Leadership is the intentional or unintentional exercise of the power of influence in the world in which we live. Your ability to influence the direction and decisions of others in a Godly fashion.
To lead is simply to manage our influence and the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone... the power to shape policy or ensure favorable treatment from someone.
It is also to: effect, impact, control, sway, hold, power, authority, mastery, domination, supremacy; guidance,direction; pressure
Many leaders do not function at the level God intended and therefore are not effective in the way they exercise the power of their influence for the sake of the Kingdom of God. While others are pretenders and they never really accomplish everything God intended for them.
Three reasons why we pretend to be something that we are not:
1 Chronicles 29:17 . . . I know, my God, that you examine our hearts and rejoice when you find integrity there. You know I have done all this with good motives, and I have watched your people offer their gifts willingly and joyously.
Proverbs 20:27 . . . The Lord’s searchlight penetrates the human spirit, exposing every hidden motive.
Proverbs 21:27 . . . God loathes the sacrifice of an evil person, especially when it is brought with ulterior motives.
- to achieve a certain status that we don't believe we will achieve as ourselves
Genesis 26:6 - 11
6 So Isaac stayed in Gerar. 7 And when the men there asked him about Rebekah, he said, “She is my sister.” He was afraid to admit that she was his wife. He thought they would kill him to get her, because she was very beautiful. 8 But some time later, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out a window and saw Isaac fondling Rebekah.
9 Abimelech called for Isaac and exclaimed, “She is obviously your wife! Why did you say she was your sister?”
“Because I was afraid someone would kill me to get her from me,” Isaac replied.
10 “How could you treat us this way!” Abimelech exclaimed. “Someone might have taken your wife and slept with her, and you would have made us guilty of great sin.” 11 Then Abimelech made a public proclamation: “Anyone who harms this man or his wife will die!”
Don't be sucked in by flattery.
Psalm 12:1-8
The LORD’s promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over. (Psalm 12:6)
Flattery is an attempt to manipulate others.
Sincerity and truth are extremely valuable because they are so rare. Many people are deceivers, liars, flatterers; they think they will get what they want by deception. As a king, David certainly faced his share of such people, who hoped to win his favor and gain advancement through flattery. When we feel as though sincerity and truth have nearly gone out of existence, we have one hope-the word of God. God’s words are as flawless as refined silver. So listen carefully when he speaks.
In Luke 20:20-26 watching for their opportunity, the leaders sent secret agents pretending to be honest men. They tried to get Jesus to say something that could be reported to the Roman governor so he would arrest Jesus. (Luke 20:20)
Flattery is an attempt to deceive.
Jesus turned his enemies’ attempt to trap him into a powerful lesson: As God’s followers, we have legitimate obligations to both God and the government. But it is important to keep our priorities straight. When the two authorities conflict, our duty to God always must come before our duty to the government.
These spies, pretending to be honest men, flattered Jesus before asking him their trick question, hoping to catch him off guard. But Jesus knew what they were trying to do and stayed out of their trap. Beware of flattery. With God’s help, you can detect it and avoid the trap that often follows.
(1 Thessalonians 2:1-20) Never once did we try to win you with flattery, as you very well know. And God is our witness that we were not just pretending to be your friends so you would give us money! (1 Thessalonians 2:5)
Flattery distorts the truth.
In trying to persuade people, we may be tempted to alter our position just enough to make our message more palatable or to use flattery or praise. Paul never changed his message to make it more acceptable, but he did tailor his methods to each audience. Although our presentation must be altered to be appropriate to the situation, the truth of the gospel must never be compromised.
Flattery hides real motives.
It’s disgusting to hear a person “butter up” someone. Flattery is phony and a false cover-up for a person’s real intentions. Christians should not be flatterers. Those who proclaim God’s truth have a special responsibility to be honest. Are you honest and straightforward in your words and actions? Or do you tell people what they want to hear in order to get what you want or to get ahead?
Flattery destroys integrity.
When Paul was with the Thessalonians, he didn’t flatter them, didn’t take their money, didn’t seek their praise, and wasn’t a burden to them. He and Silas completely focused their efforts on presenting God’s message of salvation. This was important! The Thessalonian believers had their lives changed by God, not Paul; it was Christ’s message they believed, not Paul’s. When we witness for Christ, our focus should not be on the impressions we make. As true ministers of Christ, we should point to him, not to ourself.
1Timothy 4: 11 - 15
11 These things command and teach. 12 Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 13 Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. 14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
15 Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. 16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.
