Servant Leadership - [1 Corinthians 4:1-7]

Leadership Qualifications That Are Unremarkable

If you have your Bibles, please turn to 1 Timothy chapter 3. 1 Timothy chapter 3. And this morning we're going to talk about leadership, spiritual leadership. What values do we need for church leadership?

And if the world has their say, we'll probably look for some kind of great, eloquent rhetorician, some Marlboro man kind of natural-born leader. But I wonder what kind of leader God wants in His church.

What kind of leader should you be praying for? What kind of leader should you aspire to be? And whether you're a man or woman, qualified to be an elder or not, you ought to say to yourself, I want to be like leadership.

And if you look at 1 Timothy chapter 3 before we get into 1 Corinthians 4, I want to ask this question as I read through the first seven verses of 1 Timothy 3. What's the most amazing part of these seven verses?

What's the most remarkable aspect to these seven verses that Paul writes to give us the qualifications of a leader, an elder, an overseer of a New Testament church? What's the most remarkable thing? Let me read them and I'll ask the question again.

The saying is trustworthy, 1 Timothy 3 .1, if anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore, an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

He must manage his own household well with all dignity, keeping his children submissive. For someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.

Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. I ask again, what's the most remarkable thing about those seven verses? The most remarkable feature on that list?

Well, here's what D .A. Carson would say. The most remarkable feature of this list is that it is unremarkable. The most amazing thing about that list? It's not that amazing. These are normal things that everyone should strive for, with the exception of skilled in teaching, able to teach, good teacher, apt to teach.

Aren't these qualifications that everyone should want to be? Of course. Hospitable, respectable, sober-minded. Everything on this list, almost everything, is required of every person in this church. You go to the other New Testament passages, you think, this is me.

Leadership isn't just these people over here. Leadership exists for many reasons, including the fact that you should look to the leaders and say, I'd like to be like them. As they imitate Christ Jesus the Lord, I want to follow them.

Jesus isn't on the earth, but there are some people who are striving to act like Christ. I'm going to set my focus upon them. So now let's go back to 1 Corinthians 4 to talk about a passage that Paul brings up about leadership.

And I want to remind you this morning, I'm not just preaching to Pradeep, Dave, and Steve, and now you all can just check out. Oh good, another one. Don't you love those sermons where your spouse really gets it and you can just give the little elbow treatment and you think, this is for you.

You say to someone, man, that was a great sermon at the church today. I wish you would have been there to hear it because it had your name on it. Paul is talking to the church of Corinth and he's trying to tell them, you're trying to pick a leader that the world promotes.

What kind of leader should we have? Great, smart, ambitious, driving, bottom line, get the job done, lots of followers. And you're trying to get the worldly kind of leader and it's fracturing the church because one person follows a certain kind of leader and another person follows the other kind of leader.

And Paul says, let me show you what real spiritual leadership is to bind you together but also for you to emulate. It's not just, these are what the leaders do. No, this is what the leaders do so you can look at that and say, yeah, I want to be like that as well.

So this morning we're going to look at spiritual leadership and whether you're a leader at home, a leader at work, if you're a leader at the church or if you just want to act in a more godly fashion, commensurate with your position in Christ Jesus, then these are good verses for you.

Good verses in 1 Corinthians 4, 1 -7 as we look at eight descriptions of Christ-like leaders who should be followed and imitated. And I have to tell you, we'll only get to probably the first part of verse 1 today and you'll see why.

But these are excellent leadership qualities and when you see these, you'll say, praise the Lord, we have some of those at the church. But we've got a better leader, Christ Jesus, who we're going to talk about today as well.

Eight descriptions found in chapter 4, verses 1 -7 of Christ-like leaders who should be followed, prayed for, and imitated. So much so, go down to verse 16 in 1 Corinthians, this book that deals with problems in the church and questions in the church.

In this context of spiritual leadership, verse 16, I urge you then be imitators of me. This is not just, this is for a sermon for leaders, this is a sermon for leaders and those who would follow. If you look at verse 6, he says the same thing essentially in chapter 4.

