Spiritual Leadership Training
Notes
Transcript
PRAY
Intro: A leader is always learning, and a leader is always teaching. If a leader stops learning, he stops leading. And if a leader stops teaching, he stops leading. This is particularly true with spiritual leadership—in our homes and in the church, at work or at play.
Jesus himself sets the example for us. In his humanity, we are told that as a child “Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” In his deity, we wouldn’t say that Jesus learned things in precisely the way that we must be continually doing, but he did model for us the kind of dependence on, and submissive obedience to, the Father which cultivates our own ongoing learning.
On the side of being a teacher at any and every turn, of being both patient and pointed, pastorally sensitive but passionate for truth, Jesus is the perfect model.
In our present passage of Scripture, Luke 17:1-10, Luke gives us a window into a series of issues Jesus deals with as he continues training his disciples. He teaches them here to have a right understanding of spiritual leadership, a right understanding of dealing with sin among the brethren, a right understanding of sufficient faith, and a right understanding of humble service to God.
Each one seems to be a much-needed corrective, either to the false guidance of the present Jewish religious leaders, or to the misconceptions and inclinations of their hearts. Two involve horizontal relationships (with others) and two vertical (with relationship to God).
And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ ”
Context: As always, to make sure we’re rightly interpreting the text, we must get our bearings in the context. Without that context, in this case, these four brief instructions do not have an obvious interconnectedness.
In the broader section in Luke’s Gospel, isn’t Jesus contradicting and correcting Pharisaical hypocrisy? Jesus’ instruction is a much-needed corrective for the poor spiritual leadership of the Jewish religious elite.
We probably recognize this most plainly in the first warning:
The Seriousness of False Teaching (vv. 1-3a)
The Seriousness of False Teaching (vv. 1-3a)
-Jesus addresses His disciples - Turning to those who aim to follow him sincerely: Teaching them how to be true spiritual guides for others - ‘The kind of example the scribes and Pharisees have set for you is rotten.’ Recall what Jesus had said to the scribes directly:
Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.”
This is immediately relevant to the first thing Jesus says in v. 1:
-Temptations are sure to come, but woe to the person through whom they come!
Temptations to sin could be translated as stumbling block, or even more literally as a snare or a trap. It is the baited stick in a trap. - In other words, it isn’t the act itself of falling for the trap, or being ensnared, but it is the enticement into it. So, temptation to sin is a fair translation in the context.
Such baited sticks aimed to lure us into sin are sure to come, whether by the effort of Satan and his demons, or by the false allurements of the world (under Satan’s power an influence), and certainly by the sin nature that still festers within us until our holiness is made complete at the culmination of our salvation when Christ returns.
I’m familiar with trying to bait animals into a trap, as are some of you, no doubt. My dabbling in trapping taught me that not everybody goes for the bait. In fact, the very armadillo whom I sought to catch was completely disinterested in the bait. Could I have tried earthworms in the trap instead? Perhaps. But I now know from experience that cat food catches everybody BUT the armadillo: skunks & possums in abundance.
The armadillo you pretty much have to catch in the act of digging up your flower bed to get the juicy grubs and worms. He doesn’t take the bait to be trapped.
That’s how Christians must be with enticements to sin. Don’t take the bait. ....
A couple other places in the NT this Greek word skandalon is used to mean that Christ is the stumbling block that the self-righteous trip over to their own doom. Jesus is both the cornerstone of faith as well as the stumbling block for those who do not believe. - Here’s one example:
For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
But in our text the skandalon, the enticement to sin is in fact false teaching.
And the image that Jesus gives of judgment against those who would perpetrate such a thing is dramatic and vivid. In fact, he never says what the actual judgment will be, but instead gives a picture of a horrible death that would be better than facing God’s judgment for leading people falsely.
-Reread v. 2 - [insert image] The millstone pictured here is the massive, heavy stone that required a donkey just to turn it, and was used to grind out things like wheat and olives. - What’s the result of being thrown in the sea with one of those around your neck?
