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Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording including sermon title, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these words. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copies and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
Leadership Training Lesson 1
Loyalty in the Life of a Christian
Section I What is loyalty?
1)Remaining true and faithful to a cause, a person, a promise, duty or obligation
2)Having consistency of action and steadfastness of purpose
3)Having integrity
4)Keep your promises and be trustworthy
5)Unwavering, firmly fixed, immovable and established
Section II How is Loyalty Exhibited?
1) You must have the heart of a servant. Develop the same attitudes that Christ had toward being a servant!
Philippians 2:7-8, "But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."
2) There must be a consistency in your edification of those that God has placed in positions of authority over you and those around you.
Loyalty means that I will not listen to gossip or engage in negative talk about anyone. If I am loyal to you, I don’t want to hear about every mistake or dwell on your faults. I prefer to think of your good qualities and your character.
Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
How can I say that I am loyal to you and listen to someone tear you down?
3) If I want to be Loyal I must first learn to be open and honest in all my communications with God and my fellowman.
Ephesians 4:29, "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”
Section III Who deserves your loyalty?
1) Your loyalty should always be directed upwardly first.
Matthew 6:33, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."
God’s first commandment given to Moses on Mt. Sinai was, Exodus 20:3, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."
So our first place of loyalty is to God himself and no other. No pastor, friend, family member or anyone else should ever take the first place in our lives.
2) Secondly, your loyalty must be directed toward your church to build it up and to make it into a soul saving station.
3) Your Pastor deserves your loyalty because He is responsible for your spiritual welfare.
Twice in the Bible we hear the warning from God, first in I Chronicles 16:22 and again in Psalm 105:15. “Touch not mine anointed and do my prophets no harm.”
4) Your other church leaders deserve your loyalty for the same reasons. God has placed them where they are. We won’t always agree with one another and sometimes we may get angry over some issue, but that should never destroy our loyalty unless that leader is doing things that are contrary to the Word of God.
5) We should be loyal to our brothers and sisters in Christ because we are all of one family and should be working together in unity to see that the body stays healthy.
6) We should also have loyalty to those friends and family who have proven their loyalty and trust to you. Not every one who calls himself “friend” or “brother” will be loyal to you.
What criterion establishes where loyalty should be placed?
1)Who has shown loyalty to you? Is there someone who has stood by you through thick and thin, through all the storms of life? Who has stayed by your side when you were wrong and when you were right? Has there been anyone who has shown loyalty to you no matter what happened? That is who deserves your loyalty, and no other!
Who should you seek guidance and counseling from?
Illustration:
I read a short story once where a couple had left their home to go on a trip from New York’s Grand Central Station to the Main Terminal in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and back. Their journey was by train in the early days of America, and it was to be a mostly uneventful and short trip of only a few days.
When they reached Grand Central Station, the crowds were tremendous with people going in every direction, loudspeakers constantly announcing the departure and arrival of trains to and from many destinations. It was all so confusing to this couple who had not traveled much before.
Soon the wife began to give advice to her husband, “Why don’t you go ask that man which way we should go? He seems to be pretty knowledgeable.”
As any husband knows, we hate to ask anyone for directions but would rather find it for ourselves than to appear ignorant. This man decided right then and there to cure his wife of this once and for all so that’s just what he did.
Each time they would appear to be lost he would take his wife’s advice and ask for directions and every time he would follow those directions to the letter. Soon they were on the wrong trains, going to cities that were far from Philadelphia. This went on for quite some time until they found themselves in the city of Calcutta, India.
It was then that the wife decided to quit giving instructions and told her husband to use his own judgment. “Use your own judgment”, she said. “I just want to go home.”
Soon they were on a steamer and entering New York Harbor.
The point is this – don’t take advise and counsel from anyone who doesn’t have anything to lose by giving you the wrong directions or you may wind up where you don’t want to be.
Does the person you talk to have as much to lose as you do if the advice he gives is wrong?
Does he have a vested interest in your life? Has he done anything or helped you in any way that gives him the right to advise you?
Too many people have shipwrecked their lives by listening to too many people give them advise when it didn’t matter to them whether it was right or wrong.
That’s why your first loyalty is to God!
Jesus paid the biggest price of all for you. He died on the cross for you. You can rest assured that His counsel, from His Word, will always be true and faithful.
John 17:17, "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."
Why seek counsel or advise from any other source but God? Because too many people don’t recognize the voice of God when He speaks or because they are too lazy to study His Word!
If you must seek counsel from any man, then whom should you seek it from?
1)Pastor – he is responsible for your eternal soul. He has spent time in prayer, study and ministry to do all that he can do to make your life better and your salvation sure. But beware; he is only a man and subject to make mistakes just as anyone else. Prove every word of his counsel by the Word of God before you take it.
He stands to lose if you lose through bad counsel. First, he stands to lose your loyalty and confidence in his leadership ability. Secondly, he stands to lose you as a member of his congregation. Thirdly, and most importantly, he knows that giving you bad instructions can often lead to backsliding and then he will have to answer to God at judgment for your soul.
2)Special Friends and Family members such as spouse or parents can be used to obtain counsel under some circumstances.
Special friends are very hard to find and are valuable. This is type of friend who has spent time and effort over a long period of time to understand you and love you under all circumstances. They won’t want to give you bad advice that would put that friendship in danger. They stand to lose almost as much as you do.
