Leaders Worth Following

Have you ever played “H.O.R.S.E.”? That’s the basketball game that can be played with 2 or more people where one person shoots a basket, if they make it others have to follow. If someone misses, they get a letter. Once they get all the letters that spell horse, then they are out.

It’s a fun game because it doesn’t require a ton of skill. Sometimes, people will get creative - Dr. J hook shots, behind the back, eyes closed, swish, spin, long shots, non-dominant hand shots.

In the case of the game, you want to make it as difficult as possible for those who are following you.

When it comes to life in the church, we want to have...

Leaders Worth Following

Not because they make it difficult - but because they make it consistent and livable.

Last week, when we considered some of the elements of acceptable worship - we talked about what it looks like in community - love, and individually - contentment.

As the writer of Hebrews is closing his argument on the supremacy of Christ, he brings up one other element of communal life - leadership.

In God’s wisdom, he calls various people to be in the role of Spiritual Leaders in our lives. Some for a short time. Some for longer.

There is a sense in which we can immediately look at the verses that we are considering today and immediately think that this refers to pastors or elders. In a way it does, but this passage is not limited to the people who fill those offices. The qualifier is the leaders who “spoke to you the word of God.” Essentially, in my opinion, this includes Sunday School teachers, Bible Study leaders, mentors/disciplers, biblical-spiritual guides, small group leaders, pastors, elders, parents and more.

As we reflect on “acceptable worship” as it pertains to our relationship with leaders, we are going to consider three types of leaders - past, peculiar, and present.

Let’s begin where our passage starts things off with...

Past Leaders (Heb. 13:7-8)

All of us have some sort of spiritual origin story. For many of us, that story begins with our parents. I know for me, my parents were significant spiritual leaders in my life. Not because they were spiritual giants, but because they were and are faithful followers of Christ. From my earliest days of life, being a part of a church was a value. They worked to expose me to the truth of the bible, the Gospel, and other spiritual leaders.

I’ve lost track of their names, but I must have had dozens of Sunday School teachers - one of whom said something in Sunday School that led me to ask my dad later that night how to become a Christian. Her words were catalytic in my conversion.

There have been several pastors, youth leaders, Bible teachers, professors, and more in my life who have had an impact on my spiritual life.

Regarding these people, the writer of Hebrews urges us:

Hebrews 13:7–8 ESV

Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

He gives us three commands regarding these leaders. First, we’ are urged to...

Remember them and their teaching

One of the volunteers in the youth ministry had a profound impact in my life. As a young 6th grader, I had just started in the youth group and had just started learning guitar at school. I had expressed an interest in learning more. Dave Grubic invited me to play with him some. I could barely play, but he had me join him in leading the group. It wasn’t long before I was able to lead on my own. I also still remember one of the youth talks he gave from Galatians 6:7-9 “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” - as he challenged us to sow seeds in our lives that reap an eternal harvest and to not be deceived about the reality of God in our lives. Dave, among may others, “spoke to [me] the word of God.”

Time and short memories may prompt us to forget some people’s names, but their teaching should live on in our lives - especially teaching about God, humanity, Jesus, our sin, and how we can live faithfully.

Consider summarizing: G.O.S.P.E.L -

But not only are we to remember them and their teaching, we are to...

Reflect on their lives

Our faith should be able to be lived out, and for the long haul. No leader will be perfect and some will fall away, but there should be a consistency between what they taught and how they live. If they are truly submitted to Christ and to what they taught, then we should see that in how they live, how they treat their family members, how they work. Can we see long-term fruit in their lives?

Thirdly, the writer of Hebrews urges us to...

Replicate their faith

He specifically says, “imitate their faith.” Let them model for you how faith is lived. Consider

their habits - is there a regular routine of bible reading, prayer, fellowship with other believers,

their service - how did they serve the Lord? Did they use their gifts and talents to be a blessing or to garner praise for themselves?

their attitude - especially in the midst of suffering - how do they respond to challenges, successes, everyday life

These leaders who spoke the word of God to us, spoke timeless truths and are consistently livable, which I think is part of why he concludes this section with the statement: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever.”

