Title: Christian Leadership
Text: 1 Corinthians 4:1-7
Truth: Christian leaders are servants of Christ and stewards of the gospel.
Aim: I want the church to understand the qualities needed in deacons.
Life ?: What are the marks of Christian leaders?
INTRODUCTION
A deacon, who was full of himself, was teaching a boy Sunday School class. He was working hard to stress the importance of living a Christian life. With an air of arrogance he asked, “Why do people call me a Christian?” After an awkward silence one of the little guys said, “Maybe it’s because they don’t know you.”
The last Sunday of this month we will elect new deacons. You have the biblical qualifications on the bulletin insert. In 1 Corinthians 4 Paul deals with how the church is to think about its leaders. In the first four chapters of 1 Corinthians Paul is addressing divisions in the church. The church was divided over different pastors that lead the church. Paul was horrified by this worldly behavior.
In chapter 3:5 he asks, “What is Apollos? What is Paul?” He doesn’t say “who” but “what.” It is a way to denigrate himself and Apollos. In chapter 4:1 he tells them how they should think about Christian leaders. Christian leaders are servants of Christ and stewards of the gospel. These qualifications are not just for ministers. They apply to all church leaders. Those two pictures provide guidance as we select deacons for our church.
What are the marks of Christian leaders?
I. CHRISTIAN LEADERS ARE SERVANTS WITH ONE MASTER (1 COR. 4:1-5 )
How is a church to view Christian leaders? He is not the church boss. The church already has a boss, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Christian leaders are servants and their Master is Jesus Christ.
My first pastorate was a country church. It had a gravel parking lot. One Sunday after church one of our good deacons, Chuck Luthi, came into the church chuckling. He said some of the kids were throwing gravel. He told them to stop throwing gravel; they were going to hit the cars. One of my daughters, the third one to be exact, about four or five years of age said, “I don’t have to. My daddy owns this place.” Well, I may be the leader but I’m certainly not the owner or boss.
There are other parts of the Bible that speak of the dignity and nobility of the office of pastor and deacon. These men deserve to receive respect from the church. Knowing the whole Bible helps people think and act appropriately toward the leaders of the church. Paul is intentional in using this picture because he is addressing the problem of divisiveness in the church. The word “servants” means literally, “under rower.” In the bottom of Roman ships slaves would man oars to row the ship. If you’ve seen the movie Ben Hur, this is what Charleton Heston did as a slave. By Paul’s day the word simply referred to a subordinate. It retained its humble connotations. We mean the same thing when we speak of an underling. A good dose of humility would resolve many of these divisive issues. The church’s leadership sets the tone and provides the model by remembering they are servants of Christ.
The Bible teaches that deacons and pastors are servants of the church. Pastors are called to serve the church through the teaching of the Word and prayer. But fundamental for all church leaders—pastors, deacons, Sunday School teachers, program leaders—they are called to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. They are servants with only one Master.
This is comforting. Jesus is a much kinder and fairer master than people. Read v. 3-4.
The primary goal of the Christian leader is not to win a popularity contest with people outside or inside the church. In the final analysis, on the last day, there is only one Person that it matters that we have pleased. We live to hear Jesus say, “Well done!”
We all want to be liked. But one of the prerequisites to being a leader of any group is the willingness to make the difficult decision for the good of the group, even if you will be misunderstood and criticized. Some churches have never reached their potential or are constantly in turmoil because the deacons are more committed to being liked than serving the Lord Jesus Christ.
It’s not even Paul’s own estimate of his ministry that is important. Paul is not forbidding self-examination. He frequently recommends self-examination. In 2 Corinthians 13:5 he says examine yourself to see if you are in the faith. In Philippians 3:12 and following he speaks of his self-examination so that he wins the prize. What he means in this text is his own evaluation of his ministry is not the most important. His conscience is clear. He is not aware of any disqualifying sin or failure in his life. But he doesn’t know everything about his heart. Many people with a clear conscience can be self-deceived or grossly ignorant of their sin. At the end of the day there is only one opinion that is significant—v. 4.
Joseph Parker was a popular preacher in London, England in the late 1800’s. He was the pastor of the large City Temple. One Sunday as he was going to the pulpit a woman in the balcony tossed a piece of paper on the platform before him. He picked it up and read it. It contained one word, “Fool.” He announced to the congregation that he had received many letters in his lifetime where the person failed to sign their name. But this was the first time he’d received a note and the person signed their name but failed to write a letter.
