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Let's open our Bibles together to 1 Thessalonians 2, as we continue looking at the theme of

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being a Christian leader.

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Today we continue with our text beginning with verse 4.

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1 Thessalonians 2.

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Just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not

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as pleasing men, but God, who examines our hearts.

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For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed,

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God as witness.

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Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles

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of Christ we might have asserted our authority.

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In whatever roles of leadership God assigns us, we want to lead as Christians.

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It may be in the realm of our homes, our church, our community, our politics, school, business,

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whatever the realm of engagement, we want there to serve Jesus Christ as a Christian

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leader.

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A man who has grappled with this and done well is Dick Kaepern, who is the publisher

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of the Miami Herald in an article some time ago now Decision magazine.

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He related that on the job he struggles, quote, to balance the power of my Christian faith

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with my public responsibilities to a divergent pluralistic community, close quote.

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In the article Kaepern says that he finds the workplace to be a totally different, a

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totally different from the close, caring experience of church and home.

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I think all of us would agree with that.

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Church and home help to recharge faith, he says, allowing us to face a world of different

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values.

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His faith, prayer, and family help Kaepern to deal with a world of controversy and criticism.

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He says, and I quote, the Lord has blessed me with special opportunities to serve.

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And he expects me to devote my energies to good purposes, close quote.

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Kaepern is an example to all of us in the business world.

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The fact is that opportunities like that abound for every one of us to be God's leaders if

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we will only look for those opportunities and use them.

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Opportunities will increase in the days ahead, I believe.

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One futurist predicts that the rate of change in the 90s will be three times that it has

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been.

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Or another way of saying it is that we are going to experience change in the 90s more

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than in the past 30 years.

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Now those of you who are old enough to understand what change in the last 30 years has been

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like will appreciate what he says when he says the next 10 years there's going to be

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as much change as since 1960.

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With the kind of upheaval and transitioning that that will bring to our whole society,

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those who have biblical values and godly morals, I believe, will rise to the surface.

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A Christian leader is one who serves.

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Serves God and serves others.

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He or she does not employ intimidation, manipulation, or deception.

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He or she does not see life as focused on taking, but rather as centered on giving.

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A Christian leader is one who serves with determined courage, even in the face of severe

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opposition, and with transparent integrity that shows that there is a wholeness about

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the life.

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Leadership is servanship.

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And every effective Christian leader must reflect the kind of character that the Apostle

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Paul and his team showed in Thessalonica.

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In addition to determined courage, which we saw in verses 1 and 2, and transparent integrity,

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which we saw in verse 3 last week, this team also gave evidence of genuine humility and

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gentle wisdom.

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Humility is seen in verse 4, where we see the Apostle and his team thinking of themselves

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in a right perspective.

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Paul speaks of himself when he says he sees himself as a steward and not as a master.

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Notice he says, we have been entrusted with the gospel.

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An interesting expression.

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It is the verb form of our word faith.

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It's the same word as to believe.

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It's a word used in John 2, 24 when it says Jesus was not entrusting himself to the multitudes.

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It means to believe on something.

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And really what Paul is saying here is that God believes in me.

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God has examined me and he knows that I can be trusted.

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Therefore he has entrusted me with this precious gospel message.

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Paul had been found suitable.

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He had gained God's approval, he says.

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The idea here of approval was drawn from that day when the Athenians were tested for fitness

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for public office.

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One would wonder what kind of a test that was and if it could be applied in the 1990s.

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Fitness for public office.

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The Apostle says God has approved me for public office as an Apostle and has believed on me,

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has entrusted to me the gospel.

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The Apostle sees himself as a steward, not a master.

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Is that the way you look upon the responsibility God's given you?

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As one who has been entrusted with a responsibility?

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Can those who give you responsibility believe in you because you're going to do what you've

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been asked to do and do it with a loyal spirit and a wholeheartedness?

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Paul saw himself as a steward.

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Then he saw himself as accountable.

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Not autonomous, but accountable.

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Accountable not to people primarily.

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He did not shape his leadership in order to gain favorable reaction from people.

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But rather he was accountable and saw himself accountable to God.

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God who continues, even after approving us, to test us.

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God who scrutinizes our hearts and our responses to his divine tests.

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What kind of a test is God putting you through right now?

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You know that doesn't mean that God is angry with you.

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It doesn't necessarily mean that God is discipling you in the sense of chastisement.

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But God may be just testing you.

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What will his reactions be?

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How will she respond in this situation?

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And God always does that with the expectation that he will be able to approve us in that

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test.

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There was a genuine humility about the Apostle Paul.

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He saw himself as a steward.

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He saw himself as one who is accountable.

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God has a way of dealing with us, doesn't he, when there is pride in our lives.

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I was speaking with a friend of mine who is a pastor in another state a few days ago.

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He related to me that he had been raised in a Christian home where he had been taught

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to love Jesus and go to church from his earliest years.

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He said, we had a wonderful Christian home, large family.

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But he said we had a problem in our family.

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Our problem was self-righteousness.

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He said there were three things that we were especially self-righteous about in our family.

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He said we were self-righteous about divorce.

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Two people ought to be able to live together.

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He said that they were self-righteous about rape.

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He said if a woman gets raped, she's asked for it.

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You've heard that recently, haven't you?

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You've been reading the newspapers.

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That kind of perverted thinking.

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He said God has worked in our family in the last three years.

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He said our family was self-righteous about rebellious children, too.

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If children are raised right, they'll not rebel when they become teenagers.

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He said in the last three years, we have in our family, he was talking about his extended

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family, experienced rebellious grandchildren.

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One of the family has been divorced.

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One of the granddaughters working at a Christian ministry was raped by one of the staff members

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there and is bearing that person's child.