Some family members are closer than others and many times we cannot counsel with family because they haven’t worked at building a close relationship but have simply inherited the relationship that exists.
There are a few people in my family that I can go to and speak freely without fear of being ridiculed or condemned but there are very few. There are also very few that have proved by their own lives that they have the ability to help me better myself. Most are either in the same condition or even worse than I am, so why should I discuss anything with them?
Remember – If you are going to seek advise or counsel from anyone, first decide whether you could trust that person with your life, your spouse, your kids, your finances, or your soul’s welfare! If not – then stay away from their advice!
Section IV. What causes the breakdown of loyalty and the destruction of relationships?
1)Cross-group talking and gossip!
No member of this church should ever be found to be spreading gossip concerning matters of this church to anyone, but especially to members of another church.
Would you want to discuss your personal family problems with just anyone? Then, why air your grievances or gripes with people from the world or from another church, or even to another member of the same church?
Counsel from any Pastor other than your own is not only disloyal but is very dangerous to your spiritual welfare. Your own Pastor understands your situation and knows your life better than any other Pastor who has not spent time with you and who is not with you on a consistent basis. It’s okay to maintain friendships but it’s never right in the sight of God to by-pass your Pastor to talk to another. If we don’t have the nerve to confront an issue with the one person who has the authority and ability to change the thing that you are angry about, then we become gossipers by talking to everyone else.
Counseling with anyone, including other Pastors can be destructive!
1)It creates doubts because you may get different advise from someone who doesn’t know you or understand you and who only has a partial understanding of your situation.
2)It creates fear. Fear that you will be found out as well as fear of confronting the truth and accepting your personal responsibility for your own actions.
3)It creates distrust. Because you hear something different, from each counselor, you will begin to distrust all of them because you will feel that none of them really has an answer.
Remember the Golden Rule from Matthew 7:12, "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets."
If you want God to be on your side and other people to remain loyal to you, then you must earn their loyalty by being loyal to them first.
You cannot be saved without committing your life to Christ and being loyal to Him. Any act of disloyalty toward God is called sin and separates us from God. If we commit sin, He no longer is required to be loyal to you. Thank God that He is longsuffering.
Ezekiel 18:24, "But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die."
God keeps a record of every word or deed that we do until we ask forgiveness and He cleanses the sin from us.
We are to watch every word we say and remember that every word has eternal consequences.
CONCLUSION:
Loyalty is a powerful force that can either make or break a person, a ministry, a church or any other organization.
Companies won’t keep disloyal employees very long because they can’t be trusted.
Neither can God use a disloyal person in His kingdom, nor can a Pastor keep anyone in a leadership position of the local church without the absolute loyalty of that person.
Acts of disloyalty that may cause distrust or loss of position may be things like:
1)Not fulfilling the task assigned in a proper and timely fashion
2)Failure to produce fruits meet for righteousness
3)Not making sure that the assigned job gets done under all circumstances by taking personal responsibility to see that it is done
4)Failure to keep the leadership informed of any changes that would jeopardize your attendance or faithfulness to your assigned post
5)Listening to or spreading gossip
6)Failure to pray or study the Bible
7)Trying to manipulate people to your point of view
And many more can be added…
As long as we do all things openly and according the Word of God, we shouldn’t have any trouble with being disloyal but we must be very careful of our attitudes and our words. We must be careful what we say and whom we say it to lest our words become destructive instead of edifying.
Just as you could not trust me to be your Pastor without my absolute loyalty to you, I cannot depend on you without your loyalty being unquestionable.
We may not always agree – but we can agree to disagree and move on. Disagreement is being disloyal. I don’t expect or want anyone to follow me blindly. FOLLOW ME AS LONG AS I FOLLOW THE LORD AND HIS WORD.
Two final illustrations of loyalty:
A young man in the army confided to his chaplain that he never went out with another woman if he was within fifty miles of home. His loyalty went fifty miles.
How far does your loyalty to Jesus Christ go?
That’s not what I consider loyalty. This young man was only true to his wife if it was convenient.
Jesus expects our loyalty under every condition, no matter where we are. Anything else is unacceptable. If we are to be a true disciple of Christ, we must be loyal to God, to His Word, to His Church and to those who have been put in authority over us.
One of the all-time greats in baseball was Babe Ruth. His bat had the power of a cannon, and his record of 714 home runs remained unbroken until Hank Aaron came along. The Babe was the idol of sports fans, but in time age took its toll, and his popularity began to wane. Finally the Yankees traded him to the Braves. In one of his last games in Cincinnati, Babe Ruth began to falter. He struck out and made several misplays that allowed the Reds to score five runs in one inning. As the Babe walked toward the dugout, chin down and dejected, there rose from the stands an enormous storm of boos and catcalls. Some fans actually shook their fists. Then a wonderful thing happened. A little boy jumped over the railing, and with tears streaming down his cheeks he ran out to the great athlete. Unashamedly, he flung his arms around the Babe’s legs and held on tightly. Babe Ruth scooped him up, hugged him, and set him down again. Patting him gently on the head, he took his hand and the two of them walked off the field together.
Now that’s real loyalty. Even when things are bad and the future is bleak and there is trouble on every hand, we must stay faithful and true to our calling.
If we could only exhibit to God, to the Church and to our Leadership, the kind of loyalty that this boy did, then God could and would bless our efforts. What a difference that will make in our lives as individuals and as a church!