I have applied all these things to myself and to Paulus for your benefit, brothers, so you would know. This is good for the church. Paul writes to the church of Corinth and he says, you've been called by Christ before eternity began.

God had your name and He chose you. He sent the Son to die for you. The Spirit sealed you. And in light of that, why all the trouble? You're not living like you should. And so he corrects these problems and we're still with the first problem of disunity and it was the Corinthians' human evaluation of leaders that set them off on the wrong foot.

Christ-Like Leaders Must Be Servants

Let me give you the first description of Christ-like leadership that yields to unity. It's number one, Christ-like leaders must be servants. This sounds weird to me already. Think of the greatest leaders in the world, that the world says are great leaders.

Go to Barnes Nobles this week, Borders bookstore, and say, could you please send me to the leadership section? And you'll go over to this big leadership section and I don't think you're going to find one book on servant leadership.

I don't think you're going to find one. You're going to find books that say leadership at all costs. I have no political agenda when I say this. In general, Chicago-like politics. We don't care who you run over, you get to the top.

That's what the world says. But look at the passage, 1 Corinthians 4 .1. This is how one should regard us as servants. Is that the first thing you think of when you think of leadership in the church? He's tying it back to the last chapter.

The last chapter where leaders should build Christ's church. Faithfulness. Servants. Now, there's a lot of different words for servants in the Bible. This is a unique one. Just imagine a ship. Back in the old days, there's no engines, no Everudes or some kind of Mercury engines.

And then you have different tiers and each tier is full of slaves rowing. Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3. And the lower you get, the more scallywags you encounter. They're usually at the very bottom shackled, especially because they're so bad.

And Paul says, when you think of leadership, here's how you should think of us. We are on the bottom tier of a big boat rowing. And the word in the Greek is we're under rowers. We're at the very, very bottom rowing.

That's fascinating to me. Under rowers. Menial job. An envied job. Nobodies. Talking about the only somebody, Christ Jesus. Back in chapter 3, verse 7. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything but God who causes the growth.

This is even lower than a deacon. This is lower than a table waiter. This is the under rower of a war galley ship or a slave ship. This is somebody who says, I have no definition outside of myself. I am defined by my relationship to the Master.

My existence is defined by my Master. Now already, here's what I start feeling. I can feel the pressure. All those kind of pyramid, structured leadership diagrams you see in corporate America, they're all wrong for the church.

I'm up here. By the way, I'm the senior pastor, so I'm your boss. Note to self. Me, I'm your boss. I'm your under rower. Throws everything out of the window when you say, we vote. One man, one vote. One person, one vote.

It's democratic. That's not how we're to look at leadership. It immediately jettisons any kind of ambition. Any kind of leader that says, I'm going to use you to get where I want to go. I need you as a stepping stone, because if I really want to be the pastor of a thousand person church, or a 5 ,000 person church, I need you, because I need stepping stones to get to the big kahuna.

That's what I need, and so I'm going to use you to get someplace. I don't know why pastors have churches that grow, and then they always seem, the Lord leads them, doesn't He? He seems to just lead them in a mysterious way to bigger churches, bigger budgets, more money, higher salary, and closer to the beach.

I don't know why that is. I don't know why God never leads to dingier, grimier, third world countries. I'm led of the Lord to go to the place without electricity. That doesn't happen that often. For leaders, and for you, ambition in the church, short of ambition for Christ's glory, is a heinous sin, hated by God.

Ambitious? Yes, wanting to see the Lord's glory promoted, and His name magnified, like today, may Christ's name be praised through baptisms. Wasn't that a good? I'm ambitious for that. I'm greedy for that.

But any kind of, look at me, here I'm going to use you to kind of get to the top. The man said, that kind of ambition, I mean, I couldn't write this, is a cause of madness, a secret poison, the mother of hypocrisy, the moth of holiness.

