The False Premise of Leadership, Part 1

Well, I've been keeping tabs on all the candidates, and the election results are in. The new leaders have been chosen, and change is coming. And that's a good thing. The question we might ask is, why were they elected? What are their underlying motives for being so-called leaders? And how will they lead? And what will their leadership accomplish? You may be thinking I'm referring to local or national elections. Well, you're dead wrong. I'm referring to you. I'm referring to those who God has placed in my care. I'm referring to myself as well. Because the elections are in, and you were elected. The leaders have been chosen. Change is coming. And we have to ask ourselves, what are our underlying motives for desiring to be here?

To be so-called leaders, representatives of God's government, ambassadors, examples of the way of God? Now, you might think, oh, I'm no leader. Oh, no. I'd duck out of any and everything that would cause me to be in the limelight. Well, then you're dead wrong. Because let me give you the definition of leadership as defined by author Kim Blanchard. Leadership is defined as a process of influence. Do you ever influence anyone? Would you like to influence anyone? Someone to better behavior, a better life, better understanding?

Any time, he says, you seek to influence the thinking, the behavior, or the development of people toward accomplishing a goal in their personal or professional lives, you are taking the role of a leader. Mothers and fathers with children, coworkers, managers, people who are your neighbor, people who are your friends, teenagers, your friends at school, kids, your peers. This is part of our calling. We're called to preach the gospel. Maybe we don't each get designated to go stand out and preach in public, but in a sense, we are a light that cannot be hidden and therefore, inquiring minds want to know, don't they?

And people see the contrast to your and my way of life, to theirs, the benefits, the blessings, the results, and they want to know. We need to be ready to answer those who ask, the Bible says, and I think we all are ready and we all do answer, don't we? The answer usually isn't what people want to hear, but nevertheless, we're ready to answer.

The Bible calls true Christians the elect of God. We are the ones that were elected. We were chosen. God looks at all humanity and then He elects some. He chooses them. He selects them. Paul said to the church of Thessalonica, knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God. We have been selected and at baptism, we were elected. We are the chosen, once called, now chosen, the elect of God for leadership and eventual rulership with Christ. These are the things we can't run from.

These are the things that we need to be responsible for. In the near future, the Kingdom of God is coming and this Kingdom of God is hoped for more and more these days by more people around the world of different persuasions. No more people just thinking about, you know, going to heaven and everything is going to sort of...

More and more you hear people begin to talk about Jesus Christ is going to return. He's going to set up a kingdom and He's going to rule this world. People can see the need for that. Revelation 5, verse 9, it says, they sang a new song saying, you are worthy to take the scroll. This is Jesus Christ, open its seals. You know, everybody wants to know the prophecies of the end. Well, they're sealed. The scroll has seals on them. He is worthy to open the seals, it says, and in time He will.

For you were slain and have redeemed us to our God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation. This is so encouraging to the people in various countries and nationalities and ethnicities around the world that that one verse that he has brought us out of every tribe and every tongue and every people, every nation. And have made us kings and priests to our God and we shall reign on the earth. That is the direction we are going to be rulers. Even so now we are called to be leaders.

Some of God's leaders, influencers, whatever you want to call them, are here today, now in this room. Is one sitting in your chair? It's a good question for you. Is one of those leaders that God has called sitting in your seat? That's a question you'll have to answer. And if so, what are your motives?

What are your ambitions in leading and being a leader? Will you be a contribution or will you be a detraction? Because leaders can go either way. Today I'd like to start the first of a two-part look at leadership, Godly leadership. The leadership that Jesus Christ has called us to. And to actually look at some of the fundamental flaws of leadership in the human sense and then look at the fundamental bases for Godly leadership, for good leadership.

And if we build these into our lives, the good ones, and get rid of the bad ones, then we can better fulfill the calling that we have. This first part will examine some of the typical tendencies that we humans fall into. I'm not going to point fingers at anybody, but I'll use examples. And I'll put a big we around all of them, okay? Because we are all members of the human race and we all have human nature.

And it's not about us and them. We saw the enemy and they were us, as it said. So let's look at all of these things from a personal point of view and ask ourselves, what will our contribution or detraction be? We'll see the pitfalls and the tragedies that can come from improper leadership. I'd like to start by something Jesus Christ said and interacted with the disciples in Mark chapter 10 and verse 35. Mark chapter 10 and verse 35. This really is helpful to show where you and I come from. Now, some of you ladies may say, oh, this is all for the guys.

