(Tuesday PM Ordination Service
District Council May 7,
2013)
“DYNAMICS OF LEADERSHIP”
TEXTS: 1 Sam.
16:1-13; 2 Sam. 2:1-7;
5:1-4
INTRO: There is
nothing like being a leader, and there is nothing like leading as a Pastor. It is often a job filled with “good news – bad
news”
ILLUS:
GOOD NEWS: Your church's new recovery group is well
attended.
BAD NEWS:
Your spouse and kids are in it.
GOOD NEWS:
People have caught the vision for church growth.
BAD NEWS:
Now they ask why it's not
happening.
GOOD NEWS: The new donated computer is loaded with all
the latest technological advances...
BAD NEWS: ... It was software for the year
1983.
GOOD NEWS:
Your youth Pastor is finally getting kids to attend church.
BAD NEWS:
They're going to the church down the
street.
Good
News: The Women's Ministries voted to send you
a get-well card.
Bad
News: It passed 31 to
30.
Good
News: The church board accepted
your job description the way you wrote it.
Bad
News: They also formed a search committee to
find someone capable of filling the
position.
Good
News: Sister Jones is wild about your
sermons.
Bad
News: Sister Jones is also wild
about "The Gong Show" and the movie "
Good
News: Seventy junior high students showed up
last Thursday.
Bad
News: The meeting was on
Wednesday.
-- James Berkley and Kevin A. Miller,
Leadership, Vol. 15, no. 4.
-- James D.
Leadership is a great challenge. The world today is filled with followers
but few real leaders. Too much
leadership today is based on surveys, opinion polls, political correctness,
popularity, etc., but what we really need
are leaders who are gifted and guided by God’s Word and
Spirit.
PROP. SENT: The Bible teaches us that
leadership is a call from God, not the opinion or call of man. Those called
are:
(1.
Prepared by God for
leadership
(2.
Recognized as leaders by
others
(3.
Proved as leaders by their character and
legacy.
I. THE CALLING (David
Anointed King, Without Rule!) 1 Sam.
16:1-13
A. Transitions 1 Sam.
16:1-5
1. King Saul’s leadership
was in trouble,
a. God always has a plan,
and always has a man/woman.
b. Though King Saul is still
alive, God wants Samuel to identify the next leader, notice Samuel’s words here,
“How long will
you mourn for Saul…” it was time to look forward and not backwards
for leadership.
2. Ministry requires godly
leadership, Saul had abandoned spiritual truth and God had withdrawn His Spirit
from Saul, so Samuel is encouraged by God to move forward in selecting the next
king.
3. This was a dangerous thing to
do with King Saul still alive.
a. It was a tough day for
both
b. There are sometimes bad days
when you are called to lead!
ILLUS:
You know it's a bad day
when:
... You finally remember the name of that person you
promised to visit in the hospital – while reading the
obituaries.
... In the pulpit you notice your sermon notes this
week are for last week's sermon.
... The youth pastor urgently asks you about the
church's liability insurance.
... Your church treasurer sends you a post card from
... You are informed that the youth group used steel
wool sponges for their car wash.
... The couple you married a year ago calls to ask
about a warranty.
... You are elected Pastor Emeritus -- and you're only
twenty-eight.
… You preach the same sermon for the second week -- and
nobody notices.
-- James D.
-- Bruce Hoppe, Dwight Dally, Dave Maurer,
Ron Saari in Leadership, Vol. 9, no. 2.
4. Samuel was embarking on a
tough assignment, but it was necessary to have godly leadership, God always has
a man/woman to do His work.
5. Samuel has to go undercover
for this assignment, but he realized that his own call to leadership as a
prophet included tough assignments as well as good
ones.
ILLUS:
There are three
things in ministry you need to know.
Number one, it's never as good as it seems. Number two, it's never as bad
as it seems. And number three, the
greatest myth of all is that you can fix it. It never gets fixed. -- Truman Dollar's advice to Ed Dobson,
Preaching Today.
6. It was time for a godly
leader!
B. Traits
1 Sam.
16:6-13
1. Interestingly enough,
even godly Samuel was fooled into looking at the outward appearance for the next
leader … God had told him the next king was a son of Jesse of Bethlehem, and
there are only 8 sons to look at.
a. The first son goes by
Samuel; he LOOKS like a leader, strong and tall … LIKE SAUL whom God had now
rejected!
b. Why Samuel didn’t realize his
own error of looking at outward appearance as the highest quality of kingship
after God had rejected the ruddy, tall, and strong Saul is
amazing!
2. They had already
tried the outward appearance method, it had
failed!
3. God was looking on the heart,
not the flesh.
4. It is too easy to choose
leadership based on appearance, the world
does it all the time - we need to know a man’s character before we judge
him by his clothing.
a. Everything isn’t always
the way it looks, looks can be
deceiving!
ILLUS:
I've always loved
the story of the cowboy who was riding along and came upon an Indian lying flat
on the ground with his ear pressed to the earth. The Indian said, "Wait, wagon, two miles
off, drawn by two horses, one black, the other gray. Four people on board: man in a red
flannel shirt, his wife, and two kids."
The cowboy was very impressed.
He said, "It's amazing you can tell all that just by listening to the
earth." The Indian said, "No. They
ran over me thirty minutes ago, go after them!" -- Bruce Thielemann, "Because," Preaching
Today, Tape No. 105.
b. Be careful how you evaluate
leaders, look at what’s inside and not just what’s
outside.
5. All of Jesse’s sons flunked
the test of leadership as far as God was concerned though they were warriors and
strong outwardly…
a. Later they were found
in
b. God was looking for something
else - a real shepherd!
c. Jesse had one more son
not present, the youngest, a simple
shepherd!
