Marks of Christian Leadership

Paul is on his return trip for this third missionary trip [⭐ MAP] . He is hurrying, hoping to be in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost. He sailed past Ephesus because he did not want to be delayed, but he DID want to speak to the leaders of the church in Ephesus. That is where we pick up today: ⭐

Acts 20:17–21 CSB

17 Now from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and summoned the elders of the church. 18 When they came to him, he said to them, “You know, from the first day I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, 19 serving the Lord with all humility, with tears, and during the trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews. 20 You know that I did not hesitate to proclaim anything to you that was profitable and to teach you publicly and from house to house. 21 I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus.

There are 6 key words I want us to focus in on this morning in this passage. While it seems like a simple introduction, there is some great teaching in this section.

Elders. πρεσβύτερος (presbyteros)

“summoned the elders of the church”

Paul is speaking to the leaders of the church in Ephesus; the elders. This is where we get our words “presbytery” and “Presbyterian” from. In the most common usage is means “older person”. In the Jewish society, elderly people were looked up to - both men and women. ⭐

Titus 2:2–4 (CSB)

2 Older men are to be self-controlled, worthy of respect, sensible, and sound in faith, love, and endurance. 3 In the same way, older women are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not slaves to excessive drinking. They are to teach what is good, 4 so that they may encourage the young women...

However, we also know that there is an “office” of elder. In the case of the elders of the church, there are specific requirements: ⭐

Titus 1:5–9 CSB

5 The reason I left you in Crete was to set right what was left undone and, as I directed you, to appoint elders in every town. 6 An elder must be blameless, the husband of one wife, with faithful children who are not accused of wildness or rebellion. 7 As an overseer of God’s household, he must be blameless, not arrogant, not hot-tempered, not an excessive drinker, not a bully, not greedy for money, 8 but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, righteous, holy, self-controlled, 9 holding to the faithful message as taught, so that he will be able both to encourage with sound teaching and to refute those who contradict it.

There is a list of spiritual and character qualifications. They were to be examples for the church to follow. I believe this is one of the most valuable things an elder can provide, is an example.

These elders were not necessarily selected based upon age. We know it is not based upon age alone because Timothy was an elder in Ephesus, and he was still young. That is why Paul encouraged him this way: ⭐

1 Timothy 4:12–13 CSB

12 Don’t let anyone despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity. 13 Until I come, give your attention to public reading, exhortation, and teaching.

He was a young elder. 😏 We often have fun with our titles on the welcome slide. You might see “older elder” and “younger elder” as our way of having fun. The title “elder” is more about living in a way that is exemplary - a way that can be modeled. Even if you are young, you can lead as an elder.

? Why do we have elders and not pastors? This is something that throws people off when they first start attending NCF. We call our pastors, “elders” because the majority of the NT refers to the elders in each church as the leaders. They appointed “elder” (not “pastors”) in every church. Timothy & Titus talk about the office of “elder” and not “pastor”.

The word that is translated as “pastor” is the Greek word for “shepherd”. In our NTs, Jesus is the good “shepherd”, the “shepherds” were visited by the angels, and in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, where he talked about appointing “elders” he also says: ⭐

Ephesians 4:11 (CSB)

11 And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors [“shepherds”] and teachers,

That would actually be more accurately read as “shepherds” than as “pastors”. I always like the way we play with language, even in our translations. We would not generally call Jesus, “The Good Pastor”, nor would we way that the angels visited “the pastors as they watched over their sheep by night”. But we also don’t like to read Eph 4:11 as Jesus giving the church “apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers.”

That is one reason we use elders. A side effect of that is the freedom that we have as elders. The word “pastor” has much baggage attached to it; many expectations. A pastors does this or needs to do that. No one knows what an elder is supposed to do, so there is a lot less of an agenda forced on us. 😉

We talked before about how there were multiple elders in each church. We call this a “plurality or elders”. Simply, more than one. One thing I love about NCF and our eldership model is that we avoid titles and positions. David and I are both elders. I am the senior elder because I have been here longer, but functionally, we are both responsible for the spiritual oversight of the church as God directs. If we feel God leading David to do all the teaching, or me to lead the youth, we can do that. There is no “teaching pastor”, “youth pastor”, “children’s pastor”, “administrative pastor”, “music pastor”, or my favorite, “pastor of technology”. We are elders, and we serve as God’s gifting allows and His leadership directs.

So, Paul called the spiritual leaders of the church in Ephesus to come to him so he could share with them one last time in person.

With. μετά (meta)

“I was with you”

Leadership in the church is mean to be personal. Leaders are not meant to live in isolation, they are a part of the body and must be connected to it.

When I was in college I was told that pastors cannot have friends in the church because it will create schisms and problems. What a bunch of hooey! Frankly, I consider that mentality destructive to the church.