The fruit of the spirit, another writer said, does not push, drive, climb, grasp, and trample. But you know, ambition, it's just like, it's intoxicating, isn't it? Yeah, I'm going to get to the top, wherever I am.

The Servant Heart of Jesus on the Road to Jerusalem

So let's turn to Mark chapter 10, and see the real servant. I thought I can't talk about servants in the church, without looking at Christ. When you look at Christ, and see Him and His attitude, it's motivating, it's stimulating, it sets everything right.

The, I'm the boss, you're under me, it's set up right. We all vote, that's how we do things around here, this sets that right. Ambition, slays people. So you say, well I'm not a leader, it doesn't apply to me.

You watch Jesus here, and ask yourself, do I even consider my life, a servant, close to Jesus? Do I want to even be that? Who wants to be a galley rower? When you look at Jesus, this morning in Mark 10, you're going to want to.

You're going to want to say, I'd do anything for that man, that God man. There's nobody like it. Mark chapter 10, this is the best. And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them, Mark 10, 32.

We're talking about servant leadership here, incarnate. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid, and taking the 12 again, he began to tell them, what was going to happen to them. Here they start going to Jerusalem, and it's always up to Jerusalem, as you'll find out, if you're going with us in February, because it's about 2 ,500 feet above sea level.

And the old days, it would be this way. I would be a leader, if I was a rabbi, and I would walk places, and guess who would be behind me? It'd be like the little, what do you call baby quail? Sometimes I see quail on my bike, and you see the little mother quail, and you see the quailettes back there.

What are those quails called? I don't know. They're funny names to things, like animals who are in kind of a herd. I know you're not herding quail. But they just follow. They just walk right behind. So the rabbi would be a teacher, a Jewish teacher, and he would walk, and they literally would follow.

And if you stopped, and they weren't paying attention, you can just see the domino effect happen. And there are two groups following Jesus. The first group were the 12 apostles, and it says, do you notice the text?

They were amazed. They kept on being amazed. Why? He's got His face set towards Jerusalem. You could cut the atmosphere with a knife, because He is going to Jerusalem. Eternal destiny is for Jesus to go to Jerusalem.

In the past, you know, the authorities would confront and get after Him, and He would quietly sneak out. He would go another route. In the past, you know, the authorities would confront and get after Him, and He would quietly sneak out.

He would go another route. His boldness, His resoluteness. He knows the danger, but He's going. Locked on target. A date with destiny. There's another group. You see that in the text too. Those who followed were fearful.

Two different groups. Some were amazed, and these are afraid. Probably pilgrims, you know, adherents, and they don't understand what Jesus is going to do, and they're just afraid. Something big is going to happen.

We don't know what, but it's going to be bad. I've got a bad feeling about this. Verse 33 of Mark 10, See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be triumphant over all His enemies. Smash the Roman system down.

Hallelujah! The Messiah. The Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him over to the Gentiles. Similar to chapter 8. Similar to chapter 9.

Somebody is going to hand us over. A created human being who is sinful is going to hand over the Creator. Betray Him. Hand Him over. Deliver Him. Just like the Bible says. Look at these eight future tense verbs that continue along in verse 34.

And they will mock Him, and spit on Him, and flog Him, and kill Him, and after three days He'll rise. So He'll be betrayed, condemned, delivered, mocked upon, mocked on, mocked, spit upon, flogged, executed, and then resurrected.

Mark this congregation. It's always the cross before the crown. We always want it the other way around. But it is built into the fabric of the universe and in the spiritual dimension especially. The cross always comes before the crown.

It's always in that order. They didn't learn that lesson yet. Verse 35, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to Him and said, Oh Jesus, don't go die. Oh Jesus, we'll follow You wherever You go.

Jesus, are You sure this is right? Jesus, do You think we should pray about this a little bit? Jesus, what do You think we should do? Are You sure we're still on target? And what do they do? Jesus is going to be spit upon, mocked, killed, delivered, betrayed.

And they said to Him the exact opposite of spiritual leadership that's servant leadership. Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You. Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.

