LESSON
27
Attributes of a Leader
Part 3
2 Tim. 3:2-7,10 A
bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of
good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient,
not a brawler, not covetous; One that ruleth
well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (For if a man know not how to rule his own house,
how shall he take care of the church of God?)
Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the
condemnation of the devil. Moreover he must have a good report of them which
are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. ... And let these also first be proved; then let
them use the office of a deacon, being [found] blameless.
VIII. NOT A STRIKER
The word striker means
one who is quarrelsome. A leader in the
body of Christ should not be given to quarrels.
Many seem to get joy out
of getting into a quarrel.
Titus 3:9 But avoid foolish questions, and
genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
2 Tim.
2 Tim.
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There are questions
people ask specifically to stir up contention.
For example, a preacher may
teach from the Word, that you are not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers
(having an intimate personal relationship with an unbeliever). Then someone stands up questioning because of
an experience they had when their sister dated an unbeliever and got
saved.
This would be considered
a foolish question because it is a question of the exception rather than the
rule. That person's sister still
disobeyed the Word of God. God was
simply gracious in that situation. The
rule is that when Christians date non-Christians they will generally
backslide. We use the exception as a
question when the Word clearly states what we are to do. This is a foolish question. When God says, "Don't do it." or
"Do it." there is no "but what if...".
Many will try to get you
into arguments over meaningless things. Avoid them. The leader shouldn't be involved in
contentious arguments. If someone just
wants to argue with you, walk away. The
Bible commands us to live at peace with everyone where possible.
I Cor.
1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and [that] there be no
divisions among you; but [that] ye be perfectly joined together in the
same mind and in the same judgment.
I Pet. 3:8 Finally,
[be ye] all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love
as brethren, [be] pitiful, [be] courteous.
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We are to live together
in peace. Most church splits occur
because a leader stirred up a contention
against the existing leadership. The majority
of these splits began with someone asking foolish questions over pet-peeve
doctrines with an intention to stir up strife.
As leaders we must avoid
these things. You are not going to agree
with everyone that you come in contact with.
Grow up. If you are waiting for
the church that agrees 100% with you, you will be waiting a long time.
IX. NOT GREEDY OF FILTHY LUCRE
I Pet. 5:2 Feed
the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight [thereof], not by
constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready
mind.
The word filthy here
means vile communication. Lucre speaks
of substance. It is the vile interaction
with money. Money is not filthy
lucre. Filthy Lucre is that which is
taken or gained with greed and used for wrong purposes.
Matt.
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You are either seeking
God and in the process, are blessed in order to advance the purposes of the
There are many in the
Christian community that are running after get-rich-quick-schemes or ways of
making money quickly. If you're not
careful there is a spirit that comes with much of that. It is a spirit of greed for filthy
lucre. We justify it by saying that we
are going to have this money for the Lord.
If the spirit driving you is the spirit of greed and not the command of
God, then you have entered into being greedy for filthy lucre.
God will show you how He
wants you to get money and He will bless the work of your hands. It won't be by preying off of other
people.
Prov.
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When you are greedy, it
will take your life away. This is the
trap of the devil to get you focused on money.
Ecc.
Mic 2:1-3 Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon
their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the
power of their hand. And they
covet fields, and take [them] by violence; and houses, and take [them] away: so
they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage. Therefore thus saith
the LORD; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall
not remove your necks; neither shall ye go haughtily: for this time [is] evil.
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Some business
opportunities take advantage of other people and their situation. If your gain harms them, you have entered
into a spirit of greed and it will bring about your own destruction.
Many people mistake a
testing of the Lord as a blessing of the Lord.
For example, a Christian goes to a grocery store and receives a greater
amount of change than they were supposed to.
They then have the audacity to say that the Lord blessed them. The Lord did not bless them. They just failed to pass the test. Your honesty and integrity is more important
than a 35 cent gain. It was a spirit of
greed, not love, that allowed you to keep the wrong change. When you discover that you have the wrong
change you must go back and return it.