This is a guy thing, this leadership thing. Oh, really? Well, guess what? The next president of France may be a woman. The next president of the United States may be a woman. The head of your house may be a woman. I don't know. But we all have certain desires inwardly and we all contribute in certain ways.

And if I were not up front and told you that I didn't learn from my wife and she didn't influence me, I would not be a truthful man. Because she is a very good leader in some ways and hopefully it's reciprocal. But let's just look here as humans at what happened with these men in particular. James and John, Mark 1035, the sons of Zebedee came saying to him, teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.

Have you ever had somebody say this to you? I've had somebody tell me this this very year. Mr. Elliott, you've got to promise you'll do this for me. Promise? And I know well the proverb that says, he who answers a matter before he hears it is a fool. And I say, well, how can I answer a question like that before I even hear it? But here's what they ask us. Jesus, you've got to promise you'll do this for us. You promise? They didn't even ask it yet. They want him to promise.

He said to them, what do you want me to do for you? Verse 37, they said to him, grant us that we may sit one on your right hand and the other on your left in your glory, in your kingdom. Now that's a right up front request, isn't it? And it just speaks right to the heart of humans' desires for leadership. It's self-promotion. They ask a very self-centered request for a position for themselves.

I was thinking this morning, if Christ had said, okay, I'll do that. You guys want to be there so bad, I'm going to let you sit on my right hand and my left hand and you'll be right there, center of authority. What would they have done with that position of authority, with that mindset? What kind of leaders would they have been in the kingdom of God with all that power, very self-centered? Can you imagine what they would have done with it? It wasn't just the seats they wanted, it wasn't just...

They could be, wow, despots. They could be very self-centered. If they were self-centered, getting into the office, what do you think they would have done when they were in the office? It wasn't the guys, I mean, trust, we all have thoughts like that. The problem wasn't who, the problem was the attitude. The attitude was not right.

Mr. Franks recently gave a sermon, Who will you follow and how will you lead? And he made this statement, the idea of recognition as exemplified by James and John in this instance here is part of the human nature that we all have. And it is something that we all must not only watch, we all must resolve. We have to watch for it, but you and I rather have to resolve this. We can't just let it sit there, oh yeah, I tend to be that way. No, we have to resolve it. And we must all realize that this is not where God wants us to go.

I think that's the lesson for the day. See it, resolve it, and realize that is not where God wants us to go. But do we really see it? Men can see it, but do men get over it? I've seen a lot of people teach about humility and leadership, but some of those people seem to be less than humble when it comes to them being. Them having humility and leadership.

I remember one man pounding away as I was in the audience about how everybody out there needs to be humble and have humility to follow me. That's what he said. Like, whoa, that was not really understood in the person who was saying it. Dr. Martin Luther King gave a very famous speech. It's called his Drum Major speech. In it, he refers back to this very scripture. He looks at this and analyzes it in relationship to humanity and what's going on in life. I'd like to read to you some of the things that he said, because it gives a very interesting perspective. He thought a lot about it. After quoting the scripture, he says, the setting is clear. James and John are making a specific request of the Master. Now, very quickly, we would automatically condemn James and John, and we would say they were selfish. Why would they make such a selfish request? But before we condemn them too quickly, let us look calmly and honestly at ourselves, and we will discover that we, too, have those same basic desires for recognition, for importance. The same desire for attention, that same desire to be first. And there is, deep down within all of us, what he calls an instinct. It's kind of a drum major instinct, a desire to be out front, a desire to lead the parade, a desire to be first. You have it, I have it, everybody has it. We want to be important. We want to surpass others, to achieve distinction, to lead the parade. Alfred Alder, the great psychoanalyst, contends that this is the dominant impulse in humans, that this quest for recognition, for attention, for distinction is the basic drive of human life. And, you know, we begin early to ask life to put us first. Our first cry as a baby was a bid for attention. Children ask life to grant them first place. They're just a little bundle of ego. And now, in adult life, we like to do something good, and we like to be praised for it. And somehow, this warm glow we feel when we are praised, or when our name is in print, is something like the vitamin A to our ego. Nobody is unhappy when they are praised, even if they know they don't deserve it, and even if they don't believe it. No one is unhappy about it. The only unhappy people about praise is when that praise is going too much toward somebody else. You see, the thing that Dr. King hits on here is a lot of things that we all know and we feel, but he very succinctly puts them together.

