Leadership in the Church: Not Rank, but Role

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0:00So, we just finished up Proverbs, and we got a little three-week window here between the end of the Proverbs series and a couple weeks when I won't be preaching. So, I was thinking, well, what to do for three weeks? I decided, after some prayer and reflection, to use these three weeks for the theme of leadership in the church. So, that's what we're going to be talking about for the next three weeks. So, why church leadership? Why would we spend time on this?

0:33One reason is because our church already has a lot of leaders. Praise God for that. That's a great thing. We have leaders in homes and families. We have leaders in classrooms, in Bible studies, in small groups, in men's and women's groups. We have leaders of ministry teams like Setup and Music and Communion. Yesterday, I saw a bunch of leaders come over to our place and make breakfast for a bunch of middle and high school students. So, we have leaders making eggs and pancakes and spending time and talking about the Bible and life with young people in our church.

1:17God has provided our church with so many leaders. What an answer to prayer over so long. It's good for us, church, to understand what His design and intent is for church leadership. Since we have them, let's understand church leadership a little bit more. Here's another reason to focus on this topic. There are a couple of leadership roles that we do not yet have. But, Lord willing, we will in the near future, elders and deacons. Now, these roles are not a replacement for any of the current leaders that we have.

1:55They are an augmentation. They're an addition. They are an addition to make our church stronger and make us more capable, more healthy, more able to be who we're called to be and do what we're called to do as a church. So, one purpose of this little mini three-week series is to see how God's Word frames up the roles of elders and deacons. We're going to do that in the next couple Sundays. We'll do one sermon next Sunday on elders and then one sermon the next Sunday on deacons.

2:30But today we're going to look at church leadership in general. The big topic of church leadership. And all three of these sermons have an overarching purpose. For those of you who don't, maybe who are unfamiliar with Presbyterian churches and what an elder does, what a deacon does, or maybe some of you that just want a refresher, those sermons are going to help maybe fill in those gaps, I hope. But the overarching purpose here is this. Because we're going to let God unlearn us from some things that we believe right now that culture has taught us about leadership.

3:11That our own minds and our own hearts have devised and come up with about leadership. We're going to unlearn those things and we're going to replace them with God's revealed truth about leadership in His kingdom and in His church. So unlearning and replacing. This is what we have to do all the time. Because we've all been self-taught in some ways. Culture taught, self-taught. Some people can pick up a golf club or a baseball bat or a basketball and they can shoot or swing with a naturally good form from the beginning.

3:53Me, not so much. I need a lot of coaching to have good fundamentals. And when I've had instruction in coaching on those things, swinging a golf club, a baseball bat, shooting a basket, a basketball, there is a lot that the coach has to unlearn in me. They say to me, no, no, no, your stance is wrong. Put your arm here. Tilt your body this way. This is where you're supposed to pivot. It feels awkward at first. Because all of these things that I do, they felt natural, but they were wrong.

4:29They were off. So I've got to unlearn those things, first of all. I'm also self-taught on guitar. When I have tried to get better at certain techniques, I have learned, oh, I've been doing this all wrong. Now I've got to stop what I've been doing for 20 years and try to do something different. It's difficult. I'm more adept at using tools, but even I had to learn the right way to swing a hammer. It was not exactly the way that I had been swinging to begin with.

5:02To be more accurate and efficient, I had to unlearn some ways that I was holding the hammer, my grip, how I was swinging it. Sometimes natural instinct has got to be addressed and eliminated quickly or else the results are catastrophic. Pilots in training are taught early on that if you are in midair and your plane begins to stall, you're going to start to fall. And your instinct is going to be to pull up on the stick. Where's Avery? You're learning these things.

5:41Your instinct, right, Avery? To pull up on the stick. You're going down. You want to pull up. That is the worst thing to do. You're going to lose even more speed. You're going to fall even more quickly. To get out of a stall, you have to push the nose down, gain speed, so that then you can get more lift and come out of that stall. There have literally been airline jets full of people that have gone down and crashed because pilots, trained pilots have made that mistake.

