March 8, 2015 PM
Dr. Michael Catt – 1655
#7 in series
NOT ON MY WATCH
When the Leader Has to Stand Alone
Nehemiah
"This is the will of God for me. I didn't choose it. I sought to escape it, but it has come. Something else has come too, a sense of certainty that God does not want me only for a preacher. He wants me also for a leader, a leader in Methodism. I feel a commissioning to work under God for the revival of this branch of his church. Careless of my own reputation, indifferent to the comments of older and jealous men. I am 36. If I am to serve God in this way, I must no longer shrink from the task but do it. I have examined my heart for ambition. I am certain it is not there. I hate the criticism I shall evoke and the painful shatter of people, obscurity, quiet, browsing among books and in the service of simple people is my taste. But by the will of God, this is my task. God help me. Bewildered and unbelieving, I hear the voice of God say to me, 'I want to sound the note through you.' Oh God, did ever an apostle shrink from this task more? I dare not say no, but like Jonah I would feign run away." – William Edwin Sangster
Loneliness is a painful part of leadership:
1) When you ___ before others see it.
2) When you ___ before others sense it.
3) When you ___ before others are willing to do it.
4) When you ___ and they don't come through.
Leadership lessons from Paul's letter to Timothy:
1) There will be people who will ___.
2) There will be people who have to leave for the right reasons and ___.
3) To survive, you need a ___ in times when you want to retreat.
4) You need a ___ when you've been hurt so you don't permanently write people off.
5) You need to accept the fact that there are people who are ___.
6) You must be ___ if you want to be the leader God intends you to be.
According to Mark Miller with Chick-Fil-A, we need to change in three areas:
1)
2)
"If a man is going to do anything worthwhile, there are times when he has to risk everything on his leap, and in the spiritual domain Jesus Christ demands that you risk everything you hold by common sense and leap into what He says..." – Oswald Chambers
3)
"Lesson #1, Being responsible sometimes means...making people mad. Good leadership involves responsibility to the welfare of the group, which means that some people will get angry at your actions and decisions. It's inevitable, if you're honorable. Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity; you'll avoid the tough decisions, you'll avoid confronting the people who need to be confronted, and you'll avoid offering differential rewards based on differential performance because some people might get upset. . . . You'll simply ensure that the only people you'll wind up angering are the most creative and productive people in the organizations." – General Colin Powell, A Leadership Primer
Common characteristics of the enemy:
A)
B)
When Jesus came to earth, He was born as a baby, grew up, and began His ministry at age 30. There were five groups He had to contend with:
1) The Pharisees – "Let's go back." How far back should we go?
2) The Sadducees – "Let's go ahead." They didn't believe in the resurrection or inspiration besides the Pentateuch. They were the liberals of the day.
3) The Herodians – "Let's go with." Learn to cooperate with everyone. Don't be a nuisance.
4) The Zealots – "Let's go against." Kill the Romans, stop the politicians.
5) The Essenes – "Let's go out." Let's just get out of here.