Spiritual Leadership — Glenn Meldrum

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Spiritual Leadership Requires Accepting Responsibility

You'll never be a leader that God will want you to be if you won't accept responsibility. And that would be responsibility for the commitment and counting the cost, but it's also responsibility when you do right to learn how to rightly receive praise from people when they pat you on the back and they say good job and you can humbly say thank you, or when you do wrong and you're approved for it that you learn how to rightly receive that as well, which is really hard.

We will never be immune to criticism until we are immune to praise. We become so sensitive over criticism because there's still so much self in us, there's still so much pride. When we are finally not distraught by criticism, we will ultimately be finding ourselves not affected by praise either.

The Apostolic Priority of Prayer and the Word

But anyway, in Acts 6, beginning in the third verse, Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known, and that's such an important thing, known, to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and we'll give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the Word.

Now, what is going on here is the church is growing, it's growing in such a tremendous way that what's happening is the responsibility on the apostles was growing greater and greater and it was growing to such a great extent that they were neglecting what their real call was, which is brought out here, that they would give their attention to prayer.

Another version brings in fasting and the ministry of the Word. They were neglecting that to try and take care of all these physical needs. So what was it that they were going to require of the first deacons?

And in this situation, deacons were not on some board. But what the first deacons were, they were men that were called to take care of the tables. And what they referred to as the tables, they were supposed to take care of the widows.

It was a food pantry of their day, in essence. What was the criteria? Somebody who had business sense. Their criteria, it begins with, it says that they were full of the Spirit and wisdom. And as you'll see again and again in this chapter, it'll say full of faith and full of the Holy Ghost.

It comes out again and again in that chapter, trying to establish the character of the man, the person of the man that was so important. You know, I don't care what your responsibility is here. What you need more than anything is to be a man or a woman full of faith and full of the Holy Ghost.

I mean, that is the most important thing that is needed. But from that comes the responsibility. And what is the responsibility? In essence, you are coming into a ministry as interns and prayerfully that you'll be on staff.

The greatest responsibility is not whether you're doing some physical thing. The greatest responsibility is to be the man or woman of God that you need to be. Because when you are that, you will accomplish what God has called you to accomplish.

Apart from that, you may do a natural work, but the spiritual dimension will not be there. The only way that you can accomplish the natural, the way God would want you, is that you're the spiritual person that God has really called you to be.

You Can Only Give What You Possess

But I want to establish something that is so important here, is that you cannot give what you do not possess. And you've got to understand that, is if you are a carnal person, that's all you can give.

If you're worldly in thought, if you're self-centered, self-absorbed, that's all you got to give. If you are a spiritual man or a spiritual woman, that's what you have to give. You can only give what you possess.

And let me touch on this just in a couple of ways, that you can either give to others, to students that will be under you, and to the people you labor with. You can only give to them what you possess.

So if you are full of faith, guess what you're going to give? You're going to give faith. But if you're full of unbelief, guess what you're going to give? That's all that's going to come from you. So what you are is what you're going to give.

If you're full of doubt, that's all that's going to come from you. If you're full of faith, that's what will come from you. And if you're full of complaining, you're just going to give complaints to everybody.

You're going to complain about this, you're going to complain about that. You're going to complain about leadership. You're going to complain about what they're telling you to do. You're just gonna complain because if that's what's in you, that's all you got to give and if you're a person that's a thankfulness.

That'll come out of you as well what you are you will give and I cannot overemphasize this because this is so Thoroughly important you will only give what you are. So as if you are not spiritually minded if you're not a spiritual person.

You will not give spiritual life and spiritual truth to give life to others. You must have that life radiating flowing through you faithfulness and loyalty or rebellion. You'll either be a faithful person and a loyal person and giving that being that part of your very character and who you are.

Or you will give rebellion and you know what I'm talking about with this. You've got a bad attitude. Rebellion just flows rebellion is a disease. It's like a leprosy that's contagious and can spread you get a bad attitude and you give a bad attitude to another person another person.

It can just spread but as if you're a person that is faithful and loyal. Even if contention is coming up or or bad attitudes. It can be stopped by the very character that you are to say look at I'm not gonna listen to the garbage.