6:13The plane starts to stall. They panic. They pull the nose up and it doesn't pull out of the stall. They have to unlearn that instinct. Otherwise, people's lives are at risk for the sake of everyone aboard. Lord, this is how it is with leadership. We have got to face and own up to and understand our own assumptions, our presuppositions, our beliefs about who leaders are, about what they do, about how they're qualified. We have to see how the things that we believe, sometimes they have not come from God.

6:54They've come from our culture. They've come from our community. They've come from our family. They've come from our own intuition. And sometimes it's wrong. Sometimes it's dead wrong. Here in John 13, Jesus does something dramatic with his disciples and he is trying to unlearn them. Stop believing this about what leaders are and what they do and start believing this. Unlearn and replace. That's what's happening in John 13. And that's what we're going to be doing in this little three week sermon series.

7:26He's with his apostles, his leaders in training, and he wants to help them unlearn their way and replace it with his way. So come with me to John 13 as we look at this together. Let's understand what the word of God has to tell us about leaders in the church. This is the word of God for us today. It comes to us from a holy God who does not lie, does not change. So let's listen to him, let's believe him, and let's live. Let's live because we listen to him.

8:04Now, before the feast of Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments.

8:41Taking a towel, he tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter who said to him, Lord, do you wash my feet? Jesus answered him, What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand. Peter said to him, You shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.

9:20Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus said to him, And the one who is bathed does not need to wash except for his feet, but it's completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you. For he knew who was to betray him. That was why he said, Not all of you are clean. When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, Do you understand what I have done to you?

9:53You call me teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. Pray with me.

10:34Lord, thank you for this word, which we know is not just a story or a tale. This is a real account of history, of what you, Lord Jesus, did, why you did it. So, make us humble and open to receive this truth from your word, to apply it to our lives. Spirit, show us what we need to unlearn and what we need to learn from you instead. Thank you for cleansing us, for ministering to us with your word, for continually building us up in truth and in love.

11:19In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Okay, so leadership in the church. Not rank, but role. Not rank, but role. That's what we are unlearning and learning anew today. As these men followed Jesus, they were confused, they were challenged, they were even offended sometimes, but I think this probably took the cake. The man who outwitted the Pharisees, overpowered the demons, rebuked storms and disease. The man that they were ready to make king does what is unthinkable to them.

12:06He chooses the role of a servant. Just like us, the apostles had some misconceptions about leadership. Probably chief among them was this, that leadership is basically a higher position, a greater rank.

12:25Jesus knows that he must challenge this and change their thinking. So he shows them something totally different. A whole new type of leader. I wonder, was this always Jesus' plan?

12:42Maybe, perhaps. Or maybe it was prompted by the conversation earlier at dinner, here at the Last Supper. Maybe he came up with this plan impromptu because he heard the disciples arguing about which of them would be considered the greatest at the Last Supper. Remember, when he, in just a few hours, is going to be arrested. They're arguing about, I think I'm going to be considered the greatest. What? You're crazy. It's totally going to be me. I did this and this.

13:22Don't you see the way Jesus looks at me? There are plenty of statues of the apostles scattered all over the world. Maybe you've seen some of them. You know, if we could ask the disciples, the apostles right now, how they feel about those statues, I doubt they'd be very pleased. I think that they'd say, you know, that's what we used to want. It's exactly what we used to want. I used to dream about that statue getting built. In fact, I thought it'd be even bigger.

14:01Until the night that Jesus washed our feet and then everything changed. So why did you, the people of God, build that statue? Haven't you read John 13?

14:19Because this moment undoubtedly makes a really big impact on them. We all know it's one thing to talk about serving others, but it's another to actually do it. That's the most effective lesson. So Jesus doesn't give them a parable. He just rises from the table, it says. What's he about to do? Is he about to speak?

14:44No, he starts to take off his clothes. All the way down to his underwear before wrapping a towel around him. And now it's clear what role he's in. They know it just by looking at him. They don't have to ask. He doesn't have to say it. He's taken on the role of a servant. The disciples, they don't know yet why he's doing it, but everyone knew what he's doing.