He says, now the presence of the drum major instinct is why so many people are joiners. You know, there are some people who just join everything. It's really a quest for attention and recognition and importance. We join things that we think we will find that recognition in. This is why I think some people join church after church after church.

They're looking for some place where they'll get more recognition. That's just my own thought. He goes on, now the presence of this instinct explains why we are so often taken by advertisers. Why do advertisers have such a sway? Well, you know, these gentlemen of the massive verbal persuasion and they have a way of saying things to you that kind of get you into buying because they speak to us being special. And sure enough, he uses the thing. He says, somebody sent him a letter in the mail.

Dear Martin Luther King, we know that you are a learned scholar. We know that you read the finest of books and magazines. And so we have sent you this deal, only letting you and a select group of people know about the new magazine that's coming out.

And he said, oh yes, I'm finding myself just filling it out right here and mailing it in. He says, it just speaks to that part of us. Others have to try to identify themselves with so-called big name people. You know, they're always dropping names. And then the other thing is that it causes one to engage ultimately in activities that are merely used to get attention. And then there are those who always talk about themselves.

And then the final great tragedy of the distorted personality is the fact that when one fails to harness this instinct, he calls it, he ends up trying to push others down in order to push himself up. You know how we do that as humans? We have our little inferiority and we want to somehow be recognized or somehow be better. And so we're critical. Push others down in order to push himself up.

You'll spread evil, vicious, lying gossip on people because you're trying to pull them down in order to push yourself up. And the great issue of life is to harness the drum major instinct. That's the great issue of life. Demote the self. Now he goes on, the other problem is when you don't harness the drum major instinct, this uncontrolled aspect of it, is that it leads to snobbish exclusivism.

So it ends up a very exclusive kind of thing. And you know that can happen with the church. I know that churches get in a bind sometime. Now that's what Martin Luther King said. It's interesting how I think many times if somebody steps back and looks at humanity and looks at our nature, we can all see this wanting a preeminence, wanting a self-exaltation of some sort.

He mentions it in wanting to be beautiful. He mentions it in wanting to show off wealth. He mentions it in so many aspects of society where people will put themselves even into debt in order to have a certain mental view of themselves that is superior to others. He mentions it in the context of racial equality or inequality, where one group will want to perceive itself as greater than another group.

In 1 Corinthians 14 and verse 26, we see the Apostle Paul talking about this very thing coming into the church. Just as Dr. King saw it come into the churches of his time, where he was, the Apostle Paul saw it coming into the churches in his time. How is it then, brethren? 1 Corinthians 14 and 26. Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Notice, each of you has something of themselves. I can sing, I can do this, I can do that, I've got an...

You know, it's the drum major instinct. And this was getting to where it was so sort of out of control that things were not even being done decently or in order. People were vying for spots to get up in front or be seen. He says, let all things be done for edification. Ah, that means they were being done for something else. Self-exaltation. And he's saying, no, they should be done to love and serve and edify to build up others.

Not yourself. But these individuals were building themselves up, not for building up others. Verse 33, For God is not the author of confusion but of peace or harmony, as that word can imply, as in all the churches of the saints.

Whoa, now there's a statement. God is the author of harmony and peace in all the churches. If that's the case, why do we have all these churches, all these competing churches? Somebody asked me this last week, the question, why are some being drawn away to other church groups? I'd have to answer that by saying, why do these other church groups exist? Why do all the church groups exist? Well, guess why? I firmly feel and have for many, many years, because I know many of the leaders and how the churches start and was around when a few of them did start, that a lot of it is because of this very mentality of self-promotion.

Like the Apostle Paul mentioned here, some want to do this, some want to do that, but God is not the author of confusion, but the author of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. I think we have to get past the concept that there is only one group of people that have God's Holy Spirit. I don't believe that with a corporate name on it, but I believe that all of God's children sin, and I think we all ought to recognize, and even like Dr. King said, the great issue of life is to harness the drum major instinct. And where that is not harnessed, you're going to have conflict, just like there was in the church, and there will be confusion.

