The ABC's of Biblical Leadership (The 3 Os)

“UNTIL YOU MAKE AN UNCOMMON CONTRIBUTION TO THE EARTH YOUR EXISTENCE IS UNNECESSARY” I.V. Hilliard

What, or who, sets the standard for what is considered a contribution? Surely, the creator of a thing assigns purpose to that which was created. And if there is a stated purpose then there should be a way to evaluate if that purpose is being served or not. And if so, then that means every created thing must undergo some level of critique, or dare I say, judgement.

Now this is the part where some would shake their finger at me and say, “Now Pastor, you know the Bible says we’re not supposed to judge.” And to that I would respond, “No, the Bible does not say that.” In fact, the Bible does not say anything at all, but people have said things that were written in letters and journals that were compiled into what we call the Bible. In this case, it was the tax collector called Matthew who wrote what Jesus said about judging.

It shouldn’t be surprising that a tax collector would not miss a single word of what Jesus said here because, as some of you may know, tax collectors were the most despised of men. Still are now. Anyway, when Jesus said what he said, you can imagine Matthew leaning in because people have been judging him since his career began. So if Jesus never said anything else, what he has to say now would change Matthew’s life forever. And hopefully it changes ours too. So, here’s what Jesus actually said about judging.

Matthew 7:1

Matthew 7:1 NIV

1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.

Now this is where we usually stop when we really should include the next verse or two. Otherwise, not only do we quote out of context, but we build paradigms out of them too. To misunderstand what Jesus is saying here can lead to a mediocre, passive, and vulnerable life. And you don’t want to be vulnerable to deception, passive to success and mediocre at best, do you? I hope not. There’s enough volunteers for mediocre.

This is the gathering of champions. There are standards to live by. There are core values to uphold. We are Kingdom ambassadors with a vision of making Jesus famous and we do this by making disciples. Vision requires judgment. Without judgment, how do we know that we have reached our goal, that we are serving our purpose? How do we know when we have arrived if there is no finished line?

What I mean is that

Without judgment, anything goes. And any time anything goes, nothing of value will stay.

So let’s consider the rest of what Jesus said about judging

Matthew 7:1–5 NIV

1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Wait, so that’s what this is about? Jesus never said not to judge. What he said was, “Don’t judge hypocritically.” It’s about standards. It means, judgment should not be subjective. At least, it should be fair and consistent, and it should be clearly done.

Know, however, that even when we do judge fairly and consistently, some people will still take offense to any type of correction or instruction. Jesus warns us about that too, by including this.

Matthew 7:6 NIV

6 “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

This is funny because we all know people we’ve tried to help who went ballistic on us. I’ve seen kids throw tantrums because their moms tried to help them tie their shoes. I’ve seen couples nearly divorce because the wife tried to tell the husband he was driving in the wrong direction. I’ve seen people leave the church because somebody said something to them when they were out of order.

And Jesus seems to refer to people like that as dogs and pigs. Don’t get me wrong, correction needs to be done decently and in order, and out of a spirit of love. Correction is for the purpose of repairing good order so that whatever was out of order can once again be useful.

When I was in the USAF, I served as an airfield systems supervisor. My job was to ensure the RADAR systems were available to ATCs and pilots at all times, except for scheduled downtime where we ran Preventive Maintenance Inspections (PMIs).

PMIs were tests that we ran on the equipment to see if it would do what it was supposed to do under certain situations. If the equipment failed the test, we would tweak it a little in hopes to bring it back into allowable standards. If tweaking the equipment didn’t do the trick, we would have to schedule some downtime to run additional tests in order to find out what the problem was. Sometimes, the fix action was a series of adjustments throughout the equipment.

Other times, the fix action required re-movement and replacement. Can I talk to the church for a moment about PMIs? Can I tell you that though my job in the military was important for keeping planes in the air and people alive, that there is nothing more important to me than keeping the doors of the church open and saving souls? And in order to do so, we run PMIs on people, and we do so in three phases.

Observation — the action or process of observing something or someone carefully or in order to gain information.

Opinion — a view, judgment, or appraisal formed in the mind about a particular matter

Opportunity — a good position, chance, or prospect, as for advancement or success.

