What To Look For In A Leader Series

This past week Dr. Charles Stanley passed away. There is no denying that he had a tremendous influence in American Christianity over the past few decades, and ultimately, that’s what leadership is—influence. Dr. Stanley became well-known for teaching through a series of 30 Life Principles built on biblical truth. But the one that he became most noted for, and was quoted most in light of his recent passing, was this one: “Obey God and leave the consequences to him.” In other words, our responsibility is simply faithfulness…which means we obey and then let HIM decide how to work THROUGH our faithfulness. For the past few months, we have been teaching through the book of 2 Corinthians. Last week in chapter 10, Paul taught us how to a leader should respond to criticism in way that glorifies God. The context of his letter was that his leadership as an apostle was being questioned by those who had been influenced by a group of false teachers who were impressive on the outside, but wicked on the inside.

And now in chapter 11, Paul is going to show us the heart of a godly leader. And let me give this disclaimer right here at the beginning of our time together. Anytime we study God’s Word about what it means to be a faithful leader, especially when it’s in the context of church leadership, there is a temptation to think, “I am not in a position of leadership so this doesn’t really apply to me today.” But leadership is ultimately about influence, not position. And because this is true, everyone in the room today has some measure of leadership that has been entrusted to them by God. So the question is not IF you are leading; the question is are you leading in a way the brings glory to God, and good to others? And the foundation of this type of leadership starts in the heart, not the hands. So let’s look together at the first six verses of 2 Corinthians 11 to get us started this morning in a message titled “What To Look For In a Leader.”

2 Corinthians 11:1-6

I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! 2 For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. 5 Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. 6 Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things.

Our pastors have all confessed in recent weeks that if any one of us had written this letter to the church at Corinth, it would have been the shortest book in the Bible –out of sheer frustration for what was going on, it would have simply read, “Dear Church, you are dead to me. Love, your favorite Apostle.” But fortunately for us, Paul loved this church too much to give up on them. And today, rather than walking away in disgust, Paul’s going to defend himself as a true minister of the gospel, and in doing so, we’re going to see three attributes of a godly and faithful leader.

1. GODLY LEADERS ARE FAITHFUL TO PROTECT OTHERS – vs. 1-6

So much of the content in every one of Paul’s letters to this particular church focused on correction for things they should have easily known by now. But even though Paul couldn’t be with them physically, he wanted to do everything he could for them spiritually. We can contrast Paul’s love for the church to what we have seen over the past several years where people have used their leadership positions to ABUSE people instead of using their positions to PROTECT people.

I want you to hear this clearly – whatever measure of leadership God has entrusted you with in life, you have a responsibility before God to use your influence to protect those who are vulnerable. And Paul, understanding the vulnerability of the Corinthian church (remember, they didn’t have the Bible yet as their ultimate guide to truth), was willing to stand up to these gospel bullies even if it meant subjecting his own life and ministry to unfair criticism.

In verse 2, Paul uses a word that is typically seen in the negative, to describe his love for the members of this church—the word is jealousy. “2 For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.” Dad’s in the room can probably relate to the Jewish tradition in which Paul was raised, where it was the obligation of the father of the bride to safeguard his daughter’s chastity. So Paul is feeling the outrage of a father whose daughter has been seduced by another man on the eve of her wedding. And the reason Paul calls this DIVINE jealousy is because it mimics the jealousy of God towards his people—God, our creator, is grieved when someone or something steals our loyalty and devotion.