Focusing Leaders

If I were doing this on my own initiative, I would deserve payment. But I have no choice, for God has given me this sacred trust. What then is my pay? It is the opportunity to preach the Good News without charging anyone. That’s why I never demand my rights when I preach the Good News. Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ.

Here Paul contrasts the compulsion he has from God to preach the Gospel, with the lack of obligation to the people he ministers to since he has received no reward from them.

PRINCIPLE: Ministry is given by God, and bound to him out of stewardship, not bound to people out of responsibility or obligation.

PRAYER: Lord, give me this kind of compulsion to be faithful to you and freedom from trying to please peoples' expectations of me.

Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough?

PRINCIPLE: Being spiritual means no tolerance for sin in my life or in the Church.

PRAYER: Lord, make me zealous for purity and show me any ways I tolerate sin in my life and in the Church.

As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. I don’t even trust my own judgment on this point.... It is the Lord himself who will examine me and decide.

PRINCIPLE: I am accountable primarily to God for the responsibilities he has given me

PRAYER: Lord, make me obsessed with faithfulness to you and attention to your perspective, and free me from concern with other people’s opinions.

So don’t boast about following a particular human leader. For everything belongs to you — whether Paul or Apollos or Peter, or the world, or life and death, or the present and the future. Everything belongs to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

I am proud of my mentors and never thought of that as an ungodly attitude. I like to tell people about the leaders who have invested in me. But it can be ungodly when it becomes a point of pride that says I am so great because I am a disciple of this person or part of that organization. The focus becomes human accomplishment rather than fulfilling God’s purposes, which ought to be the motivation for all of us, not exaltation of any particular gifts or roles or personalities. In Christ’s body we are all part of something bigger and better than any particular leader or movement - we are part of what God is doing on earth! He is our leader, the body of Christ is our movement!

PRINCIPLE: We ought to get our fulfillment out of contribution to God’s purposes rather than affiliation with a particular organization or leader.

Lord, help me be filled with zeal to accomplish your purposes rather than filled with a desire to be part of a great human movement. And protect me from ever appealing to peoples’ pride (longing to be part of something great) to be a part of my ministry, but rather motivate them to contribute to your work in whatever way, shape, or form you are leading them to it.

I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ.... And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.

Shouldn’t we do the best job we can in whatever we do? Here Paul seems to be saying that he was purposefully simple rather than eloquent in his preaching, SO THAT the Corinthians would not believe because of his oratory or persuasiveness. Did he do less than his best so that God’s work would be more evident than his own talent? In conjunction with his simple approach (what is the relationship?), the Holy Spirit worked powerfully among them. The result was that they believed because of the Holy Spirit’s work, not because of Paul’s words.

Do I depend on God working in the same way? Or do I act as if ministry success all depends on my effort?

PRINCIPLE: Ministry success depends on the presence of God, not on the quality of my effort.

Lord, give me discernment to know how much effort to put into ministry, and give me faith to trust and see how you are going to work.

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Here Paul gives his typical greeting with those two great qualities that bless the Christian of "grace and peace." But today what stands out to me is the fact that he mentions BOTH God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I don’t only have the Father concerned for me, or the Lord Jesus working on my behalf, but both of them are fully committed to me, zealous for my growth and well-being. What great company! In Christ I am part of a group. It is not just Jesus and me, but the Father and Son (and Holy Spirit) together walking with me and caring for me and guiding me and providing for me.

Dear Father and Lord Jesus, may I sense your company with me today wherever I go and whatever I do. Thank you that you are both committed to my growth and well-being.

David replied, “No, my brothers, you must not do that with what the LORD has given us. He has protected us and handed over to us the forces that came against us. Who will listen to what you say? The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.” David made this a statute and ordinance for Israel from that day to this.

Here are some great leadership lessons. David uses a dispute among his followers as a chance to teach them and set their values, not just resolve the dispute. Foundational for him is humility. What they won came from the Lord, not from their own ability to defeat the enemy. Keep the proper perspective. And fight the human tendency toward rewarding according to our accomplishment. Instead, he emphasized that they were all enlisted in the same cause, and recognized that they brought varying kinds and levels of contribution according to their abilities, and should all be rewarded equally. Wow, a great partnership spirit!

Lord, give me that same kind of perspective that recognizes you as the source of my success rather than my own talent or hard work. Allow me to have that same kind of generous spirit to treat others according to their willingness rather than their talent. And give me the wisdom to be able to teach these values to others, especially when conflict or confusion arise.

My tears flow endlessly;
they will not stop
until the LORD looks down
from heaven and sees.

Today I read the weeping prophet, Jeremiah. He sat in the ashes of Jerusalem after it was destroyed and its people taken captive to Babylon. I am struck by Jeremiah's empathy...do I mourn on behalf of others' sin and suffering?

Lord, give me more compassion to look at the world around me and let my heart be broken like yours is. And give me more responsibility to lift up the needs of people around me to you.

"Let the priests, who minister in the LORD’s presence,
stand and weep between the entry room to the Temple and the altar.
Let them pray, 'Spare your people, LORD!'"

The Lord used this verse to convict me of my need to be an intercessor for the people I am leading and ministering to. It is a serious responsibility to represent them before God, as important as it is to teach them and lead them and encourage them.

Lord, I want to grow as an intercessory leader. Show me the people you hold me responsible for and give me the heart and perseverance to plead on their behalf before you.

So from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David.

One of the most difficult issues in leadership is transition. We rarely see healthy transitions, where organizations go from strong to stronger in their leadership. Unfortunately, we often find the scenario described here, where a current leader feels threatened by a follower or potential successor, rather than feeling thrilled at the thought of greater enhancement and continued growth of the enterprise.

When leaders start looking at their own status instead of the success of the movement, all kinds of bad things happen. They become protective instead of visionary. They want to preserve their own reputation rather than develop their people.

They develop the "jealous eye."

Lord, please protect me from pride and love of position and privilege. Give me a heart to long for your success rather than my own prestige. Give me delight in the success of others, and bless my followers to become greater in many ways than I could ever be.

I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! The LORD who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!” Saul finally consented. “All right, go ahead,” he said. “And may the LORD be with you!”

There is so much power in personal experience! God works through our experiences, and it is important for us to capture the lessons he teaches. We ususally think it is for the purpose of giving God credit, and thanking him. That is an important first step. But then the experiences also build a foundation for our future expectation of how God is going to work. They give us new eyes.

When our eyes are opened like David's were, and we begin to expect God to work, there is a tremendous confidence and enthusiasm. But the focus is not on our own capabilities, with the doubt and fear that come along. It is up to God, and he has shown himself faithful.

When we experience this kind of faith, it also becomes a spiritual engine that changes other peoples' attitudes, too, as it did here with Saul. Even if they don't believe God, they may take courage in your belief in God.

Father, help me recognize and remember the ways you have worked in my life, to give me a heart filled with praise and thanks, and a mind filled with expectancy and faith. Lord, show me how you want to work today and make me an agent of faith.