15:16And Jesus doesn't ask for their attention before he starts doing it. He doesn't preface it with an explanation. He doesn't say, hey guys, look at how I'm dressed. This is crazy, right?

15:30Have I made my point? Can I put my clothes back on? Check it out, guys. I'm about to blow your minds. Take off your sandals. The role of a servant is quiet.

15:48And so, Jesus just gets changed. He gets the water. He gets down on the floor and he gets to work. This is real work he's doing now. You know how when like a politician goes to a soup kitchen or a CEO shows up on the factory floor? They're there for publicity. And everybody knows it. They might be given some little five minute task to do that the people there who are actually doing the work do. They might do it for five minutes while the cameras click.

16:26And then they put it down. They take off their hard hat and they go away, right? What Jesus is doing here is not some phony job for the paparazzi. This is real service and it's real dirty. It is not glamorous. What Jesus did for these guys was truly gross. They traveled on foot, on unpaved roads, with animals everywhere, with open-toed sandals. You can fill in the rest. Their feet were disgusting.

17:10In the ancient Near East, when guests would arrive in someone's home, a polite host would have their servant wash their guests' feet before dinner. But this was a task for Gentile servants, not a Hebrew servant. It was beneath even a Hebrew servant to do. Certainly not an esteemed rabbi. This was humiliating for Jesus. I mean, there's no other way to put it. You think of the grossest task you could do. And this is, the disciples sitting there, this is worse.

17:48This is shocking. But it's the only way that those dirty feet are going to get clean, right? You can't talk to dirty feet and they get clean. Someone has to clean them.

18:05Such is the way of leadership in the kingdom of God. You can't do it at a distance. You can't do it separated from people holding your nose. You can't just glance at the need. You've got to enter in and get your hands dirty. Without doing this, you're not really serving, and therefore, you're not really leading.

18:34So already we're seeing here, the disciples were arguing before dinner about who was the greatest. Their minds were thinking about, we're leaders now. Which one of us is going to be higher? They're thinking about rank. Jesus is like, no. What a leader is, is someone who takes on a certain role. And that role is the role of a servant. And let me show you. Let me do it for you.

19:03How could he do this? How could he stoop so low? It's because of what he knew. Now pay attention to this, because just as important as Jesus' outer actions are his inner motivations. What is happening in his head and his heart that's driving him now. What moves Jesus to leave the table and serve these men first is this. He knew that the Father had given all things into his hands. His servant role truly was an act of leadership. The Father had given all things into his hands.

19:39He had the authority, but it's not authority seized or authority earned. It's authority given. Given to him for a purpose. And not his own purposes. The Father's purpose. Do you see the connection? He is given authority, and so he says, Father, why have you given me this authority? What am I supposed to do? And we know that he understood this because he said, the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve. He says, okay, Father, you've given this to me, this authority.

20:20You tell me what to do with it. Okay, I know. I know the answer. I'm supposed to serve these men. With full understanding of his position, with treachery in the same room, he chooses to obey his Father and lower himself. He's not going to take the easy way out. He's not going to divert from the plan. He's not going to take the power and elevate himself. He also knew this, that he had come from God and was going back to God. Jesus was the most fully self-aware person who ever lived.

20:59He was confident in the Father's love for him. He was sure that the Father was pleased with him. And he was sure that after his mission, he would be with his Father. And all of that empowers him to pour himself out for other people.

21:18You know the stereotype of human children who are born into privilege. A lot of times, they turn out as rotten human beings. Entitled. Arrogant. Being a tyrant. Using the family name for special privilege. Special treatment. Don't you know who I am? Just wait until my Father gets here.

21:44This is what happens when sinners get authority. Because below the surface is this profound insecurity. I know that we all feel it. The only solution is to have a new foundation of our identity. It comes through repentance and faith in Jesus that makes us adopted and beloved children of God. That's a whole new way of seeing ourselves.