I'm not gonna listen to gossip. I'm not gonna partake it. I'm not gonna spread rebellion because of because it is a character issue. So we'll either spread unity or we'll spread strife. It's gonna be what I am on the inside and what is so strange and you got to understand that what I am on.

The inside I try to justify if it's wrong. I'll try to justify it. So if I got this bad attitude, guess what? I'm gonna try and justify my bad attitude now, we've all done that. You know what? I'm talking about.

We've all done that. And so we know what it is that we got this bad attitude and we want people to agree with our bad attitude that our Bad attitude is right. But if that's what it is in me, it's still a wrong character trace.

How can I be spiritual and give anything of life to people if I'm a carnal person in these areas? I can either give acceptance or criticalness now some of us in this room. We grew up with tremendous criticalness under our parents and it may be in other situations that there is tremendous criticalness coming upon you and that can develop in us a critical attitude and Christ is wanting to deliver us from that because there again if I'm a critical person guess what I'm gonna do.

That's all I'm gonna give to people. I'm gonna be critical of people. I'm gonna be critical of this. I'm gonna be critical of leadership. I'll be critical of everything that's going on or I will be a person that that because I learned how to rightly Accept people rightly love them.

I will give acceptance in the right way to individuals. Love or indifference love or bitterness what is in me a bitter person it comes out what they are that's all they can give so a bitter person bitterness is going to come out of them a person of indifference.

Some people say the opposite of love is hate others say the opposite of love is indifference and I think both are true. Apathy is is like I don't care or nothing. That's a passion. Well, if you don't have a passion for Christ and a passion for his kingdom and a passion for his fame.

Then you will not it you'll advance something else if you have a passion for him and his kingdom. Then you will be advancing that you'll be sharing it. It'll just become what's flowing from you to other individuals.

Zeal or lukewarmness if you're zealous for God, it will be seen it will be known part of this is character traits. That will have to be changed in our lives. Let's just take a silly example like you have a boy that goes and gets a job at McDonald's and He can do that job with indifference and the boss tells him to go out there and clean the dining room and so he goes out there with an attitude and a broom and just Walking around and doing it all half-heartedly.

Indifference, you know, so you're asked in essence here do something. You just kind of go just barely try and get by just do your time. Type of thing or you can do it with zeal just says thank you God that I can serve you and you just put your Heart into it you do the absolute best you can to the to the fullest extent that you can what you are is.

What you will give you understand what I'm saying when you're especially when you're in a staff position. Not just an intern when you're in a staff position. You have students looking at you. They're gonna see is that what Christianity is?

Is that what Christianity is it because I believe it's zealous. I don't believe it's half-hearted that is to be everything in us that we are to do what we do unto God, you know. Whether it's mowing a lawn or whether it's counseling a person or whatever.

It is that we are to do it with zeal because all that's in us is what's we're gonna be able to give and we should Make sure especially from a leadership standpoint that what we have to give is worth giving.

Becoming a Leader Worth Duplicating

That is very important. Think of it in this way is what you are worth reproducing. Paul asked that question or didn't ask that question. He made that statement. He says follow me because I follow Christ.

Paul was worth Duplicating so because he was worth duplicating he was unashamed to go to others as they follow me. That is a goal of what we should be to be that same type of person worth Duplicating that we would be unashamed to go to new converts or guys in the program and say you want to see what a real Christian is.

You watch me you look at me you see how I live you see how I walk you see how I pray you. See how I talk you see how I do my business through the day and you copy me and I guarantee then you'll be a successful Christian.

That's the goal. I mean, that's what it means to be a spiritual leader more than anything. It is it is this is the prize of what it is to be a spiritual leader. From there can come all the how-to's the Mechanics of things but it first has to be who we are.

We're gonna either be a person full of the Holy Ghost or full of self. So we're gonna be one or the other if I have my choice. I want to be full of the Holy Ghost. Another point that I want to look at and this is going to be so important is what you are with others is All that you are with God.

You cannot get away from this your relationship to others is directly contingent upon your relationship to God. So if you have a rebellious attitude towards others. Ultimately, there is a rebellious issue between you and God if you are not loving others.