The Message paraphrase states these two verses in this way:

Hebrews 13:7–8 The Message

Appreciate your pastoral leaders who gave you the Word of God. Take a good look at the way they live, and let their faithfulness instruct you, as well as their truthfulness. There should be a consistency that runs through us all. For Jesus doesn’t change—yesterday, today, tomorrow, he’s always totally himself.

So we need to be able to look back. But the writer of Hebrews makes a bit of a change in the next several verses as he warns us about...

Peculiar Leaders (Heb. 13:9-16)

Now these are not necessarily quirky people - but these are leaders who are introducing strange and contrary teachings - especially about Jesus.

It’s important for us to be reminded that the first century hearers of this message were primarily Jewish background believers. Many of those had likely grown up in a sacrificial religious system that included eating certain foods and abstaining from others. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus changed all of that. He paid the sacrifice - so no more sacrifices are needed. He declared all foods to be clean.

As we have said before, there were some unbelieving Jews who were pressuring believers to return to the ways of the old covenant, the former sacrificial system.

We may not have leaders pressuring us in the same way, but we do have peculiar leaders who are introducing doctrines, world views, ways of thinking, and more that are contrary to the Word of God.

For us and the first century audience, the writer of Hebrews gives this charge:

Resist their teaching

He gets into some technical things about the sacrificial system, but he begins with this statement:

Hebrews 13:9 ESV

Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.

Have you ever been white water rafting or tubing on one of those lazy rivers? There are times when the current in which we are floating takes control an we have little to no ability to change course. We are easily “led” the way that the water would have us go.

The verb that is translated “ do not be led away” has with it the connotation of being caught up in the flow of their “diverse and strange teachings” like we would be caught up in the flow of water.

Our society is full of currents that are bombarding us daily. Whether it is views on social and racial matters, political action points, climate change, revising history, or any number of other teachings - the currents in our society are strong and frequent.

The charge is to resist - to not be led away, but how? If we think about white water rafting, we may be able to paddle backwards or navigate around some of the trickiest obstacles, but we are still flowing down stream.

What we need is an anchor point.

To this end, the writer of Hebrews challenges us to...

Remain with Jesus

Let him be our anchor. Get out of the flow, and get with Jesus. Now, again, at the beginning of these verses, the writer is addressing some sacrificial things in verses 9-10, to which he responds:

Hebrews 13:12–16 ESV

So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

There is a temptation that we have of making our faith private and secretive. We may fear that fully identifying with Jesus will make life difficult. It very well may be more difficult than getting swept up into the flow, but we have to keep an eternal view. We are not simply fighting for peace and tranquility now, we are living for the rewards of a “city that is to come,” an eternal city.

By remaining with Jesus, we are offering sacrifices, but not in the way that the old covenant required. The sacrifices of praise that we offer include:

Proclaiming Him with our words - willingly confessing that we are his and he is ours. We don’t have to be strange or quirky about it, but we can let our standing be known by acknowledging his name with our lips (Heb. 13:15).

But we can also remain by...

Proclaiming him with our deeds - the gracious salvation that we have received from Jesus should impact how we treat others - doing good and being generous. This time of year presents plenty of opportunities for us to do go and be generous:

the WUMCO family - a single mom and three kids

Operation Christmas Child boxes - due next week - generously giving to people we may never meet

Last week we talked about hospitality - looking for ways to minister to and serve others

Generosity toward missions - Lottie Moon (the fund that supports international missions) is coming in a few weeks. One of the great things that we have this year is a match. Whatever we give to Lottie Moon will be matched - whether $500, $1000, $5000, or $10,000 - our gifts will be doubled!

Are our actions graciously proclaiming our position in Jesus?

So we’ve seen how we should consider our past leaders and those peculiar leaders that might lead us astray. Finally, the writer of Hebrews provides some instruction regarding...

Present Leaders (Heb. 13:17-19)

Hebrews 13:17–19 ESV

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner.

As I’ve been thinking through this section some, there is a sense in which this passage can come across as self serving - I’m a leader so obey and submit. One of the joys and challenges of systematically walking through scripture is that we get to address all sorts of topics as they come up. The text dictates the subject.

The last thing I want you to do is to blindly or naively obey and submit. In fact the writer of Hebrews has several points of application for us, for all of us, regarding how we act regarding present leaders. Now keep in mind - these are not just leaders like pastor, elders, etc. It does include them, but as I said before, I think it also includes Bible Study leaders, Sunday School teachers, mentors, parents, etc.

