PRAYER
For
the last few years, I designed and led college level leadership classes in
Urbana:
·
Filled,
of course, with young leaders wanting to be pastors
·
Also,
older long-term leaders
·
People
exploring
·
Unlikely
people… different backgrounds
·
Some
who NEVER wanted it (maybe encouraged by me J)
I
am a self-proclaimed leadership junkie… I mean it.
·
Conferences
and podcasts
·
Books
and papers
·
YouTube
Videos
o
So
much that I send staff & CLT stuff all the time
o
Hoping
they learn with me
o
Pushing
them outside comfort zones sometimes
o
And
sometimes annoying them
I
love leadership… it’s almost an obsession of mine… and definitely a passion!
THE
PROBLEM?
Not
everyone has the passion that I do.
Most
people I talk to it doesn’t even cross their mind
·
Not
good enough…Not ready
·
Not
skilled…Not my gifting
·
Not…
·
Most people feel disqualified due to sin
·
or unqualified due to pedigree to be a
leader.
Recap
series so far
·
Invited
to faith… to church… to serve
·
TODAY…
we want to talk leadership
We
need leaders in the church….
·
Leadership
is not preaching/teaching
·
Leadership
is not a title
·
It
IS Leading/influencing people to accomplish a mission/vision.
Everyone
who calls Jesus Lord can be a leader in the Kingdom
Everyone who calls Vineyard home
has the potential to be a leader in our church.
WHO
DID JESUS CALL TO BE LEADERS?
Before
you check out on me because you
1. don’t want to be a leader …don’t think
you can be a leader
2. just don’t care about the leaders in the
church…
3. Realize many of you already are (job,
school, teams, hood)
4. That might be where God is calling you
to lead
Let’s
look at who Jesus calls to be leaders in the gospels.
Matthew
4 18 While walking by the Sea of
Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his
brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.19 And
he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of
men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed
him. 21 And going on from there he saw two other
brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with
Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them.22 Immediately
they left the boat and their father and followed him.
The
first group that Jesus calls into leadership?
·
the “unskilled”
·
trained
in a different profession
·
working
a normal job
·
food
service, right?!
·
Didn’t
make the grades/cut to be under a Rabbi
·
This
isn’t about how well trained you are rather…
·
Everyone
who calls Jesus Lord can be a leader in the Kingdom
·
Everyone
who calls Vineyard home has the potential to be a leader in our church.
·
Jesus
seems to think that willingness is enough… are you willing to
follow Him? You can be a leader.
·
They
never went to VLT or Bible College or whatever… if he thought these 4 could be
leaders, why not you?
Let’s
look at another story from Luke 5
27 After
this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the
tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” 28 And leaving
everything, he rose and followed him. 29 And Levi made
him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax
collectors and others reclining at table with them. 30 And
the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples,
saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 And
Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but
those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the
righteous but sinners to repentance.”
The
second group that Jesus calls into leadership?
·
the ““Sinners””
·
Jesus
wasn’t interested in their religion
·
He wasn’t
concerned about someone’s past
·
He
wasn’t Santa Claus grabbing a list of who’s naughty and nice
·
This
isn’t about what you “used to do,” rather that…
·
Everyone
who calls Jesus Lord can be a leader in the Kingdom
·
Everyone
who calls Vineyard home has the potential to be a leader in our church.
· If Jesus decides that a man who was a
cheat, a thief, a traitor to his country, and hated by his neighbors… if that
man can become one of the 12 original apostles AND the writer of one of our
books of the Bible (for crying out loud), then YOU can be a leader.
Let’s
look at one final story from Mark 5
14 The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the
country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 And
they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had
had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and
they were afraid. 16 And
those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the
demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17 And they
began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man
who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 And he did not permit him but said to
him, “Go home to your friends and tell
them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim
in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
The third
group that Jesus calls into leadership?
·
The “oppressed”
·
Not
only does Jesus call those with sinful past, but He doesn’t seem to be too
concerned about your spiritual past!
·
Why?
Because He is the change-agent that can re-orient your future!
·
Ultimately,
this becomes about what Jesus has done in our lives. And, if we are going to
make Jesus and His Love famous in our cities, then we don’t qualify for
leadership… He qualifies us.
·
Our
freedom story tells who Jesus is and releases us to lead!
·
So,
this isn’t about who you “used to be,” rather that…
·
Everyone
who calls Jesus Lord can be a leader in the Kingdom
·
Everyone
who calls Vineyard home has the potential to be a leader in our church.
·
If
Jesus decided that a man who was demon-possessed 5 minutes earlier was ready to
be his evangelist for an entire region… then you can be a leader too!
What
is Leadership?
So,
Jesus must look at leadership very differently than we do… most of us are
waiting for the promotion… waiting for the “call” or the “right moment”. Jesus
seems to think… If you’re following me, then someone should be following you!
·
We
will need to redefine leadership not just in our heads, but in our hearts.
·
There
are lots of definitions out there, but Leadership is simply influence.
Who did God choose to lead? To influence others?
·
Adam
put Eve before his obedience
·
Noah
was a drunk
·
Abraham
was a liar
·
Moses
was a stutterer
·
Aaron
built a golden calf to worship
·
Gideon
was a coward
·
Samson
had a temper
·
David
was an adulterer
·
Jonah
ran away
·
Peter
was brash & denied Jesus
·
James
& John were judgmental and proud
·
Paul
was a murderer
So,
it must be more about what God
is doing than what you have done!
·
It’s
about how HE has changed things
·
Names
(Simon, Paul, Matthew)
· He qualifies by what HE has done… not
what you’ve accomplished!
Who
did Paul call leaders in the church?
·
In Romans
16:1-16, Paul calls everyone in the Roman church a leader:
a.
He empowers women.
b. He empowers
couples
c. He empowers people of other
races.
d.
He empowers criminals.
e. He empowers his friends.
f. He empowers whole families….
·
And if you continue to read through the rest of the chapter, he
seems to call everyone in the Roman church a leader. Why?
·
Because in the church, everyone is invited to be a leader.
·
1 Cor 12:13, Gal 3:28, Col 3:11
a. There is no race distinction
(Jew, Greek)
b. There is no class
distinction (slaves, free)
c. There is no gender
distinction (male, female)
d. There is no ceremonial
distinction (circumcised, uncircumcised)
e. There is no personality
distinction (barbarian, Scythian)
f. There is no age/generation
distinction
·
Everyone is invited to be a leader… we
NEED the diversity of people in the Kingdom, and in our church.
·
So,
it must be more about what God
is doing than what you have done!
o
So,
DON’T disqualify yourself before you get started
o
DON’T
shut down God’s story in your life
o
Where
might HE be calling you to lead right now?
Some
of you need to step up into something new in this next season…
·
A
vision for our cities - best church for our cities
·
Vision
for Small Groups - within 30-45 minutes of this building
·
Vision
for church planting - reproducing & multiplying church.
·
Here,
Near & Far Away
o Everyone gets to play? - Everyone NEEDS
to play!
·
Everyone
who calls Jesus Lord can be a leader in the Kingdom
·
Everyone
who calls Vineyard home has the potential to be a leader in our church.
STORY: Tracy Thomas asking me to be an intern… 2
years a believer… studying to be a teacher… part of his Sunday School class
that had seen 19 teachers in 9 months.
·
Ryan A… Thad… Interns… maybe some of you J …our interns/staff
·
VALUE - “Creating a Culture of Invitation”
·
CHALLENGE - Invited to (1)faith (2)church (3)serve and even (4)lead
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