Glory before the cross. Crown before the cross. Now Matthew says just before this verse,. Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Him with her sons, bowing down and making request of Him. Jesus, You write Your name on the check.

We'll fill it out. You endorse it. Now all that death talk, I don't know what they were thinking. Maybe it was just a temporary setback. Maybe He's speaking figuratively. Verse 36, What does He say to the ambitious anti-servant leadership people?

And He said to them, What do you want Me to do for you? And they said to Him, VIP seat, Jesus. Grant to us to sit. One at Your right hand and one at Your left. In Your glory. Glory first. No cross ever.

Now I have to say something positively. The chapter before this in the Matthew account, Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you that you who have followed Me in the regeneration, when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones.

So they've been told, after everything's been said and done, you get thrones. You get to sit on one of the twelve thrones and now let's use Mom to go up and talk a little bit. We want to make sure you get the best thrones.

They knew Jesus was the Messiah. I'll give them that too. They knew He was going to come in Messianic glory. And now some of the worst news that these men could ever hear in their lives. And if you're a vain, ambitious, I've got to get to the top of whatever kind of place I'm in, you might hear an echo of yourself and James and John and then listen to these words.

Jesus said to them, You do not know what you're asking. Particularly to these men here, He says, Are you able to drink the cup that I drink? Are to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?

Boys, let me remind you of God's program. You're in over your head. The way to get to the top in God's kingdom is not clutching, grabbing, striving, attacking. The way to get to the top of God's program, Are you ready?

You want to be a great leader? Want to be a great Christian? You know how you get there? You suffer. It's through suffering. And it's always through suffering. You want glory boys? Then you're going to get suffering.

I'm afraid to pray that God would help me be less anxious because I know God's going to bring circumstances in my life that it will work with me and on me to be not so anxious. God, let me learn contentment and then you think the second that comes out of my mouth I could just lose everything I have.

God, I want to do well for you and your kingdom. I want to matter. I want to do something that will last forever. And the answer to that is you're going to suffer. And for these two men, do you see the figures of speech that Jesus uses?

These metaphors, these analogies. And the first one is the cup. The first one is the cup. You're going to get the cup. Are you sure you're able to drink this cup? To drink a cup back in those days meant to get your fill.

Have you ever ran a long distance and then you think I just need to rehydrate myself and get my fill. That would be technically here's the cup. But additionally this figure of speech meant this is a lot ordained by God.

It's a symbol of something given by God. In the hand of the Lord is the cup full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours it out on all the wickedness of the earth and they drink it down to its very dregs.

Judgment. The cup for the Jew is either a cup of joy. Here have the cup. Passover cup. Or it was the cup of suffering, wrath, judgment. By the way in the old days, in the eastern days, if you were going to have a banquet and you were a king, you would pass the cup around.

And if you got the cup from the king, you would drink the cup. And you would be drinking the cup and you would be saying, I honor the king. I follow the king. He drank the cup and passed it. I drink it too.

I'm in with the king. Jesus fell on his face in Matthew 26 and said, Father if it is possible let this cup pass from me yet not as I will but as thou wilt. You boys want to get to the top? It's through suffering.

And I'm going to drink the cup of God's eternal wrath. You sure you're ready? And then he gives another metaphor for suffering. Different than our baptism today. But this is a metaphor for baptism in this context.

For suffering. It's a metaphor for suffering. Baptism. Plunged into the depths of despair and suffering. Put under water with some kind of trial. I'm just under. I'm over my head. This happens to be with God's judgment.

MacArthur says, Jesus was saying, Don't you realize by now that the way to eternal glory is not through worldly success and honor but through suffering? Haven't you heard what I've been teaching you about the persecuted being blessed and taking up your own crosses and following me?

And if you think that was shocking, how about verse 39? If this doesn't shock you, you do need an elbow in the ribs to say, Wake up. Listen to this. Verse 39,. And they said to him, The eternal cup of the wrath of God and plunged into the sufferings of the Savior, you want to get to the top?