It's because you are not loving God and let's just look briefly at a couple of verses. John is probably the one who deals with the strongest in his epistle in 1st John and 1st John the 4th chapter 1st John 4 verses 7 and 8.

It says dear friends. Let us love one another for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God because God is love. The logical conclusion of that is that if I'm not loving others is because I'm not loving God like I should.

That is a logical inclusion of what he is saying there and then in the third chapter of 1st John in the 16th Verse he says this is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

Because he laid it down for us and because we have placed our faith in him and because we are loving him. We should take that example and make it our life that now we are laying our life down for him.

I Try to make that a principle of my own life when I find myself not loving is what I should other people or acting correctly. Towards other people I have to go back to the foot of the cross first and deal with me.

And then I can go to the person if I've wronged them say forgive me or whatever. But first I need to say forgive me to him because it's ultimately against him. That's what you know, David brought out in Psalms 51 against you.

You only have I sinned. That was not a Statement of denial of him hurting other people. It was a statement of him understanding where the true crime was the ultimate crime was that it was was you know? Breaking the law of God and breaking the heart of God and so he was dealing with that First and foremost before he could deal with anything else.

You can only give to others according to what your relationship was with Christ. So there again Why was Stephen the man of God that he was because he was what full of faith and full of the Holy Ghost from that?

His entire life his entire ministry flowed to touch other people. Another dimension is of loyalty and obedience. You know my loyalty to others and my obedience to others is there again directly linked to my loyalty and obedience to God.

If I'm rebellious to others is cousin. But there's rebellion in me against God and then whenever I deal with my rebellion with him It will start to take care of my rebellion with others or disloyalty and these are things I'm saying that are part of human nature.

Loyalty, Obedience, and Servant Leadership

But I think that they are are and I don't want to say unique. But I would say that they are very strongly revealed in the American culture. The idea of loyalty today in our extreme Individualism is almost a cuss word now.

Of course if you go in the military the concept of loyalty comes into into play in a very strong way. How could a military even function if there wasn't loyalty? But you know you leave the military and there's this whole concept of our extreme individualism that it's all about me.

Rather than understanding that loyalty is such a a tremendous part of what God has called us to be in First John again in the fifth chapter in the third verse. It says this is love for God to obey his commands and his commands are not burdensome.

We must understand that obedience and loyalty is that his commands are not burdensome if they are burdensome. It's not the problem of his commands. It's the problem of me. You know I heard this one statement.

You cannot break the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments will break you. They are etched in stone. There is you cannot break those things now is your life will be broken to pieces as a result of of going against them.

But loyalty and obedience is that first relationship with God and how we deal with that? Romans 13 1 says everyone Must submit himself to the governing authorities for there is no authority except that which God has established.

The authorities that exist have been established by God now. This is a very loaded verse, and I don't want to get into the loaded dimensions of Hitler's and Mussolini's and Stalin's. Okay, what you can look at is God has established a leadership here.

And so he's established that and when you come under the leadership you are expected by God to rightly obey. Now think of this if you are rebellious against and lead your leaders. How is it that you're going to be able to expect others under you to obey you?

You know what I'm saying with this I mean We don't want people rebelling against us when we're in leadership. But yet if we get this thing inside of us. Then we're gonna start rebelling and being disloyal and so on to others, but is if we want it ourselves.

We have to learn how to do it correctly it must you know it must be a lifestyle Principle and to be a good leader does not mean that we're this self-made arrogant individual. It means that we learn how to rightly serve because what was Christ as our example of the perfect leader.

He was the perfect servant the perfect servant. He had no identity crisis with being a servant. He had no identity crisis with Taking off his outer garments and clothing himself as a slave in essence and washing the feet of his disciples and guess whose feet.

He also washed Judas's The perfect servant and that's what he calls us to the best leaders are always first and foremost the best servants. They learned that right loyalty. They learned that right submission.

David's Mighty Men and Faithful Service

Turn with me to 2nd. Samuel. There's an interesting of little Section here 2nd. Samuel in the 23rd chapter and what this is this is a listing of David's mighty men. When you look at it on a natural basis for a king to be a prosperous king and To be an influential king and a powerful king.

