What Does a Leader Look Like?
Matthew 24:4-5, 11; I Timothy 3:1-7
Introduction
Each Friday night after work, Bubba would fire up his outdoor grill and cook a venison steak. But, all of Bubba’s neighbors were Catholic....And since it was Lent, they were forbidden from eating meat on Friday. The delicious aroma from the grilled venison steaks was causing such a problem for the Catholic faithful that they finally talked to their priest.
The Priest came to visit Bubba, and suggested that he become a Catholic. After several classes and much study, Bubba attended Mass, and as the priest sprinkled holy water over him, he said, "You were born a Baptist, and raised a Baptist, but now you are a Catholic." Bubba’s neighbors were greatly relieved, until Friday night arrived, and the wonderful aroma of grilled venison filled the neighborhood.
The Priest was called immediately by the neighbors, and, as he rushed into Bubba’s yard, clutching a rosary and prepared to scold him, he stopped and watched in amazement. There stood Bubba, clutching a small bottle of holy water which he carefully sprinkled over the grilling meat and chanted: You wuz born a deer, you wuz raised a deer, but now you is a catfish.
You can claim to be a leader, or you may be called a leader by some, but that doesn’t make you a leader. Jesus gave us clear warning in Matthew 24 that false prophets and leaders would be coming in the last days.
Fakes
Matt. 24:4-5 “Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ’I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.”
Matt. 24:11 “And many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.”
What is alarming to me is not that he said false prophets and anti-christs would be coming, but he said many would be coming for the sole purpose of leading you and me away from Jesus. He also said this in the last few days of His life on earth making them in my mind of even greater importance and urgency so that we might be prepared.
We have seen and heard of a good number of these false prophets in the last few years. I am sure there are many more but I list a few of the better know anti-christs of our time.
Jim Jones (no relation) was responsible for the Guyana tragedy. On November 18, 1978 he commanded his followers to drink Kool-aid laced with cyanide. Many drank at gun point after some had refused only to be shot down by "devoted" followers of Jones. Jones thought he was the return of Christ and 913 followers were found dead. Jones began in San Francisco preaching redemption through Christ.
David Koresh was another one claiming to be the leader and Christ over the Branch Davidians in Waco, TX. We all watched and waited for the outcome of a siege on the "compound" in Waco only to be horrified that these people would follow this man to a fiery death. When David Koresh was 19 years old he became a born-again believer in a Southern Baptist church. It is obvious he was not in touch with Christ but claimed to be Christ.
Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda of Puerto Rico is the second coming of Christ according to him and his followers. He claims to have 100,000 followers with more being recruited through mass media and personal "evangelism". Congregations are cropping up everywhere under the Growing in Grace Organization. Two years ago he claimed to be Christ now just a few weeks ago he was on the news claiming to be the anti-christ. His followers were sporting their new 666 tattoos similar to the one on De Jesus’ forearm.
Jesus warns us that there will be false prophets and false teachers. We know false teachers infected the New Testament church from Gnosticism, mysticism, to Judaism. Based on the last few years, much less decades, it seems that part of the prophecy continues to be true.
How do we tell if someone is the genuine article? Scripture give us a clear picture of what a leader will look like. Not everyone will look the same physically, or even the same strengths, but I do think we have a clear understanding of the general characteristics of effective, God fearing, Christ like leadership in the New Testament.
Focus
Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task.
"If someone sets his heart" is what Paul says. The phrase literally means "to reach or stretch out as if to attain something". It implies a desire so strong that satisfaction and purpose in life can be attained through no other means than reaching the goal. The spiritual gift of pastor, elder, bishop, minister is so consuming, the person has no choice but to pastor or suffer an unfulfilled longing.
Illustration:
The trouble with being a leader today is that you can’t be sure whether people are following you or chasing you. (Bits & Pieces, February 4, 1993, p. 8.)
