FOLLOW THE LEADER
1 Thess. 1:1-10 (p 835) Oct. 7, 2012
INTRODUCTION:
If you didn’t know this…I want to inform you that there is a Presidential election taking place next month on the 13th….WHAT!!!
You mean you already knew?!!!!
And yes I believe it’s important …yes I will vote and rejoice in the hard won privilege I have to do so…
The reason I believe it is so important is that leaders always determine the direction a people will go…whether those people are citizens under their authority, or employees under their oversight or a congregation following their shepherd’s.
And if I am a follower of Christ…I cannot put on or take off that mantle when viewing worldly politics.
Who am I going to vote for? Well…I’m going to vote for the individual that I best believe can oversee and lead our country through a Biblical world view…As the Holy spirit give me discernment, and I know there are individuals who adamantly believe that this person will do just that…and there are individuals that believe that the other person will accomplish just that…boot firm believers in what they believe.
The only time Jesus got somewhat political ….and this at a time when Herod sat on the throne (Herod wasn’t a nice man) was when he said “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s to God what is God’s…what was going on? Well it was a trap…Listen…
Matt 22: 15- 22 (p 699)
Why didn’t Jesus deal with the fact Caesar claimed to be God…butchered people in war…allowed “female babies to be left out for destruction and morally slept with whoever he wanted…? Why?
Because he’s afraid? I don’t think so…that’s how they tried to trap him “We know you teach the truth no matter who is confronted with it.”
And Jesus certainly isn’t teaching the separation of church and state as many expound.
I’m not Jesus so I can’t answer all those questions…but what Jesus does do is lead…and if you think Jesus was afraid of people in power…read Matt 23 every part of its in red except the intro which says, This Jesus said to the crowds and His disciples…your leaders…the Pharisees who oversee the law of Moses are… non-caring , publicly hounds, who lie for their own gain, they present a smiling well dressed exterior, but they are rotten and dead on the inside…their descendants are murderers..they’re snakes…they’ll have trouble escaping Hell…and because of them all the righteous blood that’s been shed on earth will come upon this generation…
Jesus had tons more to say about spiritual leaders than Caesar and Herod.
That really scares me…because I am one…not only am I accountable for my life, but by accepting that responsibility and calling, I’m accountable for my teaching and preaching in regards to you…and those under my care. I think that’s exactly what James mean when he says, “Not many of you should presume to be teacher’s my brothers because you know WE (James put himself in this category who teach will be judged more strictly.” (James 3:1)
Jesus told his followers….”Follow Me”,
So it’s natural for Paul, Silas, and Timothy to say to the Thessalonians…Follow us as we follow Jesus…Imitate us but how scary is that? It’s why not many should presume to be teachers, because unless you’re willing to live your life among those you teach…there’s no power…Listen…
TRUE LEADERSHIP ISN’T ABOUT WHO MAKES THE BEST SPEECHES
1 Thess. 1:1-6 (p835)
The words “we” “us” and “our” are used 8 times in verses 2-6…8 times in the opening sentences of Paul’s letter he says…we’re connected….we’re together in this journey…”You know how we lived among you for your sake”
I love how we’re given insight into one scripture by another…it’s hard to get a genuine picture of Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians without Acts chapter 17….It’s after Barnabas & Paul split over John Mark…you remember the sharp disagreement between the two because Barnabas wanted to give John Mark a 2nd chance after he deserted them on an earlier trip…Paul wanted nothing to do with him…So Barnabas went with John Mark and Paul went with Silas, and Timothy. It’s on this 2nd missionary journey that Paul and Silas come to Thessalonians…There’s a Jewish Synagogue there…and for 3 weeks Paul reasons with the people from scripture (what scripture? The Old Testament…the Septuagint. He used the Old Testament to explain and prove that Jesus is Christ…Listen
Acts 17: 2-4 (p 785)
Some Jews were persuaded, a lot more God fearing gentiles, and a bunch of prominent women…
The door to the Kingdom is wide open…
By Paul’s own admission he’s not the greatest orator…He’s not the greatest orator…He’s a smart and spirit filled apologist of the gospel…especially the resurrection….”Christ had to suffer and arise from the dead.”
But he’s only in the synagogue making these speeches for 3 weeks. Before the Jews in town get jealous and force Silas and he to flee in the middle of the night..
Here’s my question…do you think Paul and Silas got connected with these folks in those 3 speeches…not on your life…
Those speeches were truth…the fulfillment of prophecy…but you don’t get to a place where you thank God for people, remembering there faithful work, they’re genuine love, and their enduring hope in Jesus…speeches even Spirit inspired ones in the Church…especially in 3 weeks...unless “You live among them, be there for their sake…give them a flesh and blood example of what a follower of Jesus is…even in suffering…It’s here that the power of the Holy Spirit makes our speeches more than words…it’s during life shared over a paltry three weeks where “Koinania” is built to the level Paul says, “You become imitators of us and the Lord.”
