Untitled Sermon (4)

The Leader’s Warfare

2 Corinthians 10:1-6

Introduction:

All leaders are faced with

2 Corinthians 10:1-6

“I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!—I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.”

1) A Leader is Passionate.

“Great Leaders who have turned the tide in days of national spiritual declension have been men who could get angry at the injustices and abuses which dishonor God and enslave men.”[1]

A leader has a few emotions that fill them they are Love, righteous anger, joy, gladness, sorrow, compassion, and fear.

As a result of this overflowing passion, we are driven to do the unexpected. To strive for victory, when the world seems content with remaining the same.

Passion is the driving force that produces great leaders.

Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple recognized a need for simplistic computing. At the time Computers were expensive and impractical for most people. So, Steve Jobs along with Steve Wozniak set out to make a computer for the masses. Thus, they sold what some of their possessions including Job’s Volkswagen van, to fund the project that was in his parents’ home. Apple the company, born out of the passion for technology has become one of the world’s most wealthy companies since its birth.

Passion about something produces leaders with success stories. I would like to take a moment to show you four ways Leaders passions help them lead.

a. Leaders are passionate about engaging others.

Paul, made it a practice to regularly to engage with people. Throughout his writings, he regularly recognizes faithful believers, declares his love for them, and recognizes their importance while passionately pointing them to the king of glory.

- 2 Corinthians is no different!

- Paul desired their redemption.

- Paul wanted to protect them from the false teachers.

- Paul was engaging them where they were!

A cold, aloof, and unapproachable leader might work as a CEO but you won’t ever truly impact people. If we want to be transformative leaders, it’s going to take personal and passionate touches. Engage the people around you and encourage others to do the same.

b. Leaders are passionately engrossed in God’s love.

The great leaders of faith throughout history have all had one common denominator, their love for God. Paul is no different. He was passionate about loving God and encouraging others to do the same.

- In his rebuke of the false teachers, Paul appeals to Christ as the basis.

- Paul recognized God’s love for the church in Corinth and wanted to appeal to the for the sake of calling them to love God like he does.

A person once said, "No one thinks of the pen while reading the letter. They only want to know the mind of the person who wrote the letter. That's exactly what I am in God's hand--a little pencil."

Since God loves others and we are merely the tool in his hand, we must be leaders who clearly communicate the love God has for others.

c. Leaders are passionate while remaining self-controlled.

While passion is a necessity for the leader, if that passion isn’t bridled with self-control we are destined for disaster.

Galatians 5:22-23

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. [2]

Passionate people must carefully examine themselves to make sure they are constantly demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit.

Passion is a wonderful tool in the leader’s belt but if it is not controlled it can also be the leaders down fall.

Proverbs 25:28

28 A man without self-control

is like a city broken into and left without walls.[3]

d. Leaders are passionate about the message of truth.

- Paul wanted to make sure everyone was equally addressed.

o The Faithfull Corinthians, reaffirming them and their commitment

o The Fence-sitters, the had sympathy with the false teachers or wanted to remain undecided.

o The Accusers, who were attacking Paul and his character.

- Paul’s message was centered on Christ.

o He addressed the issue head on

o He was self-controlled in his retort

o He didn’t want a battle but was willing to go to war if necessary.

o He understood false teachers had deceived them and many were repentant.

o Everything Paul did was out of the love he had for the church.

If we took a survey of your family, friends, and coworkers. Would they say, everything you do is out of the love for truth?

Would the survey say, “David is a great guy who misses the mark from time to time, but I know he loves us and has what’s best for us in mind. David is a man of integrity and he is passionate that everything we do is trustworthy and honest.”

The great leaders always go about their business with a message of trust worthiness. The godly leader does everything through the mission of sharing Jesus. Whether you be a janitor, office worker, CEO, business owner, teacher, or a first-line worker. Are you doing it for the purpose of sharing the message of truth, the gospel?

If we want to be great leaders, we must be passionate about the message of truth.

Transition: Not only is a Leader Passionate,

2) A Leader is Courageous.

“People do not follow cowards.”[4]

What is courage? One person said, "Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point."

APPLICATION

The point being that the soul is refined when convictions are proved through testing. When what we believe survives the threat of persecution and trial, the courage involved is transformational. That's how character is formed. Put simply, a virtue is a belief that has proved itself.

"The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart" (Proverbs 17:3).

The courage we have is on the things that we have had to take a stand on and endured attacks on those stances. Are you courageous?

I want us to see how we can be courageous.

a. Leaders are courageous when faced with opposition.

If you want to be a leader, you are going to be faced with opposition.

A pastor friend once said, leaders that lead well get bitten a lot but can lovingly and courageously correct the biters. Phased a little differently, leaders always have some that will question their leadership at times, but the great leaders are able to withstand and stand up against the dissenters.

We all face different kinds of attacks in all walks of life. Our Cops face opposition regularly. My heart breaks for them. They have been called to a job that brings great scrutiny and it seems they are constantly painted with a villainous lens in the media. Yet, it’s our officers who are called when things go wrong in domestic disputes, it’s officers that come to the rescue of the business owner who’s suffered theft. Officers demonstrate courage daily, in the face of danger they step up to the plate along with our other front-line workers.

