WEBVTT 00:00:07.690 --> 00:00:10.169 Thank you for listening to this message from 00:00:10.169 --> 00:00:39.229 Lifehouse Church. just for a brief period of 00:00:39.229 --> 00:00:42.750 time. Renowned leader and expert John Maxwell 00:00:42.750 --> 00:00:47.450 says this, leadership is influence. Nothing more, 00:00:47.630 --> 00:00:51.409 nothing less. Leadership is influence. John Maxwell 00:00:51.409 --> 00:00:53.969 emphasizes that leadership is not based on titles. 00:00:54.109 --> 00:00:57.469 It's not about hierarchy necessarily, but rather 00:00:57.469 --> 00:01:00.929 your ability to influence other individuals through 00:01:00.929 --> 00:01:03.710 relationship, through character, and through 00:01:03.710 --> 00:01:07.019 added values into somebody's life. Maxwell says 00:01:07.019 --> 00:01:09.359 that leadership is not a position thing, right? 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:12.840 Not a title thing, but it's actually an influence 00:01:12.840 --> 00:01:15.780 thing in somebody else's life. Another leadership 00:01:15.780 --> 00:01:18.540 guru, Robert K. Greenleaf, you may or may not 00:01:18.540 --> 00:01:21.319 have heard of him before, has an additional take 00:01:21.319 --> 00:01:24.859 on leadership. Greenleaf coined the phrase servant 00:01:24.859 --> 00:01:29.269 leadership. In Greenleaf's 1970 essay, The Servant 00:01:29.269 --> 00:01:32.230 as Leader, this former AT &T executive proposed 00:01:32.230 --> 00:01:35.769 the primary motivation of leadership should be 00:01:35.769 --> 00:01:39.569 a natural desire to serve others first rather 00:01:39.569 --> 00:01:43.930 than a desire to lead. Greenleaf says leadership 00:01:43.930 --> 00:01:48.030 is servant plus leading and not the other way 00:01:48.030 --> 00:01:51.359 around. And I believe that both John Maxwell 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:54.719 and Greenleaf were only borrowing these leadership 00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:57.780 concepts from the greatest leader of all time, 00:01:57.780 --> 00:02:01.560 who is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the greatest leader 00:02:01.560 --> 00:02:05.180 who ever graced this planet. If you want to understand 00:02:05.180 --> 00:02:07.299 leadership, if you want to know what it is to 00:02:07.299 --> 00:02:09.659 lead in your home, if you want to know what it 00:02:09.659 --> 00:02:12.439 is to lead in your context of life, study Jesus. 00:02:12.680 --> 00:02:15.719 If you want to understand it in its purest form, 00:02:16.219 --> 00:02:19.479 You want to watch and read and look at what Jesus 00:02:19.479 --> 00:02:23.879 did. Undefiled leadership should look like how 00:02:23.879 --> 00:02:27.919 Christ led while he was on this earth. Study 00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:32.139 it, read it, look into it. He valued what he 00:02:32.139 --> 00:02:35.180 valued and what he did not value because Jesus 00:02:35.180 --> 00:02:38.479 is the original influencer. How many know there's 00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:40.939 lots of influencers on social media? How many 00:02:40.939 --> 00:02:42.159 know there's a lot of people that shouldn't be 00:02:42.159 --> 00:02:45.530 influencing on social media? Come on. He taught 00:02:45.530 --> 00:02:48.729 and modeled servant leadership. If you want to 00:02:48.729 --> 00:02:51.629 know what it is to lead in your home, in your 00:02:51.629 --> 00:02:54.990 work, in your profession, if you want to know 00:02:54.990 --> 00:02:57.830 what it's like to lead in your community or even 00:02:57.830 --> 00:03:03.539 in the world at large, look at Jesus. Amen. If 00:03:03.539 --> 00:03:05.259 you have your Bibles, I want you to turn to John 00:03:05.259 --> 00:03:10.699 chapter 13. Jesus teaches in this passage a foundational 00:03:10.699 --> 00:03:14.159 principle, a truth about leadership. And as you 00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:16.199 turn, I'm going to pray. Father, I thank you. 00:03:16.680 --> 00:03:18.560 God, for each person in the house today, I thank 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:21.000 you those who are joining us online this morning. 00:03:21.099 --> 00:03:23.180 And Lord God, I'm just asking right now that 00:03:23.180 --> 00:03:25.599 you would touch our ears, our hearts, and our 00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:28.159 minds as we dive into your word. God, let it 00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:30.560 be a lamp to our feet, a light to our path. God, 00:03:30.659 --> 00:03:33.840 let it speak into our spirit and change who we 00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:36.360 are because that's the power of your word. It 00:03:36.360 --> 00:03:38.560 is living and powerful. And we just give you 00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:41.039 praise and glory in Jesus' name. And everybody 00:03:41.039 --> 00:03:44.740 say it together. Amen. Amen. John chapter 13. 