He can't be he can't stand alone. He has to have others under him that are faithful that are loyal that love this king and and they serve him Aggressively, so it is never a one-man type of thing. It took a kingdom in essence that would follow him and so these are our You know words of David of praising his mighty men and those who served with him and the zeal that they serve.

Let's look at the eighth verse. Says these are the names of David's mighty men and you know, we'll just skip their names. He says one of them was it was a chief of the three. He raised his spear against 800 men whom he killed in one encounter a feat that on a natural basis is Mind-boggling, you know, he had to be some Wildman turn to the 14th verse.

Says at that time David was in the stronghold in the Philistine garrison at Bethlehem. David longed for water and says all that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem.

So the three mighty men broke through the Philistine lines drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it instead. He poured it out before the Lord far be it from me.

Oh Lord to do this. He said is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives and David would not drink it. David was not Doing a disgraceful thing. What he was ultimately doing is here is these men who loved him so much that their their loyalty To him would lay their life down and so they would break through the ranks of the Philistines to get him a drink.

What a compliment of those that were leaders. They were leaders but under a leader and how to do that and I pastored for 16 years Before God called me as an evangelist and I know what it is to have somebody under me.

That's a nightmare. Somebody that's full of contention and strife and attitudes and all that's in them is the filth that's coming out of them. And I know what it is also to have my mighty men that have been under me that have just been Treasures and they are loyal and they're just faithful and you ask them to do something and it's not a maybe it's not a whining.

It's not complaining. You know. It's gonna be done. Not like they're just gonna try and cop out and get out of it and and try to take an easy way out that you know. If you were asked something of them, they would say if they said yes, you know, it's gonna be done.

That is such a quality and just being very honest. I've seen this again and again where people just try to get by. Just try to do the very minimum and you have that choice. I mean you can just do the very minimum.

That's here or you can pour your heart into it. It's one of the other you can do a nine-to-five as if you were just doing some secular work or you can understand the reality Of what's really going on?

No matter what that is whether you are are physically doing a spiritual thing or physically just doing Some natural thing that you are called to a ministry and the building of the kingdom of God. It's more than just doing your time that is pouring your life into it.

Yes, we need times of rest and relaxation. But there is such a difference when the faithfulness of a person the loyalty of a person and and you know Ultimately there again that goes between me and God if I'm not loyal with God I'm not going to be loyal with others if I'm not faithful with God.

I'm not going to be faithful with others. Now, let's look at Steven a little bit more. Let's turn back to acts the sixth chapter sixth chapter in the fifth verse. Here's his testimony. This proposal pleased the whole group and they chose Steven a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost.

Also Philip and these these other men, you know, he chose these men. Because they were full of faith and full of the Holy Ghost. Let me just ask this are they choosing you in a leadership position because you are full of faithful.

Holy Ghost I challenge you to let that be the reason why they're really Choosing you now I believe that they they are calling you into an internship because they see the potential and they desire you to be used let it be that whether it's you're in that process because we're all in that process of trying to get fuller of the Holy Ghost and Becoming more, you know the person of God he's called us to be but let it be that in time.

At least they can say we need you here because we need a man or woman full of faithful. Holy Ghost. You are what we need. You follow what I'm saying. Not just of what they're trying to develop in you and what God will eventually use wherever you are in the in the kingdom of God Laboring.

What does it mean to be a man full of faithful and Holy Ghost? We have to understand this is not a subjective thing. There was the objective that which was Verifiable in his life his life being full of faithful.

The Holy Ghost was a lifestyle was a Demonstration so it wasn't just inside his own head. It was Demonstrated in his life. And so he was a man of action he was full of faith and so look at this the the ninth verse opposition arose a Man full of faith and for the Holy Ghost guess what happens opposition arose and I want to say this.

This is not opposition in the church. We have to understand he being full of faithful. The Holy Ghost does not cause division in the church like this unless the church is not right with God. It was opposition arose from the world.

Because the Spirit of God being so full in him was a reproof against those who were not walking. So his very life his very words is you know, everything about him reproved the the religious people reproved the the non-believers Convicted them of their sin.

