THE ULTIMATE TEST OF
LEADERSHIP: CREATING POSITIVE CHANGE
I am happy to be
part of this summer series because if there is one thing the church needs more
lessons on it is leadership. Unfortunately, there are less and less men who are
willing to grow in this area and take on their God given role as being a leader
in the church and in the home. There are far too many men that are being pushed
into this role who are not ready for it and it brings about a negative change
instead of positive one. Though women still seem to be more eager to do work
for the church, there is a break down there as well, and when some women see
that the men are not taking on the roles they should, they start trying to take
over these leadership roles that are designed for men, which is not good thing.
It is also becoming rarer to see the older women teaching the younger women as
the Bible says they should. There is certainly room for every Christian to grow
in this area of us embracing our God given roles.
The first thing I
want to point is that leadership is essential to God’s people whether it be in
the church or in the home. One example that shows what a difference leaders
make with God’s people is found within the book of Judges. After Joshua died, there
was a great lack of leadership and a whole generation came along who did not know
the Lord or follow His ways and God allowed them to become oppressed by their
enemies. However, God had mercy on them and raised up judges to deliver them as
we read in:
Judges 2: 18
And when the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge and
delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for
the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed
them and harassed them. 19
And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they reverted and behaved
more corruptly than their fathers, by following other gods, to serve them and
bow down to them. They did not cease from their own doings nor from their
stubborn way.
We see this recurring
theme throughout the book of Judges. God would give them a judge and that judge
would get the children of
While it is important to
have leaders in place, it is also equally important that the leaders bring
about a positive change and not a negative one. Many times we teach about how
we need to watch out for change agents. This is true because there have been
many congregations that been affected in a negative way by such leaders. There
is a movement within the church called the progressive movement. These leaders want
to free people from what they call the traditional teachings of the
2 Peter 2:18 For
when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through
the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped
from those who live in error. 19
While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for
by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. 20 For if, after they have escaped
the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse
for them than the beginning. 21
For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of
righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment
delivered to them. 22 But it
has happened to them according to the true proverb: "A dog returns to his
own vomit," and, "a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the
mire."
A good example of
this kind of negative change comes from the O.T. example of Jeroboam. The
background is that Solomon found himself opposing God because all the idol worship
he was allowing and supporting because of his many wives. God lets Jeroboam
know through a prophet that he is going to make him the new leader of
1 Kings 11:38 'Then
it shall be, if you heed all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what
is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as My
servant David did, then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house,
as I built for David, and will give Israel to you.
Jeroboam had the chance
to be a positive leader and have God on his side, but this is not what happened
because Jeroboam decided to change the will of God, which is a negative change.
1 Kings 12:26 And
Jeroboam said in his heart, "Now the kingdom may return to the house of
David: 27 "If these
people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then
the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah,
and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah." 28 Therefore the king asked
advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, "It is too much
for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O
Jeroboam took what God
gave him and turned against the way of God. The reason he received this
leadership was because under Solomon’s leadership, toward the end of his life,
the people were following after false gods, and now Jeroboam is doing the same.
He was afraid if the people went back to make their sacrifices at the temple
and went back to participate in the festivals they were suppose to attend that
it would remind them of where they came from and cause them to go back and
stay.
This is the same method
used by leaders that are involved in the progressive movement. They want to
keep their people away from those who still hold to the Bible as being their
only authority and they try to tell their people that we are trying to enslave
them with laws of the N.T. instead of giving them the liberty they should have.
They know, just like Jeroboam knew, that if they keep them away from the truth
and those that teach the truth long enough and if they can offer them similar
truths and make them feel comfortable then they can change them to their way of
thinking causing them to shun the truth. This is the kind of change we have to
look out for because any changes we make that causes us to violate God’s Word
and what it teaches will separate us from Him and cause to be on that broad
road that leads to hell.
The other side of the
coin is having leaders who bring about a positive change. When I say positive
change, I do not mean a change in the will of God or anything that will add to
His truth. We have no right to change anything God’s Word says to fit our
traditions or customs. The idea of a leader who makes positive changes has to
do with making themselves and others grow stronger in their faith and service
to God. There is a constant need for us to change our ways because if we are
standing still and just doing the same ole same ole then we will become
stagnate. It is a sad sight to see when a Christian does the least he can each
day, and it is more sad when you see an entire congregation do the least they
can.
