SERIES: “LESSONS FROM THE EARLY CHURCH”
TEXT: ACTS 1:12-26
TITLE: “PRINCIPLES FOR CHOOSING LEADERS”
INTRODUCTION: A. A man is driving with his wife at his side and his mother-in-law in the back seat.
The women just won’t leave him alone.
His mother-in-law says, “You’re driving too fast!”
His wife says, “Stay more to the left.”
After about ten different mixed orders, the frustrated fellow turned to his wife
and asks, “Who’s driving this car? You or your mother?”
B. Jesus is the head of the church but he’s left the driving to designated leaders.
1. An effective, scriptural congregation needs to have effective, scriptural leaders.
2. Sam Stone, How To Be An Effective Church Leader: No church will be greater
than its leaders. Its greatness begins with them. Every great movement started
with great leaders. For the church to do its best work, good leadership is
essential.”
C. Jesus had told his disciples that they were to remain in Jerusalem and wait for the
Holy Spirit.
1. The disciples took Jesus’ commands to heart
2. Vs. 14 tells us that while they were waiting, they didn’t just sit around twiddling
their thumbs, playing cards, talking about current events, or worrying about
what was going to happen
--They spent their time preparing for what would happen when the Holy Spirit
would be poured out.
3. Preparation meant prayer
a. vs. 14 – “They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the
women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.”
b. Through praying together, they came to a decision.
--there was a slot in the leadership team that needed to be filled
D. In this passage, we the leader-selection process described.
--It should teach us some very important things about how we choose our
leadership and who we choose for leadership
I. A LEADER SHOULD BE SELECTED BECAUSE THEY ARE GOD’S CHOICE FOR
LEADERSHIP
A. Many times we choose leaders because WE think they will make good leaders.
--We need to make sure we have to find GOD’s choice for leadership
1. Vss. 24-25 – the early disciples trusted God to choose because He is the “heart-knower”
a. David’s deathbed admonition to Solomon in 1 Chron. 28:9b – “…for the LORD searches every
heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts…”
b. Jer. 17:10a – “"I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind…”
2. In Samuel’s search for a successor to King Saul, he wanted David’s older brother Eliab because of
the way he looked.
a. He thought Eliab looked like a leader.
b. But in 1 Sam. 16:7, God said, “"Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected
him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance,
but the LORD looks at the heart."”
B. God is not only a “heart-knower.” He’s also a “mission-giver”.
--vs. 25 – God’s choice was for someone who would be part of “this apostolic ministry”
1. “apostle – “set apart and sent out”
2. In the 1st century, an apostle was someone who was ordained by a superior to carry out a specific
mission on behalf of the superior
3. Jesus had a mission and a ministry for His early church to fulfill
C. The method they used had three parts:
1. The candidate for leadership had to meet certain qualifications
--deal with this in more detail in just a minute
2. The body of believers selected the men they thought best met those qualifications
3. Then they “cast lots”
a. Both names would have been written on small, flat stones and then placed in a container. The
container would have been shaken and then turned over. The name on the first stone to fall out
would be the person selected.
b. This method for discerning divine choice had a long history in Israel
(1). Joshua cast lots to discern which part of the Promised Land went to which tribe
(2). It was the process that was used to decide the divisions of the priests and Levites into their
courses of service.
(3). Prov. 16:33 – “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.”
D. The very simple teaching is that the choice of leadership is not up to us. It’s up to God
--Our job is to follow His leadership in choosing leaders.
II. A LEADER MUST MEET CERTAIN QUALIFICATIONS
A. As I said earlier, they were some qualifications for those considered to fill the apostolic vacancy
1. Faithfully follow Jesus during His earthly ministry
2. Began that journey of faith starting with the ministry of John the Baptist
3. Still faithfully numbered among those who were disciples
B. Scripture is consistent in this teaching about leaders meeting qualifications
1. In Acts 6, there was a need for men who would administer the church’s ministry to widows.
--The apostles gave a list of qualifications that these men should meet
2. In 1 Tim. 3:1-7 and Titus 1:6-9, there is a list of qualifications for those who desire to be elders
3. In 1 Tim. 3:8-12, there is a list of qualifications for those desiring to be deacons
C. There are reasons for the qualifications
1. Too many congregations take more time and effort to select colors of carpeting and paint for the
Sunday school rooms than do in selecting leaders for the body of Christ
2. The character of the people chosen for leaders is of utmost importance.
a. It’s critical that potential leaders show discipline and maturity in their own personal relationship
with Christ.
b. To paraphrase the scripture, if they can’t administrate their own affairs, how can they
administrate the affairs of the body of Christ?
