Biblical Church Leadership (2)

A Faithful Leader is Attentive

Would you apply for a job that said: Team Follower instead of Team Leader

How about, The follower of the free world

Or, how about: Danger ahead.

Intro. - Luke slows down here in this section of Acts, possibly because this is “Paul’s farewell.” This is a great description of past and future ministry possibilities.

Acts 20:28 (HCSB)

Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock that the Holy Spirit has appointed you to as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.

Guarding the flock begins with guarding yourself.

This passage parallels Jesus’ final speech to His shepherds in John 13-16 and we see a similar theme. Faithful shepherds exhort others to be like them, which is to be faithful shepherds.

Verses 17-27 are a call to service and they setup Paul’s use of therefore in verse 28 that we see in some translations.

Shepherds who guard their own hearts will provide the same guard for their flock.

How does this happen? There are four ways:

First, attend to the calling. Paul is direct and he tells these local leaders that their calling is from the Holy Spirit. Paying attention to your calling as a leader in the church means you develop a prayerful, conversational attitude with the Caller.

Second, attend to your character. Church leaders lead from love and followers notice. There are tough questions and situations for church leaders and in these situations, we must not treat decisions lightly.

Third, church leaders attend to their conduct. The sheep look to the shepherd for everything. Now, in this case, Paul is not singling out the pastor of the church, but the leaders within the church. Think of it this way:

Based on Monday-Saturday, will I trust my leaders on Sunday?

Finally, there is a call to attend to the other co-laborers. Now, throughout verses 28-30, Paul uses you and your a lot, and it’s not super clear on whether he means the leaders of the church specifically, or to the whole church.

Acts 20:30 HCSB

And men will rise up from your own number with deviant doctrines to lure the disciples into following them.

Is he talking about from within the leaders or from within the church? We don’t know. But what we know is this:

Shared accountability within church leadership is good for everyone.

While Acts has emphasized the resurrection, here, we see that the cross and it’s atoning power were never far from the minds of Paul and his companions.

Church leaders stand under the Word of God not over it.

Attentive to the flock - value it in the comparison of the dirty sheep being guarded

Dependent, defenseless, dirty, and dumb

They’re hard to value.

But consider Paul’s emphasis in verse 31:

Acts 20:31 HCSB

Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I did not stop warning each one of you with tears.

Night and day he warned these church leaders about the dangers of false teachers, about false gospels, about all kinds of wrongs. Just as a shepherd watches their flock - day and night, and doing so with tears.

But his warnings were in the context of his knowledge of Jesus Christ. For Paul, there was no written NT, there was his experience with Jesus on the Damascus Road and the Torah. So, his warnings came by Paul standing under the authority, the reality, and the truth of the Word of God.

For the church today, we need protection, all of us. Paul exhorts the elders and leaders here to take on this responsibility.

The church can resist false teaching in direct proportion to its knowledge of and dedication to the Scriptures.

What does this mean practically for church leaders?

First, it means they value the flock. The church of God was purchased at a high price and is precious, and needs to be understood in the context of the bride of Christ, which demands knowledge and dedication to the Scriptures. How did Jesus teach about the flock? How did He handle the flock? What does he ask of them?

Leaders are protective of the flock. Words in translations are guard, warn, defend.

Paul has shown in 29-31 that wolves will come and they will do so when Paul leaves. Without internal, local leaders who are being trained up and strengthened in the Word of God, these wolves make disciples. Think of what Paul had experienced in Acts 19 with the disciples who didn’t know of the Holy Spirit. We know that Acquilla and Priscilla were sent to Ephesus as leaders, and, according to Acts 18, they noticed that Apollos was teaching false doctrine and they recognized the inaccuracy of his teaching and taught the way of God more accurately according to Acts 18:26. This is protecting the church from wolves. Do we stand under the Scriptures as Aquilla and Priscilla and Paul? Do we have Aquilla and Priscilla today in our church?

Finally, they counsel the flock. Paul labored for this church and he wanted the leaders who would lead when he left to do the same.

Local church leaders commit each other to God and train others.

Family, verse 32 is loaded.

Paul is adamant that

The defining element necessary to building God’s people up was God’s word.

Let’s read it

Acts 20:32 (HCSB)

“And now I commit you to God and to the message of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.

Why is it so important to point out that Paul commits the local church leaders to God? Because he’s teaching us a lesson.

The local church leader is comfortable with their limitations, knowing that God has none.

So, verse 32 is so powerful and it is intimately connected to what follows.

In the context of the Roman Empire, an inheritance was built for future generations.

It is the message of God’s grace that gives the Christian an inheritance. Basic definition of inheritance:

A piece of property that passes by law to an heir on the death of the owner.

This concept of inheritance is found throughout Paul’s writing and completely upside down.

Romans 8:17, Galatians 3:18, Ephesians 1:14, Colossians 3:24 all point to an inheritance. He’s showing these leaders that true inheritance is not material and not earned.

The church leaders are called by Paul into working hard, not because it would build their inheritance. He’s saying work hard, because you’re inheritance isn’t one you earned or that your hard work could provide.

Paul gives three ways to practically demonstrate grace:

Verse 33: Be content - don’t covet other people’s stuff.

Verse 34 - Serve others through hard work - sacrificially give

Verse 35 - Model the behavior you expect of others.

This is Paul’s model of training -

Christ did it ---> I do it---> Now you do it.

All developed through an attitude of prayer.

Acts 20:36 HCSB

After he said this, he knelt down and prayed with all of them.

After Paul had done all he could, he did the one thing that he knew would strengthen their resolve and model another piece of training. Pray together.

Faithful local leaders are dependent on the faithful Shepherd.

Acts: A Bible Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition 3. A Review of Paul’s Ministry 20:16–38

“Hard work that helps others”—this phrase could summarize the ministry that Paul gave to the Ephesians and that he hoped the church leaders would then give to others:

Paul knew he was not done giving to others, but he was for the church at Ephesus.

Are there local church leaders who you need to encourage?

Is there someone who you know you need to Shepherd?

Is there someone you need to pray with?