If you’ve had a job where you served the public, you know they can be mean, demanding, and very unfair. What’s true of the public is true of the church. The church is not always a family that is easy to live with. Deacons and pastors can be comforted in knowing that the One that will ultimately judge their ministry is a much kinder and fairer Master than the church. Church leaders are servants with only one Master.
Deacons and pastors who are worthy of their leadership will do all in their power to live at peace with the church. They will seek to win the church’s confidence and respect. But their ultimate allegiance is to Jesus Christ not to any group or leader in the church or any tradition. If there is a clash of wills, because the church refuses to follow the purposes and priorities of Jesus Christ, then so be it. The leaders of the church are to stand at that fork that leads to righteousness and do all they can to turn the church away from the path of disobedience.
To be a servant and know that Christ is your master is comforting but it is also challenging. Read v. 5.
The church at Corinth tended to write various leaders off because they didn’t evaluate them as successful. Paul tells them they don’t know the end of the story. Some, who start out poorly, finish with a floury of success. Abraham Lincoln lost almost every time he ran for political office until he ran for President! Let God do the judging.
The church at Corinth was not to be judgmental and rejecting of its leaders because they couldn’t see the real motives of these leaders. But what is hidden to us stands exposed to God. We can all name well-known preachers who were greatly gifted and drew huge crowds, but their hearts were seething swamps of lust, arrogance, and ambition. There are others less gifted who struggle against major disappointments and failures, but the singular cry of their heart is, “Here am I, Lord. Send me. Make me as holy, as useful, as a forgiven sinner can be.” Who can know these things but God? So, Paul says to the church, withhold your criticism and rejection about whom is great and good.
This challenges every person given a leadership position in this church to consider the real motives that cause them to dedicate their time, energy, and money to their particular ministry.
The paragraph ends by pointing to that magnificent day of reward for all that served their one Master with devotion and purity. On that day they will be praised by the One who has endured their repeated rebellion and who saved us at the cost of His own Son’s life.
In the introduction of his book, Coercion, Douglas Rushkoff describes how our minds are a battlefield that is constantly bombarded by society’s attempt to persuade us. One chapter is titled, "They Say." Writes Rushkoff, "They say human beings use only 10 percent of their brains. They say polyunsaturated fat is better for you than saturated fat… They say our children's test scores are declining… They say you can earn $15,000 a week in your spare time… They say the corner office is the position of power… They say mutual funds are the best long-term investment… They say you haven't met your deductible." To this Rushkoff responds pointedly, "Who are 'they' exactly, why do they say so much, and why do we listen?" (Jill Carattini)
Our lives are saturated with information and ideas. We’re overwhelmed by voices vying for out attention. We are constantly bombarded with distractions that compete for our allegiance. How do we listen to the right voice? How do we protect ourselves from harmful distractions?
Remember, you are a servant. You have only one Master. He knows you thoroughly and longs for the day to reward your allegiance. Live each day actively remembering Him and seeking to please Him. This is the kind of man we want to be a deacon in our church. He knows he is a servant and he has only one Master.
Another mark of Christian leaders is Christian leaders are stewards with one assignment.
II. CHRISTIAN LEADERS ARE STEWARDS WITH ONE ASSIGNMENT (1 CORINTHIANS 4:1-2)
The word “steward” is not used but its meaning is here. A steward was a trustee. He managed the household affairs of the owner. He was given great responsibility. This is what Joseph did for Potiphar and for the prison warden and ultimately, for the Pharaoh of Egypt. Basically, he was to give to others what was given to him.
What was the particular responsibility assigned to Christian leaders? They were entrusted with the secret things of God. The secret things of God refer to those truths that could have never been known apart from God revealing them to us. God revealed to us that Jesus the peasant from Nazareth was the Son of God and that his death on the cross paid the penalty for our sins. God revealed that salvation is by grace through faith apart from good works. God revealed that the nature of the church was that Gentile and Jew were equally accepted before God.
Paul said that his main task as a steward was to distribute the revelation of God. The most important quality needed was reliability.
Of course, the first application of these words is to pastors. God has entrusted the Word of God to preachers to explain it to the church. First and foremost, pastors are to be teachers of the Bible. Their subject is provided. They don’t have to make up what to say. Preachers are to faithfully distribute the revelation of the Word of God.
