602 spiritual leadership: section 10 - the leaders pitfalls and problems (part 1)
TRANSCRIPT
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Group Activity: Create a one-
page visual summary of the
leaders pitfalls.
Studychapter 10-
11 in BlackabyStudychapters 20-22 in Sanders
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REPRODUCING
LEADERS
J. Oswald Sanders,Spiritual Leadership,Chapter 20
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2 Tim 2:2And the things
ou have heard me say in the
resence of many witnessesentrust to reliable people
who will also be qualified to
teach others.
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If a leader is to fully carry outthe trust the Lord has given him
then he has to train and develop
leaders who will succeed and
possibly supersede him.
Barnabas is seen positively when
Paul, his protege, goes on beyond
him and becomes the dominantteam member.
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As a team leader would yoube prepared to offer
opportunities for those youlead to exercise and developtheir abilities?Would you give youngpeople the chance to feel theburden of leadership, totake initiative and to make
the final decision insituations?Will you give full credit andlet them make mistakes?
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One Asian said of Western missionaries,
Today they should be less of a performerand more of a trainer.
However training leaders is a delicate task.
Bishop Stephen Neill commented,
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If we set out to produce a race of leaders, what we
shall succeed in doing is probably to produce a race of
restless, ambitious and discontented intellectuals. To
tell a man he is called to be a leader is the best way of
ensuring his spiritual ruin, since in the Christian
world ambition is more deadly than any other sin,and if yielded to, makes a man unprofitable in the
ministry. The most important thing today is the
spiritual, rather than the intellectual, quality of those
indigenous [Neill's life work was training national
missionaries] Christians who are called to bear
responsibility in the younger churches.
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Leslie Newbigin questioned
whether it was good to use theword leadership in Christian
circles as it had bad connotations
with the non-Christian world. He
suggested saints and servants
were needed not leaders -
forget service and the whole are
of leadership is dangerous.We must follow the example of
esus with the 12.
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Perhaps the most strategic and
fruitful work of modern
missionaries is to help leaders of
tomorrow develop their spiritual
potential. This task requires carefulthought, wise planning, endlesspatience, and genuine Christian
love. It cannot be haphazard or ill-conceived. Our Lord devoted thegreater part of His three years of
ministry to molding the characters
and spirits of His disciples.
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Paul trained Timothy for the
church in Ephesus - his method is
instructive.
Timothy was about 20 when
Paul became his friend - he
tended to melancholy, and wastoo tolerant of and partial to
people of rank. He could be
irritable with opponents. He wasapt to rely on old spiritual
experiences rather than kindle
the flame of daily devotion.
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But Paul had high hopes
for him and set about
correcting his timid nature,
to replace softness with
steel. Paul led Timothy toexperiences and hardships
that toughened his
character.Paul did nothesitate to assign him tasks
beyond his present powers.
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Traveling with Paul broughtTimothy into contact with men of
stature and character.He learned tomeet triumphantly the crises thatPaul considered routine. Paulshared with Timothy the work ofpreaching. Paul gave him theresponsibility of establishing a groupof Christians at Thessalonica.Paul's exacting standards, highexpectations, and heavy demandsbrought out the best in Timothy,saving him from mediocrity.
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Paul Rees describes the experienceof Douglas Hyde, one-time
Communist but later a convert toChrist, as recorded in Hyde's book,Dedication and LeadershipTechniques:one story connectedwith his Communist years - involvesa young man who came to Hydeand announced that he wanted tobe made into a leader. "I thought, Ihad never seen anyone look less likea leader in my life. He was short,grotesquely fat, with a great, flabby,wide uninteresting face...
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...He had a cast in one eye,and spoke with a most
distressing stutter."What happened?Well,instead of turning him awayas a hopeless prospect, Hydegave him a chance - a chanceto study, to learn, to test hisdedication, to smooth out his
stutter.
In the end he becamea leader in one of the mostCommunist-infiltrated labourunions in Britain.