Illustration:
In typical fashion, when George Allen moved to Washington, D.C., as head coach of the Redskins, he promised the nation’s capital the moon. He told them it would be just a few seasons before he would develop the Redskins into a championship football team. He promised them the Super Bowl by the second season. The team had a brilliant preseason that first year. Then, early in the regular season, they won several amazing victories. It appeared the Redskins were to be lifted from their common role of loser to the uncommon role of winner.
As time passed, however, the inevitable occurred. They began to lose and lose and lose. The blame fell, at least in part, not on Coach George Allen, but on a quarterback named Sonny Jurgenson, in my opinion one of the most gifted and effective quarterbacks to ever play the game. Jurgenson possesses a quality I deeply admire: personal security. It seems as though no one can intimidate Sonny Jurgenson.
One day after another defeat, Sonny was getting ready to take a shower and go home. A sportswriter leaned over to him in the locker room and said, "Say, Sonny, be honest now. Don’t all these off-the-wall remarks we write and all this public flack disturb you? Doesn’t it make you want to quit when people throw things at you from the stands and when you get those dirty letters?"
Sonny just leaned back, gave a big, toothless grin, and sighed, "No, not really, I don’t want to quit. I’ve been in this game long enough to know that every quarterback, every week of the season, spends his time either in the penthouse or in the outhouse."
Sonny’s comment points out an important fact. It is true that if you are a leader, you spend your time either on the top or on the bottom. You seldom know what it’s like to be in between. You are either the hero or the villain. You are respected or you are virtually hated. People in leadership must live on the yo-yo of public opinion, under the gun of verbal jabs as well as on the crest of great admiration. Being "in the outhouse" is a lot more difficult than those choice times "in the penthouse." It’s when we are under verbal attack of the intimidating public that we show our colors.
I have discovered, after a number of years in the ministry, that this is true even in the spiritual realm. You commit yourself to a life of faith, you declare before God and man that you are going to walk with Him regardless, and suddenly, it happens! The enemy turns every gun he can upon you to blast you out of the saddle, to make you finish your season in defeat, to have you think that it’s really not worth it after all. (Charles Swindoll, Hand Me Another Brick.)
A Christ like leader has only one focus or direction, Jesus Christ. The pastor’s "job" is to lead, guide, and direct every person, every ministry, every area of the church, and in total, the church to serve and exalt Jesus Christ.
In New Testament times there were always more than one overseer in the church. These "elders" were men who demonstrated the same qualifications and thus could advise the pastor in matters of the church. Not only is this wise on a pastors part but it is a wise leadership skill.
If it is for prestige or for any other reason, it is wrong. Each of the men listed above as anti-christ’s exalted themselves. I even know a few today that exalt "their" ministry or "their" denomination or "their" particular writings or method. A pastor’s desire, above all else, is to first focus his and the church’s life on Jesus Christ.
But how can you as a congregation tell? Are there ways to determine if someone is genuine or pretending to be for Christ? Paul begins to give us the personal resume of a pastor who will lead in the right direction in I Timothy.
Faultless
Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)
"Now the overseer must be above reproach......."
The first qualification of overseer is that being blameless or above reproach (NIV). As a matter of fact, Paul says this is a must in a person’s life. How can one lead a flock if his own life is in chaos or conflict with God? It can not be done.
The moral characteristics are listed. He must be a "one woman man" as the original language says. Devoted and focused on one woman would be accurate. Remember, scripture is talking about the moral status of the believer not the marital status.
Illustration:
A group of ministers and a salesman’s organization were holding conventions in the same hotel, and the catering department had to work at top speed serving dinners to both. The salesmen were having spiked watermelon for dessert. But the chef discovered that it was being served to the ministers by mistake. "Quick!" he commanded a waiter. "Bring it back!" The waiter returned, reporting that it was too late. The ministers were already eating the liquor-spiced treat. "Do they like it?" asked the chef.
"Don’t know," replied the waiter, "but they’re putting the seeds in their pockets."
Temperate means "wine-less". It also precludes drunkenness which is listed later. Self controlled indicates a firm grip on his priorities in life. Respectable means a well ordered life. A man with priorities in focus will also have his life in order around those priorities.