6. The traits of the shepherd
are what God wanted for leadership over His people … hence the
development of a pastor being called a shepherd today
.
a. Shepherds would die to protect a lamb or
sheep.
b. Shepherds fed and watered the flock
daily.
c. Shepherds led out front the
flock.
d. Shepherds loved each sheep, naming them each
with their own name.
e. Shepherds carefully developed the animals
for breeding purposes, to produce more sheep, and healthy
sheep.
f. IT WAS NOT A
JOB; it was a calling, a way of life! (It still
is!)
7. David is finally anointed by
Samuel, God’s choice, not a man’s
choice!
a. Yet, David has
no rule - except over self! – BUT this
is where leadership begins!
b. He may have been anointed
king but he was still a boy - God laid His hand on David because He saw this
young man’s potential, his traits, but David has no kingdom
yet.
II. THE CHALLENGE (David
Anointed King, Partial Rule!) 2 Sam.
2:1-7
A. Timing
2 Sam.
2:1-3
1. Years now have passed
by and King Saul has finally died.
a. The kingdom however is
not united, but David is publicly anointed King of
b. David does not presume to
lead the entire nation; he is willing to lead those who were willing to follow
at this time, which was his own
tribe.
(1. This is an important
principle of leadership development; you can’t lead greater later if you don’t
demonstrate the ability to lead first in smaller
ways.
(2. Leadership that is healthy grows
greater through time and proved by our current
actions.
2. He is willing to lead now
like a king, but he allows God to decide on the timing of his full rule over all
a. What does he do in the
meantime? He faithfully serves
where he is at.
b. Real leaders
don’t need “positions” to lead; they simply serve even if they don’t have a
“title.”
c. David accepted the rule
over one tribe for now and fought for ALL the tribes of
3. David trusted God’s timing
for ruling the whole kingdom - his concern was serving well even if it only
meant over only one tribe for now.
a. There is a biblical
principle here about leadership - being faithful in little leads to being
trusted with much later.
b. We need to serve well in
small ways before expecting to be trusted to lead well in larger
contexts.
B. Teamwork
2 Sam.
2:4-7
1. Notice that when David
had a chance to speak badly about the former King he instead chose to thank
those who had buried the former king
Saul.
a. He showed honor for the
previous king, though the previous king had tried to kill him on several
occasions!!!
b. David was concerned to
preserve the office of the king, they would all need to work together to defeat
their enemies, they couldn’t afford to make an enemy of each
other!
c. This is still good
advice for the church today!
2. David kept his focus on
working together - good leaders always do this. There is a huge difference between a
“boss” and a “leader.”
ILLUS:
A boss creates
fear; a leader creates confidence.
Bossism creates resentment; leadership breeds
enthusiasm.
A boss says, "I"; a leader says,
"We."
A boss fixes blame; a leader fixes
mistakes.
A boss knows how; a leader shows
how.
A boss makes work drudgery; a leader makes work
interesting.
A boss relies on authority; a leader relies on
cooperation.
A boss drives; a leader leads. -- James S. Hewett,
Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988), p.
312.
3. Though David’s rule was limited, his
service and attitude were
not!
4. David didn’t wait to minister
and serve until after he had full title as King of Israel - he fought hard,
worked hard, served well, long before any title had
come.
5. This consistency in David’s
life to be a servant at all stages of authority is what earmarked him for
leadership in God’s book.
a. Past behavior
is the greatest predictor of future success!
b. We would do well to look for
leaders today that have proven track records of servant-like attitude and
actions - this is biblical!
c. Paul told a young
pastor by the name of Timothy these words:
2 Tim 2:2 “And the things you have heard me say in the
presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be
qualified to teach others.”
(Emphasis mine)
III. THE CERTIFICATION (David
Anointed King, Complete Rule!) 2 Sam.
5:1-5
A. Trustworthy
2 Sam.
5:1-2
1. All
a. David’s past was
catching up with him - what about yours?
It always does you know, and when our past is proven service it leads
to proven leadership.
b. In the past when Saul was
king it was David who fought many of the battles, he served the king, now it was
time for David to be king over the entire nation, and in doing so, continue to
serve as well!
2. David’s proven record led to
his rule as king over all
3. David was the same no matter what position he
held, he was a king before he had a kingdom … his heart was for all
Israel and for the God of Israel.
ILLUS:
An English
one-liner that has always amused me is:
"A gentleman is one who uses the butter knife when he is alone." In other words, it's what someone does
when no one's watching that indicates the true person. -- J.
4. The Lord had said that David
would be a shepherd-king, not the people - but the people did recognize it and
affirm it later. (See 2 Sam. 5:2b)
B. Theocracy
2 Sam.
5:3-5
1. David now is placed
over all
a. Godly leadership
doesn’t set self up, even if you have a title only God should get the glory, it
is His!
b. David did not rule Israel by having them
fall in love with him, he led
2. He was content to think of
himself as a shepherd instead of a
lord.
a. God was more important
than his own life -
b. Leadership
is born from our behavior before it is bequeathed in our
biography!
3. David’s rule was to make God
King, not self. All good leaders of
the church today do the same!
a. Jesus rules, not
man.
b. It is critical that leaders
strive to draw people to Christ and not to their own
needs.
4. David was honored by the Lord
because David honored the Lord.
This is the reward of dynamic
leadership.
CONCLUSION:
Leadership
is often misunderstood. Many people
think that they can be a leader simply because they want to be, but true
leadership is a gift and calling of God.
Those called are prepared and developed by the Lord, then recognized by
man in time, and their leadership established by the actual performance and
legacy of their character. Godly
leadership is a blessing, and is a gift from God to move forward His people for
His causes.