22:19Have you forgotten children of God? Your new identity. Are you acting like an orphan again? If you are, then you get a little bit of power and who does it go to? It goes to yourself. Embrace. The same thing that Jesus knew. That if you belong to Christ through faith, then you are an adopted child. Gone should be the insecurity. It makes you completely different. With authority now, you can have a generous posture and others-focused posture. A service and self-giving posture because you have a real security.

23:03Leaders in God's kingdom take on the role of a servant knowing that authority is given, not seized, and resting in their identity as adopted children. That's what's happening on the inside that we have to take hold of today. It's what this church needs on and on. It's what the Capital C Church needs. People who receive leadership from the Father ask what the Father wants them to do with it and then do it knowing that they are secure in the love of God through Christ Jesus their Lord.

23:38That's how good leaders are made. That's how good leaders do their job well. There's one more thing motivating Jesus to action. And this is no less important. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. Now think about the room that they were in. The people in that room. These feet were attached to men who argued over who was creator. Who were confused when Jesus spoke. Over and over and over. Who told Him to grab earthly power now.

24:17Who opposed Him as He went to die. There was a tax collector who defrauded His own people. There was an insurrectionist or two. There were two guys who openly asked to be put above the others.

24:34And there's a traitor who would leave before dinner is finished. And yet, in love, He serves these unworthy men. Not out of obligation. Not through gritted teeth. Not muttering under His breath. And He does the same with you. And He does the same with me. Jesus never complains about those who come to Him.

25:03Through all of our setbacks, our sin, our stubbornness, through every foolish decision, every cowardly move, every selfish action. Jesus is there serving us in love to the end. You are not a nuisance to Him. You're not a nuisance to Him. You are the sheep. Yes, you and me, we bite. We bleat. We wander off. We smell not so good. But He is patient and He's kind and He's faithful to go after us and bring us back with that shepherd's crook. And wash us again.

25:52And feed us again. Jesus does this freely to the undeserving and so must His leaders. So must the leaders in Christ's church. There is no way to lead like Jesus without love. Not just love for God, but love for the people that you serve. Messy people. Quirky people. Sinful people. People like you. Think now of the people in your life that you are called to lead somehow. Some way. And ask the Lord to stir up your heart to love them. To see them the way Jesus sees them.

26:38So how do we put this into practice? We're going to have a little application section here. When we think of leadership, we think of an org chart. The leaders are up there at the top. Like I've been saying, we think about them in terms of rank like the military.

26:59This is what we must unlearn. Jesus here is telling us, no, think about leadership in terms of role. Being a leader in God's kingdom, in the church, in your family, it is a different role, not a higher rank. It is just a different role. To use Paul's analogy, he doesn't say the church of God is, and then he shows an org chart or a list of military ranks. He says it is the body of Christ. Christ is the head and we are all parts interconnected with different functions and different roles.

27:35How do you make an org chart for the human body? How do you rank the body parts? They're all needed, right? I'm sure someday we'll find out what the appendix is for. You don't rank the body parts, they're all needed. Even people who have a pinky toe removed find that they no longer walk or run right.

28:03This is the image that we need to have. Leaders, if you have some leadership role, it is not a higher rank, it is merely a different role. And the role that you're in, if you're in a leadership role, you should think of it and act in it as a servant. This is the first application here. Jesus said, I have given you an example that you should do just as I have done for you. Whether you're a parent, a teacher, a lay leader, an ordained leader, a discipler, whatever it is, if you're called by God to lead, then you're called by God to serve.

28:44This perspective needs to fill your entire vision of leadership. Paul wrote this to the Corinthians. Douglas read it earlier. What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed. Servants. Full stop.

29:08And then in his second letter to the Corinthians, I guess he wants to make the point really clear. The Corinthians needed a lot of things repeated. So do we. So do we. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.

29:28The calling to lead is a calling to serve, a call to die to yourself, to be conformed by the Spirit to the image of Christ. So let all leaders follow his example. Move towards real needs with real love. Get your hands real dirty. Do your work clearly, quietly, humbly. Rest in your identity as an adopted and beloved child of God. Leading this way is a gift. It is going to sanctify you.