Hospitable literally means "to love strangers". Sometimes it is easier to love strangers than those you know. And an elder should be a teacher or gifted in the preaching/teaching area of ministry since he will be sought out for teaching/preaching, counsel, and guidance. He is to be gentle and not quarrelsome but looking to bring peace to man from God and man to man as is the message of the gospel.
The conclusion is that if a man is called, filled with the Spirit, gifted to pastor then he will be leading a life that tells you to whom he belongs. He is one that leads a life that will not bring condemnation on himself or the Lord.
If you are looking for someone who is perfect or someone who is sinless, stop your search, He died 2000 years ago and is currently unavailable sitting at the right hand of the Father.
There are no perfect or sinless pastors. What you look for is someone who intimately knows the Perfect Shepherd and follows Him closely and is called to lead His people and gifted accordingly. The public character of a shepherd is of great importance in seeking a genuine leader. But how do you tell what a leader is like in private?
Family
He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)
Another sign of an overseer’s ability to lead is his family. Look at the man’s family and what do you see. You see a reflection of what he does consistently at home. The family is the first place to look for signs of leadership or lack thereof.
Illustration:
According to a Focus on the Family study of more than 500 family counselors, the following are the top traits of successful families: *Communicating and listening *Affirming and supporting family members *Respecting one another *Developing a sense of trust *Sharing time and responsibility *Knowing right from wrong *Having rituals and traditions *Sharing a religious core *Respecting privacy.
The list I have just read also resembles the list associated with effective leaders in the church with one major difference. All of it needs to focus on and around the Lord and His Word. As scripture states, if a man can’t manage his family he has no business leading the church family.
Finances
"not a lover of money."
What would believers find in your wallet? Would it give indication that you seek to further the kingdom through the first fruits? Are you at the elementary level of giving a tenth or are you growing beyond and giving your offerings as well? For a pastor or leader it is one area that shows whether he loves the Lord or doesn’t.
Another area that sheds light on leadership has to do with finances. Jesus said in 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.
Illustration:
Godfrey Davis, who wrote a biography about the Duke of Willington, said, "I found an old account ledger that showed how the Duke spent his money. It was a far better clue to what he thought was really important than the reading of his letters or speeches."
How we handle money reveals much about the depth of our commitment to Christ. That’s why Jesus often talked about money. One-sixth of the gospels, including one out of every three parables, touches on stewardship. Jesus wasn’t a fundraiser. He dealt with money matters because money matters. For some of us, though, it matters too much. (Our Daily Bread, August 26, 1993.)
"Where your treasure is there your heart is also".........
Faithful
He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.
The Greek word for conceited is from the root word tuphoo, which means smoke. It means to puff up like a big cloud of smoke. It would signify someone who is full of himself. Scripture identifies the sin as pride, the devil’s sin and truly, the root of all sin.
The word for reputation is from the word "maturia", our word would be martyr. The community should see the pastor or overseer as one who is spoken well of in the community. He must be the same outside the church as he is inside the church.
B.B. Warfield says, "A minister must be learned, on pain of being utterly incompetent for his work. But before and above being learned, a minister must be godly. Nothing could be more fatal, however, than to set these two things over against one another. Recruiting officers do not dispute whether it is better for soldiers to have a right leg or a left leg: soldiers should have both legs".
During Vietnam the average life expectancy of a second lieutenant landing in a hot zone was not very long. They lacked the experience, that seventh sense of combat. Most were severely injured if not killed because they were not forged in the fire of combat.
What do you look for in a genuine leader? One who is the same in the home, community, and church. A genuine leader is a person who not only speaks of Christ but lives the life of Christ in his life wherever he is. He talks the talk and walks the walk no matter where he is and who he is with.
This "list" would not be a bad check list for us this morning as we examine ourselves. After all, these are signs of a mature servant of the Lord. All of us who claim to be in Christ ought to be on our way to resembling the "mature" believer. Where do you need to begin today?