3. When someone goes to apply for a job, they must meet certain qualifications
a. Might be as simple as the ability to read and write, a clean criminal background check, or to pass
a drug screening.
b. Other positions may require a certain amount of experience, a certain level of training and
education, or a specific personality trait or physical capability.
c. Which leads me to the next point:
III. A LEADER MUST PERFORM A FUNCTION
A. Matthias was chosen for a purpose
--not just to gain a title
1. His purpose was to take part in the apostolic ministry
--that’s what the scripture record tells us
2. It’s no wonder that some people get the idea that they can be a leader in the church
a. They can pass a communion tray and an offering plate as good as the next guy
b. They can vote on business matters just as well or better than those already in office
c. They can pray in public.
c. Someone once summed up the work of elders and deacon in a lot of congregation by saying,
“The elders do the talking and the deacons do the walking.”
3. The Bible clearly gives a ministry function for leaders that goes well beyond public prayers,
passing trays and plates, and going to meetings.
B. Let’s look at some of the descriptions of the functions of leaders:
1. Acts 6:1-7 – the early church chose people to lead the distribution of food to the widows
a. Men who met certain qualifications but also performed a function
b. The function was to accomplish the daily food ministry of the church
c. While discussing this part of Acts 6, notice too that the apostles gave this direction to the church
so that they, too, could effectively perform their function in the church: attention to prayer and
the preaching and teaching of the Word of God
2. Acts 20:17-38 – Paul is at Miletus and calls for the elders of the church at Ephesus
--He charges them to perform their function:
a. Keep watch over themselves and all the flock
b. Be shepherds of the church of God
c. Guard the flock from those who would cause harm
C. The function of a leader is to meet a legitimate need of the church and its ministry to the community.
1. Henry Ford: “The question of who ought to be [a leader] is like asking who ought to sing tenor in
the quartet.”
2. Obviously, the answer to the question is the man who can sing tenor.
--You can appoint or elect a tenor but that doesn’t mean he can do the job
3. Likewise, we can appoint or elect someone to a leadership position but that doesn’t mean they
can do the job.
4. Businesses hire managers not so they can sit in the office but for the reason that there is a
leadership position that needs to be filled by someone who can do the job at hand.
a. A woman walks into a convenience store. She walks straight to the manager and asks, "Do
you have any small note- books?"
"Sorry," says the manager. "We’re all out."
The woman shrugs, and asks, "Well, do you have any mechanical pencils?"
"Nope, don’t have them either," says the manager.
The woman feels her stomach rumbling and asks, "Do you have Doritos?"
The manager shrugs, "Sorry."
"Hmmph. How about Chapstick?" says the woman.
"Nope. Don’t have that."
"Wow!" the woman shouts, "If you don’t have anything, you should close the store!"
The manager shrugs, "Don’t have the key."
b. What would the average business owner do to a manager who couldn’t run the store in the
proper way?
c. Christ’s business is extremely more important than any earthly business
--We should have the biblical expectation that a leader can do the job designated for that
leadership position..
IV. A LEADER MUST DEVELOP A “KINGDOM VIEW”
A. A leader has to be able to look beyond the local congregation and embrace the world-wide ministry of
the church
1. Jesus emphasized a “world-wide” ministry
a. Mt. 28:19 – “Therefore go and make disciples of all nation…”
b. Mk. 16:15 – “Go into all the world and preach the good news…”
c. Acts 1:8 – “…you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the
ends of the earth.”
2. Eusebius (lived at end of 3rd century and first of 4th century) was an early church historian who
records that the apostles “divided the world” and set out for all points of the compass.
--According to early church traditions and histories, the apostles did visit and work in some of the
uttermost reaches of the known world
3. Matthias was chosen to work in this worldwide ministry.
B. Sad to say that many congregations do not want to look beyond themselves
1. They spend every bit of the church’s income on themselves
2. They only plan functions to feed themselves
3. Not really concerned with what happens outside of what they want
4. One fellow was talking to his next-door neighbor about a speaker he heard the night before.
He told the neighbor, “That guy said something that has really stuck in my mind. He said that all
of the worlds problems could be summed up in tow words: ignorance and apathy. What do you
think?
The neighbor replied, “I really don’t know and I really don’t care.”
C. We need to make sure that we are a congregation with a “kingdom view”
1. We need to keep producing Timothies who will preach the word and be missionaries to people
groups who don’t know Jesus Christ.
2. We need to make sure that we keep giving to Bible colleges, missionaries, the camp, and other
ministries that work toward fulfilling the Great Commission
3. We need to focus on how we can best draw people to this building so they can hear the gospel
and make Christ their Lord and Savior
4. The leadership here has had a “kingdom view” and that “kingdom view” needs to be cultivated
and expanded.
5. A true leader has a heart for a lost and dying world and a hungry and hurting world.
CONCLUSION: A. Are you supposed to be a leader?
--Where are you going and what are you doing? Is it where people should follow you
and imitate you?
B. Are you a follower?
--Who are you following as your leader?
C. The most important leader to have is Jesus Christ.
