Who's NXT?

Introduction

Introduce “So You Want to be a Leader?” series...

Let’s be honest, most of us like the idea of being a leader, being in charge of others and having them listen to us. But biblically speaking, there are a lot of steps between where you currently stand and true, Biblical leadership. Want to know the best part? You can do it. You can be a leader. Lets talk about that.

I want to be honest here. The word “leadership” is kind of a Church buzzword- right? We talk about it all the time. We say things to High Schoolers like, “YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLD!” and have aspirations of calling you to places above and beyond what you can imagine is possible in your life under the guise of “leadership takes faith! you’re a world changer!” and really, I believe there is a small part of that, that is true. You can change the world- but that looks like changing the world of one person. Leadership is about the one its not about the hundreds or thousands.

Billy Graham was led to the faith by Mordecai Ham, an evangelist who was led to the faith by Billy Sunday, who was led to the faith by J. Wilbur Chapman, who was led to the faith by Dwight L. Moody. Do you think Moody knew the impact he’d have after one “evangelistic meeting?”

This is Jesus leadership. He wasn’t a CEO or a professional leader, he was a Rabbi who led a few who led a few who led a few. It isn’t sexy, it isn’t flashy, but its Biblical.

So, do you want to be a leader like Jesus? Probably not. Lets me honest…we want the stuff. But I’m going to try to convince you otherwise.

Content

So, under this idea of small leadership I want to talk about who we are. Who is NXT? Before I dive into that, lets read some scripture. Open up your Bibles to Acts 16:1-15.

Acts 16:1–15 ESV

Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily. And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

Tonight I want to teach from this question- Who’s NXT? and in order to do so I want to frame this scripture and put you in the shoes of two of the people we read about- Timothy & Lydia. Why? Because what we read about here are characteristics that made them good candidates for leadership BEFORE they were leaders. And I want you to ask yourself- do you have their characteristics?

Timothy:

Came from a heritage of faith

Was well spoken of by other leaders

He was ALL in (was willing to restrict his own freedoms for the sake of the Gospel, like we talked about the past 2 weeks)

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Lydia:

Was a women of prayer

Was influential and ambitious in her community (she sold purple goods, purple goods were the good goods!)

She was a worshiper of God

She payed attention (!!!!!)

She was eager to learn, was teachable, and sought to be in the presence of the Apostles)

So, with all of these being said- I want to focus in on 3 points that I want to instill in you so that you can become a better leader.

1. If you want to be a leader, you have to be ALL IN

Acts 16:1–5 ESV

Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.

When Paul came to Lystra he was much impressed by a young man, who was probably a teenager-your age, named Timothy. Though Timothy’s dad was an unbelieving gentile, he had a Godly upbringing through his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois,

2 Timothy 1:5 ESV

I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.

2 Timothy 3:15 ESV

and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

and because of his upbringing he was eager for more spiritual growth. So what happened? Paul circumcised him.

But Matt! First of all, thats weird. Second of all, doesn’t that contradict EVERYTHING we talked about in Acts 15?

Yes, it is weird. But if we look at every culture throughout all of human history including cultures today we are going to find A LOT of things that we think are weird! Fortunately (or unfortunately?) this was common in this culture- so no one would have thought it was weird for Paul, a trained Pharisee, to circumcise Timothy, a converted gentile.

No, it doesn’t! Though it may seem like it does. Paul only circumcised Timothy because, “Timothy was both Jew and Greek and, uncircumcised, would continually offend the Jews, with no advantage to cause of freedom. So Timothy voluntarily removed the stumbling block” (Preaching the Word: Acts. 205) The point is, Timothy chose to remove from himself some of his freedom for the sake of the Gospel, just like we talked about two weeks ago when we were last together. Talk about being all in.

We come to see that Paul & Timothy form a rare and beautiful friendship. Paul LOVED Timothy. So much so that he would eventually call him his son (1 Corinthians 4:17)

This doesn’t have much to do with our message today, but I want to point out a historical tidbit here that confirmed but can be easily assumed.

Lystra was where Paul had earlier been stoned and tossed on the refuse heap, and it was Lystra that Paul now found and received Timothy. How had Timothy become a disciple of Christ? Probably in the same way Paul had been influenced toward the Gospel by the stoning of Stephen. At Lystra Paul had gone through Stephen’s experience— though not to death, and Timothy saw it and was drawn to the Christ for whom Paul was willing to suffer.

Undoubtedly during this time the apostle reflected much on the misery of the stoning in Lystra and the recent separation from his beloved Barnabas. Both experience had brought him disappointment and pain. But God loves to bring joy and hope during times of trial, and now it was Paul and Silas and Timothy— Coworkers for Jesus Christ.

2. If you want to be a leader, you have to follow leaders who follow Jesus

Acts 16:6–10 ESV

And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Paul at this point had been through the wringer, and he was doing really good ministry to the gentiles. This scripture is actually talked about a lot because something really mysterious happens: The Holy Spirit stopped Paul from going a particular direction.

Its talked about and debated because people ask, how? How did the Holy Spirit stop Paul? Was it a moment where the peace in his heart was disrupted so he changed his course? Maybe. Was it through a difficult circumstance that he couldn’t overcome and attributed it to the Lord stopping him? Maybe. The fact is, we don’t know! Personally, I think it was illness that closed the door into Bithynia, because Luke, a physician, joined them right after this time (we can deduce this as fact because Luke, the author of Acts, changes his language in the narrative from “they” to “we”). But, as I said, we don’t know. But what we do know is how Paul responded, he trusted the Lord, and followed him. A leader follows other leaders who follow Jesus, just like Luke and Timothy followed Paul even when the doors to Bithynia were closing. How easy would it have been for them to jump off the train? But instead they stuck with Paul, because they knew wherever he went he was being led by Jesus.

3. If you want to be a leader, you have to be eager to learn

Acts 16:11–15 ESV

So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

Lydia was eager. She listened carefully to Paul, her and her family invited Paul and the rest of the crew to stay with them just so they could glean even more from them. She went above and beyond just to learn one more thing about who Jesus is.

What about you? Let me ask it this way, when was the last time you went above and beyond to learn one more thing about who Jesus is? What do your Thursdays look like? Do you open up the Bible wanting just one more piece of Jesus even though you just had NXT?

You will NEVER become more like Jesus if Wednesday is all you have.

Conclusion

You might still be asking, “But Matt, whats the point of this? I don’t want to be a leader. I’m happy with who I am”

Lydia and Timothy were next up. They were the “next generation” and in a way, Paul & Silas were the first Next-Gen pastors. They were intentional to find who was going to take over the Church that they were so diligently growing. And guess what…these were two of the folks who were going to do just that.

And so why is this important? Because eventually, you will be sitting where I am. You will be the one looking for a Church in college. You will be the one sending your child to your church’s youth ministry. You will be the one serving in the food line. You’ll be the leaders of the Church. And what happens now, will influence what happens then.

Its like a 401(K), imagine if you cared as much about your spiritual formation as you will your retirement?

Guess what NXT? You’re up next. And what you do now matters. Are you all in? Are you following someone who is following Jesus? Are you eager to learn more?