Abide In Christ as a Leader

Introduction

The person that abides in Christ will have a greater impact than he or she could ever imagine. Those close to you will recognize Christ in you as you have grown closer to Him. You can’t help it. Transformation on the inside leads to transformation on the outside. As this happens, the light within becomes radiant to all those around you.

Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.”

Matthew 5:14 NIV84

14 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.

As you abide in Him, your light shines brighter. As we study these final verses of the section in John’s Gospel on Abiding, I want you to see that you are a person of leadership, no matter what experience you may have. As you abide in Christ, you are a leader.

John 15:16–17 NKJV

16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. 17 These things I command you, that you love one another.

I want to show you this morning who you are as a person of leadership, the privilege of leadership, the purpose of leadership, and the practice of leadership.

The Person of Leadership

I have shared many times John Maxwell’s definition of leadership. He says that leadership is simply influence. He goes on to say that “Everyone is a leader because everyone influences someone.” Do you know that as a person of faith in Jesus Christ, that you are a person of influence?

Romans 12:6–8 NIV84

6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

Each gift listed in this Romans 12 passage exemplifies some aspect of leadership and influence. God’s design for you and me in His creation was to lead and influence. We are also called to lead.

Romans 1:6 NIV84

6 And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

We are created, called and commissioned to be leaders. We are called to be imitators of God.

Ephesians 5:1–2 NIV84

1 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

If we call ourselves followers of Christ, we are created, called and commissioned to being a person of leadership. That is a privilege.

The Privilege of Leadership

Leadership is a privilege for those of us who are called. John 15:16 shows us just what a privilege it is. John writes the words of Jesus, “You did not choose me, but I chose you.” Some people will tell you that they found God. Truth of the matter is that God found them. Jesus is saying here to His disciples that He chose them. If you go through the gospels and read the stories of the how Jesus chose them you will find very different stories. Jesus chooses you and I the same way! Let’s go beyond the disciples. Let’s look at other people in the Bible that were ordinary people chosen to do extraordinary things.

Gideon

Can you think of anyone less qualified than Gideon, who confessed he was the least of his family and from the least of the tribes of Israel? God knew that already, and He doesn’t seek the strong and powerful or persuasive of speech. He calls the least in the eyes of the world so that He is most glorified. Don’t ever think that God counts potential with size or strength. He looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). Gideon’s 300 men, composed of farmers and shepherds, took out 135,000 of experienced, battled-tested Midianite soldiers. Because Gideon was obedient, God brought the victory.

David

David was called a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22), yet he was an adulterer and murderer. But thankfully, as the psalmist writes, God “does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities” (Psalm 103:10), or none of us could stand. God restored King David after one of the greatest prayers of repentance in the Bible where David writes, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin” (Psalm 51:1-2). David went from being a lowly shepherd to Israel’s greatest king (next to Christ).

Moses

Murderers seem to be a common occurrence with biblical characters and authors, just as with David and also with Moses, who had to run for his life after murdering an Egyptian and was a shepherd for 40 years in the desert regions. Moses was also not the best speaker, saying, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue” (Exodus 4:10), to which God replied, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak” (Exodus 4:11-12). So there goes Moses, back to Egypt, a former murderer and shepherd, which, by the way, the Egyptians thought of as unclean, to lead Israel out of Egypt. That is just what he did.

Paul

The greatest persecutor of the church became her biggest missionary. Before Paul’s Damascus Road conversion, Stephen was stoned to death, and “Saul approved of his execution” (Acts 8:1). Then “Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem” (Acts 9:1-2), when “suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me’” (Acts 9:3)? Saul was later named Paul (meaning “small” or perhaps “humble”) because Saul means destroyer, and he no longer tried to destroy the church. He lived his life to build her up.

Jeremiah

I remember when Jeremiah was called by God and told, “Oh, by the way, they won’t listen to you Jeremiah.” I thought, that’s a hard mission field to be called into. Knowing that they’re going to reject everything you say could be a little disheartening, but Jeremiah did the best he could because God told him, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 1:7-8). Young, apprehensive Jeremiah needed help, and so “the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me. ‘Behold, I have put my words in your mouth’” (Jeremiah 1:9).

Each of these Biblical leaders where chosen and appointed by God. God appointed the disciples Jesus told to abide in Him. Guess what? He appoints you and I as well. Notice the benefit that comes with this divine appointment. We can go. What a simple reminder that gives us the opportunity to go and be as well as go and tell. The benefits of come in doing what the Lord has commanded because He does so for our best interest.

Ecclesiastes 2:24–25 NIV84

24 A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?

When we abide in the Lord, we find the hand of God. Without Him, we cannot find any lasting enjoyment. There are benefits to being that leader God has called you to do and be! Notice next the purpose of leadership.

The Purpose of Leadership

We are chosen to be leaders for the sake of Christ for the sole purpose of bearing fruit. We are to bear fruit in such a way in our own lives that it may be appetizing to others. The whole reason the vine exists is to bear fruit. We are to build those character traits that we learn in Galatians 5:22-23

Galatians 5:22–23 NIV84

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Once we bear fruit, we are to help that fruit remain established. We are to bear fruit that will last. So many people talk about growing up in the church and having established their faith. However, as they get older, many drop by the wayside. You and I are to help bear fruit that will be lasting. In order to do this, we need to cultivate, fertilize, water, and make sure the vine is free for weeds and other hindrances that might block the growth.

Proverbs 11:30 NIV84

30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

Everyone knows that healthy fruit produces seed that helps another vine to grow and take off.

Zechariah 8:12 NIV84

12 “The seed will grow well, the vine will yield its fruit, the ground will produce its crops, and the heavens will drop their dew. I will give all these things as an inheritance to the remnant of this people.

Are you a person that abides in Christ enough to reproduce the fruit He has produced in you?

If so, then as you abide in Christ, you will carry out the practice of leadership.

The Practice of Leadership

John 15:17 tells us that these things are part of His command. That tells me that as a leader who abides in Christ, I am to follow the command of Jesus. What are His commands? We have already seen the command to abide in Christ and to bear fruit. Abiding in Christ does not mean that we tarry on our own. God’s word is straight forward about this:

Jeremiah 2:12–13 NIV84

12 Be appalled at this, O heavens, and shudder with great horror,” declares the Lord. 13 “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

Instead of digging our own wells that can’t hold what God desires for us, we need to follow the commands of our Lord. One command He gives us here in John 15:17 is to love one another. That is the ultimate command Jesus gives us as leaders abiding in Christ. We are not to manipulate or manage folks in to our own desires. We are to love one another by following His commands and following His commands by loving one another.

1 Peter 1:22 NIV84

22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.

We are to follow His commands, love one another and then repeat. It is a cycle we are called to be and do!

There are many areas in which you and I can abide in Christ as leaders. Maybe you are the next Gideon or David. Maybe you are the next Moses or Paul or Jeremiah. Maybe God has a plan for you that is greater that all those combined. It starts with you yes to the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you done that? It all begins by allowing the Word of Jesus dwell in us. Are you doing that today? What about tomorrow? Let’s make the our prayer just now.