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He said God has dealt with our family about self-righteousness.

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We had all of the outward things in place, but there was pride.

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He said God has put us through the wringer and our family has been humbled.

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Why did God do that?

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Why did God allow all of those things to happen?

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Because God wanted to really use people in that family and to use them.

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They had to have a genuine humility about them.

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God is not afraid to confront those attitudes in us that hinder him.

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In fact, he will, whatever the attitude may be.

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Let me go on to the fourth characteristic that we see here in this team, especially

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the Apostle Paul as he relates his own experience.

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In verses five and six, we see that the team was characterized not only by genuine humility

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but gentle wisdom.

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Three traps of leadership that the Apostle successfully avoided.

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Number one, flattering speech.

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Using one's words, one's language to gain the favor of other people for personal advantage.

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Paul is not suggesting here that we should not compliment other people or encourage them,

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but he is talking about the kind of speech that is used to manipulate, to say things

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that are not true in order to gain advantage over others.

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This is politics in its rawest form.

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Paul says, we did not employ flattering speech among you, nor did we employ greed.

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He speaks about this pretext for greed or a cloak for greed.

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The idea is, we did not have greediness about us that we disguised in some way.

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We did not put a mantle over it so that you could not see it.

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We were not guilty of greed.

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Money is involved here, but not just money.

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It is anything that we do for self-satisfaction.

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Paul says, when we were with you, we avoided the trap of just pleasing ourselves, getting

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out of you what we wanted.

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Indeed, to be controlled by a desire for more of anything is nothing less than idolatry.

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It is a fact that you can cloak that.

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You can put a mantle over it so it cannot be seen by others, but God sees it.

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That is why Paul says, God is witness.

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He knows that we avoided greed, one of the traps of leadership.

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He says we avoided glory.

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We did not seek glory from men, from you, or from others.

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He is talking here about position, honor, and power.

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He is talking about reputation that comes with successful leadership.

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All of us need to beware the entrapments of some position that we might be given, even

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by God, in our service for Him.

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The Apostle Paul avoided these traps of leadership, and he carefully employed the authority of

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the leadership God had given to him.

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He did not push his way around.

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He did not throw his weight.

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But wisely and gently, he exerted leadership and set an example before the Thessalonians.

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After all, he and these others were the apostles of Christ.

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He is using the word apostle here in that broad sense.

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They were sent by the churches of Christ to minister to others.

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They were apostles.

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And they did not demand what they might have demanded rightly, even among these people.

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So the Apostle says as leaders, we too must have a gentle wisdom about ourselves, avoiding

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the entrapments that sometimes come with leadership, and exerting our authority in a wise and gentle

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way among the people of God and for their good, not ours.

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To be a leader in God's kingdom means being a servant.

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Christian leadership is noted for courage.

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It is noted for humility.

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It is noted for integrity.

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It is noted for wisdom.

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In whatever role of leadership you have, does that characterize the way you seek to be a

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leader?

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Is your service to others distinctively Christian?

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There may be someone here who says, you know, I would love to be a leader, but I'm not qualified.

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I don't think God can use me because I have been through so many experiences and I am

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so scarred by life.

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Maybe it was before you were a Christian, or even afterward and you badly stumbled.

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I want you to know today that what this table is all about means you can be restored to

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use by God.

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God is in the redemption business.

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God picks up that which is dirty and he washes it.

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God picks up that which is shattered and he carefully puts it back together.

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Chuck Swindoll in writing about this text says, more often than not the best leaders

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come from a scarred past.

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They can lead more effectively because they have experienced and come to personally understand

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suffering, ill treatment and opposition.

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If you have a disability it need not disqualify you from leadership.

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Whether it be a crippling disease, a sexually abusive experience, a broken home, a criminal

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record, financial bankruptcy or almost anything else, none of that needs to render you incapable

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of leading others successfully.

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In fact such difficult and trying experiences can often develop you into a better leader

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because your survival through them has made you realize the value of hope.

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A prime function of a leader is to keep hope alive in those whom he or she leads.

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There is not a one of us here today who cannot devote himself or herself to becoming the

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Christian leader that God wants us to be.

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God has placed every one of us in certain roles in life where we can be distinctive

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Christian leaders who exemplify the kinds of characteristics that Paul and his team

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showed.

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I would hope today that we would determine by the grace of God that we will be Christian

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leaders, servants who are ministering to other people out of this kind of a heart.

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For when we do that the blessing of God can flow through us and touch the lives of people.

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And after all, isn't that what life is all about?

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As we come to the table today perhaps it's an opportunity for you to renew a commitment

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to be a Christian leader in your home or in the workplace or on your campus or in your

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church.

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And we can come to this table and say, Lord Jesus, you the servant of the Lord who gave

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your life on behalf of me.

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Today I give you my life afresh to be your servant.

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Use me in those roles that you've given me in life.

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Make me a Christian leader and let your life flow through me.

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Let's pray.

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With our heads bowed and our eyes closed, I just wonder how you would like to respond

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this morning.

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It may be that there is someone or some servant here who is so overwhelmed by the issues of

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life at this point that you hardly know how to pray.

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And you would like someone to pray for you.

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We're going to take that opportunity this morning.

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We're going to take three or four minutes here in the service and allow you to slip

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out from where you are.

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And while some music is being played and sung, we're going to allow you to slip out and

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come here to the front.

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And there will be some of us here who will be able to pray with you.

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This is not a counseling situation that would take more time, but let us pray for you.

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And if this morning you are struggling, this morning you are reaching out, desiring someone

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to touch your life, allow one of us here in the front that privilege, will you?

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And if you need not come, if you don't sense the Spirit of God leading you in that way,

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then pray right where you are in preparation for the Lord's table, making Christ the

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Lord of your life afresh this morning.