[If you want to minister to students, you’d better share life with them…If you want to minister to Kids, you’d better share life with them and their parents..if you want to teach adults what the gospel is all about “your example has to go beyond the classroom…
And in our culture really creating the Holy Spirit powered “Koinania” fellowship is extremely difficult in all areas…why, because it takes time… and Satan is the God of busyness and work…busyness because our lives are filled with other stuff and worship and connection in god’s family is replaced with other connections…and work is essential…we have to do it for our families, but sometime, especially us men find our identity in work instead of in Christ.
That’s why Peter tells Elders as a fellow Elder…Shepherd the Flock of God, be examples that can be imitated…don’t do it for selfish reasons, or for the power…Serve as overseers…people who can keep the long picture in focus so we don’t get caught up in the little stuff…that cannot be done at a distance…it’s an investment of your life.]
[One of the worst things we’ve have done in the Elders American church is to teach people that Deacons are men that serve the building come to or monitoring leaders Board meeting…they make decisions…
In the New Testament Deacons…”Servants” are ministry leaders who are examples of Jesus heart among the people of God…It’s who they are…It’s not identified by “Speeches”, but lifestyle...connecting and serving in the body of Christ is a priority they live out in power and love..
Leaders, men and women alike know that the purpose of the church is to reach lost people for Jesus…both fun & gentile, men and women, and then help those they’ve reached become maturing growing followers of Christ…If we want to be a church that functions as Jesus intended we’d better focus on these characteristics more than Robert’s rules of order for Board meetings.
Deserving to be a minister, and elder, a Deacon or deaconess like Phoebe a ministering leader is important, but much less important than the fact your doing it already because it’s not the title the makes the individual…it’s the individual that makes the title…Holy isn’t the spirit title…it’s His work…His identity…]
There are very few apostles in the early church…only 12 overseeing thousands and thousands of people and the number is growing every day. Listen…
Acts 6: 1-7 (p 774)
The Spiritual “overseers”, Elders if you will of the infant church Big Picture people…their purpose…make disciples, baptize them, teach them (win lost people than help them grow up) that purpose hasn’t changed…it’s why Paul the Apostle is in Thessalonica and everywhere else…to make sure this remains they focus…they empower others to do ministry (people like Stephen who get it spiritually) so they can convince them to study the word of God…so they can present the apostle’s doctrine…and Pray…so they keep connected to God and reach others..
I still believe it’s the right plan…not often followed in many churches, that’s why leadership problem arise…but still the best plan…
Because “The essence of leadership is a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion…You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet according to Theodore Hesbourgh..
We teach what we know…but with God’s plan we reproduce what we are.
If you say imitate me by becoming a leader then it’s important they look like Jesus not the world.
I end today with this truth from our test…
I DISCIPLES WHO REALLY BELIEVE THE MESSAGE PASS IT ON.
Listen to these final verses in I Thess. 1: 7-10 once more.
1 Thess. 1: 7-10 (p 835)
These Thessalonians become a model to follow for other believers nearby, and beyond..
“The Lord’s message rang out to Macedonia, Achaia…everywhere from Thessalonica…
They put away their idols…God took 1st place in their lives…their faith became service and they couldn’t wait for Jesus to return…the one who rescues us from the coming wrath…
Paul says, “Look at them….Model their faith”
That’s why this message is for all of us because the question is…”Is My Faith Worth Modeling”…If someone imitate me would they look more like Jesus or more like the world….
The great Roman Road from the Adriatic Sea to the Middle East was called the Egnatian Way…and the main street through Thessalonica was actually part of this road…It ran fully East and fully West…and because of the Thessalonians faith it became a Christian Super Highway.]
Today Fern Creek is only limited by its vision…you can click a button and be in Australia never having touched a road. We’re located on one of the busiest thourofares in Louisville…The Bardstown road runs N-S and the Gene Snyder Freeway E-W…There is no real excuse for the faith that we have in God not be known everywhere…It all depends on our vision…if we can’t see past our parking lot we’ll never fulfill Jesus command.
If we don’t create a gospel Egnatian Way…it’s a dead end…and if we don’t give people the reception the same one that the Thessalonians give Paul, Silas, and Timothy…then we’ll never develop ministry leaders…just church attenders…and we’ll forget about the one who rescues us from the wrath to come…the one who was raised from the dead and recues the dead.
The things that determine who we’ll vote for in November are important…but if your God’s child, a disciple of Jesus…never lose sight of a more important election and glorification.