The first thing we are challenged to do is to...

Respond with reasoned obedience and submission.

The word rendered “obey” has its root in a word that means “persuade” or “convince.” The idea here is not blind or thoughtless obedience, but reasoned, thoughtful consideration.

Then submission has that practical element of yielding or willingly complying.

Think through why the leaders that God has place in your life might be asking certain things of you. It they are leaders truly worth following, then it won’t be self-serving - it will be for your good. The writer of Hebrews gives two reasons why obedience and submission should be considered. First,

They are keeping watch - or as one commentator suggested, “going sleepless” - on your behalf. Genuine leaders have a sincere desire for your spiritual health and well-being and willingly lose sleep sometimes out of concern for you.

Not only are they keeping watch - looking out for you - secondly,

They are accountable to God - the leaders that God places over us spiritual will ultimately give an account to God for how they have led, how they have provided, instructed, guided, and cared for us. Being a leader is not an ego trip, it’s a sacred privilege. Those called to lead should do so prayerfully and carefully.

(associate pastor search - please pray)

(We need to be careful with outside influences - even Christian ones - they can be helpful, but they have not been given the personal care in our lives)

In addition to responding with reasoned obedience and submission, we are challenged to...

Reward them with joy

Hebrews 13:17b states: “... Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

No leader is perfect. Every leader will make mistakes and will stumble. There should be a balance between questioning and complying. In how you relate to your leaders, do you think they look forward to encounters with joy or with “groaning”?

Let me just say that as a team of elders, we would certainly would rather hear a complaint or question about a decision than we would hear silence - and thus provide a foothold for bitterness or division. We want to encourage conversation.

Finally, when it comes to how we relate to our present leaders, we should...

Request of God (Pray) for them

The writer of Hebrews concludes this section by stating:

Hebrews 13:18–19 ESV

Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner.

Now, unfortunately, the writer never identifies himself or is colleagues, but it is clear that he is known to the audience. We also don’t have any clarity on why he is separated from this congregation.

He asks for prayer for himself. He acknowledges that he has integrity in what he has said, but longs to be fully consistent.

Let me encourage you to pray for those who are teaching you the word of God - not just me, but others as well -

for those leading adults - Carl, Vern, Bryan, Jackie - and other discipleship group leaders as they get ramped up;

for those leading children - Carolyn, Jordan, Jackie A., Jackie K., Joyce, Mark, Sam, Don, Danielle, Michelle M., Michele S., Zech, Misty, Melody, Lori, Abby, Crystal

for the youth - Dan, Andrew and the whole youth leadership team including - Joanna, Sam, Michelle, Danielle

for those teaching the word of God as we worship - Rick, Dan, Melody, Carolyn, Bryan, Charlotte, Steve, Ethan, and Tyler

for those teaching the Word of God by serving -

the Deacons - Dan, Gabriel, Brian, Tom, Robin, Buddy;

the Greeters - Carol, Al, Vicki, Brian, Danielle, Will, Vern, Steve, Andrew, Carl B., Tom

the other behind the scenes leaders - Jackie, Margaret, Lynda, Tammy, Reneta, Sandy A.

Hopefully, when we teach/preach - we are teaching/preaching to ourselves first. That’s where the clear conscience comes into play. Every teacher is going to struggle with sin and is (hopefully) working to yield their lives fully to God’s ways. Please pray that all of us will teach with a clear conscience - knowing that what we are teaching is being lived out - even being willing to acknowledge when we don’t fully understand something.

closing thoughts:

consider reaching out to some of those leaders who impacted your life

evaluate your life as a spiritual leader - someone is watching and learning

how are you doing regarding the spiritual leaders in your life today?

Benediction:

Hebrews 13:20–21 ESV

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Questions for reflection and discussion

What spiritual leaders have had an impact in your life? When you reflect on their lives, how are you replicating their walk with the Lord?

What, if any, “diverse and strange” teachings are tempting to you? What can you do to avoid being swept up by them? How does the phrase “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” impact your resistance to the tempting teachings?

Do you find your current spiritual leaders easy to follow? How does knowing that they are accountable for you influence whether you obey or submit? How are you praying for them?

Who are you leading? Are you leading in a way that is worth emulating?