This is what the Spirit of God does in us. You know I remember a story and it's come from a few different lives that I've heard of one from Charles Finney in his own way another from Smith Wigglesworth and This happened multiple times with Smith Wigglesworth.

Smith Wigglesworth was one of the first men filled the Baptism the Holy Ghost over in England. It was like 1907 powerful man of God saw 14 people raised from the dead and miracles and the signs and wonders tremendous.

That went on with the man. But uh, you know one day he's on a train and he's he's sitting on this train and he pulls out his little pocket New Testament reading his New Testament and the the train stops and.

And he gets off to take a rest stop and and He just says when he went out there and walked around he just had a wonderful time in prayer. He says I came back on that train just full of the Holy Ghost and he gets on that train and when he stands there And gets ready to go sit down.

There was a two Anglican priests in the back and one of them Runs down the aisle and falls on his knees before Wigglesworth and says sir You have convicted me of sin and he begins weeping and then another person and another person and soon the whole train car is full Of people just weeping and sobbing over their sins and Wigglesworth began just preaching to them.

It was that he was full of the Holy Ghost that conviction came. So in this sense opposition arose not in the sense of them fighting against him. But in that in that situation of bring repentance the evil their fallen their Sinfulness was confronted by the Holy Ghost in them and that produced in this case repentance.

But in other cases it can produce hatred. The most perfect loving individual that has ever graced His planet was Jesus Christ himself God incarnate in flesh and blood. The same Spirit of God that dwelt and in Christ that brought prostitutes weeping at his feet brought Pharisees Raging at him the same Holy Ghost the same Holy Ghost.

And so we have to understand that there is proof of us being full of faith and full of the Holy Ghost. There's proof of it in our lives. Another point is in the eighth verse it says Stephen full of faith and power did great wonders and miracles among the people.

I Believe that when we are full of faith guess what faith does. Faith produces something. Faith is not just a subjective thing. It is subjective in the one sense that inside of me I believe but the proof of faith should be made manifest in a lifestyle.

But also in miracles following us and answered prayers in God doing things and I believe God wants to do signs and wonders. I believe the book of Acts is for us today that it wasn't just of a historical account.

It's what God wants to do. It is what biblical Christianity is to be right now. You know, there are those who try to say that the book of Acts, you know was done away with with the deathly Apostles. It's not true.

History is too full of the book of Acts. I mean the book of Acts is going on right now in other parts of the world and so because we haven't seen it with our own eyes like in the book of Acts doesn't mean it's not happening because I Guarantee you it is.

Stephen's Surrender, Wisdom, and Witness

You have to understand something that's implied with all this is that he lived a surrendered life. He was in a man abandoned to his God. He didn't go halfway. He didn't go 95 He was a man fully completely abandoned in his life.

He would not have those fruits and the results that are in these two chapters unless he was that type of man. Precious man named a W Tozer Said the true follower of Christ will not ask if I embrace this truth.

What will it cost me rather? He will say this is truth. God helped me to walk in it. Let come what may. That's what it comes down to be that that faith just says this is what you told me to do. I will do it because this is obedience.

This is what your word says dear God. Let me live that out. Stephen was a man who had the wisdom of God. He was full of wisdom. So like we looked at in the third verses therefore brethren seek out from among you seven men good of Good reputation full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom.

But the wisdom that we need most of all is the wisdom of God if we are full of the Holy Ghost. We're going to be full of wisdom. We're going to have his wisdom. How can we be not be full of the Holy Ghost and not have the wisdom of the Holy Ghost?

If the one is going to be tied into the other there's going to be no separating the two in the sixth chapter in the tenth verse it says but they Referring to the members of the local synagogue. Could not stand against the wisdom or the spirit by whom Stephen spoke.

So here was the proof of his wisdom made manifest. Now, you know, you're not in that same situation. At least not now in your life. But God wants wisdom working through you and the only way the wisdom of God can truly be working through you is that you are full of the Holy Ghost and to be full of that would mean that you are able to speak in wisdom.