00:03:44.860 --> 00:03:46.659 Now let me give you just a little preview coming 00:03:46.659 --> 00:03:50.259 up to John 13. It's Passover. It's Passover in 00:03:50.259 --> 00:03:53.319 Jerusalem. Jesus is about to leave his disciples, 00:03:53.560 --> 00:03:56.319 his trainees, the men he's been training for 00:03:56.319 --> 00:03:58.919 three and a half years. It's not because he's 00:03:58.919 --> 00:04:01.000 going to the next town to minister. It's not 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:03.360 because he's going to do healing or preaching 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:06.020 or teaching in another location. He's getting 00:04:06.020 --> 00:04:08.500 ready to go to the cross. He's getting ready 00:04:08.500 --> 00:04:11.740 for the final journey up to Golgotha and die 00:04:11.740 --> 00:04:15.360 and be placed in a tomb, raise up from that tomb 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:18.500 and be seen by over 500 witnesses and then ascend 00:04:18.500 --> 00:04:21.720 to the Father. This is soon going to take place. 00:04:21.860 --> 00:04:24.800 And this is the plan of God to bring us back 00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:27.980 into relationship with God. But before he goes. 00:04:28.900 --> 00:04:32.639 Jesus is teaching his disciples at the last supper, 00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:35.980 at Passover for the last time. And he's doing 00:04:35.980 --> 00:04:40.800 it with a towel, right, and a meal. He's teaching 00:04:40.800 --> 00:04:43.920 them leadership. A towel and a meal. And I brought 00:04:43.920 --> 00:04:45.680 a towel with me. This morning I'm just going 00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:51.120 to hang it here so that you can see it. How to 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:55.009 lead. Some of his final words before he left. 00:04:55.170 --> 00:04:57.810 And he didn't have a power meeting with the disciples. 00:04:58.149 --> 00:05:00.410 He didn't pull up a PowerPoint. He didn't get 00:05:00.410 --> 00:05:03.009 out a whiteboard and say, boys, when I'm gone, 00:05:03.069 --> 00:05:05.050 this is what I want it to look like. He didn't 00:05:05.050 --> 00:05:07.069 do any of that. He gives them a living illustration 00:05:07.069 --> 00:05:10.470 of what it really means to lead. John 13 once 00:05:10.470 --> 00:05:12.750 says this. Now, before the feast of the Passover, 00:05:12.889 --> 00:05:15.329 when Jesus knew that his hour had come, that 00:05:15.329 --> 00:05:17.189 he should depart from this world to the Father, 00:05:17.329 --> 00:05:20.129 having loved his own who were in the world, he 00:05:20.129 --> 00:05:22.990 loved them to the end. At supper being ended, 00:05:23.129 --> 00:05:25.490 the devil, having already put in the heart of 00:05:25.490 --> 00:05:28.649 Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, 00:05:28.750 --> 00:05:31.069 knowing that the Father had given all things 00:05:31.069 --> 00:05:34.089 into his hands and that he had come from God 00:05:34.089 --> 00:05:37.529 and was going to God, rose up from supper, laid 00:05:37.529 --> 00:05:41.089 aside his garments, took a towel. Say a towel. 00:05:41.959 --> 00:05:45.459 Took a towel and girded himself about that. And 00:05:45.459 --> 00:05:48.279 he poured water into a basin and began to wash 00:05:48.279 --> 00:05:50.939 the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the 00:05:50.939 --> 00:05:54.019 towel with which he was girded. Then he came 00:05:54.019 --> 00:05:56.779 to Simon Peter and Peter said to him, Lord, are 00:05:56.779 --> 00:06:00.180 you washing my feet? And Jesus answered and said 00:06:00.180 --> 00:06:02.519 to him, what I'm doing you do not understand 00:06:02.519 --> 00:06:07.180 now, but you will know after this. Peter said 00:06:07.180 --> 00:06:10.259 to him, you shall never wash my feet. And Jesus 00:06:10.259 --> 00:06:13.319 answered me, if I do not wash you, you have no 00:06:13.319 --> 00:06:16.139 part with me. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:19.040 not only my feet, but also my hands and my head. 00:06:19.319 --> 00:06:22.740 Peter's like, he backtracks. Jesus said to him, 00:06:22.779 --> 00:06:25.199 he who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, 00:06:25.259 --> 00:06:27.939 but is completely clean. And you are clean, but 00:06:27.939 --> 00:06:30.639 not all of you. For he knew that he would, who 00:06:30.639 --> 00:06:32.879 would betray him. Therefore, he said, you are 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:35.839 not all clean. So when he had washed their feet, 00:06:35.959 --> 00:06:39.079 taking his garments and sat down again, he said 00:06:39.079 --> 00:06:41.500 to them, do you know what I have done to you? 00:06:42.759 --> 00:06:46.699 You call me teacher and Lord, and you say, well, 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:50.620 for I am. For I then your Lord and teacher have 00:06:50.620 --> 00:06:53.399 washed your feet. You also ought to wash one 00:06:53.399 --> 00:06:56.220 another's feet. For I have given you an example 00:06:56.220 --> 00:06:59.339 that you should do as I have done to you. Most 00:06:59.339 --> 00:07:01.519 assuredly I say to you, a servant is not greater 00:07:01.519 --> 00:07:04.240 than his master, nor is he who is sent greater 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:07.000 than he who sent him. If you know these things, 00:07:07.220 --> 