It is easy to be an unfaithful steward of God’s Word. Neglecting serious study and speaking off the cuff is being an unfaithful steward. Manipulating the Bible to say what you want it to mean and supporting personal biases or preaching one message and living another is being an unfaithful steward.
But these requirements of faithfulness are applicable to the layman as much as the pastor or deacon. When you look at the list of qualifications for church leadership in I Timothy 3 there are only two qualifications for pastors that don’t apply to every Christian. He is not to be a recent convert and he needs to have a gift for teaching. All the other qualifications apply to every Christian.
When it comes to deacons, look for men who understand they are managers of the gifts of God. They have been trustworthy in the use of spiritual gifts, time, money, and family for the advancement of the testimony of Jesus Christ. They are stewards with one assignment—spread the message of Jesus Christ.
Our deacons have three major responsibilities in fulfilling this assignment. Based on Acts 6 our deacons are asked to relieve the pastor of pastoral duties so he can spend time in study of the Word and prayer. Our deacons are asked to resolve problems in the fellowship so we are a loving testimony of Jesus Christ. Our deacons are asked to provide wise counsel to the pastor as they seek to lead our church in fulfilling the assignment of spreading the message of Jesus Christ.
In v. 6-7 Paul implies that he has been speaking impersonally but now he applies it to Apollos and Paul. Judging one preacher over another is elevating some quality over another and that goes beyond what the Bible teaches in evaluating Christian servants and stewards. If you’re going to take pride in anything let it be Christ and him crucified. Besides, if you received some special gift at the particular hand of a Christian leader isn’t that one of God’s gifts? This is a cause for thankfulness. In fact, can you put your hand on anything that’s not a gift from God? Good health, long life, a comfortable lifestyle, all these things are gifts from God.
Paul puts his finger on the problem with the church at Corinth. They were a prideful, judgmental people. This even carried over to evaluating those who faithfully served Christ in teaching the message of the cross.
Hallmark has a card that reflects the spirit of our day. It says, “I can’t promise you forever, but I can promise you today.” That depth of commitment is reflected in too many church members. The deacon is to be a man that is faithful to carry out his assignment.
Suppose a man says he loves his wife but then he commits adultery. You can call him a liar. You can call him a cheat. But most likely you will call him unfaithful. No matter how loudly he shouts he loves his wife, you will not believe him because his faithlessness negates his claim.
It’s difficult to take some serious when they say they love the Lord but their attendance to church is spotty, there giving is virtually nonexistent, and they have no place they regularly serve the Lord. Say what they may; it is just difficult to believe them because faithfulness and love go together.
Everyone experiences discouragement. Everyone gets disappointed. Everyone wants to quit. But there are some that will not quit. They are faithful to the assignment God has given them.
A young man applied for a job as a farmhand. When the farmer asked for his qualifications he said, “I can sleep when the wind blows.” This puzzled the farmer, but he liked the young man and hired him.
A few days later, the farmer and his wife were awakened in the night by a violent storm. They quickly began to check things out to see if all was secure. They found that the shutters of the farmhouse had been securely fastened. A good supply of logs had been set next to the fireplace. The young man slept soundly.
The farmer and his wife inspected their property. They found that the farm tools had been placed in the storage shed, safe from the elements. The barn was properly locked. Even the animals were calm. All was well.
The farmer understood the meaning of the young man’s words; “I can sleep when the wind blows.” Because the farmhand did his work loyally and faithfully when the skies were clear, he was prepared for the storm when it broke. So when the wind blew, he was not afraid. He could sleep in peace. (Adrian Dieleman)
There was nothing heroic or significant in the farmhand’s preparations. He just faithfully carried out his duties. The result was peace in a storm. We’re not asking these men to do dramatic acts. Some of the things they are asked to do are rather mundane. They lock up the church after services. They visit members in the hospital or call on the homebound. But the most important thing they do is set an example before this church of Christian men who faithfully serve Christ by their life and witness so that the gospel can go forth to others.
CONCLUSION
As you consider the men and their wives, who will serve this church for the next three years as deacon and wife, who are the men are servants with only one Master? Who are the stewards and live as if they have only one assignment? Those are the men who should serve as deacons of Northeast Baptist.