Your gain may become of violence to the teller. It doesn't matter if it was their
mistake. How much more is your testimony
when you're honest and go back to return it.
Don't covet natural
riches but covet true spiritual riches.
Money in and of itself is not evil, but the love of money is what causes
it to become filthy lucre. Because the
love of money is the root of all evil.
Matt. 6:19-21 Lay
not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt,
and where thieves break through and steal:
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor
rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will
your heart be also.
X. PATIENT
Ecc. 7:8 Better [is] the end of a thing than the beginning
thereof: [and] the patient in spirit [is] better than the proud in
spirit.
Rom. 2:7 To
them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
I Thes.
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2 Thes.
3:5 And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God,
and into the patient waiting for Christ.
Jam. 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the
husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the
earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early
and latter rain.
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"Lord give me
patience, and give it to me now!"
This has become our attitude. We
have made God the microwaveable God. We
want something and we want it instantly.
Young men and women that
are called in the ministry often rush the years of development of their
character to go into the ministry. They
often say, "God is doing a quick work." God is doing a quick work, but it takes time
to build character. God wasn't in a rush
with David. From the time he was
anointed king to the time he became king was a span of 17 years. It took 17 years of patience. There is no rushing the development of
character.
God will fulfill all
things in HIS time.
Rom. 15:4 For
whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we
through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
Heb. 10:36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye
might receive the promise.
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We must have patience to
wait for the promises of God. If you
don't wait for the promise you will abort it.
If you wait, it will come to pass.
You will not be perfected
or brought to maturity until patience has had its work in your life.
Patience is a quality
that Christ develops in us as we remain in Him.
We must learn to walk in the patience of the Lord. The reason patience is so important in a
leader is that a leader must be willing to wait for God's timing.
TIMING
IS THE KEY TO SPIRITUAL BREAKTHROUGH.
One of the biggest
area's where mistakes are made is when people try to rush God, and they move
out before His timing.
David had the
opportunity to force his situation to make himself the King years before he
actually became King. David waited
for God's timing.
WAIT! GOD KNOWS THE RIGHT DATE.
XI. NOT A BRAWLER
The phrase "not a
brawler" means literally one who is peaceable, not in controversy with others. This goes along with the same truth as
"no striker" but also implies that a leader should be one who is not
involved in physical confrontations.
He's one who seeks peaceful solutions to confrontations. He's not willing to compromise the Word of God.
As we grow up into the
character of Christ, God can trust us with the release of His life-changing
anointing.
XII. NOT COVETOUS
Ex.
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The negative implication
of covet is to desire that which does not rightfully belong to you. It may be another's property, possessions,
talents, fame, popularity, position, stature, etc.
The thing that happens
when people move up in leadership is they want another person's position. They aren't satisfied with being the Sunday
school teacher; now they want to lead the children's ministry. They aren't satisfied with leading a Bible study
once a month; now they want to do it every week.
If you allow
covetousness to rule in your heart, you will eventually bring division into
your church, household or life.
Most jealousy is a
manifestation of covetousness. Repent of
coveting.
These attributes will
challenge every area in your life. We
are all called to be leaders (kings and priests) in some form or fashion.
In Review:
1.
Define striker.
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2. What
is considered a foolish question?
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3. What
should you do if someone came to you to start an argument?
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4. How
do most church splits occur?
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5.
Define filthy lucre.
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6. How
do the majority of Christians justify their greed? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7. Why
does God wait before moving someone directly into their calling or
position?
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8. How
long did David have to wait to be king from the time he was anointed?
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9. Why
is patience so important for a leader?
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10. What
is the key to spiritual breakthrough?
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11.
Define the phrase “not a brawler”.
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12. How
does this differ from “no striker”?
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13. What
is the negative implication of covet?
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14. What
will eventually happen if you let covetousness rule your heart?
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