Being a Christlike Leader

If you have a bible this morning open it up to Matthew 23. I have titled the message Being a Christlike Leader. Pray with me.

So here we are another chapter closer to the end of the gospel of Matthew and we approach one of the most powerful chapters in this book. In fact John MacArthur says this about this chapter. Jesus’ words in this passage fly from His lips like claps of thunder and spears of lightning. Out of His mouth on this occasion came the most fearful and dreadful statements that Jesus uttered on earth.

Now those more shuttering words will be displayed in the next few sermons but today is no small text. In fact don’t let yourself only think about the Pharisees and not look at yourself. Hopefully you caught the title Being a Christlike Leader. Now we know the leaders of the day were dropping the ball even most of us today who lead in church, work, our homes are failing to meet the biblical standers of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.

Now as we dive into the text this morning this is what I want you to think about..

Main idea.. “A Christlike leader lives with integrity, seeks God’s approval, and serves others first.”

Matthew 23:1–12 “1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, 3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. 4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues 7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. 8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

Being a Christlike leader means not failing to practice what we preach.

Notice that Jesus is talking to the crowds and the disciples… And as disciples in the year of our Lord 2025 we can surly gain some important insight from this interaction.

We have seen based on this interactions that Jesus has had with these relgious leaders that these men talk a good talk, but they do not walk the walk. In fact they cause great burdens with their teachings.

You may have heard of this term before in your church going days about staying on the line of scripture. That is not adding anything to scripture or taking anything away from scripture. They men who are teaching during Jesus time are doing all three sometimes they are adding sometimes they are taking away and even sometimes they are preaching the truth of Moses hense he said follow those teachings when they are sitting under the authority of scripture.

So even though they sometimes taught well, they lived under the line and Jesus did not want his disciples to do that very thing…

Paul says in Romans 2:21–23 “21 you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law.”

Think about this text with this illustration… Imagine a man who hangs a big mirror in his house. He loves showing visitors how clean and polished it looks. He even points out the flaws in other people’s mirrors, saying, “See? Mine is spotless compared to yours.”

But what the visitors don’t know is that the mirror is cracked. He has cleverly hung it at an angle so the cracks don’t show. He can see everyone else’s flaws clearly, but he never looks straight at himself.

He teaches but doesn’t live it – He tells people how to keep their mirrors clean but ignores the dirt on his own.

He condemns sins he secretly commits – He says, “Don’t steal,” but he’s taken shortcuts to make his mirror shine.

He sets a high standard he won’t keep – He says, “Keep your mirror unbroken,” but his is cracked through and through.

He denounces idols but worships self – The mirror isn’t really about reflecting God’s light—it’s about people admiring him.

He boasts in the law yet breaks it – He brags that he has the “best mirror,” but the hidden cracks dishonor the one who made it.

This is what the pharisees were doing.. And if we are not careful we can to live below the line as well How you might ask?

Hearing without doing We know the Word, we may even teach or quote it—but we don’t apply it to ourselves (James 1:22).

Selective obedience ( if you can’t say amen say ouch ( God rest his soul ) We obey the parts of Scripture that are easy or convenient, but excuse ourselves from the parts that challenge our comfort or pride.

Secret sin vs. public holiness Like the Pharisee Paul described (Romans 2:21–23), we condemn certain sins in others while secretly practicing them ourselves.

Empty worship We go through the motions of prayer, church, or service without love, sincerity, or faith (Isaiah 29:13).

Compromise with the world Instead of being transformed by God’s Word, we conform to the culture around us (Romans 12:2).

Misusing grace We treat God’s grace as a license to sin, instead of as the power to live in obedience (Romans 6:1–2).

The pharisees were also asking the people to live above the line.

Such as adding burdens: They told people to keep hundreds of man-made traditions (Sabbath rules, ritual washings, tithing spices) as if those were equal to God’s commands.

Focusing on externals: They emphasized appearances—long prayers, fasting in public, wearing special clothing—while ignoring the heart God was after.

Gatekeeping holiness: They acted as if only those who followed their rules could be close to God, making access to Him harder instead of easier.

Elevating tradition over truth: They sometimes rejected God’s Word in order to uphold their customs

Remember what Jesus thought about that..

Mark 7:9–13 “9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban” ’ (that is, given to God)— 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.””

Creating self-righteousness: Instead of pointing people to God’s grace and mercy, they pushed a system where people felt they could be “better than others” if they followed the Pharisees’ way.

In other words, the Pharisees told people to live “above” the Scriptures by making laws stricter than God made them, and by holding human tradition as more binding than God’s actual Word. But in doing so, they weren’t lifting people closer to God—they were lifting themselves above Him.

Imagine you walked in to this church this morning and instead of that hymn book or bible there was a book that was thicker than both of those and said Agape Life Fellowship rule book.

The Bible says, “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.” The rulebook says, “You can’t walk more than a mile, can’t laugh too loud, and you must wear black shoes.” on the Sabbath and don’t smile to much as you do so.

The Bible says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” The rulebook adds, “But don’t eat with them unless they dress like us, talk like us, and follow our customs.” and conform to be just like us.