NOWHERE in the Bible is anything like that even implied?!? Look at the ministry of Jesus, or Peter, or Paul. They were ALWAYS around other believers - living with them and sharing meals.

In verse 20 Paul says he taught publicly, but also went from house to house. Last week we looked at Paul meeting in a room in a house and they broke bread together.

It is possible that having friends in the church may cause some awkward situations. People may accuse leaders of having favorites. We all have favorites - we call them besties, bffs, friends. Jesus had 12, and of those there were 2 that got a lot of his time, and then there was the 1 Jesus loved. Paul had Barnabas, Silas and Timothy.

It is impossible to be best friends with everyone, and it is unhealthy to be friends with no one. In the middle is the way we live life in relationships, and leaders of the church live in the middle just like everyone else.

Over the years I have heard of many pastors who have felt lonely, or alone in their ministry. That makes me sad. First, we need to be serving in plurality - just as Paul appointed elders (plural) in every city. There is a fellowship there. But also, they have never been told they are allowed to have friends in their church family.

Laura and I love getting together with our church family. The church is big enough that it is very hard to get together with everyone, and we often try to connect with a group at a time. But we love having people over and we love being invited to people’s homes. Some are intimidated about having their “pastor” over, but David and I are just normal people (well David is normal) called to lead this family by example and teaching.

Serving. δουλεύω (douleuo)

“Serving the Lord with humility”

Christian leaders are servants first. Paul may have been a celebrity, but he was not in it for that. He was a servant of Jesus.

“servant” is a more powerful word than we want to accept in our society. It most literally means, “to be a slave”. While slavery has a bad taste in modern history because of abuses, it was not always that way.

The Torah, or Pentateuch as we call it, has guidelines for slavery. In Leviticus 25 there seems to be 2 categories of slaves:

Foreigners who were purchased as slaves, are property and can be bought, sold or handed down like an inheritance.

Joseph was sold this way after he was pulled out of the pit.

Other brother/sister Jews who fell upon hard times could sell themselves to a neighbor to pay off his debt or provide food for his family.

This type of servant could buy back his freedom, or have his freedom purchased for him, or he could wait for the Year of Jubilee where he would be released and return to his own land.

BOTH of these are amazing relational illustrations of spiritual facts.

WE, all of mankind, was sold into slavery to sin by Adam and Eve. Jesus came and purchased our freedom from slavery: ⭐

Romans 6:17–18 CSB

17 But thank God that, although you used to be slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching to which you were handed over, 18 and having been set free from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness.

In a sense, everyone of us is a slave - it just matters who or what we are enslaved to; whom we serve.

In Acts 20, Paul called the Ephesian elders to him so he could teach them. When you have limited time, you focus on what you feel is most important and most helpful. Often, you help provide insight into issue they are having or will have as well.

Later, Paul will write a letter to the Ephesians and he will talk about slaves and masters: ⭐

Ephesians 6:5–6 CSB

5 Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as you would Christ. 6 Don’t work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, do God’s will from your heart.

Ephesians 6:9 CSB

9 And masters, treat your slaves the same way, without threatening them, because you know that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

The MAIN point is that BOTH the earthly slave and the earthly master are servant of the Most High God. As a matter of fact, a possessed servant girl said those exact words about Paul and his companions, and we read them when we studied chapter 16: ⭐

Acts 16:16–17 CSB

16 Once, as we were on our way to prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She made a large profit for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 As she followed Paul and us she cried out, “These men, who are proclaiming to you a way of salvation, are the servants of the Most High God.”

SIDE NOTE: All of Romans 6 is a great theology lesson on slavery and the spiritual parallels of it!

Paul told the elders from Ephesus that he was a servant, a slave. A slave to Jesus for the benefit of the Ephesians.

Christian leaders are not to be slaves of their congregations. This is a problem in many congregation led churches. We are slaves of Christ, and the elders are to lead by obedient service TO their church family. However, the church is not to be their Lord, Jesus is.

Elders are to serve, but the church was not designed to be a congregation ruled democracy. There are many churches today where congregations tell the pastors what to peach on and fire them if they do not like what they are doing. When churches act like this they are claiming the place of Lordship over the elders. Imagine what it would be like to allow highschoolers to tell their teachers what and how to teach? That would be backwards, right?

IF the pastor is in sin - he needs to be disciplined! But the elders/pastors need to be obedient servants to Jesus first and foremost. Sometimes that may upset people - like Paul witnessed during his ministry. Most times that should encourage people as the Spirit of God works through both the leaders and the people to accomplish Kingdom work!

While we lead, we must humbly follow Jesus. There is no place for arrogance in Christian leadership as there was no arrogance in our Savior. ⭐

Mark 10:45 CSB

45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

As leaders, we are accountable to God for how we follow him and lead you. The author of Hebrews put it this way: ⭐

Hebrews 13:17 CSB

17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, since they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account, so that they can do this with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.

