LEARNING TO LEAD
Retreat Session 2
A husband and his wife got up one Sunday morning and the wife got ready for church. It was almost time for them to leave when she noticed her husband wasn’t dressed yet. Perplexed, she asked, "Why aren’t you getting dressed for church?" He said, "I don’t want to go”. She asked, "Why don’t you want to go to church?" He said, "I have three good reasons. First, the church is cold. Second, no one likes me. And third, I just don’t want to go. The wife replied, wisely, "Well, honey, I have three reasons why you should go. First, the congregation is warm. Second, there are a few people there who do like you. And third, you’re the pastor! So get dressed!"
While this in no way describes where I am at this morning it is unfortunately the feelings that many have who God has called into leadership in churches today. Today we are talking about learning how to lead. God is calling us as men to mature in our faith. One mark of maturity is leadership. Leading ourselves first, then our families and then the church.
1Ti 3:1 Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self- controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 5 If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?
Leadership is a noble task but leaders can often become discouraged. Leadership in the church can be very difficult and takes a special kind of calling. As one author put it:
Christian leadership is both a meaningful and maddening vocation. -- Jay Kesler
Luke 5:1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, 2 he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." 5 Simon answered, "Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets." 6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men." 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
Jesus had a problem, though it isn’t one that I have ever had. He is giving a message and the longer he talked the greater the crowd became (usually it is the opposite with me). He wants to address the people but He was also wanting to begin calling His disciples and building a leadership team. Jesus is still looking for disciples today. This passage talks about the kind of people Jesus is looking for to use in building His church:
1. People of Action – not just talkers but doers (vs. 1-3)
There were 2 boats there, why did Jesus choose Peter’s? Jesus could have easily rowed out by himself but instead gives Peter a test. Jesus had a problem and gave Peter the opportunity to help him with it. Peter responds by helping, by being part of the solution.
Leading a church can be difficult. When looking for people to lead it is important to find people who are willing to help you to turn problems into solutions. Leaders are people who run towards difficulties instead of running away from them. There are always lots of problems in every church and there are always those who are quick to point them out to you. They come with lots of ideas and issues and often are very capable to do what it takes to resolve the issue. The problem is that they refuse to be part of the solution.
In leadership we need to look not for problem bringers but for problem solvers. Jesus wants people who not only point out issues but become part of the solution. Next time the Lord lays on your heart an idea or issue and you get the urge to come to me and say, “Pastor, we need this or that - and you need do something about it.” Instead of that say “I see this as an opportunity and I am willing to help make this a reality”
In the simplest terms, a leader is one who knows where he wants to go, gets up, and goes. -- John Erskine
2. People of Direction – they follow orders (vs. 4-7)
After teaching the people, Jesus asks Peter to go farther out into the water and let down the nets. Put yourself in Peter’s shoes. He has been fishing all night. Some people here love to fish and the idea of fishing all night sounds wonderful – but in this case they had caught nothing! Peter was washing and mending the nets which was a long process. To let the nets out again would mean they would have to be washed again! Jesus was not a fisherman, and Peter knew that the fish moved out into deep water during the day and it would be impossible to catch any at that time. Even though Peter knew better and understood that it would make more work for him, he responded, “because you say so, I will …”
If you want to underline a verse in the Bible, underline that one because it should be the cry of every follower of Christ. No matter what we think or feel, ultimately whatever God says is what we do. We must live our lives with this attitude “because you say so, I will.”
There are many gifted people that are oriented for action but they have their own agendas when it comes to leadership. They are lone rangers who will not work on a team or follow directions.
I attended a conference with Larry Stockstill, pastor of Bethany World prayer centre, a church of 10,000 in Baton Rouge. He mentioned that one of the people he depended on the most was a man on his staff who always answered in 5 simple words “I am on my way”.
3. People of Humility - they give God the credit (vs. 8-9)
Why did Jesus ask Peter to let down the nets and then give them the record catch? I think it was a test. A test I probably would have failed. I know what I might have done in that situation, “Wow, look at all the fish I caught!” How many fish does it take to almost sink a boat – a LOT! Maybe he looked at the pile and thought “Who would have known that at this time of day I could have caught so many fish!! I must be the greatest fisherman of all time.”
Peter did not respond that way. Instead the miracle served as a reminder to him of the fact that Jesus was in control and He was the one who deserved credit. Instead of seeking to exalt himself as a success, the catch only drove Peter to his knees to recognize his own failures.