The Bible says, “Give to the Lord.” The rulebook demands, “give more than your tithes and your offerings give the church everything…

And imagine At first, you thinking, “Wow, these rules must make us extra holy.” But over time, you realize the rulebook doesn’t make them love God more—it just makes them tired, guilty, and afraid of messing up.

That’s what the Pharisees were doing: stacking human rules on top of God’s commands, as if the Scriptures weren’t enough. Instead of lifting people up to God, they weighed them down with man-made burdens.

I am glad that can’t happen to us? Wrong.

Some of you have been in church awhile and you have seen others Making tradition equal to Scripture Some Baptist churches have held certain customs—like only singing hymns, dressing a certain way, or using a particular Bible translation—as if they were biblical commands, when in fact they are preferences.

Adding rules for holiness Instead of teaching biblical principles of purity and wisdom, some churches laid down man-made rules: “Good Christians don’t play cards, dance, go to movies, drink coffee in church, or wear makeup.” The rules became the measure of holiness, not God’s Word.

Gatekeeping spirituality I see other denominations do this but they have judged people’s faith by their conformity to t traditions (altar calls, revival attendance, church membership style church government) instead of by genuine faith in Christ.

Confusing conviction with command Baptists and other denominations often have strong convictions about things like alcohol, worship style, or politics. But at times, they’ve elevated those convictions into commands—as if their way was the only faithful way to follow Christ.

When Baptists (or any group) live “above the line,” the danger is the same as the Pharisees: we act as though God’s Word isn’t enough, so we add our own standards and bind people’s consciences where God hasn’t.

Being a Christlike leader ( and guess what we are all called to lead.. means not failing to practice what we preach. But you better believe that means that we don’t preach from other than this? Amen..

Being a Christlike leader means seeking God’s approval over man.

Many of us deep down if we are honest just want to be liked by people. Honored by people, reconized by people. And sometimes we act better around others just to make it look like we are something we are not I know we are all including myself guilty of that.

the pharisees wanted to be seen by others. Not just how they spoke but by how they looked so to be seen they enlarged their phylaceries what a word and their fringes to be seen.

Now a phylactery were small boxes that had inscribed texts from God’s law .

How they were worn: One box was strapped to the left arm (close to the heart), and another was fastened to the forehead (between the eyes). This was taken from a literal reading of verses like Deuteronomy 6:8 “8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.”

There purpose were meant to remind Israel to keep God’s law always in mind (forehead) and in action (hand/arm).

But the problem by Jesus’ day, many Pharisees had turned them into a show of outward piety. And Jesus rebuked them because they made their phylacteries broad—basically making them larger and more noticeable—to look more righteous than others.

So in principle, phylacteries were supposed to help God’s people remember His Word. ( to honor God ) But in practice, they often became a symbol of pride and hypocrisy. ( To get mans approval. )

But this wasn’t all they were doing. They were Tassels prescribed by Scripture to add to there dressware.

Think of the Catholic priests today that look over the top like this and I imagine these men were quite the sight to behold, and they not only wanted you to see them in their attire, but everywhere they went. They were front row baptists wait can’t say that they were front row pharisees clearly wanting people to see them, they wanted the title the wanted you to invite them to sit in your best seat. They wanted greatness to be reconized.

One man said this… Now, what should be our application from what Jesus said about their arrogant attitudes and actions? It shouldn't be too difficult for us to figure it out. "do not love what they love"Greatnessism," as one scholar labels what Jesus exposes in verses 1-7, "is a major social-spiritual disease," and if it is not cured it will not only plague the church but will destroy the individual soul. For you see, the door to the kingdom of heaven is only small enough for a child to enter in—i.e., those with childlike (humble) faith in Jesus.

If we want to move up, we must go down. If we are to get in at all, we must lay flat on the floor.

and that leads to my next point..

Being a Christlike leader means serving others over ourselves.

What makes Jesus different from most leaders its his humility I spoke of this last week.

Notice in the text he focuses now by saying but you.. We are not to be called rabbi or father or instructor but are called to serve.

Does that mean that we should never call anyone by these titles? Or going a step further calling someone a pastor that is a pastor.. No that is not issue, The issue is using those titles to elevate them in a improper place.

We as Christians should know there is only one true Father who is in Heaven one teacher Christ one Lord Christ. A pastor is called to be a shepherd a shepherd is a lowly title under the Lordship of Christ.

This is the truth… The only cure for egos inside outside the church is serving in humilty. and though we are given early titled are call is not them, but our call is to serve to be humble people before the Lord. If you lack humility which we all do listen to these words… I like to quote C.S. Lewis when talking about this subject he says..  "If anyone would like to acquire humility, ( I like that like one would want to do that Lewis we should though as believers ) I can, l think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realise that one is proud™ You might say I am not proud.. Guess what got you there. You think the pharisees thought they were proud? I am guessing some of them actually thought they were not )

It is relevant for our purposes to see how Lewis links pride with competition:

Now what you want to get clear is that pride is essentially competitive—is competitive by its very nature.... Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. We say that people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good-looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, or cleverer, or better-looking than others. If every one else became equally rich, or clever, or good-looking there would be nothing to be proud about. It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. (Lewis, 110)

We are naturally prone to compete with one another, to measure ourselves against our neighbor, and this sinful habit cuts both ways. If I'm doing better than the person next to me, I feel good about myself spiritually. If I'm doing worse than the person next to me, I feel bad about myself spiritually. But this is the wrong perspective altogether; we are brothers and sisters in Christ, equal before God through Christ, and He alone is superior.