Jesus talks about a
church just like that in:
Revelation 3:14 "
And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ' These things says the
Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: 15 ¶ "I know your works,
that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 "So then, because you are
lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 "Because you say, 'I am
rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing' -- and do not know that
you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked -- 18 "I counsel you to buy from
Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you
may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed;
and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 "As many as I love, I
rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. 20 "Behold, I stand at the
door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to
him and dine with him, and he with Me. 21
"To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also
overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22 "He who has an ear, let
him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." ' "
Unfortunately, you can find
many congregations in our great nation that are just like this church at
One of the first steps we
must realize as a leader is that people trust us and they are looking to us for
guidance. We will be judged by God if we fail to lead as we should.
Hebrews 13:17 Obey those who rule over you, and be
submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account.
Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for
you.
This text is primarily
talking about elders, but I believe the same principle certainly applies to all
who lead. If a Christian dad is not leading His family in the way of the Lord
or if the Christian mother is not fulfilling her role in the family as a wife
and a mother, do you not think they too will be judged by how they did their
part?
Once you let it sink in
that you have the ability to lead people that trust you, your goal should be to
lead them to make positive changes in their life. Before you can do that you
must first make positive changes in your own life and realize that you must
continue to make positive changes if you ever hope to continue to grow in your
faith. A great example of this is the apostle Paul. I do not know of anyone who
that would deny that Paul was a great leader before and after his conversion.
Before his conversion, he was a very active leader who inspired other Jews to
seek Christians out and have them arrested and killed.
His people could use him
as an example and see how much he cared about his cause. At first, he believed
in what he was doing, but he soon found out that he was leading himself and his
people in a negative way because he was making them fight against the truth of
Christianity. While Paul was not an easy guy to change, when he encountered
Jesus on the road to Damascus it was enough for him to see that he had to make
some serious changes in his life and he did.
Paul took that strong
leadership that he had and turned it from being negative into positive
leadership, but before that could happen he had to change himself. Once a
person can learn to continue to change themselves for the better, then they are
ready to start helping others change their ways. That is exactly what Paul did
because once he changed himself he went out into the world and began to set up
churches everywhere he went and he converted many men and women to Christ.
One of the best ways to
lead people in a positive way is by showing them how it is done. Jesus is our
greatest example of this because He did not just talk the talk, He walked the
walk. In fact, He spoke out against the leaders of his day who simply talked
the talk.
Matthew 23:1 Then
Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, 2 saying: "The scribes and
the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 3
"Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do,
but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. 4 "For they bind heavy
burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves
will not move them with one of their fingers. 5 "But all their works they
do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the
borders of their garments. 6
"They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the
synagogues, 7 "greetings
in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.'
These are the kind of
leaders that know what God’s Word says and don’t mind telling people what to
do, but they do not get involved in the work. Instead, they just want to
impress people with their knowledge and with the work they made others do. If
they do actual lift a finger, they only do it to be seen by others. Again, this
is not going to be a leader who brings about a positive change because they are
only concerned about themselves. A good leader, like Jesus, is more concerned
about those they lead then about themselves.
Jesus certainly set the
example when He washed His disciples’ feet:
John 13:12 So when
He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to
them, "Do you know what I have done to you? 13 "You call me Teacher and
Lord, and you say well, for so I am.
14 "If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed
your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 "For I have given you an
example, that you should do as I have done to you. 16 "Most assuredly, I say to
you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater
than he who sent him. 17
"If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
What Jesus was teaching
them was this:
Mark 10:45
"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to
give His life a ransom for many."
Though Jesus is the Son
of God and the greatest leader that ever walked the face of the earth, He led
by example and was willing to give His life for those He was leading. Because
of the positive change He was teaching and since He was willing to give His
life for us, He made it possible for us to have the forgiveness of our sins.
So, all leaders must follow His example by being an example themselves, so they
can show those who are following how it is done. They must be willing to put
others before themselves and even die for the truth if necessary though the
chances of that happening in the
Another thing that will
help bring about a positive change is for the leader to realize that even if he
must not do everything on his own no matter how good he is at doing it. No, he
must get others involved and train them how to carry out the tasks that he
performs, and he must train others to take his place because every leader must
realize that he is not going to be around forever. A good leader will make
himself replaceable in that if he dies or moves off that others will be able to
step up and take his place without slowing down the progress of the church.
Whenever leaders do not get others involved and teach them to take their place
then the fail part of the responsibility of being a leader.
There is also another
side to this and that is the followers. Even the greatest leader in world
cannot not accomplish much if there are not people willing to follow or people
who willing to be trained. So, we need people that are just as eager to follow
and be trained as leaders who are eager to lead and to train.
Paul understood this
idea, which is why he told Timothy:
2 Timothy 2:1 You therefore, my son, be
strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
2 And the things that you have heard from me among many
witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
If we do not train other
Christians how to preach the Word, teach Bible classes, reach out to the lost,
or any other work you can think of, we are doomed to make history repeat itself
as we talked about earlier from the book of Judges. So, do not try to be a
keeper of the knowledge, pass on what you know to as many people as you can
because that will bring about more positive change in the church than you can
possibly bring about by keeping your knowledge or skill to yourself.