00:07:12.079 blessed are you if you do them. What was Jesus 00:07:12.079 --> 00:07:15.939 teaching these men about leading? What did Maxwell 00:07:15.939 --> 00:07:20.699 and Greenleaf borrow from Jesus as they taught 00:07:20.699 --> 00:07:23.800 about leadership? It's this, that there is only 00:07:23.800 --> 00:07:27.860 one position. There is only one posture. There 00:07:27.860 --> 00:07:31.480 is only one platform if you follow Jesus Christ 00:07:31.480 --> 00:07:35.879 to lead, and that is servant leadership. Servant 00:07:35.879 --> 00:07:39.500 leadership is the only leadership style for a 00:07:39.500 --> 00:07:44.680 Christian. There's only one posture that we can 00:07:44.680 --> 00:07:47.160 get in if we're going to lead in the body of 00:07:47.160 --> 00:07:49.240 Christ, if we're going to lead in life. There's 00:07:49.240 --> 00:07:52.379 only one position that we can lead from, one 00:07:52.379 --> 00:07:55.759 view, one lens that we look through, and it is 00:07:55.759 --> 00:08:00.300 servant plus lead. It is servant plus lead. There's 00:08:00.300 --> 00:08:03.240 no other position, attitude, and particularly 00:08:03.240 --> 00:08:05.939 platform, like I'm standing on today, to lead 00:08:05.939 --> 00:08:09.300 from when you're following Jesus other than servant 00:08:09.300 --> 00:08:13.310 leader. And this idea runs counter -cultural 00:08:13.310 --> 00:08:15.149 to the world that we live in. It really does. 00:08:15.470 --> 00:08:18.209 If you study leadership in the world that's around 00:08:18.209 --> 00:08:20.189 us, you're going to find out that there's lots 00:08:20.189 --> 00:08:22.980 of labels for leadership. You're going to find 00:08:22.980 --> 00:08:24.980 out there's transformational leaders, right? 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:27.540 That's the type of leader that will inspire positive 00:08:27.540 --> 00:08:30.519 change and motivate people to innovate. This 00:08:30.519 --> 00:08:32.340 is kind of some of those influencers I'm talking 00:08:32.340 --> 00:08:34.879 about. They get on social media and they're trying 00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:38.620 to inspire and they're trying to jazz you up, 00:08:38.620 --> 00:08:41.320 get you stirred up right in your spirit and to 00:08:41.320 --> 00:08:44.620 develop you. And this type of leadership is dependent 00:08:44.620 --> 00:08:47.840 upon my ability or somebody's ability to inspire 00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:50.820 you to positive change of some kind. How many 00:08:50.820 --> 00:08:53.769 of you have ever... inspired your teenager to 00:08:53.769 --> 00:08:57.250 take out the trash? Anybody ever try to do that? 00:08:57.950 --> 00:09:02.169 How well did that go? How many of you don't inspire 00:09:02.169 --> 00:09:05.649 teenagers very easily, right? But this is an 00:09:05.649 --> 00:09:07.870 inspirational. It's more like a bribe with a 00:09:07.870 --> 00:09:09.730 teenager. Like, come on, I'll do this if you 00:09:09.730 --> 00:09:12.110 do that kind of thing. And actually that kind 00:09:12.110 --> 00:09:14.090 of leads into the next thing, which is a transactional 00:09:14.090 --> 00:09:16.769 leader. It's another type of leadership. This 00:09:16.769 --> 00:09:18.830 is one who focuses on supervision, structure, 00:09:19.090 --> 00:09:21.769 and a system of reward and punishments to meet 00:09:21.769 --> 00:09:23.490 the goal. Amen. How many have done that with 00:09:23.490 --> 00:09:26.250 your teenager? Yeah. Yeah. I will let you live 00:09:26.250 --> 00:09:29.129 if you take the garbage out. You will get to 00:09:29.129 --> 00:09:32.009 eat tomorrow. All right? Tomorrow, we're talking 00:09:32.009 --> 00:09:34.529 about this. And there's nothing wrong with systems. 00:09:34.710 --> 00:09:36.649 When I'm talking about these things, understand 00:09:36.649 --> 00:09:39.309 systems are in place all over. We have systems 00:09:39.309 --> 00:09:41.190 in our business. We have systems in our government. 00:09:41.370 --> 00:09:43.549 We've got systems in church. You probably have 00:09:43.549 --> 00:09:46.470 a system in your home. I can guarantee you have 00:09:46.470 --> 00:09:48.350 some kind of system. Whether it's written down 00:09:48.350 --> 00:09:50.470 or not is irrelevant, right? How many know there's 00:09:50.470 --> 00:09:52.450 just things that run a certain way in your house? 00:09:52.690 --> 00:09:54.690 You've got a certain role. Certain things happen 00:09:54.690 --> 00:09:57.190 a certain way. There's systems. There's autocracies. 00:09:57.159 --> 00:09:59.799 leadership, right? That relies on personal expertise 00:09:59.799 --> 00:10:02.639 to make decisions with little input from subordinates. 00:10:02.779 --> 00:10:05.419 We don't like this one very much. This is authoritarian 00:10:05.419 --> 00:10:08.519 in nature. It's my way or the highway. I don't 00:10:08.519 --> 00:10:09.740 know if you've ever been under a leader like 00:10:09.740 --> 00:10:11.919 that, but it's my way or the highway. Maybe that 00:10:11.919 --> 00:10:13.899 was your parents growing up. You didn't get to 00:10:13.899 --> 00:10:16.399 say so. You didn't get into discussion. It was 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:18.460 just this way and that was it. There's democratic 00:10:18.460 --> 00:10:20.860 leadership that encourages collaboration, which 00:10:20.860 --> 00:10:23.500 is complete opposite and involves people coming 00:10:23.500 --> 00:10:25.879 together to make decisions. And we collaborate. 