Difference between revisions of "Sermon for October 5th, 2014"

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(Spiritual Gifts, Spiritual Ministries: Leadership)
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So what exactly is our obsession with leadership all about? Why, in a country that got its start by abolishing the monarchy (the rule of one) do we strive so hard to be that one, the one at the top, the one in charge?
 
So what exactly is our obsession with leadership all about? Why, in a country that got its start by abolishing the monarchy (the rule of one) do we strive so hard to be that one, the one at the top, the one in charge?
  
I think in part, it's our fear of uncertainty, and the unknown.  Being in charge means having control over others, rather than others having control over you.  It's also our competitive nature, our concept of the survival of the fittest.  To lead is to be ahead of others, as in "he (or she) is in the lead."  The one who is "in the lead" at the end of the race, wins.  And we live in a "winner take all" culture.  We equate leading with winning, and we equate following with losing.
+
I think in part, it's our fear of uncertainty, and the unknown.  Being in charge means having control over others, rather than others having control over you.  It's also our competitive nature, our concept of the survival of the fittest.  To lead is to be ahead of others, as in "he (or she) is in the lead."  The one who is "in the lead" at the end of the race, wins.  And we live in a "winner take all" culture.  We equate leading with winning, and we equate following with not winning...which is to say, losing.
  
 +
And that's a big problem for us as Christians.  Because our Christ, our leader...was a loser.  He died the deat of all who challenged Rome (the world leader at the time) and lost.  Yes, we are so quick to jump from the crucifixion to the resurrection so we can say, "No, he didn't lose, or he only lost temporarily...in the end he WON, he was victorious over the greater enemy, death itself!" And we do that because we, as American Christians, we absolutely hate the idea of a leader who was a loser.  No, not our Jesus.  He was clearly a winner. Clearly. 
  
 +
But there's a problem with that line of thinking.  And it's the very words of Jesus himself.  Because not only was he a loser, he said that we must be losers, too.  Matthew 16:25, "those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it."  And Matthew 20:16, "the last will be first, and the first will be last."  So our culture says you're either a leader or a loser, but Jesus says that in order to be a leader, you have to be a loser.
  
 +
To put it a slightly different way, Leo Durocher said that "nice guys finish last."  Jesus said that last guys finish nicely.
  
-nice guys finish last.  Last guys finish nicely.
 
 
 
-everyone wants to be a leader, the leader is "first" but Jesus said leader is "last," "servant"
 
  
 
-etymology
 
-etymology

Revision as of 13:14, 3 October 2014

Romans 12:1-8

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. 6 We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7 ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8 the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

Spiritual Gifts, Spiritual Ministries: Leadership

Some of the spiritual gifts are a little bit of a tough sell. Like prophecy, serving, compassion, or giving... Convincing people that they have these gifts to offer can be like pulling teeth. But some gifts seem to go the other way, and leadership is one of these. I did a search on amazon.com for books about leadership, and came back with 122,189 results. By contrast, if you do an amazon search for "followership" or books about following, you get 297 results. That's a ratio of 411 to 1. Book publishers are not stupid--what they publish is generally a reflection of the market demand. So for every one person out there looking for a book on how to be a better follower, there are 411 people out there who'd rather be a leader. Leadership is popular in our culture, it is valued and sought after. Everyone wants to be a leader, and those who don't? There must be something wrong with them; maybe a lack of motivation or just plain old laziness. But this lopsided preference for leadership can cause problems. We even have a saying about it: "All chiefs...and no indians." Can you imagine an organization that had 411 leaders and just one follower?

Some would argue that by definition, that's impossible. In order for to be a leader, one must have followers. I've heard it put this way: "He who leads and no one follows...is just taking a walk."

So what exactly is our obsession with leadership all about? Why, in a country that got its start by abolishing the monarchy (the rule of one) do we strive so hard to be that one, the one at the top, the one in charge?

I think in part, it's our fear of uncertainty, and the unknown. Being in charge means having control over others, rather than others having control over you. It's also our competitive nature, our concept of the survival of the fittest. To lead is to be ahead of others, as in "he (or she) is in the lead." The one who is "in the lead" at the end of the race, wins. And we live in a "winner take all" culture. We equate leading with winning, and we equate following with not winning...which is to say, losing.

And that's a big problem for us as Christians. Because our Christ, our leader...was a loser. He died the deat of all who challenged Rome (the world leader at the time) and lost. Yes, we are so quick to jump from the crucifixion to the resurrection so we can say, "No, he didn't lose, or he only lost temporarily...in the end he WON, he was victorious over the greater enemy, death itself!" And we do that because we, as American Christians, we absolutely hate the idea of a leader who was a loser. No, not our Jesus. He was clearly a winner. Clearly.

But there's a problem with that line of thinking. And it's the very words of Jesus himself. Because not only was he a loser, he said that we must be losers, too. Matthew 16:25, "those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it." And Matthew 20:16, "the last will be first, and the first will be last." So our culture says you're either a leader or a loser, but Jesus says that in order to be a leader, you have to be a loser.

To put it a slightly different way, Leo Durocher said that "nice guys finish last." Jesus said that last guys finish nicely.


-etymology

-προϊστάμενος (before stander)

-σπουδή (speed, haste, enthusiasm) Mark 6:25; Luke 1:39

-lithan (go, travel, sail)

-diligence --> (caution, care, thoroughness) Latin diligere (to love, take delight in)