The perils of Christian leadership.

1. The perils of Christian leadership. I Corinthians 4: Lamentations of an apostle.

2. Why do Churches fall apart?

3. Why do Churches fall apart? • Conflict leading to a divided church (91%).

4. Why do Churches fall apart? • Conflict leading to a divided church (91%). • Hypocrisy and judgmental behavior among members (78%).

5. Why do Churches fall apart? • Conflict leading to a divided church (91%). • Hypocrisy and judgmental behavior among members (78%). • Members cannot fit in, feel like they don’t belong (66%).

6. Why do Churches fall apart? • Conflict leading to a divided church (91%). • Hypocrisy and judgmental behavior among members (78%). • Members cannot fit in, feel like they don’t belong (66%). • Perceived unwillingness to deal with sin (62%). (Source: www.churchleadership.org)

7. Do we judge our church leaders?

8. “So then, men ought to regard us as…”

9. Faithful servants (v1-7). • Condemned men in the arena (v8-13). • Disciplinarian father (v14-21).

12. Faithful Servant.

13. FAITHFULLY SERVING AND PERSEVERING.

14. EVEN FAITHFUL SERVANTS GET TIRED AND DISCOURAGED.

15. Encourage our leaders. • “ There is nothing else that so kills the efficiency, capability and initiative as destructive criticism…It tends to hamper and undercut the efficiency of man’s thinking process. It chips away at his self-respect and undermines his confidence in his ability to cope with his responsibilities.” J.Oswald Sanders, page 155, Spiritual Leadership.

16. Servant Leadership • “ … whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave-just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom to many.” Matt 20v26-28

17. SERVANT LEADERSHIP

19. Servant leadership leads to humility and unity among leaders. • “…I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying “Do not go beyond what is written”” (v6) . • “All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Chephas..” (3v22). • “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants..”(3v5).

20. Success can remove genuine humility . • “Success exposes a man to the pressure of people and thus tempts him to hold on to his gains by means of fleshy methods and practices, and to let himself be ruled wholly by the dictatorial demands of incessant expansion. Success can go to my head, and will unless I remember that it is God who accomplished the work, that He can continue to do so without any help, and that He will be able to make out other means whenever He cuts me down to size”. Charles Spurgeon.

21. Genuine humility comes with appreciating grace. • “For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them-yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me”. 1 Cor 15v9-10

22. “Fake” humility. • Motivated by what others think (4v3). • Privately very critical of others (4v4). • Actually considers oneself better than others, but doesn’t show it. • Has not fully appreciated God’s grace (3v10,4v6-7, 3v18-23, 2v26-31).

24. “Fake humility” leads to double- mindedness. • Some Christians are unable to come to terms with their actual sinful self, and take pride in a false triumphal sense of themselves (v 4). • Corinthian Christians have such muted consciences that they are proud of their sins (Chapter 5).

26. “TWO-FACE” CHRISTIANITY?

27. Condemned men in the arena.

29. “Nosmorituri to salutamus” ( We who are about to die salute you )

31. Apostles today?

33. The Marks of True Apostleship-to know the sufferings of Christ.

34. Suffering as Leaders • “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, and becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Phil 3v10

44. So you think you can lead? Secular leadership Biblical leadership Ministry driven. Privileged to be able to serve the church. Character orientated. Answerable to authority of God. Must be prepared for insults and hardship. Must have genuine humility. Stewardship driven. • Management driven. • Privileges of people to serve you. • Result orientated. • Answerable to authority of man. • Perks of respect and comfort. • Arrogant and proud attitude accepted. • Ownership driven.

45. Disciplinarian Father.

46. Do Christians today submit to leadership?

47. Are Christian leaders today authoritarian? • “Paradoxically there seems to be a growing movement in some evangelical circles towards a greater authoritarianism in church leadership, even as our secular culture is at times more closely recapturing the more biblical, collegial models of servant-leadership. “ Craig Blomberg’s commentary on Chapter 4 (Applying 1 Corinthians in The Early Twenty-First Century).

48. Leadership characterized by a father’s love for his children.

50. Submission to Leaders • “If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants” ( 1 Kings 12v7).