30:05You know what I'm talking about. It is going to sanctify you to lead in this way. And it's going to bless others. Now we need to talk about this. This is the second application here. Let's talk about how we receive leadership in God's kingdom. It's not easy. Let's be honest. We are trained to be self-reliant and independent. We don't like to admit our need and we certainly don't want to be led. This is our flesh. This is our old self. It keeps us isolated and poor.

30:45We weren't made to be self-reliant. We were made to be God-reliant. And God gives us leaders to release us from the self-destructive independence that we have in our heart. God gives us leaders to release us from the self-destructive independence in our heart through following them we are reminded that we need to be served. We need it. We just weren't made to make it on our own.

31:24And so you say okay fine pastor people can serve me but I don't want them leading me. Give me the servant part. Stop talking about the lead part. Be honest with me. You're thinking it. Fine. I'll be served. But I'm not going to be led. But listen a big part of being served is being led. Now I could preach a whole sermon on this but I won't.

31:59Let me ask you do you ever get tired of making decisions? Do you ever get tired of making arrangements for your own needs? Yes you do. Yes I do. There is a reason why Psalm 23 is a comfort to us when we read this. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. This is leadership that's providing rest and provision.

32:36It's a rest because somebody other than you is carrying the weight. The weight of finding green pasture and still water. The weight of getting you safely there. The weight of responsibility.

32:50I know that nearly everyone in this room except maybe the youngest of us nearly everyone at some point or another has had selfish and wicked and ungodly leaders in their life.

33:05And so you'd rather keep carrying your own weight instead of letting someone else do it. But I'm just here to remind you it is an exhausting way to live.

33:20You weren't meant to live like that. Take the risk to allow someone with a servant's heart to carry the weight that you've had on your shoulders. Receive the gift of this kind of leadership. The weight that's off your shoulders when you are not making all the arrangements for your own provision and care.

33:44I'm going to say this to kids in the home right now. But kids in the home this applies to every person in here. You know right that it's a huge gift to say to hear the words it's dinner time and have a meal that you didn't cook that you didn't have to plan given to you that is a huge gift. You didn't make that food or buy that food right that is someone leading you serving you all together. They are serving you by leading you. You can't take the food and say I don't want the leadership mom and dad.

34:25The two go together. They are part and partial of the same thing. Now listen people of God let's expand this to all of you. The leaders in your life when they are giving you food they are also leading you. You can't have one without the other. Let them lead you. Yes they need to be like Jesus says here and be servants. They need to do that better and they have room to grow. I have room to grow. But let's receive leadership with a servant's heart knowing that we are not carrying the weight somebody is carrying it for us.

35:05Take the risk to allow someone with a servant's heart to carry the weight you've had on your shoulders. It's going to be a relief to you. Christ is faithful to give his church these kinds of leaders. Receive them as a gift for the building up of the body of Christ. Now here's the final thing very quickly. As Peter watched this whole scene unfold he is as usual confused and indignant. He spent a lot of his time following Jesus confused and indignant.

35:41And he hated to see his master humiliated right now. Jesus this is beneath you. How dare you? When it comes to be his turn he says Lord do you wash my feet? I'll have none of it. I'm not going to stand for this indignity. Get up off of your knees Lord.

36:09But Jesus says if I do not wash you you have no share with me. Making a point about hygiene at dinner. He's saying you must be served by me to be with me. This lowly work Peter it's for your sake. And something clicks for Peter and he says suddenly yes Lord I want you to do that. Wash all of me. And Peter would soon find out washing those dirty feet was just a prelude to his work on the cross. Even more demeaning even more loving and even more cleansing.

36:48When he died for sinners he did it as a leader in a servant role. If you have received him through repentance and faith then you are clean. He has washed you and you have a share with him. And now together we his people his church are called to follow his example in giving and receiving this type of leadership by serving knowing that we belong to him.