00:10:26.379 --> 00:10:28.000 We get together and do these things. There's 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:29.779 bureaucratic leadership. There's charismatic 00:10:29.779 --> 00:10:32.080 leadership. There's coaching leadership. There's 00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:35.460 all kinds of leadership that you can study out 00:10:35.460 --> 00:10:38.440 in the world. But Jesus illustrated and instructed 00:10:38.440 --> 00:10:41.600 his disciples, when it comes to leadership as 00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:45.379 a follower of Jesus Christ, it must begin, it 00:10:45.379 --> 00:10:49.419 must come off of a platform of a servant, servant 00:10:49.419 --> 00:10:53.759 leadership. And you might be thinking, why? Why 00:10:53.759 --> 00:10:57.820 did Jesus just highlight this one style of leadership 00:10:57.820 --> 00:11:01.279 as the platform? You know, because he could have 00:11:01.279 --> 00:11:04.139 been, he could have really, and honestly would 00:11:04.139 --> 00:11:06.220 have fit very well. He could have been the authoritative 00:11:06.220 --> 00:11:08.940 leader. He really could have. He was God's son. 00:11:09.720 --> 00:11:14.009 He commanded demons and they obeyed. He called 00:11:14.009 --> 00:11:16.909 on the wind and the waves to stop, and they listened. 00:11:17.169 --> 00:11:19.730 He caused a group of fish, a school of fish, 00:11:19.809 --> 00:11:22.750 he commanded them to jump into a net, and they 00:11:22.750 --> 00:11:26.750 filled the net. He could have spoke and said, 00:11:26.769 --> 00:11:29.850 this is how it is. It is my way or the highway. 00:11:30.129 --> 00:11:34.529 He really could have. But Jesus modeled servant 00:11:34.529 --> 00:11:38.620 leadership. He put on a towel. over his arm and 00:11:38.620 --> 00:11:42.019 knelt down and began to show. And I believe he 00:11:42.019 --> 00:11:44.220 did this because he was teaching his disciples. 00:11:44.360 --> 00:11:47.059 He was teaching us something foundationally that 00:11:47.059 --> 00:11:50.100 we have to know. It has to start with a platform 00:11:50.100 --> 00:11:52.620 of servant leadership, because I believe he knew 00:11:52.620 --> 00:11:55.059 that if we didn't start with a platform of servant 00:11:55.059 --> 00:11:58.139 leadership, we would get it all messed up. If 00:11:58.139 --> 00:12:01.379 it was all about being the authoritarian, how 00:12:01.379 --> 00:12:03.860 many know what power hungry goes to our heads, 00:12:03.980 --> 00:12:07.799 right? He knew we would mess it up. He knew we 00:12:07.799 --> 00:12:10.240 would get it all jacked up if we didn't just 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:14.019 start off with a servant, with a towel in our 00:12:14.019 --> 00:12:19.960 hands, with a towel. It's our platform, servant 00:12:19.960 --> 00:12:23.940 leader. I can get very tempted to manipulate 00:12:23.940 --> 00:12:27.759 somebody, right? We all can if we don't have 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:32.799 the towel. If you learn to lead, you can come 00:12:32.799 --> 00:12:36.340 off sounding right, but you're manipulating and 00:12:36.340 --> 00:12:39.659 you're trying to twist things. Greenleaf even 00:12:39.659 --> 00:12:44.019 discovered this in secular circles. To lead long 00:12:44.019 --> 00:12:47.200 -term, to do it the right way, it has to be servant 00:12:47.200 --> 00:12:52.019 first, leader second. Servant first, leader second. 00:12:52.320 --> 00:13:01.370 Tao first, lead second. Towel first. Before I 00:13:01.370 --> 00:13:03.669 lead, I got to be willing to put on the towel. 00:13:03.870 --> 00:13:07.610 I really do. I got to be willing to bend down 00:13:07.610 --> 00:13:11.330 and wash somebody's feet. It's an incredible 00:13:11.330 --> 00:13:14.649 living illustration. God's son, the Messiah, 00:13:14.950 --> 00:13:17.769 the most powerful individual to walk the face 00:13:17.769 --> 00:13:21.450 of the earth. He takes a towel. And while his 00:13:21.450 --> 00:13:23.590 men are getting ready for supper or following 00:13:23.590 --> 00:13:27.289 supper, he kneels down. And he begins, he takes 00:13:27.289 --> 00:13:29.850 a basin of water and a towel and he kneels down 00:13:29.850 --> 00:13:32.970 and he begins to wash their feet. All the grime 00:13:32.970 --> 00:13:35.409 from walking in the streets of Jerusalem. And 00:13:35.409 --> 00:13:38.090 God understand back then it wasn't paved. There 00:13:38.090 --> 00:13:40.750 were animals and there were, you know, and what 00:13:40.750 --> 00:13:43.110 animals do, right? That food goes in one end, 00:13:43.149 --> 00:13:45.330 stuff comes out the other end. It's in the street. 00:13:45.490 --> 00:13:47.850 You know, all that stuff is on the streets of 00:13:47.850 --> 00:13:50.850 Jerusalem and it's on their feet. And Jesus kneels 00:13:50.850 --> 00:13:54.490 down and he takes a towel and one by one he begins. 