Service , Candor, Identity - Leadership Conference

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Session 4: The Challenges of Leadership (Elias)

11:35 AM – 12:10 PM

Teaching (20 minutes):

Principles: Service, Candor, Identity.

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:9, Colossians 3:3.

Videos: Tripp’s insights on Service, Candor, and Identity (9 minutes total).

Key Quote: “If identity is rooted in leadership success, failure will destroy you.”

12:10 PM – 12:15 PM: Stretch Break

Service

Short story of Ezekiel being the line leader. Hiking in front of the family. Leading the way on the trail. Ezekiel very carefully guiding us and telling the family there are puddles with mud up ahead. He says, “careful with the mud, walk around it”.

Ezekiel after giving excellent instruction to move around the large mud puddle says, “I’m the line leader”. He was really happy and continued to lead the hike. His joy was knowing that his leadership helped us walk around the mud puddle.

1. Where is the joy in servant leadership?

Paul Tripp says in his book, “The joy of a true servant is not power; it is not control ;it is not acclaim; it is not comfort or ease; it is not a position or title. The joy of a servant is service”.

Mark 10:45 ESV

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

Jesus’ greatest joy was to serve us. He served us by giving his life for us and giving us eternal life. His joy was in serving the father because he would bring many to glory.

Are you happy serving?

2. Serving is Obedience.

Paul Tripp says:

“Being a servant is a counterintuitive and unnatural for us.”

This is true because we naturally want to be served.

Lets look at the example of the disciples.

Mark 9:33–36 ESV

33 And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 34 But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. 35 And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” 36 And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them,

The disciples struggled with this idea that one must be greater than the other and in order to be greater you must have authority over others.

In our time we would call this “having a power trip”.

This hunger to feel like we must be powerful. and rule over others or try to control others to feel good about oneself.

Jesus says, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the last of all and servant of all.”

This is not an easy concept to understand because the disciples were expecting Jesus to come and rule and establish a physical kingdom on earth. But Jesus came as a humble servant to die on the cross.

Philippians 2:5–8 ESV

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

There is only one master!!!

Jesus Christ is our master. In fact, he was the only one who served all. This is why he is seated at the right hand of the father. He is exalted above all.

We must lead using Jesus’ example of leadership. He was servant of all. He was obedient to the father.

Paul David Tripp Quotes:

“We are not called to mastery we are called to servanthood.”

We must reflect on our own leadership if we start thinking this way:

“We sometimes start thinking of ourselves being deserving, and think of the things we deserve.”

“Instead of thinking how can I serve, we think how can I be served”

Are we leading as an obedient servant?

3. Serving in Weakness.

Central Passage :

2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

God is glorified in our weakness. Remember that we are fallen and we are weak.

We must be humble and recognize we need God and his grace.

God wants to use a vessel that is broken.

The story of the man who used a broken bucket, but it was to water his plants.

Candor

Paul Tripp in his book talks about a story of a pastor who called him regarding a meeting they had just finished having in his church.

The lead pastor came into the office and said things that no one expected he would say.

He went on to say that he doesn’t want to be a pastor.

Be open about how you feel.

It’s okay to say how your’e feeling to other leaders, specially when its hard. When you are struggling with sin or struggling with something in life. Struggling with your own thoughts. Struggling with discouragement.

2 Corinthians 1:6–10 ESV

6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. 8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 10 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.

2. Be open to hard conversations.

It’s okay when someone comes up to you and gives you hard uncomfortable criticism. God has called us to speak truth to each other in love.

This requires us to be humbly approachable.

Paul Tripp says:

“We must be able to step into tense and awkward moments with each other for the ultimate goal of speaking truth and growing.”

We need to be approachable, not defensive.

We can’t see everything in ourselves.

We need to be A leader who is willing to listen.

Not pointing fingers and feeling like we need to defend our self righteousness or reputation.

As the person speaking truth to someone else, keep in mind that: Truth not spoken in love is not truth. We must speak in truth in love and not let it be distorted by other feelings or motives.

3. WE Must confess to one another.

James 5:16 ESV

16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Paul Tripp Says:

“A gospel shaped leadership community will be a confessional community, where leader honesty is not only a constant protection but encourages a deeper and deeper dependency on God.”

The opposite of confession is to hide and to compress and suppress what we are struggling with inside. This will ultimately lead to isolation and then the great fall of our leadership.

This is a slow cooking frog in the pot. We don’t notice it day by day but over time our condition becomes worst and worst until its completely infected.

This has happened to so many leaders. We need to confess. Talk to someone. Don’t be afraid to confess sins or confess our struggles.

Identity

Two places to find identity.

Vertically or horizontally.

Assigning ourselves identity.

How do we identify?

Sometimes in the process of identity can change. WE look to ministry to tell me who I am.

Fear, Pride, desire for greater control. Take credit for things we could never earn or produce.

Rise of other’s gifts.

We get our identity in Christ.

Colossians 3:3 ESV

3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.