CHURCH LEADERSHIP (BEING AN EXAMPLE)

Integrity is an essential “hallmark” of a Leader’s “right” to lead, to train, to coach and to mentor others in the disciple-making movement journey. Through it we allow Christ to to work fully in and through us to see His kingdom come (Matthew 6: 10).

• It was the character-trait that marked Job’s life as he faced physical, emotional and spiritual trials (Job 1:1,

  ¹ In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.

  ,Job 1:22). 

  ²² In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

   It reflected Joseph’s life by refusing to violate his commandment to His God-by maintaining sexual purity (Genesis 39:6-10). 

  ⁶ So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.

  Now Joseph was well-built and handsome,⁷ and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!”

  ⁸ But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care.⁹ No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”¹⁰ And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.

   It was observed in Paul, who, through a selfless and servant-hearted life was able to say boldly to the Corinthian church he was shepherding: “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ...” (1 Corinthians 11:1
   
  ). He also presented the “whole” gospel so that all may have the opportunity to believe the truth about Jesus Christ (Acts 20:13-36). 

  ¹³ We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to take Paul aboard. He had made this arrangement because he was going there on foot.¹⁴ When he met us at Assos, we took him aboard and went on to Mitylene.¹⁵ The next day we set sail from there and arrived off Chios. The day after that we crossed over to Samos, and on the following day arrived at Miletus.¹⁶ Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, for he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost.

  ¹⁷ From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church.¹⁸ When they arrived, he said to them: “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia.¹⁹ I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents.²⁰ You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house.²¹ I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.

  ²² “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there.²³ I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.²⁴ However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

  ²⁵ “Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again.²⁶ Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you.²⁷ For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.²⁸ Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.²⁹ I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.³⁰ Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.³¹ So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

  ³² “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.³³ I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.³⁴ You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions.³⁵ In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

  ³⁶ When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed.

  ). Jesus, our Master, Teacher and chief example of servant-leadership led the way by showing that greatness is found not by lording it over others, but in true humility being a servant of others (Mark 10:42-45

  ⁴² Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.⁴³ Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,⁴⁴ and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

These examples of faith all left indellable, fruitful and lasting legacies through their godly examples. They paved the way forward in the quest to see disciplemaking movements formed around Jesus. 

• Will you be that leader of integrity that Christ has called and raised up for His name’s sake? We have the opportunity to leave a lasting legacy on the next generation of disciples and leaders that does not stop at you—who will yet train and coach towards the fulfilment a disciple-making movement—until everyone has heard!(See 1 Timothy 3:1-7; 

  ¹ Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task.² Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,³ not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.⁴ He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect.⁵ (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)⁶ He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil.⁷ He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.

   Titus 1:5-11; 

  Appointing Elders Who Love What Is Good

  ⁵ The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.⁶ An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.⁷ Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.⁸ Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.⁹ He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

  ¹⁰ For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group.¹¹ They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain.

  Acts 20:28; 

  ²⁸ Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.

   Matthew 24:14). 

  ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

   

1. Equiping believers to do works of service.
2. Shepherding Christ’s sheep.
3. Being an example.
4. Developing other Leaders.

• Leaders are responsible to shepherd believers and be an example. A leader should stay above reproach (bringing no shame on the church or on Jesus’ name) in his character after he believes in Christ. A leader must be willing to leave his old life behind and put on his new life in Christ. A leader should have a family that is honoring to the Lord (Titus 1:6), 

  ⁶ An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.

   live a blameless life (Titus 1:7-8), 

  ⁷ Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless – not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.⁸ Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.

   and hold to the words of truth in scripture (Titus 1:9-11). 

  ⁹ He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

  ¹⁰ For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group.¹¹ They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach – and that for the sake of dishonest gain.

   Every leader should continually develop spiritually in order that his character is like that described in Titus 1:5-11. 

  Appointing elders who love what is good

  ⁵ The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.⁶ An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.⁷ Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless – not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.⁸ Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.⁹ He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

  ¹⁰ For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group.¹¹ They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach – and that for the sake of dishonest gain.

  Likewise, every leader of a church should strive to become spiritually mature as described in 1 Timothy 3.

  Qualifications for overseers and deacons

  ¹ Here is a trustworthy saying: whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task.² Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,³ not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.⁴ He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect.⁵ (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)⁶ He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil.⁷ He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.

  ⁸ In the same way, deacons are to be worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain.⁹ They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience.¹⁰ They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.

  ¹¹ In the same way, the women are to be worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.

  ¹² A deacon must be faithful to his wife and must manage his children and his household well.¹³ Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.

  ¹⁴ Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing to you with these instructions so that,¹⁵ if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.¹⁶ Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great:

  He appeared in the flesh,
      was vindicated by the Spirit,
  was seen by angels,
      was preached among the nations,
  was believed on in the world,
      was taken up in glory.