Jesus could do many great
things on His own, but He trained His disciples and gave them many
opportunities to go out and practice what He taught them to do. We read about
Him sending them out by twos to proclaim that the kingdom was near. He gave
them the power to heal people and works signs just like He could. Jesus knew
that He was going to die on the cross so He made sure that His disciples would
be able to continue the work He began and we must do the same.
We must also realize that
being a leader does not make us a dictator. We cannot view ourselves as a boss
over a business. Instead, we are like shepherd with sheep. Sheep are followers,
and a person is not going to have much luck if they try to drive them. Sheep
develop a trust for their shepherd, and they will follow them wherever they
lead them. The same is true whether we are leading in the church or at home.
So, let us never forget that we create a more positive change when we lead
instead of trying make people do what we want them to.
As leaders, we must
also learn to put our faith in God and encourage our people to put their trust
in God. When we can achieve that, we can cause great things to happen for the
cause of God. A great example of this comes from the book of Nehemiah.
Usually when you study this period of time, you will study
Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther and the minor prophets, Haggai, Zechariah and
Malachi. These books cover about 100 years of time after the children of
In chapters 1 and 2 of Nehemiah, we learn that Nehemiah was a cupbearer for the king. This was an honorable position and Nehemiah had a very comfortable life, but when he found out that his fellow Jews were being oppressed by their enemies, and that the walls in Jerusalem lay in ruin because of that, it caused Nehemiah to weep bitterly, and he prayed to God that he might be able to do something about it, which is another important quality of a leader because every leader should pray to God daily asking God to help them make the right decision and to lead in the right way.
After 4 months, Nehemiah came before the king with a sad
face and this was a dangerous thing to do because no one was supposed show
sadness before the king. But Nehemiah had been a faithful servant to the king
so the king wanted to know what was troubling him. Nehemiah explained to him
about what was happening to his people in
When Nehemiah arrived at
Now think about this. Obviously, Nehemiah was a good man,
but he could have just stayed with the Persian king and do nothing. He could have
had the attitude that some have today and said, Oh, I feel sorry for my fellow
Jews in
This is what leadership is all about. It is putting God’s
will and His people first. It is about inspiring them to work together to build
up the
As they were rebuilding these walls, Sanballat and the other enemies of the Jews tried to discourage them by mocking them. This tactic had worked before, but it would not work this time because Nehemiah was willing to fight for the Lord and encourage his people.
When their mocking stopped working, they planned to attack them, but Nehemiah found out about their plans. So, he prepared for it, and the Bible says that he had the people working with one hand, and in the other hand, they were carrying a sword so they could defend themselves. They were willing to take care of the work at hand, and they were willing to defend the work they were doing.
Under Nehemiah’s leadership, not only did the Jews rebuild the walls, they also made a covenant with God that they would remain faithful to the Law of Moses, and they made a lot of changes to make that happen, but unfortunately many in the priesthood were corrupt and some of them had married foreign women and they had become friends with the world, which was against the Law of Moses.
At some point, Nehemiah left
When Nehemiah got back and found out the condition of his people, it made him sad and he took action. He did not say oh well I tried. No, he got busy once again and rose to the occasion and had Tobiah’s things thrown out and the room was for the Lord. He got the people giving tithes again and made them stop working on Sabbath, and he got the priest back on track, and he forced them to get rid of their foreign wives. In fact, the bible says that he physical pulled their hair out and even beat on them until they would agree to stop marrying these foreign women. Nehemiah was dedicated to serving God and living by His Word. He was the kind of leader that we need today because even when things went bad he did not give up, he kept with it and lead the people in the right direction.
So, as you can see, Nehemiah is a great example of the kind of leaders we need today. Now I am not suggesting that we go around and beat on people or pull their hair until they agree to be faithful Christians, but we should have the same zeal that Nehemiah did. He didn’t worry about what the world thought about his actions because his number one concern was being pleasing to God and restoring His way. You and I must not allow our society to dictate how we do things. Instead, our number one priority should be putting God’s way first because as Jesus said,
Matthew 10:28 "And do not fear those who kill
the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy
both soul and body in hell.
To summarize, in
order to bring about positive change:
Whether we are
talking about the men leading in the church or at home or about the women
leading other women or their children, we can all bring about a continual
positive change that will help us grow closer to the Lord and strengthen His
kingdom if we choose to lead people in the way of righteousness instead of the
way of error or laziness.