Leaders will give an account, as ones who are servants/slaves to the will of God. We submit to God for the profit and benefit of the people we lead.

Proclaim. ἀναγγέλλω (anangello)

“did not hesitate to proclaim that which is profitable”

To proclaim is to announce or disclose. This is from the word we get “angel” from. An angel is a messenger that proclaims the message of God.

In Paul’s address, he seems to draw a distinction between this and “teaching”. While it is a little fuzzy what this might mean, it could refer to:

calling out idolatry (correction)

calling people to repent (change)

sharing about his own situations

sharing his testimony

sharing the testimony of the resurrection of Jesus

There are many thing that a teacher can proclaim that might NOT be profitable! As Christian leaders, we must make sure that what we proclaim is “profitable”.

Sharing our own struggles can be profitable because it can give other people hope and also help them get rid of the false thinking that pastors never struggle.

Sharing our grace stories is always profitable! How did we come to know Jesus and how have we seen God work in our lives?

NOTE: last Sunday I got to do this with a few families from our church body. We all got a chance to share our testimonies and it was a wonderful time.

Speaking our theology into our situation can be very profitable! When having conversations about our world, politics, health, or whatever the topic may be - being able to share the way that our theology shapes our reality is powerful.

I will vote in the upcoming election because I have that right and privilege. But my world will not come to an end if my candidate is not picked because our future is ultimately in God’s hands. And if the person I DO NOT want to be President becomes president, he/she will still be MY President because it is ultimately God who appoints leaders.

In all these ways, and so many others, we have the opportunity to proclaim or announce our faith and theology in our situations, relationships, and vocations. What makes it profitable? Whether someone accepts it is NOT the measure of profitability. I believe the measure is whether it aligns with God’s character and his Word: ⭐

2 Timothy 3:16–17 CSB

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

More… ⭐

Titus 3:8–9 CSB

8 This saying is trustworthy. I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed God might be careful to devote themselves to good works. These are good and profitable for everyone. 9 But avoid foolish debates, genealogies, quarrels, and disputes about the law, because they are unprofitable and worthless.

Things that remind us of what Christ has done for us and motivate us to live in a way that benefits others and the Kingdom are the things that are profitable.

The unprofitable things are the things that are “foolish” debates and disputes. I would say any debate that does not circle back to the goodness of God and living for him is probably not profitable. And I like a good debate!

Teach. διδάσκω (didasko)

“teach you”

Paul said he taught publically and from house to house. He also stated this as something different than proclaiming. We get our word “didactic” from the Greek word for “teach”. There was not just proclamation, but also instruction or training.

What did Paul teach?

ask: If Paul was teaching a Jewish audience, what might his teaching focus on?

ask: If Paul was teaching a Gentile audience, what might his teaching focus on?

We have seen both of these in Acts. If a Jewish audience, it would make sense to focus just on the Messianic fulfilment in Jesus. If Gentiles, probably start with Jesus but would need to go back to the beginning or connect with their current culture!

Regardless, I believe the focus would be to point people to the Scriptures. To teach and proclaim the Word of God. Why would I say that? Because it is what Paul has been doing: ⭐

Acts 15:35 CSB

35 But Paul and Barnabas, along with many others, remained in Antioch, teaching and proclaiming the word of the Lord.

There are many things that David and I can teach you. David is a tech whiz and an artist. I can teach you how to build some things and make pizza.

While those things are fun, and can even be profitable. They are not the most important things.

Some of you are physical therapists. You help people do things that benefit their bodies. An athletic trainer or personal coach would have the same influence. Teaching people to be healthy is a great thing! But as a Christian there is an even greater thing you can also teach: ⭐

1 Timothy 4:8 CSB

8 For the training of the body has limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

I can eat healthy, exercise, take supplements and spend hours a day on my body. And I can die tomorrow. While there are benefits to many things that we can learn in this physical world, there is a much richer life yet to come, and we should be exercising, investing, and preparing for that life as much or more than we do for this life.

The most important thing a Christian leader can teach you is God’s word. ⭐

Acts 18:11 CSB

11 He stayed there a year and a half, teaching the word of God among them.

I was taught in college how to “preach”. How to make an outline, come up with the main points, make sure each point has an illustration, find a current social issue to attach to it, include a call to action, etc. They covered everything from bullet points to how to dress.

By now you have probably figured out that I was NOT their star student 😏

After college I read books, attended workshops, and listened to teachings on how to preach. I was told to make every point a verb to call people to action. Or, make sure the gospel is presented in every message you share. Some talked about tonal inflection. Others about sandwiching hard truths in encouragement: something funny - something painful - something light hearted. I was told the longest people will sit and tolerate a message was 20 minutes.