I read that and I think about Romans 12:10 “10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.” Thats the kind of competition we need.

And Jesus in this text says.. The greatest among you shall be your servant.

Being a Christ like Leader takes humility because it makes you realize that to be one you have to sit under the greatest leader of all time.

I like to text myself thoughts throughout the week of what I may include in my sermon. This week i wrote myself There is a lowliness that far too many of us miss as Christians our call is not to Lord our titles over men and women our call is to serve. We may all serve in different ways but we have all been bought by the precious blood of Christ not to Lord it over anyone but to serve everyone the Pharisees could not care less about serving anyone they wanted to self promote themselves far too many Christians ( I see pastors do this as well ) want to promote themselves but Church as we look to the example of Jesus Christ we see the only option is to humbly serve one another loving one another as Christ loved us even to the point of death.

Another man said.. We must think, "Those up must go down, for those down will go up." Jesus makes a statement (or is it a command? "the greatest among you shall be ["must be"?] your servant" (v. 11). Those up must go down. Then he adds two motives: "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted" (v. 12). Put differently, those now down will then go up, and those now up will then go down._

Jesus intentionally ends on this eschatological note. He pushes the future into the present. He takes the last day and sets it in the present day. Listen now, for when you stand before your Judge and Maker, you will "either be promoted and called to high office or demoted and sentenced to condemnation Jesus is very black and white here, isn't he?

This man I quoted said.. The Methodist church in my town did a sermon series entitled "Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White." I don't know what the precise topic was (so I won't say a bad word about it, but I will say that I think we need the opposite today. We need to see, as Jesus does here, "Black and White in a World of Gray." Our Lord does not blur the colors in verse 12. Black is black, and white is white. There is nothing gray You will either be exalted because you were humble, or you will be humbled because you were proud.

Pride is the deadliest of the seven deadly sins.

It's deadly because it so often lies deep beneath the surface of everything we think and say and do. 

How does a sinful boy (or girl or man or woman) get right with a perfectly righteous God? He lies down (what a picture of humility and trust,justifying faith) and lets God do all the work. He lies down and lets the one who"came not to be served but to serve" (20:28) serve him.

This may seem weighty to you as you look to be a Christ like leader, but guess what we have an example.. Jesus lived with integrity even under extreme pressureWhile the Pharisees were busy teaching others but failing to practice what they preached, Jesus never lived below the line. He lived what He taught—He never compromised His character, even knowing the cross awaited Him.

We must align our words and actions with Scripture. Integrity is not optional; I know that is hard and I know we will fail I fail everyday but it’s the foundation of Christlike leadership. Even when no one is watching, we are called to obey God, not people.

Jesus sought God’s approval, not man’s

The Pharisees sought recognition, applause, and honor—making their phylacteries broad, loving the best seats, and being called “Rabbi.” Jesus, however, lived for God’s approval alone, humbly submitting to the Father’s will, even unto death.

Stop living for likes, status, or applause. Our goal is to honor God in all we do. Seek His approval first, and let His Word guide your decisions, even when it goes against popular opinion. Jesus served others first

Whereas the Pharisees used their power to elevate themselves, Jesus taught and lived servanthood. We know what he did He washed His disciples’ feet, healed the sick, fed the hungry, and ultimately laid down His life for sinners.

Leadership and greatness in God’s kingdom look different than the world. True influence comes through humility and service, not titles or appearances. Jesus stayed on the line of Scripture The Pharisees lived either below the line (hypocrisy) or above the line (adding burdens and elevating tradition). Jesus perfectly followed God’s Word without adding or subtracting. Even when the cross meant suffering and shame, He obeyed Scripture completely. We are called to live under God’s Word, not above it or below it. That means faithfully obeying Scripture even when it’s inconvenient, countercultural, or personally costly. Living in light of Jesus’ example Integrity: Reflect Christ in your words and actions. : Value others above yourself, serve without seeking recognition. Follow God’s Word completely, resisting shortcuts, compromises, or human traditions that contradict Him. Like Jesus facing the cross, we must trust God to work in His timing, strength, and justice, rather than relying on our own power or the approval of others.

Illustration from the sermon: Think of the “mirror” story. Jesus’ mirror was flawless—He didn’t just point out the cracks in others’ mirrors; He had none of His own. Our goal is to live in a way that reflects God’s glory, not our self-righteousness, pride, or human standards.

Bottom line: Jesus went to the cross as the ultimate Christlike leader—living with integrity, seeking God’s approval, and serving others to the point of death. We are called to follow that example daily, leading in our homes, workplaces, churches, and communities in light of His Word and example.

Let us pray…