Success in any ministry is God’s and not our own. No matter how excellent and inspiring the worship, it is God through His Spirit that brings real change. No matter how great a message I might give, nothing good of it will come except through God. We could have Hillsong doing the worship and Billy Graham do an altar call and still see no fruit. Saying this does not mean that we should not strive for excellence. We should seek to do everything well. At the same time we recognize that anything good that happens is from God.
4. People of Vision – they see the bigger picture (vs. 10)
Imagine coming back with all those fish. They could be taken to market and make lots of money. Imagine the joy and excitement when they got back to the shore. It’s like the salesman who has just had the best year of sales in his life or the athlete that is at the top of his game. Jesus turns their focus from success in catching fish to catching men. Instead of just giving their lives to catching fish, they could be part of something changing the destinies of mankind.
At Urbana 1996, Tony Campolo said something that I will always remember. He said – “the world already has enough doctors. We have enough teachers. We certainly have more than enough lawyers. You have one life to live. Why not spend it on something that matters, that will make an eternal difference.”
It’s great to succeed. It feels wonderful to win. However, it is even better to succeed at things that will last. It’s great to do well in the marketplace, but if you are going to really be successful don’t work for dollars but work for destinies. We need to live our lives with an eternal perspective. What are we working for and will it last.
A leader is a person with a magnet in his heart and a compass in his head. -- Vance Havner
Steve Sjogren is the pastor of a Vineyard in Cincinnati, Ohio. One Monday morning he was feeling particularly discouraged and announced to his wife Janie, "I’m quitting the ministry! And this time I mean it." Janie had heard this kind of talk before so she suggested, "Why don’t you go for a drive and think things through? Usually that helps when you’re stressed out. And while you’re out, could you be a sweetheart and pick me up a burrito?" Steve drove around for about an hour, complaining to the Lord the whole time. Finally, he was in the fast-food drive-thru to pick up Janie’s burrito when he sensed the Lord speaking to him. He says it was not an audible voice ... nothing came over the drive-thru speaker. In a subtle, quiet way he sensed the Lord impressing this message on his heart, "If you open your door I will give you a gift." Even though he felt silly, Steve figured he had nothing to lose, so he opened the car door, looked down and saw embedded in the asphalt, a tarnished penny. This is what he wrote about the experience: “I reached down to pry out the coin and held in my hand feeling less than thankful for this ’gift.’ The Lord spoke to me again: ’Many people in this city feel about as valuable as discarded pennies. I’ve given you the gift of gathering people who seem valueless. Though these are the people that the world casts off, they have great value to me. If you will open your heart, I will bring you more pennies than you know what to do with." Paul writes to Timothy, "... I can endure all these things for the sake of those whom God is calling, so that they too may receive the salvation of Christ Jesus..." 2 Timothy 2:10.
5. People of Sacrifice - they are willing to leave it all behind (vs. 11)
Although they had just brought in the greatest catch they had ever had, they left everything behind – even the pile of fish they had just caught. Being a disciple of Jesus will always cost you. It will mean that you have to lay aside certain things that could be very meaningful to you.
The tenders of vision are often lonely, usually unpopular, and frequently demand that others change. People with a vision inject ambiguity, risk and uncertainty into our lives. -- Max DePree
The writer of Hebrews understood the difficulties involved in leadership. He gave these wise words to the church to encourage them to take care of their leaders:
Heb 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.
It is not easy being a leader. Peter James and John passed this test and they all went on to become disciples of Jesus, In fact, they were the inner core, His most trusted followers. Jesus is still calling out disciples. He is still building His team. He is looking for those who will step up and serve. Will you follow?
Late one evening a professor sat at his desk working on the next day’s lectures. He shuffled through the papers and mail placed there by his housekeeper. He began to throw them in the wastebasket when one magazine--not even addressed to him but delivered to his office by mistake--caught his attention. It fell open to an article titled "The Needs of the Congo Mission." The professor began reading it idly, but then he was consumed by these words: "The need is great here. We have no one to work the northern province of Gabon in the central Congo. And it is my prayer as I write this article that God will lay His hand on one--one on whom, already, the Master’s eyes have been cast--that he or she shall be called to this place to help us." The professor closed the magazine and wrote in his diary: "My search is over." He gave himself to go to the Congo. The professor’s name was Albert Schweitzer. That little article, hidden in a periodical intended for someone else, was placed by accident in Schweitzer’s mailbox. By chance he noticed the title, which seemed to leap out at him. Dr. Schweitzer became one of the great figures this century in a humanitarian work nearly unmatched in human history.