As a leader we need to be cognizant of five areas:
1. What we teach–Our words create impressions that either facilitate or complicate all other communication. Timothy was to teach with gentle authority while avoiding useless or argumentative conversation (see 4:11; 5:1; 6:3-4, 20).
2. The way we live–Our lifestyle as well as our specific behaviors must be consistent with the gospel. Timothy was to conduct himself as a representative of Jesus Christ even in the details of daily living (see 6:6-10).
3. Love–When we say the right words and live the right way but lack love, we are demonstrating a legalistic view of God’s expectations (see 1 Corinthians 13:1-7). After words and actions have had their say, love makes the message ring true or false.
4. Faith–Sooner or later, people around us will need to understand what motivates our speech, life, and love. A genuine combination of the above will present to others a way of life filled with hope. Faith finally speaks clearly when speech, life, and love have created a hearing.
5. Purity–Paul ended this list with a rarely used term for virtue and chastity. As used here, the word implies integrity and consistency and reinforces the entire list. Perhaps Paul even had the idea of transparency in mind. The above qualities were to be developed, not just for public display, but as the uniform texture of Timothy’s life.
2 Chronicles 16:9a 9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.
Proverbs 16:2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.
3 Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.
We need to be SINCERE!!!
However, there are benefits and limitations to sincerity...
Read Judges 17:1-13
Key Verse: “I know the LORD will bless me now,” Micah said, “because I have a Levite serving as my priest.” (Judges 17:13)
Sincerity has to be based on truth.
Micah and his mother seemed to be good and moral people and may have sincerely desired to worship God, but they disobeyed God by following their own desires instead of doing what God wanted. The attitude that prevailed in Micah’s day was this: “Everyone did whatever he wanted to.” This is remarkably similar to today’s prevailing attitudes. But God has given us standards. He has not left our conduct up to us and our opinions. We can avoid conforming to society’s low standards by taking God’s commands seriously and applying them to life. Independence and self-reliance are positive traits, but only within the framework of God’s standards.
Sincere belief in a lie is not the truth.
Today, as in Micah’s day, everyone seems to put his or her own interests first. Time has not changed human nature. Most people still reject God’s right way of living. The people in Micah’s time replaced the true worship of God with a homemade version of worship. As a result, justice was soon replaced by revenge and chaos. Ignoring God’s direction led to confusion and destruction. Anyone who has not submitted to God will end up doing whatever seems right to him or her at the time. This tendency is present in all of us. To know what is really right and to have the strength to do it, we need to draw closer to God and his Word.
Read: Psalm 12:1-8
Key Verses: The LORD’s promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over. (Psalm 12:6)
God's Word is sincerity based on Truth.
Sincerity and truth are extremely valuable because they are so rare. Many people are deceivers, liars, flatterers; they think they will get what they want by deception. As a king, David certainly faced his share of such people, who hoped to win his favor and gain advancement through flattery. When we feel as though sincerity and truth have nearly gone out of existence, we have one hope-the Word of God. God’s words are as flawless as refined silver. So listen carefully when he speaks.
Read: Zechariah 7:5-14
Key Verse: Say to all your people and your priests, “During those seventy years of exile, when you fasted and mourned in the summer and at the festival in early autumn, was it really for me that you were fasting? And even now in your holy festivals, you don’t think about me but only of pleasing yourselves.” (Zechariah 7:5-6)
Even the right actions can be a waste when the motives are not sincer.
The Israelites had lost their sincere desire for a loving relationship with God. Zechariah told them that they had been fasting without a proper attitude of repentance or worship. They fasted and mourned during their exile with no thought of God or their sins that had caused the exile in the first place. When you go to church, pray, or have fellowship with other believers, are you doing these from habit or for what you get out of it? God says that an attitude of worship without a sincere desire to know and love him will lead to ruin.
Read: Matthew 15:1-20
Key Verses: You hypocrites! Isaiah was prophesying about you when he said, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away. Their worship is a farce, for they replace God’s commands with their own man-made teachings.” (Matthew 15:7-9)
God expects sincerity in both our actions and our attitudes.
The prophet Isaiah also criticized hypocrites (Isaiah 29:13), and Jesus applied Isaiah’s words to these religious leaders. When we claim to honor God while our hearts are far from him, our worship means nothing. It is not enough to act religious. Our actions and our attitudes must be sincere. If they are not, Isaiah’s words also describe us.