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b. Leaders are courageous when defending the Gospel.

True spiritual leaders do not backdown when the Gospel comes under attack. They step up to the plate and point out the error. Paul is doing that here in this passage. His ministry and effectiveness were being attacked. The false teachers wanted the Corinthian church to discredit Paul completely. In fact, they wanted people to think he was “utterly disqualified from spiritual leadership.” But, Paul sternly informs them that,

2 Corinthians 10:2

I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh.[5]

Paul doesn’t want to have to be overtly bold and direct with them. He wants to enjoy fellowship with them. Yet, He understands that if the false teaching remained amongst them, directness was going to be necessary. The Gospel truth must be defended.

c. Leaders are courageous when in Scriptural Warfare.

Listen to Paul’s statement on Spiritual Warfare out of

2 Corinthians 10:3-4

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.[6]

We can have courage as leaders when we are in Spiritual Warfare because it’s not our strength or our means we defend the gospel and people. It is the power of God!

It’s a glorious reality that we do our fighting in prayer and through proclamation of God’s Word!

Our warfare isn’t against flesh and blood according to Paul in

Ephesians 6:12

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.[7]

With that in mind, if we as leaders are resting and fighting through the Lord, we can know that we can stand courageous in the face of all that comes our way because Jesus has already overcome the world.

All believers are expected to be on the mission field where the Lord has you. Therefore, all of us face spiritual warfare daily.

So how do prepare for the battle?

1. We must pray

2. We must read Scripture

3. We must be discipled

4. We must be missional.

Transition: Not only is a Leader Passionate and Courageous,

3) A Leader is Discerning.

“One of the fundamental qualifications for spiritual leadership is a knowledge of the truth an ability to recognize lies, and skill in using the truth to refute the lies.”[8]

a. Leaders are discerning of the Word of God.

Paul, while writing to Titus instructs him that elders,

Titus 1:9

9 must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. [9]

While this truth is written specifically addressing the pastor, the same can be said of all believers. We are all called to take the word to others, and we are all called to be ready to give a defense of the Word of God.

A strong leader understands what is true because they are grounded in the Word of God and can decern the truth found in Scripture.

Reading Scripture can be difficult especially in some passages. It is for this reason that we need to be involved in discipleship groups so we can grow in our understanding of Scripture.

As Proverbs 27:17 states:

17 Iron sharpens iron,

and one man sharpens another.[10]

We are in this together and rely on other Godly leaders and the holy Spirit to help us decern the truth.

b. Leaders are discerning of how to engage Spiritual Warfare.

Fact is, no one wants to use a simple screwdriver to breakup concrete, we want to use the appropriate tool for addressing the job. A discerning leader is able to see what the Warfare before him requires in order to address the situation.

Do we have any coaches in the room? I’ve coached some in the past. Something that quickly becomes apparent to a great coach is how best to teach and equip their athlete to be successful.

Some athletes need to be encouraged and gently corrected, while others need you to push them hard to achieve their best. When I was still play ball, I had the opportunity to when the Saint Louis World Series. It was an exciting event with dozens of teams. We barely qualified to be part of the tournament. Largely because of the start to our season.

Our head coach was a nice man, but tended to be vary abrasive with his coaching style. One of the assistants was the exact opposite, he would come alongside us and point out where we messed up but would also tell us what we did right. It was uplifting correction.

Our team would tighten up when the head coach was around. As soon as a mistake was made, we knew we were getting a chewing out. We lost and lost a lot. It was incredibly frustrating. Then, the Head Coach had to travel for some work related stuff for a couple of weekends and the encouraging assistant coach took over. The first weekend of the change, we won the tournament. Then again, and again. When the head coach came back to the team, he told the team he would be an assistant coach because he recognized his leadership was not helping the team.

Why did I share that story? We all need to be able to take a step back and recognize and discern how we need to approach spiritual warfare. Every situation requires different tools. But all the tools are Gospel centered tools.

- If it’s your marriage, you need to start with prayer and asking for help. (we have an incredible counseling team here ready to aid you in that battle).

- Maybe it’s pornography, you can try and do it on your own and fail. Every man needs accountability and encouragement in their fight against lust.

- Maybe it’s your job.

True leaders are able to discern what it is they need to do and then follow through and it all begins with recognizing Jesus alone gives us the ability to truly lead well.

Leaders are passionate, they are courageous, and they are discerning.

Questions:

1. Are you passionate about engaging those around you? Are you engaging them for the purpose of leading them to Christ?

2. How can you balance being passionate while remaining self-controlled? Is self-control a struggle for you?

3. When you are faced with opposition what is your natural response? Do you get defensive or do you run from the opposition?

4. Are you successfully discerning how to engage in Spiritual warfare? Are you well equipped to fight spiritual battles? How can you improve?

[1]Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership, 61 [2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ga 5:22–23. [3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Pr 25:28. [4]Called to Lead, John MacArthur, 134 [5] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 2 Co 10:2. [6] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 2 Co 10:3–4. [7] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Eph 6:12. [8]John MacArthur, 141 [9] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Tt 1:9. [10] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Pr 27:17.