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Frank Buchman, founder of Moral Rearmament,displayed many leadership gifts. He claimed thatif he failed to train others to do his work betterthan he did it, he had failed. For many years,he worked to make himself dispensable, arare agenda for a founder.
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Developing leaders, for thedevelopment of new churches will
greatly depend on the spiritual caliberof the local Christians. Once thepioneer stage in any field has passed,the training of leadership should take
high priority.Always allow room for the unusualperson. God has His "irregulars,"many of them have made outstanding
contributions to world evangelization- these cannot be measured byordinary standards or made toconform to any fixed pattern.
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Leadership training cannot bedone on a mass scale. Itrequires patient, carefulinstruction and prayerful,personal guidance over aconsiderable time. "Disciplesare not manufacturedwholesale. They are producedone by one, because someone
has taken the pains todiscipline, to instruct andenlighten, to nurture and trainone that is younger."
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PERILS OF
LEADERSHIP
J. Oswald Sanders,Spiritual Leadership,Chapter 21
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so that after I havepreached to others, I myself
will not be disqualified forthe prize.1 Corinthians 9:27The perils of the spiritual leader
are subtle. He is by no meansimmune to the temptations ofthe flesh, but the dangers most tobe guarded against lie in the
realm of the spirit. Satan willtake advantage of every inch ofground he concedes in any areaof his life.
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1. PRIDE
Pride is a sin that makes God takesecond seat in our lives - Rising inposition means an increased
temptation to become proud.the Lord detests all the proud of heart.Prov 16:53 Tests help us identify pride:
The Test of Precedence: Howdo we react when another isselected or promoted, when theirgifts seem greater?
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The Test of Sincerity: Do yourealistically know your weaknesses and
faults? How do you respond whenothers identify them?The Test of Criticism: How do we
respond to our critics - do you resentthe comment and justify yourself ?Of the myriad forms that sin assumes, noneis more abhorrent than spiritual pride. To be
proud of spiritual gifts that God has bestowedor of the position to which His love and gracehave elevated us, is to forget that grace is a
gift, and that all we have has been received.
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2. EGOTISM
This is the practice of thinking
or speaking of ones self ratherthan to God, magnifying your
own achievements not Gods.
Do I reflect the ugliness ofegotism or the transfigured glory
of Christ the Lord?
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Robert Louis Stevenson told the
story of a Muslim veiled prophetwho was a great teacher and light
among the people of his day. He
wore a veil, he said, because hiscountenance was so glorious
none could bear the sight of his
face. But, eventually the veildecayed and fell away revealing
nothing but an ugly old man.
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Stevenson stressed that, however high the truths
the preacher taught, and however skillful he
might excuse the blemishes of his character, thetime comes when the veil falls away, and a man
is seen by people as he really is.
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3. JEALOUSY
Describing the leader who is
envious of rivals.
Are you jealous of others whodo things better than you - are
you unable to avoid being
critical of others who are at the
same level as you?
Gods work in others is to be
encouraged, not snuffed out.
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Num11:27-29A young man ran and told Moses,
Eldad and Medad are prophesyingin the camp.oshua son of Nun, who had been
Moses aide since youth, spoke upand said, Moses, my lord, stopthem!But Moses replied, Are you jealous
or my sake? I wish that all theLORDs people were prophets andthat the LORD would put his Spiriton them!
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4. POPULARITY
Most leaders like to be wellspoken of - it is not a great
testimony if all speak badly ofyou!esus said Woe onto you when
all men speak well of you.
It is tempting for spiritualleaders to build a personalitycult - Paul saw this danger atCorinth 1Cor 3:7
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We should esteem leaders for
their work and ministry - but becareful not to adore them.
Leaders can be appreciated but
not idolized.
Any fervor or loyalty people
might have for the leader
should be fastened to Jesus
Popularity is the mostdangerous spiritual stateIt
leads to easy to pride.
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Bishop Stephen Neill said, in
an address to theological
students, "Popularity is the most
dangerous spiritual state imaginable,
since it leads on so easily to thespiritual pride which drowns men in
perdition. It is a symptom to be
watched with anxiety since so often it
has been purchased at the too heavy
price of compromise with the world."