Yes, we do. Okay. Do you want the cup? Do you want to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? And they said to him, We are able. At least they were loyal. Got to give them that much. Their own ambition, their own self-confidence, their own climbing to the top has blinded them like it's blinded every other generation that wants to get to the top through ambition.

Jesus says, There's going to be no promises for you about glory, but I'll give you a promise. You're going to suffer. Verse 39,. And Jesus said to them, The cup that I drink, you will drink. And with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized.

Not very much longer after Jesus died, Acts 12, James the brother of John was put to death with a sword by Herod the king. And worse than death for John, Patmos. Verse 40,. But to sit at my right hand and at my left, you know those twelve seats by the throne, the two places of highest prominence, right hand being the highest, left hand being the second highest, is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.

And when the ten heard it, Verse 41,. They began to say, Don't be so ambitious. Don't be so prideful. Come on, guys. Let's restore fallen comrades and tell them, You know, love covers a multitude of sins, and you guys are sinning, and remember the plan of God?

Suffer, then glory. Suffer, then glory. Suffer, then glory. Come on, guys. You've forgotten that. No? I mean, who could come up with this? Except the sinful heart of man. Verse 41,. And when the ten heard it, they were mad because somebody beat them to the punch.

And no cutting in the line, in the queue. They began to be indignant at James and John. Why? That's where we want to sit. Jealously. Now they rebuke James and John. And then Jesus says in Verse 42,. Called to them and said, You know that those who are considered rulers of pagans or Gentiles, You want to see ungodly leadership?

Pagan leadership? Opposite of servant leadership? Suffering before the crown leadership? Gentiles lord it over them. Literally, they lord it down. And their great ones exercise authority over them. Dictators.

He who's got the biggest military wins. Survival of the fittest. Great men in Greek. I think you know this word. Megaloi. Megalomaniacs. There's no room in the church for megalomaniac leaders. There's no room in the church for followers who are like that either.

It's not true always, but there is a grain of truth to this. Okay, I'll say it with a little less rub. Often, the best leaders in corporate America are the worst leaders in the church. Just because you're a great leader in the world doesn't have anything to do.

Jesus says in Mark 10 .43,. But it shall not be so among you. No. But whoever would be great among you. Are you ready? You want to be great? You want to be great here today? I have a desire in my heart to be great for the Lord.

But whoever would be great. This is not just leaders. This is not just elders. You want to be great for God? You must be. Great among you must be your servant. Whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.

Who wants to be hired help? Who wants to be that low? Who wants to be a slave? You don't even own yourself. It's hard. It's lonely. It's degrading. It's demeaning. It's difficult. You know, we used to have a motto here at the church.

Every member a what? Every church has had the motto. Every member a what? A ministry. It didn't go over too well, but it's going to go over a lot more than what this motto should be. Every member a slave.

I think that will really go well for our church building that we're trying to buy down the street. Probably get a lot more people come. Luke 17 talks of these kind of people, talks about these kind of people.

So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded, you should say we are unworthy slaves. We have done only that which we ought to have done. Want to see the crescendo of this whole thing? Look at verse 45.

If you don't have this underlined in your Bible, you should. It is a key verse. It is a crucial verse. For even, Mark 10, 45, the Son of Man came. The Son of Man, this great designation of Jesus that He loved to call Himself coming right out of Daniel.

Even the Son of Man came not to be served. And He could have come that way, couldn't He have? Couldn't He have come to say I'm the King, you serve me, bow down, worship. He could have done that. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve.

That's greatness in God's eyes. And to give His life as a ransom for many. You want the greatest illustration of servant leadership that's ever been? It's right here. The King of kings stooping, bending down low to honor the Father.

We would think that's groveling service. And the Father would think that would be wonderful obedience. And what does He do? He gives His life a ransom for many. He gives a price to free slaves in the place of many.

There's substitutionary atonement right there. Just wrath against sin. Jesus steps in front of us and takes the bullet for us. The bullet of God's wrath. The great exchange to satisfy the justice of God.

