THE ART OF LEADERSHIP

4 Engineers get into a car. The car won’t start.

The mechanical engineer says: “it’s a broken starter”.

The Electrical engineer says: “Dead battery”.

The Chemical engineer says: ”Impurities in the gasoline”.

The It engineer says: “Hey, guys, I have an idea ho about we all get out of the car and get back in”.

The intent of the following passage is aimed at the pastor. However, the same principles apply to all avenues of discipleship and leadership.

Eternal vision

Paul leads this passage with a call of reflection. There are four areas that he drawls us to look at at.

The judgement of the living

The judgement of the dead

The return of Christ

The eternal heavenly kingdom

Through this painted picture we are forced to look at the future and eternality of the believers life and away from the immortality and insignificance of the present life.

Proclamation

Paul gave Timothy the responsibility of presenting the gospel.

One area that made Paul highly effective was his ability to pass the mantle.

Paul recognized that Timothy was necessary to the future of the church. When this realization in mind Paul gave to Timothy the tools needed to complete his calling.

Just as Elijah passed the mantle to Elisha, Paul recognized that his life was coming to an end but the ministry had to continue. 2 Kings 2:11-14

2 Kings 2:11–14 ESV

And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. And he took up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water, saying, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” And when he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.

2There was a clear picture of the imperative ministry of discipleship.

Who will fill your shoes in the church. Are you preparing for the day when you are no longer able to perform the task?

There are two things that must be kept in mind.

We are responsible for the discipleship

We must allow others to take ownership and express their God given gifts.

Are you so caught up on ensuring your own method that you have refused to allow the next generation to make it there own. If this is the mindset we have then there is a real possibility that the ministry will die with us.

This same principle applies to life. Are we so consumed with the process that we have lost sight of the mission.

Many parents fail to train their children but the become angry when the results are not to their personal desires. Before becoming angry we must first answer the questions, have we trained them to perform the task with in the acceptable terms, and have we allowed others to perform according to their abilities?

Warnings for the ministry

Paul is somewhat passive aggressive in this verse. He is giving Timothy instructions by pointing out those who do the opposite of that which is Godly.

The warnings are to:

Keep sound doctrine

Avoid preaching/teaching personal opinions

Avoid myths/ or in Twenty first century terms, conspiracy theories

There is a waring

Personal application

The work of a disciple is a life long work. It has a beginning but will never find an end. Growth in our walk with Christ should never cease, because perfection will be avoided in this flesh.

Paul’s message was to stay focussed. Don’t be distracted, by the natural tendencies of the flesh.

The focus is to be maintained through the following means.

Enduring hardship

Do the work of an evangelist

Keep your plate full

Endure Hardship.

Recognize that leadership isn’t always easy and often requires the tough decisions.

Being willing to take criticism.

Willingness to accept rejection.

Do the work of an evangelist

The quintessential duty of all christians is that of evangelism.

Eph. 4:11 tells us that some are evangelist. This doesn’t mean that only certain people have the responsibility of evangelism but hat certain people are more gifted at it.

Although we have ministerial duties, personal responsibilities, and ambitions, we must recognize that the primary duty is that of evangelism.

Keep your plate full

This does not mean that we are not allowed to have a life. However, it does mean that we are to take our duties of discipleship as a full time position. Yes, the pastor is a full time position within the church but there should be no part to me Christians.