Here’s how it looks.

Mr. Nebuchadnezzer, we’ll call him Neb for short, joins the church fresh out of jail. A few months go by and we notice a trend. Neb faithfully attends the weekly gathering of champions, he actually participates during worship services and corporate prayer, takes good notes during the sermon. Neb attends huddles and volunteers regularly. He shows genuine concerned for the lost. In fact, Neb has even begun bringing his family and friends to church with him. Neb is plugged in, programmed and productive.

You invite Neb to lunch one day and notice he has no problem talking to strangers about Jesus and inviting them to church. You don’t consider it judgment to think that Neb has the characteristics of an evangelist. But that’s exactly what it is — a judgment. My friend, you have, without even knowing it, completed the first two Os. You have observed, and you have formed and opinion. You may not have voiced it, but you have one.

When I first arrived to this church a few people came to me and told me their title and what they do here. So, I watched them for a few weeks. I observed them to see if they were actually doing what their title suggested. My observation lead to an opinion and once I had formed an opinion, I either increased, continued, and in some cases, denied future opportunities.

Then, I started the cycle all over again. For those whose opportunities I increased, I observed them to see how they did. I did the same for those who continued, as well as those I denied. But at the same time, for those who would accept it, I began the immediate work of Preventive Maintenance. For those who refused, as evident by their absence, God sent replacements.

Again, it might sound harsh but if we’re honest today, we’ve all judged in this way. In fact, some of you are doing so right now. You’ve observed all throughout this service. You’re currently observing this very sermon and if you haven’t already, by the end of the day you will have an opinion about all that you have observed. Your opinion will determine if you return next week.

If you are married, you observed your spouse before you deemed them husband or wife material. After forming that opinion, you put a ring on it or said yes.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are always judging because we know deep down inside that God wants what’s best for us. We also know that a life not worth judging is a life not worth living. So at the end of all of our lives the question we want an answer to is, how does God see us.

As He observes our lives we should be asking ourselves, is his opinion of me favorable enough to where He can trust that all will go well if He were to open more doors for me. My goal in life is to serve God in such a way that He graces me with the opportunity to serve in a greater capacity. My desire for you is the same.

And at the end of your life, and at the end of this age, my prayer is that we all served in a way that gets us more than just a ticket to heaven, but a seat at the table where we rule and reign with Him.

So again, when God looks at you what does he see? As he observes your life, what opinion does he hold? Are you a gossiper, a liar, a slanderer? Or do you make a difference for the good in every situation you are tested in?

In case you didn’t know it, what you are going through right now is a test. God is observing how you handle this test in order to see if you’re ready for greater opportunities. So I want to give you two verses to memorize that will help you prepare for and pass the test.

1. Study!

2 Timothy 2:15 KJV 1900

15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

We live in a generation that has little excuse for not knowing stuff. There are too many books, websites, apps, software, and ways to connect to other people who can teach you what you don’t know. Read something, watch something, talk to somebody and take good notes.

Listen to me. Your usability starts to diminish the moment you stop learning. That’s why people are passing you up on your job. The folks you are supposed to be leading have learned to do the work better, faster, and smarter than you because while you became comfortable with what you know, they were learning what you don’t.

Look at somebody across the room and shout study!

2. Ask good questions. I told my kids and now I’ll tell you. If you are sitting in class and you are lost, and you’ve done the assignments and read the material, and studied and you are still lost, ask the teacher questions. Stay after school if you need to. Get extra help if it’s available. I don’t care what you do, but you better not fail that class.

James 1:5 NIV

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

So don’t be afraid to ask questions. It is the teacher’s job to not simply teach the material, but to teach the student. They are contractually obligated to help you succeed! In fact, any child’s failure is taken personally by the best teachers. Now, in case you don’t know, God is the Good Teacher. And he wants nothing more than to see you past every test. His heart’s desire is that you be made into the image of His one and only, begotten Son.

So He judges us by how much we look like Jesus through each and every test. The great news is that this test you’re going through is an open book and Christ is the answer. So God, once again we ask you to open the eyes of our understanding...