-That’s how serious it is to lead astray these “little ones.” When Matthew and Mark refer to a similar teaching in a slightly different context, Jesus actually has children present. In Luke, though, the same term seems to be a tender reference to all those who are believing in Jesus.
The risk is that some, especially those who are young, or those who are new to participating in the Christian community, might be easily led into apostasy by false teaching rather than toward faith in the true gospel.
So Jesus also says,
-Pay attention to yourselves! (which I think fits better with vv 1&2 than with 3&4) - Meaning, in case you didn’t get the message from the illustration, this is serious business! Take care when receiving spiritual direction, and be warned especially to guide rightly when giving spiritual direction.
Paul writes entire letters to Timothy and Titus toward this end!
Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.
James too, a key leader in the early Jerusalem church and oldest half-brother of Jesus, also cautions his hearers in a letter:
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
If we are going to be teachers then, let it be because God has determined that it be so, and it has been confirmed by the body of Christ around you. We ought to be leading others straight for and right behind Christ, which will lead us AWAY from the traps that might lie to the right or to the left.
Just so, as our supreme example of leadership, Jesus issues a warning to pay attention to what kind of spiritual guidance is being offered, and particularly when giving spiritual direction, to only offer that which is consistent with complete submission to God’s revelation of himself.
From giving spiritual direction we turn to a right approach to spiritual correction…
Confronting and Forgiving One Another (vv. 3b-4)
Confronting and Forgiving One Another (vv. 3b-4)
The connection seems to be the context of sin and relationships to others, with this backdrop of contradicting poor examples of spiritual leadership. The Pharisees are undoubtedly not good examples of practicing rebuke without judgmentalness, or of forgiving as many times as a person repents. They would have limited the need to forgive to perhaps 3 times, also choosing to evaluate for themselves whether or not repeatedly needing to ask for forgiveness was a sign of true repentance. Jesus indicates that we shouldn’t have any such limits on forgiveness.
-But back to the subject of confrontation, Jesus instruction in v. 3b to rebuke a sinning brother (which means to admonish, to warn or counsel) is a reminder that spiritual leaders, even faithful believers, cannot let sin slide… not in our own lives, and not in the lives of others we love.
Why not? Bc sin is never stagnant in our lives. If we give the devil a foothold by loving our secret sin of lust, or by excusing our anger, that sin will be like a cancer that spreads to other areas of our lives. We cannot be ok with greed (love of money) as if it is an isolated character flaw. We must not assume that gluttony is a small sin that doesn’t have disastrous consequences (which is a clear lack of self-restraint, and idolatry in your heart). … Gossip and slander; unbridled speech of any kind… Laziness (not working with our hands, not investing our minds as God intended)… Being argumentative/combative (insisting on being right)… Complaining… Impatience under stress… Take time on your own to add to this list.
The point is, in our effort to follow Jesus fully and to be holy like our heavenly Father, we must aim to submit to the Holy Spirit in every area of our lives.
Practicing rebuke, though, doesn’t mean that we will jump on every instance of sin in one another’s lives (barking at everything like the obnoxious dog in the neighbor’s yard), but that we should pay close attention for patterns. And we ought to be sensitive to leading others to question their motives.
I suppose too this is a good place to remind us that because we are not sovereign, because we lack Jesus’ ability to peer directly into people’s hearts, we ought not to rebuke people for sinning where we might not be correct that they are indeed sinning.
[Examples: Your friend has decided that she will study psychology in the same way that she might study history, with a keen eye for which worldview and approaches are consistent with God’s word rather than worldly. … Your buddy has decided to study business administration instead of going to seminary.]
Therefore, we should really only be rebuking another for known sin (whether by pattern or severity), or for sins committed directly against us (that is the context of this similar teaching in Matthew 18, which then also involves the church leadership if a person refuses to repent).