Pays it to God. The price of release is His life. For one, if He would have done it for one, that would have been great. But how many did He do it for? For many. Rabbis would call them many. Technical term for the elect.

Lays His life down. True example of greatness. Servant leadership. But, you know, people forget to keep reading. Look at verse 46. You want to see? Is anyone too low for Jesus to serve? I have a question for you.

Are you too high to do any particular ministry at the church? Is anybody so below Jesus, He won't serve them? He's fixing His eyes towards Jerusalem. He's got a date with destiny. He has to go die. He's too busy to serve people.

Oh, I don't think so. Look at 1046. I just love talking about Jesus because this is awesome. He's awesome. They came to Jericho. Fifteen miles away and as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples. This is connected with chapter 10, verse 45.

Great crowd. Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. They liked to go. They, meaning blind people, liked to go to Jericho. They had some special trees there with some special kind of balsam, kind of oil ointment they could use for their eyes.

There was lots of blind people back then. Lots of babies come out of the birth canal and they've got some kind of infection and they're blind and it happened all the time. Common diseases of the eyes.

One man said, it would be no exaggeration to say that one adult out of every five has his eyes more or less damaged by the consequences of disease in eastern Arabia. And here's this guy. Jesus has a job to do.

He's the exalted king. There's some blind people and, you know, blind beggars. I don't run across beggars that much anymore, but in L .A. they were around everywhere. I can't even go to the grocery store without having some people beg for money.

I'd never beg. I'm too good to beg. I'd never be like that. And here this man did the best begging in his entire life. The blind beggar named Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus. Bart means son of. Timaeus is his dad.

And it tells us right there, son of Timaeus. And he's begging. Not many healings in Mark. But here this man whose name is Son of Honor is begging. In verse 47, when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he knew who it was, he began to...

Now if I said it in some kind of sophisticated church in New England, I'd say, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. But there's an exclamation point there, and here's the Greek word for cry out.

You ready? You like onomatopoeia? I hope so. Kronzo. It sounds like what it is. You're blind, you're begging, you'd love to have your eyesight back, and you've heard about this miracle worker, and he's got his face set towards Jerusalem.

He's going to go there, and you hear he's walking by, he heals people, and it's kronzomania is what it is. Jesus, Son of David, you're the Messiah, have mercy on me. I'm sinful, I'm unworthy, I'm helpless, I need your mercy.

It's not that we're going to meet halfway. Jesus, Son of David, I know you help those who help themselves, I'm helping me. No. And I don't know about you, but if I was one of the twelve, here's exactly what I would do.

Quiet. I would try to... If you meet somebody overseas, and they don't understand English, I can't believe all the Germans don't speak English, but you're trying to... Do you speak English? Kind of like if you speak slower, they'll get it.

You can imagine Jesus out front, the disciples behind, here's this beggar bugging my master, how can I try to get the attention of the beggar without Jesus seeing? But the beggar's blind. So what do you have to do?

Verse 48, And many rebuke him, telling him to be silent. But he crods out all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me. Don't bother Jesus, He's the Master, He's the Messiah. He doesn't stoop so low to help people like you.

You probably got blind because it was your own sin, kind of like John 9. Maybe other people were around too. They don't like Jesus to be called the Son of David, the Messiah. So you better be quiet, because we don't want to have some kind of Jesus worshipped as the Messiah, David's descendant.

Mark 10, verse 49,. And Jesus, the greatest King of all, could not be bothered with the man. Sorry. Verse 49,. And Jesus stopped, said, Call him. I'm going to stop and call him. He heard where my voice had stopped moving and so now have him come.

They called the blind man saying to him, Take heart, get up. He is calling you. I would probably be saying, Take heart, Jesus is calling you. Here he goes again, going to heal somebody else. I'd kind of like to get Jerusalem to get this whole Jesus dying on the cross thing over so I could get to that right hand of the throne deal going on.

I guess if we have to stop, Take courage, arise. He's calling you. And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. I'm not big on come to Jesus meetings, but right here's a good one. Come to Jesus meeting.