00:13:54.669 --> 00:13:57.029 And Peter is so humbled in the middle of this. 00:13:57.110 --> 00:13:59.110 He says, Lord, no, no, no, no. This should be 00:13:59.110 --> 00:14:00.929 the other way around. And Jesus said, if you 00:14:00.929 --> 00:14:02.529 don't let me. me do this. You have no part with 00:14:02.529 --> 00:14:08.289 me. It was servant leadership. Servant leadership. 00:14:08.809 --> 00:14:12.690 We cannot kneel before somebody and wash their 00:14:12.690 --> 00:14:16.509 feet if we have pride in our life. If you resent 00:14:16.509 --> 00:14:19.149 that person, you will never kneel and wash their 00:14:19.149 --> 00:14:22.649 feet. If you have jealousy, unforgiveness in 00:14:22.649 --> 00:14:25.129 your heart of some kind, you won't wash their 00:14:25.129 --> 00:14:28.570 feet. You won't bow to the ground. You won't 00:14:28.570 --> 00:14:31.889 become subservient in front of them. You won't 00:14:31.889 --> 00:14:35.250 be willing to get the dirt on your hands and 00:14:35.250 --> 00:14:39.149 on your knees and on your clothes. Leadership 00:14:39.149 --> 00:14:43.009 in the kingdom of God has one platform. It is 00:14:43.009 --> 00:14:47.509 servant first and lead second. It is Tao first 00:14:47.509 --> 00:14:52.330 and lead second. It has to start there. Let the 00:14:52.330 --> 00:14:55.049 world lead however they choose. Whatever platform 00:14:55.049 --> 00:14:57.309 they decide to make their main platform to lead. 00:14:57.649 --> 00:15:00.730 But if you're in the kingdom of God, Start off 00:15:00.730 --> 00:15:06.350 with serve, towel first, lead second. If I will 00:15:06.350 --> 00:15:08.789 not grab the towel and bend down and serve first, 00:15:09.009 --> 00:15:14.169 I got it wrong. I'm getting it wrong. Jesus knew 00:15:14.169 --> 00:15:18.429 exactly what he was doing with those men. He 00:15:18.429 --> 00:15:20.649 knew what he was teaching them. He knew what 00:15:20.649 --> 00:15:22.330 they would need going forward. They would lead. 00:15:22.570 --> 00:15:24.710 These were the 12 men that would change the world 00:15:24.710 --> 00:15:28.029 with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And while we 00:15:28.029 --> 00:15:30.809 do this, we've got to make sure that our motives 00:15:30.809 --> 00:15:34.490 are right while influencing or leading someone 00:15:34.490 --> 00:15:37.590 else. We've got to make sure. You've got to make 00:15:37.590 --> 00:15:40.570 sure you never lay down the towel when you're 00:15:40.570 --> 00:15:43.710 leading or influencing. You can't lay it down. 00:15:43.870 --> 00:15:46.149 It can't be up one minute and the next minute 00:15:46.149 --> 00:15:48.230 like, you know, I don't think this fits the situation 00:15:48.230 --> 00:15:50.629 so much. I think this calls for a different kind 00:15:50.629 --> 00:15:53.789 of thing, right? You can't lay it down. You've 00:15:53.789 --> 00:15:55.250 got to make sure that you're carrying the towel. 00:15:55.350 --> 00:15:56.649 You've got to make sure that it's strapped on 00:15:56.649 --> 00:16:01.110 you, and you serve first, you come in as a servant 00:16:01.110 --> 00:16:04.669 first, and then you lead. Never laying the towel 00:16:04.669 --> 00:16:08.610 down is a way of keeping our motives in check. 00:16:09.110 --> 00:16:12.330 If I remind myself, you know, physically, I know 00:16:12.330 --> 00:16:13.950 you're not going to carry a towel over your shoulder 00:16:13.950 --> 00:16:16.610 for the rest of your life. I get it, right? But 00:16:16.610 --> 00:16:20.070 if you, in your mind, see this illustration, 00:16:20.149 --> 00:16:23.730 if you remember, it's towel first, right? When 00:16:23.730 --> 00:16:27.230 I'm at home, there's a dynamic. I talked about 00:16:27.230 --> 00:16:29.529 a system in our house. The system in our house 00:16:29.529 --> 00:16:32.350 works like this. Dixie is an awesome cook and 00:16:32.350 --> 00:16:34.570 she's an awesome baker. So she cooks and she 00:16:34.570 --> 00:16:40.129 bakes because I am with cooking and baking. I've 00:16:40.129 --> 00:16:43.210 given it a shot recently a little bit and she's 00:16:43.210 --> 00:16:47.110 been very kind and ate it occasionally. But the 00:16:47.110 --> 00:16:49.090 reality is she's so much better than I am at 00:16:49.090 --> 00:16:52.789 it. So she cooks and she bakes and I do the dishes. 00:16:53.839 --> 00:16:55.899 And I feel like that's my way of contributing 00:16:55.899 --> 00:16:58.299 for the meal and I'm happy to do that. So I do 00:16:58.299 --> 00:17:00.159 the cleanup work. And usually when I'm doing 00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:02.100 the dishes, not always, but usually when I'm 00:17:02.100 --> 00:17:04.059 doing the dishes, if you're at my house, I'll 00:17:04.059 --> 00:17:06.160 start washing and we got a washcloth and I'll 00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:08.140 take the tea towel that I dry with and I'll throw 00:17:08.140 --> 00:17:10.039 it up over my shoulder. And I'll just put it 00:17:10.039 --> 00:17:12.339 on just like this because I wanna be ready to 00:17:12.339 --> 00:17:14.759 go. You know, when I'm done washing whatever 00:17:14.759 --> 00:17:17.759 by hand and some of it I stick in a dishwasher, 00:17:18.059 --> 00:17:19.859 but some of it I'm washing by hand. If it's something 00:17:19.859 --> 00:17:21.619 big, I want the tea towel ready. So I'll put 00:17:21.619 --> 00:17:23.680 it down, I'll dry it up. right back over my shoulder 00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:25.119 again. And that's what I'm talking about. You 00:17:25.119 --> 00:17:27.279 can't put the towel down. You can't put it down. 