According to the need according to the situation and that situation might be to be in a counseling that you're sitting there and wisdom coming from. You dealing with the this sin in this man and the problems in his life or or wisdom in a ministry.

Needs as people are sitting around and trying to figure out how do we solve this problem? He wants wisdom there to be instituted within them within our lives. Whether it's dealing with our own issues or or the needs of others or ministry needs or whatever.

He wants us to be able to do that to be able to speak by the Holy Ghost. And in the 7th chapter in the 54th verse. Here's this persecution coming to a head. It says when they heard these things they were cut to the heart and they gnashed at him with their teeth.

I think that's such an interesting statement. Because the idea of gnashing with them at their teeth doesn't mean they went and started biting on them. With the idea of gnashing and this is the whole concept that Jesus refers to as well.

Gnashing of them is a concept of hatred is a concept of anger and it's like. And so you have to think of this their hatred of God was manifested in hatred towards Stephen. When you look at it from the aspect of those that are cast in the hell and they'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth Means that they'll be weeping over their pain, but the gnashing of teeth speaks of a hatred of God in eternal hatred rage at God with a master teeth in Hatred of him for all eternity.

And that's the that's the concept that is presented here. And so the conviction the Spirit of God in Stephen brought such conviction upon these people. That they were enraged at him. But they weren't enraged at him in essence is what Jesus if they hated me.

They'll hate you and so their hatred of Stephen was ultimately because of who dwelt in him. But I'll tell you what I want to have a life that doesn't leave people in a place of neutral or indifference.

I want a life that's either gonna gonna bring them to a place with that. They're drawing near to Christ as a result or they're hating me as a result, but it does not leave them neutral to it. You follow what I'm saying?

I believe that's what the Spirit of God will really do if we're really full of the Holy Ghost that it will do that. It'll be wonderfully attractive to those that are walking with Jesus. It'll be very disturbing to those who aren't walking is what they should and it can be absolutely Reprehensible to those who are not Christian, but you know, that's what the Spirit of God does.

Intimacy With Christ and the Life of Prayer

So let's look a little further at the idea of him being a man full of the Holy Ghost. What does that mean? First off. And I'll touch on a little bit more as we get into it as we look in a couple minutes at him being a man of prayer, but First and foremost to be a man full of the Holy Ghost.

He had to be a man of deep relationship with Christ. You cannot be a spiritual man and not be in spiritual disciplines. You want to be a spiritual man? You have to live a spiritual life and that spiritual life always begins on our knees in our intimate relationship with Christ.

I'm gonna give you an example of my life not trying to boast or anything else. Just use me as an example, but I was saved in a genuine revival. I was a on the drug culture a small-time dealer and God saved me out of that lifestyle.

I was saved in the midst of a genuine revival that took place as a powerful thing. I don't want to go through the whole story. After I was saved about nine months I moved into a live-in ministry and so I lived with 26 guys in this live-in ministry and it was just a riot.

It was a lot of fun. Just all these guys radically saved from drugs and all the garbage with it and everything else. And so it just became this church. It was really aggressive and evangelism and trying to reach the loss and power.

God was in that place. Just just tremendous, but somehow and I can't even tell you how it happened. I cannot tell you a sermon or teaching or anything that did it and it was something that God did with me.

We would have seven o 'clock in the morning we'd have our morning Bible study and When we'd be done all the guys would go over to the house where we lived and make breakfast and I would go to the chapel and I'd pray.

Our Responsibilities would kick in and we'd have to take care of our responsibility that five o 'clock all the guys would go over to the house and start cooking dinner and I'd go over to the chapel and I'd start seeking God and Then when all the guys were starting to go to bed at 10 11 o 'clock at night I would go back over to the chapel and I'd be in there just just walking back and forth in the front of the chapel.

Just praying and I grew as a young man to love his presence. Just loved his presence loved nearness with him and I did not ever look to be a pastor. It was never my desire. It wasn't an ambition. It's just I don't know why but he took me in that life and then as a result I believe of that relationship with him.

He called me into the ministry. My wife and I went and pioneered a church then in the streets of Detroit and Pastor there for almost 12 years and I won't go through my whole ministry experience with that.