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The dangers of popularity andsuccess were constantly before
Spurgeon in his ministry.Success exposes a man to the pressure ofpeople and thus tempts him to hold on tohis gains by means of fleshly methods and
practices, and to let himself be ruled whollyby the dictatorial demands of incessantexpansion. Success can go to my head, andwill unless I remember that it is God who
accomplishes the work, that He cancontinue to do so without my help, and thatHe will be able to make out with othermeans whenever He cuts me down to size.
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5. INFALLIBILITY
Spirituality does not
guarantee infallible
judgementthe Spirit filled personis less likely to make mistakes but
perfection eludes us all
There is a belief that a senior
discerning leader cant be wrong.
Remember even the apostles
made mistakes!
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Leaders are people of prayerand seeking God - sometimes
this brings an inability to admitthe potential to make mistakes.- Leaders must have strength &decisiveness But be willing toconcede when they are wrong- Deferring to others judgementis a sign of strength and will
win allies.- Followers lose confidenceleaders who believe themselvesto be infallible.
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6. INDISPENSABILITY
Many Christian leaders cling to
authority longafter it should bepassed to younger.
Often this results in younger
people being held back, and
being given no chance to grow
and develop.
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On many occasions we find the ego of the leader
concerned is fed by some around them encouraging
them to think they are indispensable - this makes it evenharder for them to let go.
We become less objective about our work as we get
older.From your earliest days in a job it is good to be seeing
out potential successors.
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On many occasions we find the ego of the leader
concerned is fed by some around them encouraging
them to think they are indispensable - this makes it evenharder for them to let go.
We become less objective about our work as we get
older.From your earliest days in a job it is good to be seeing
out potential successors.
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7. ELATION ANDDEPRESSION
We all have days of joy anddisappointment - we have to becareful to get the balance rightbetween the two - discovering abalance of temperament throughhighs and lows is critical.
Luke 10:20Elijah was depressed after thebattle at Mount Carmel -1Kings 18
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God told him to have two good
sleeps and two good meals - then
the spiritual lessons began.His discouragement was baseless
- 7000 had not bowed to Baal,
and running away removed the
leadership the Israelites needed.
We have to face reality in
leadership:
- Not all our dreams will berealised
- people will disappoint us
- sickness will ha en
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- sacrifices will be thought of as
selfish gestures
- bad things happen!
All men of God face the
possibility of getting low when
things are not good.Learning to trust God when
things are difficult is imperative
for the spiritual leader.
If successful dont crow,
if defeated dont croak.
Samuel Chadwick
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8. PROPHET OR LEADER
Sanders talks about a preacherwith gifts of leadership who willcome to a fork in the path - doeshe follow the path of a popularleader or unpopular prophet?Often the roles overlap but
situations develop in which youhave to choose pastoralleadership or propheticdeclaration.
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If he seeks to be prophet and a leader,
is apt to make a failure of both.It was written of RA Torrey,The thousands who have heard Dr. Torreyknow the man and his message. He loves the
Bible, believing it to be the infallible Word ofGod, preaching it with the fervour of red-hotconviction.He never compromises.He has chosen to be a prophet of
God rather than a mere leader ofmen and that is the secret of hispower with God and men.
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10. DISQUALIFICATION
No, I strike a blow to my body andmake it my slave so that after I havepreached to others, I myself will notbe disqualified for the prize.1 Cor 9:27Paul was carefully concerned
with not beingdisqualified-Greek word meaning metalnot suitable for use as coins -below standard.
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Two aspects - what was preached
and use of his body.The body requires rigorous
self discipline to guardagainst sin.
Added to this bodily error werethe obvious doctrinal and ethicalerrors which might be entered
into.Paul exercised disciplinedmoderation in his body - do you?
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Are there any perils you succumb tomore readily than others?
Have you set up some accountabilityand prayer to help overcome suchthings?
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How do you feel about Pauls
concern over disqualification - howcan such thoughts help and hinder?