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:29.220 You can't lay it down and decide, well, this 00:17:29.220 --> 00:17:31.599 situation calls for this. Now, I understand that 00:17:31.599 --> 00:17:33.440 some of you have charisma. I understand that 00:17:33.440 --> 00:17:35.460 some of you are able to lead and get out front 00:17:35.460 --> 00:17:38.599 and you use that gift in your life. But at the 00:17:38.599 --> 00:17:41.099 core level, at the platform level, if you wanna 00:17:41.099 --> 00:17:43.279 keep your motives right, if you wanna keep your 00:17:43.279 --> 00:17:46.319 motives pure in this, you gotta put the towel 00:17:46.319 --> 00:17:49.160 on first. And I got a white towel on purpose 00:17:49.160 --> 00:17:50.660 today. I could have brought a really colorful 00:17:50.660 --> 00:17:53.980 towel, but I wanted a white one because how many 00:17:53.980 --> 00:17:58.170 know white stands for? purity, right? I got to 00:17:58.170 --> 00:18:01.029 have pure motives when I walk in to serve. It's 00:18:01.029 --> 00:18:04.029 got to be pure. I got to ask myself, what's the 00:18:04.029 --> 00:18:07.069 end game? What's my end game when I'm going to 00:18:07.069 --> 00:18:09.569 influence somebody? What's my end game when I'm 00:18:09.569 --> 00:18:11.500 going to serve somebody else? Most everything 00:18:11.500 --> 00:18:14.259 we do has an end game of some kind, right? There's 00:18:14.259 --> 00:18:16.619 a purpose behind it. What's the end game as I 00:18:16.619 --> 00:18:19.500 lead? What's the end game as I serve? Why am 00:18:19.500 --> 00:18:21.599 I doing this? What's the motives behind what 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:24.640 I'm doing? This is a whole towel, white towel 00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:27.420 serve thing that I've got to be examining all 00:18:27.420 --> 00:18:31.400 the time. Many of us can lead. We can lead and 00:18:31.400 --> 00:18:33.660 serve and do it with all the wrong motives. Do 00:18:33.660 --> 00:18:35.500 you know that? I know that sounds like the strangest 00:18:35.500 --> 00:18:37.380 thing in the world. You can go serve somebody 00:18:37.380 --> 00:18:40.079 and have the wrong motives. You can go and rake 00:18:40.079 --> 00:18:42.539 your neighbor's leaves. You know, your neighbor 00:18:42.539 --> 00:18:45.059 gets laid up in the hospital. They broke their 00:18:45.059 --> 00:18:48.019 leg. They got leaves on their yard. Their yard's 00:18:48.019 --> 00:18:50.319 a mess. Or maybe it's springtime, like we're 00:18:50.319 --> 00:18:52.480 in now, and it needs cleaned up. And you just 00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:54.759 take your rake, you take your mower, and you 00:18:54.759 --> 00:18:56.099 go over, and you're going to take care of their 00:18:56.099 --> 00:18:59.099 yard. And you're, right? And then you can get 00:18:59.099 --> 00:19:00.200 over there, and the whole time you're doing it, 00:19:00.220 --> 00:19:04.759 you're taking selfies. Right? Posting on social 00:19:04.759 --> 00:19:07.900 media. You know, I'm helping my neighbor out. 00:19:08.549 --> 00:19:12.670 PTL, praise the Lord. Look at me, look at me, 00:19:12.690 --> 00:19:17.670 look at me. Right? You can serve, and your motives 00:19:17.670 --> 00:19:20.710 are all jacked up. This thing's all dirty and 00:19:20.710 --> 00:19:24.890 a mess with it. We can come up with that kind 00:19:24.890 --> 00:19:28.269 of dichotomy in our lives. It's kind of half 00:19:28.269 --> 00:19:32.299 pure and half not. Right, it's kind of, that's 00:19:32.299 --> 00:19:34.359 kind of like, do you know there's no such thing, 00:19:34.440 --> 00:19:36.680 by the way, only in our minds there is. That's 00:19:36.680 --> 00:19:38.900 kind of like getting a glass of milk and thinking 00:19:38.900 --> 00:19:40.559 this is a healthy drink and putting a liquid 00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:42.819 rat poison in it and thinking, yeah, come on, 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:45.000 half, this is half good and half not, right? 00:19:45.200 --> 00:19:46.579 I'm gonna drink this down. How many know the 00:19:46.579 --> 00:19:49.539 whole thing is garbage? Whole thing's gonna poison 00:19:49.539 --> 00:19:53.420 you. Whole thing's gonna mess you up. Worship 00:19:53.420 --> 00:19:56.519 team, if you'd come. You gotta make sure your 00:19:56.519 --> 00:19:59.660 motors are pure. It's gotta be a white towel. 00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:04.019 It can't be any other color. And this dichotomy. 