Church toward the leadership: to know and thereby appreciate them.
So we have got three responsibilities for a brother who is a leader. And we have two responsibilities for a brother who is a follower. There is a third responsibility.
3. Responsibility for All Servants
The third responsibility is for all of us. Last part of vs. 13: "Live in peace with each other."
The beginning of a ministry is like a marriage ceremony. Being chosen for church leadership is like a marriage ceremony. The honeymoon ends. Sometimes there are struggles. Sometimes there are disagreements. But the call remains the same, "Live in peace with each other."
That the relationship between those who serve as leaders and those who serve as followers is to be seen by our community as one without war, without struggles, without strife.
Conclusion
In 1986, Mother Teresa was being interview on 60 Minutes. Mother Teresa had shared about her leaving a teaching position with the upper classes in India. She shared that she had become burdened for those who had no hope or opportunities. She moved into the slums and ministered to the "untouchables" of society. As the interview drew to a close, Mike Wallace look at her and said, "Doesn’t it bother you that you gave up on the chance to be successful, that you have denied yourself so much?" But Mother Teresa responded with this quote, if which I will never forget these words, "God did not call me to be successful, but to be faithful."
