Living Hope/Leadership Part 1

Living Hope/Leadership Part 1

I want to start these thoughts by defining three important principles that we must take to heart. They are leadership, ministry, and goals.

Leadership is defined this way; “The action of leading a group of people or an organization. A leader is a person who guides and inspires. WIKI says of leadership, a process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others to accomplish a common task.”

Ministry is defined this way; “The act of serving. One that serves. Ministry comes from a Greek word which actually means to serve as a slave.”

Goals are defined this way; “An observable and measurable end result having one or more objectives to be achieved within a more or less fixed time frame. A goal is a desired result a person or group of people envisions, plans and commits to achieve within a set time period.”

Goal setting involves establishing specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time targeted objectives.

I want to define leadership and ministry from the Biblical perspective. I will begin by sharing two passages from the Gospels that represent our example for leadership and ministry.

Matthew 20:28 NASB

just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Mark felt it important to share as well.

Mark 10:45 NASB

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.

Now grant it the mission of Christ far exceeds anything that we have been called to accomplish. It will at times seem like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders but it is nothing close to what He accomplished by His service to us.

Let me make something clear from the onset. From time to time you may hear me share some aspects of ministry that will sound negative. It is because I want you to understand that there are things you will face that may discourage you or even hurt you. Christ being our example of this.

With that said I want you to know that serving the Lord and His people has been and will continue to be the greatest joy that I have ever experienced. Sharing my life with others has been an amazing journey.

If you dedicate your heart and life to ministry you will find out what I mean.

Let me get back to Biblical ministry. The type of servant leadership that Christ represented was embedded in Biblical tradition from Genesis to Revelation. It was clearly represented in the life of Christ.

Even leadership positions outside of the church recognize the importance of service. The famous NBA coach Pat Riley wrote in his book how easy it was to become selfish in a team environment. He wrote, “It becomes all about me.”

He wrote that you must give up something in the immediate present, to attract something better in the future.

The reality of ministry begins with servant hood to the people that God has already placed in your life. Ministry to God, is service to others.

Remember these passages from the Gospel of Matthew.

Matthew 25:31-40 NASB

31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.

32 All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;

33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

35 For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;

36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’

37 Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?

38 And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?

39 When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’

40 The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

You know how it ends for those who did not serve.

He doesn’t ask us to do something that He has not already done. We will look at this ministry concept from the record of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples.

Normally at a house like this where a supper was being hosted there would have been a servant to carry out the customs of the times one of which was washing the guests feet. This was done for comfort because the roads traveled were dusty and the common shoe was a sandal.

To the disciples Jesus did the unthinkable when He took on the role of the servant. Just recently some of the disciples had argued who would be the greatest in the kingdom so they were having a huge problem understanding what Jesus was doing. Jesus was and had been trying to teach His followers what we call upside down values. In other words Kingdom living is totally counterintuitive.

“Contrary to what intuition or common sense would indicate.”

Jesus was teaching them and us that, “The way up is down”

You can’t really follow Christ unless you believe that what He calls us to pursue is better than what the world can give.

Ministry or leadership will not succeed until we believe that we are not just called to give up something but to actually gain something much better.

John 13:1-3 NASB

1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

2 During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him,

3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God,

This account begins with Christ acknowledging that His time had come. The Father had put all things under His power. He knew where He came from and where He was going.

Here is a ministry and leadership principle that you must never forget. It is simple in nature yet crucial for your success.

“You must be sure of your calling and you must be sure who you are!!”

Now I want you to play very close attention to the next two verses.

John 13:4-5 NASB

4 got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself.

5 Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.

You need to understand something. Jesus washed the feet of Judas.

Jesus washed the feet of the person that would betray Him to the High Priest.

The kingdom perspective of ministry is to die to your own ambitions and find your life by losing it in the service to others.

Part two coming later. Be blessed as you follow Christ.

#lovewins #hopelives