00:20:04.539 --> 00:20:07.420 In this thinking, we find it in Scripture. Luke 00:20:07.420 --> 00:20:11.259 22, 24 says this. And this was Jesus' disciples, 00:20:11.400 --> 00:20:13.799 by the way. This was the men that walked with 00:20:13.799 --> 00:20:16.900 him for three and a half years. And, you know, 00:20:16.920 --> 00:20:18.839 probably should have had it all right. But just 00:20:18.839 --> 00:20:20.940 like us, don't get it all right. And you can 00:20:20.940 --> 00:20:24.160 see this dichotomy. And when the disciples messed 00:20:24.160 --> 00:20:26.480 this kind of stuff up, it always happened because 00:20:26.480 --> 00:20:27.940 they would open their mouths and confirm it. 00:20:27.980 --> 00:20:30.259 And that's what happens here. And Luke 22, 24 00:20:30.259 --> 00:20:34.009 says, now there were also a dispute among. them 00:20:34.009 --> 00:20:36.710 as to which of them should be considered the 00:20:36.710 --> 00:20:40.230 greatest. The 12 disciples, the ones that Jesus, 00:20:40.410 --> 00:20:43.289 he washed their feet. At another occasion, they're 00:20:43.289 --> 00:20:44.789 all together, sitting together, and they're like, 00:20:44.890 --> 00:20:47.329 which one's the greatest? I am the greatest. 00:20:47.750 --> 00:20:49.549 And the other one's going like, no, no, no, no, 00:20:49.589 --> 00:20:52.250 no, no. I am the greatest. How many know as soon 00:20:52.250 --> 00:20:56.589 as you start saying that, rat poison in the milk 00:20:56.589 --> 00:21:00.660 right there, okay? Right there. They say, and 00:21:00.660 --> 00:21:03.440 Jesus said to them, the kings of the Gentiles 00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:06.319 exercise lordship over them. And those who exercise 00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:09.000 authority of them are called benefactors, but 00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:13.039 not so among you. On the contrary, he who is 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:15.759 greatest among you, let him be as the younger 00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:20.819 and he who governs as he who serves. The Tao, 00:21:21.000 --> 00:21:25.640 the white Tao. For who is greater? He who sits 00:21:25.640 --> 00:21:28.950 at the table. Or he who serves. Is it not he 00:21:28.950 --> 00:21:32.490 who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as 00:21:32.490 --> 00:21:40.309 one who serves. Serves. This is one of those 00:21:40.309 --> 00:21:44.289 hidden things. This is one of those places where 00:21:44.289 --> 00:21:51.549 it's so easy to hide. It's so easy to have dual 00:21:51.549 --> 00:21:57.099 motives in place, right? It's so easy. that the 00:21:57.099 --> 00:22:00.660 towel can be on your shoulder and the motives 00:22:00.660 --> 00:22:03.920 be all wrong, right? The towel's on your shoulder 00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:08.680 and things are so messed up. Where are you at? 00:22:09.339 --> 00:22:17.220 I'm gonna ask you to stand. I know for me, if 00:22:17.220 --> 00:22:22.839 I can just be personal, as a pastor, this is 00:22:22.839 --> 00:22:27.819 scary. It is so easy to tell yourself you're 00:22:27.819 --> 00:22:31.000 doing the work of God and keep a little bit of 00:22:31.000 --> 00:22:35.819 the praise back just for yourself. Right? Wrong 00:22:35.819 --> 00:22:40.619 motive. Wrong motive. Can't be that at all. It's 00:22:40.619 --> 00:22:44.859 so easy. It can be so easy to, you know, somebody 00:22:44.859 --> 00:22:47.839 gives you a pat on the back and, yeah, well, 00:22:47.880 --> 00:22:50.059 that was me. You're thinking in your mind, you're 00:22:50.059 --> 00:22:54.269 like, oh, praise the Lord, PTO. And in your heart 00:22:54.269 --> 00:22:56.849 and in your head, you're taking some credit. 00:22:59.349 --> 00:23:04.569 I'm up here by the grace of God, period. You're 00:23:04.569 --> 00:23:07.809 where you are by the grace of God, period. We 00:23:07.809 --> 00:23:13.609 don't even take a next breath without him. Jesus, 00:23:13.730 --> 00:23:17.789 the sinless one, the one who has every right, 00:23:17.849 --> 00:23:24.990 every right to never pick up the towel. And he 00:23:24.990 --> 00:23:28.769 kneels before 12 men who had it messed up so 00:23:28.769 --> 00:23:33.490 many times. And he washes their feet, washes 00:23:33.490 --> 00:23:40.029 their feet. There's only two ways I thought would 00:23:40.029 --> 00:23:42.589 be great to recognize this. One would be foot 00:23:42.589 --> 00:23:44.809 washing and we didn't, we're gonna do that sometime 00:23:44.809 --> 00:23:46.490 here at LifeHouse. We'll have a foot washing 00:23:46.490 --> 00:23:50.630 service. But the other was communion. And today 00:23:50.630 --> 00:23:53.670 as you take communion, I want you to think about 00:23:53.670 --> 00:23:58.170 the towel. I want you to think about purity in 00:23:58.170 --> 00:24:01.289 our motives and what we're doing. There is so 00:24:01.289 --> 00:24:05.269 much opportunity in this church. I can't even 00:24:05.269 --> 00:24:08.250 begin to tell you all the stories we hear of 00:24:08.250 --> 00:24:10.329 people in this church serving it. And it just 00:24:10.329 --> 00:24:14.970 fills us with joy and good pride and those things 00:24:14.970 --> 00:24:17.579 that... make us so excited that God's working 00:24:17.579 --> 00:24:20.039 in the kingdom and you're doing it. And I know 00:24:20.039 --> 00:24:21.799 so many, they're doing it from pure motives. 