I even read that there are only certain “types” of sermons that are godly? Apparently, to some, topical sermons are from the devil - though Paul, Peter and Jesus only preached and taught topical messages.

While much of the advice I received was about METHODOLOGY. However, most were good at stressing the main point is to faithfully present the character and message of God.

There are many “pastors” today that can “preach a good message” or “spin a good story”. Sadly, many of them lack the Word of God in those messages.

Perhaps we have overcompensated at NCF? We tend to try to fit the entire Bible into every messages! lol. Probably not the most effective for retention - be we want to make sure you are hearing God’s words and not just our thoughts. It is not our desire that you become followers of Mike or David, but that you are followers of God and his Word. We do not want people to be attracted to us as much as they are attracted to their loving Father.

Perhaps this verse should be the mantra of every Christian leader: ⭐

1 Corinthians 2:1–5 CSB

1 When I came to you, brothers and sisters, announcing the mystery of God to you, I did not come with brilliance of speech or wisdom. 2 I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not be based on human wisdom but on God’s power.

I often feel like I do not come to you on Sunday with “brilliance of speech or wisdom!”. While it is hard to imagine Paul as weak, fearful and trembling, I think he speak well for all of us who get to share God’s word. Our prayer is that his Spirit will work mightily through us to point people to God through Jesus. We are not here to persuade you with our words, but to allow you to hear God’s Word so the Spirit of God can persuade and empower you.

Sadly, I feel like much of the preaching lessons I learned were more about “human wisdom” than on Spirit reliance. It is not my words that are eternal. It is not my presentation that will make a difference.

The prophet Isaiah said: ⭐

Isaiah 40:8 CSB

8 The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God remains forever.”

That was relevant enough hundreds of years later when Peter quoted it: ⭐

1 Peter 1:24–25 CSB

24 For All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like a flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord endures forever. And this word is the gospel that was proclaimed to you.

And it is still relevant today. My words will be forgotten. My ministry on this earth will be forgotten. There are countless pastors and churches that have come and gone since Jesus walked this earth, and most of the have been forgotten.

However, the Word of God remains. And the word is the good news. The Gospel.

Testify. διαμαρτύρομαι (diamartyromai)

“testified about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus”

The last word I want us to look at is “testify”. This word means to warn or solemnly testify about. We get our English word “martyr” from the root word. A martyr is a witness.

Paul did not just tall about repentance, he warned people of the need to repent and the consequences of not repenting. It was a serious matter! So much so that he will later say that he is “innocent of their blood” because he was very careful to testify about Jesus.

The core gospel message is that every one of us needs to chose to follow Jesus. We must “repent”. That word means to do an about-face, a 180 in the Hebrew; change our minds in the Greek. It means there needs to be a turning from something to something else. In this case, it is faith in mankind or even ourselves that we need to turn from. And we need to turn to Jesus.

Any church that tells you are are born into Christianity is lying. Any church that says you can buy your way in, or work to be good enough is selling your something. ⭐

Ephesians 2:8–9 CSB

8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—9 not from works, so that no one can boast.

We are saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus. While many debate which is the gift of God: faith or grace, I think is acceptable to recognize BOTH as gifts from him! I really like the way the Complete Jewish Bible translates this verse: ⭐

Ephesians 2:8–9 CJB

8 For you have been delivered by grace through trusting, and even this is not your accomplishment but God’s gift. 9 You were not delivered by your own actions; therefore no one should boast.

A church that does not believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that he is the ONLY way to the Father is no church at all. There is a movement that wants us to believe that all faiths serve and worship the same God, just with different names. That is not true.

NOTE: Lord willing, David will get a chance to talk about the gospel more next week as we wrap up chapter 20.

But as we wrap up today, I want to reflect on the six words and why they are important to all of us as a church body.

Main Points:

Paul’s testimony was not meant to point to what a great leader or teacher he was. However, he was specific about mentioning certain things. Why? Most likely because that was NOT what others were doing. Such is the case today.

⭐ [Slide of Today’s verses]

When you are examining a church, most often people look at the programs they offer, the music and if there are others “like them”. However you should be looking for the following: ⭐

Leaders that are relational

Leaders that are humble servants

Leaders who communicate theology and faith in their conversations

Leaders who are committed to teaching God’s Word

A firm belief in the deity of Jesus and salvation by the grace of God through faith in Jesus

If they have good music - bonus!

If they have certain programs - great!

I encourage you to examine the church leadership. If you have questions about me, our beliefs, etc please reach out and set up a time for us to meet. If you just want pizza… we can arrange that, too! lol

Be picky about the leaders you follow. Run them by this matrix. None of us is perfect, but a leader worth following will be striving to live like Paul did. After all, Paul did say, 1 Corinthians 11:1 “1 Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.” May that be the prayer of every Christian leader.