Not only do we need reminding that we shouldn’t jump at opportunities for rebuke, we seem to need reminding that this ought to be a gentle rebuke for the purpose of restoration. If restoration is the goal, then our spirit and approach should reflect that. Because this can be abused so badly, perhaps our rebuke needs qualifying adjectives we find in the character of Jesus: gentle rebuke, loving rebuke, restorative rebuke.
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.
Don’t compare your angry rebuke to what Jesus did when he cleared the temple. That was righteous anger aimed in that moment at literally putting an end to the abusive dishonor of his Father’s house. It was not rebuking a brother or a son, it was similar to me busting in to your home and stopping physical abuse of your spouse, and reporting you to the police.
Now Jesus did once rebuke Peter in a truly abrupt and direct manner: “Get behind me Satan! You are a stumbling block to me.” There’s that word “snare” - an enticement to sin… for Jesus to escape the predestined fate that he had just described, that he must accomplish in suffering at the hands of the religious leaders in Jerusalem. Immediately before this Peter had wrongly rebuking Jesus for saying such things. (Matt 16:21-23). It is not overstated to say that rebuke of this kind should be so rare for you that you might never use it in your lifetime.
And do you know that if you are a constant rebuker, regularly looking for flaws instead of celebrating growth in grace… Do you know that you become a burden to the brethren instead of a shade tree by streams of water, and instead of being a needed corrective at the proper time? We duck & cover when we see you coming; our hearts weigh heavy when you tell us we need to talk.
Rather, the goal of rebuke ought to be accountability that both encourages and challenges. - We share each other’s commitment to pursue righteousness, knowing that we are not isolated as if our sin is a private affair. Our growth in maturity affects one another in the family. This pursuit of holiness is a community endeavor.
-The last part of v.3 and into v.4 is no giant leap from this context, because forgiveness qualifies and balances rebuke, and it reinforces the goal of restored relationships.
[Reread 3c&4]
The point here is that we shouldn’t try to limit the frequency of our forgiveness, as the Pharisees would have done. Jesus isn’t suggesting that you count! He is in fact saying that you must not count. You ought to forgive each time.
God doesn’t limit his forgiveness toward us when we are his children through faith.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
I think Jesus knows that most of us would question repentance if someone has to apologize for the same thing seven times in one day! But rather than be self-righteous and judgmental, if a person turns toward you to express repentance, you must forgive.
I believe Jesus says this intentionally as a counterbalance to confrontation. In order for us to lead one another well in the family of God, we must be quick to forgive where repentance is present, but willing to admonish where sin is being ignored.
In fact, the weight of scripture shows us that, remembering the depth of God’s grace to us, our hearts ought to take a general posture of forgiveness:
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
So the posture of the wrongdoer is repentance. And the posture of the wronged is forgiveness. But neither of those is contingent upon the other to correct your heart and do what is right. True restoration will only take place when both sides are present, but each one must take initiative to focus on right relationship to God, and therefore doing what is right as it concerns others.
Right relationship to God is our first priority. Being right with God then overflows in our relationships to others.
Conclusion: Faithful followers of Jesus, and especially those whom God has raised up in roles of leadership (even those who realize that in some ways we are always leading… someone is always watching us, following our example), we must consider the danger of false teaching and compare what we are taught to the plain understanding of God’s word. Whatever you are taught, hold it up against the light of the letter and the spirit of God’s word, compare it to the very words and to the overall context, and even to the whole counsel of God in the Bible. Do not be lured or lulled by so-called religion into a false gospel and elevation of man over God.
Spiritual leaders, and God has given many or most of us some level of leadership responsibility, (leaders) must consider the seriousness of using worldly words and ways instead of God’s truth and His ways. It would be better to drown with a millstone around your neck at the bottom of the sea, better to be crushed under a bus, than to face God’s judgment for false teaching.
Instead of luring people into worldliness and the sin of unbelief, Christian leaders are to graciously rebuke one another when we sin. We won’t take confrontation lightly, but we know that sin is serious.
And we are to forgive one another, repeatedly. The number of times that God forgives you as his child is the number of times you are to forgive others: countless.
PRAY
Communion:
Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.
Communion
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