00:24:21.900 --> 00:24:23.759 And I understand I can't see into your heart, 00:24:23.880 --> 00:24:27.119 but it sure looks like it from the outside. And 00:24:27.119 --> 00:24:29.660 we are so thrilled that God's doing that. We 00:24:29.660 --> 00:24:31.940 just want that to continue in our hearts. We 00:24:31.940 --> 00:24:34.099 wanna make sure that we're pure as we move forward, 00:24:34.180 --> 00:24:36.299 that we're not doing, if somebody else takes 00:24:36.299 --> 00:24:38.200 a picture of you, you're out in the lawn and 00:24:38.200 --> 00:24:39.720 you're doing it and they're like, that's awesome. 00:24:39.799 --> 00:24:41.019 And they take a picture of you, that's fine. 00:24:41.460 --> 00:24:43.240 It's okay if somebody pats you on the back or 00:24:43.240 --> 00:24:44.859 something, but just make sure your heart's right. 00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:47.119 in it. Make sure you're doing it for the right 00:24:47.119 --> 00:24:49.880 reasons. And I believe so many in this church 00:24:49.880 --> 00:24:54.480 are. And we celebrate that in so many ways. But 00:24:54.480 --> 00:24:58.000 I want to recognize the one, the one who knelt 00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:02.539 and washed the disciples' feet. The one who is 00:25:02.539 --> 00:25:05.480 King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The one who 00:25:05.480 --> 00:25:07.500 right now is at the right hand of the Father, 00:25:07.619 --> 00:25:11.660 waiting to return. He's coming back soon. waiting 00:25:11.660 --> 00:25:14.140 to return as king and Lord. He's not going to 00:25:14.140 --> 00:25:17.099 come back as a baby. Nobody's going to put him 00:25:17.099 --> 00:25:19.400 on a cross again. When he comes back, he's coming 00:25:19.400 --> 00:25:22.119 back as conquering king. Read the word of God. 00:25:22.180 --> 00:25:27.960 It's true. He says the towel, white towel. Here's 00:25:27.960 --> 00:25:30.380 what we're going to do. If your heart's ready, 00:25:30.460 --> 00:25:33.660 and the word of God tells you this, I don't want 00:25:33.660 --> 00:25:36.400 to miss this. If you're going to take communion, 00:25:36.920 --> 00:25:39.019 There's only one requirement. You have to know 00:25:39.019 --> 00:25:41.640 Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life. The word 00:25:41.640 --> 00:25:43.460 of God says, don't take communion in an unworthy 00:25:43.460 --> 00:25:46.759 manner. So I'm gonna do something right now. 00:25:46.819 --> 00:25:48.420 Let's just bow our heads because somebody might 00:25:48.420 --> 00:25:52.880 be here and need that opportunity. If you're 00:25:52.880 --> 00:25:55.420 here in the house and you don't know Jesus as 00:25:55.420 --> 00:25:57.059 Lord and Savior, I'm here to tell you the Lord 00:25:57.059 --> 00:26:00.380 who knelt and washed the disciples' feet died 00:26:00.380 --> 00:26:03.440 on a cross for you. He went into a grave. He 00:26:03.440 --> 00:26:05.259 came out of that grave and rose from the grave. 00:26:05.400 --> 00:26:07.359 And he did that to conquer death, hell, and the 00:26:07.359 --> 00:26:09.099 grave. And most of all, conquer sin, which we 00:26:09.099 --> 00:26:12.779 could not do on our own. You can't do anything 00:26:12.779 --> 00:26:14.700 about your own sin. All you can do is give it 00:26:14.700 --> 00:26:17.240 to Christ. Confess it before him. So the word 00:26:17.240 --> 00:26:18.599 of God says you have to believe that he is the 00:26:18.599 --> 00:26:21.700 son of God. You have to confess that sin to him. 00:26:21.819 --> 00:26:25.539 And that separated you from God. It always has 00:26:25.539 --> 00:26:29.890 you separated from God. And believe on him. And 00:26:29.890 --> 00:26:31.849 the word of God says that you will be saved. 00:26:32.269 --> 00:26:34.690 You got to commit to follow him. You got to commit 00:26:34.690 --> 00:26:36.990 to doing it his way. If you are in the house 00:26:36.990 --> 00:26:39.150 this morning, you want to do that this morning. 00:26:39.569 --> 00:26:41.210 I'm not going to ask you to do anything other 00:26:41.210 --> 00:26:42.710 than raise your hand. I'm going to pray one prayer 00:26:42.710 --> 00:26:45.269 with you. So now's the moment. If that's you 00:26:45.269 --> 00:26:47.450 in the house and you, if you're online listening, 00:26:47.589 --> 00:26:49.569 you can type in the chat and the person that's 00:26:49.569 --> 00:26:51.650 online will work with you and walk with you through 00:26:51.650 --> 00:26:53.950 this as well. But if you're in the house this 00:26:53.950 --> 00:26:56.529 morning and you want to know Jesus as Lord and 00:26:56.529 --> 00:26:58.509 Savior and you don't, raise your hand up, put 00:26:58.509 --> 00:26:59.980 it right back down. That's all you have to do. 00:27:03.420 --> 00:27:05.519 All right, thank you. Church, if you'd look back 00:27:05.519 --> 00:27:18.160 up, hearts and minds are clear. Thank you for 00:27:18.160 --> 00:27:21.000 tuning in to this message from Lifehouse Church. 00:27:21.619 --> 00:27:24.299 We pray that you were impacted powerfully by 00:27:24.299 --> 00:27:27.140 this message. If you have been personally affected 00:27:27.140 --> 00:27:29.680 by our ministry and you would like to partner 00:27:29.680 --> 00:27:32.920 with us as we love God, love people every day, 00:27:33.059 --> 00:27:38.779 visit our website at www .lifehousecog .com.