I had an individual tell me before he started his church, he said, I'm just not recognized. They won't let me preach. They won't print my articles. I have to preach. I have to have my articles printed. And finally, he started his own church. Another said, I have a work to do. They won't let me do my work. Another says, I have special knowledge, or I had a special revelation. I'm the end time apostle. I know this. Talk about drum major instinct. That's kind of jumping in the head of the pack. I'm one of the two witnesses. Maybe I'm both.

You know, we've got ten guys probably that say they're the two witnesses. I'm the Elijah, the end time Elijah. I'm more talented than the church gives me credit for. Several have said that.

They start their own churches. Mr. Herbert Armstrong saw the tendency in some ministers. He said, they want to be the head. They always want to be the head. Apostle Paul ran into that. You have this person and that person. They want to be the head. Next thing you know, they're not reining in this thing inside, which a wife must reign in to her husband because sometimes she does not want to be submissive. A husband to Jesus Christ, to the church. We all do to Jesus Christ and church, children, and parents.

I mean, this throughout the book of Ephesians, the sixth chapter is very clear in other places. There is this tendency. I think most everybody recognizes it though some don't want to harness it. And one of the ones that doesn't want to harness it is me. Are you willing to say that in your own life you might not want to harness that?

You can pray about it and look for little areas or big areas that that might pop out in. I have a book back by my seat. I'm going to go grab it. I did not use this. I did not use this book, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People in the sermon at all, but it has an illustration in it that I want to use. Here's an example of thinking too highly of yourself and an anecdote in the book.

Two battleships assigned to the training squadron had been at sea on maneuvers in heavy weather for several days. I was serving on the lead battleship and was on watch on the bridge as night fell. The visibility was poor with patchy fog. So the captain remained on the bridge, keeping an eye on all the activities. Shortly after dark, the lookout on the wing of the bridge reported light bearing on the starboard bow. Is it steady or moving astern? The captain called out. Lookout replied, Steady, captain, which meant we were on a dangerous collision course with that ship.

The captain then called to the signalman. Signal that ship. We are on a collision course. Advise you change course 20 degrees. Back came the signal. Adviseable for you to change your course 20 degrees. Captain said, Send this message. I am a captain. Change course 20 degrees. Seaman second class came the reply. You'd better change your course 20 degrees. By that time, the captain was furious and he spat out, You send this. I am a battleship of the United States Navy, and I am carrying two destroyers in my fleet.

Change your course 20 degrees. Back came the flashing light. I am a lighthouse on the Canada coast. We changed course. You know, thinking too highly of yourself can get yourself in trouble. It really can. The self-promoting leader brings danger to himself and the ship, doesn't he? He can be so convinced, but can't see the truth.

Self-promoting ministers bring danger to themselves and the sheep. They bring danger to themselves and the sheep. Paul talks about people being shipwrecked. Jesus said in Matthew 7, verse 15, Be aware of false prophets. He's not talking necessarily about false prophets in the world. I hope you're aware of them. He's talking about false prophets standing here behind this lectern, behind this pulpit, in your own church, because he says of these, they will come to you in sheep's clothing.

They bring the truth. They come teaching the truth in the commandments of God and the holy days in the Sabbath. Be aware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but notice there's the problem. What is the problem? Inwardly, they are ravenous wolves. It's a tendency that they have inside.

They are self-centered and they eat sheep. That's the only problem with them. They eat sheep. They don't feed them. They are fed by them. You will know them, verse 16, by their fruits. By no other reason, you will know them by their fruits. What are the fruits? Let's examine the fruits.

I'd like to take you back to Galatians chapter 5 for a minute and examine the fruits of God's Holy Spirit versus the fruits of human nature. We'll start with the fruits of human nature as shown in Galatians chapter 5 verses 19 and 20. The fruits. Let's ask a question. Do the teachings of all groups and all churches promote family and friendship relationships? Do they enhance them? Do they bring families together? Do they unite husbands and wives and children? Do they unite friends? Do they unite ministers? Do they bring everybody into a closer, tighter unity that Jesus Christ said was the goal of the Father and Himself, that we are one as they are one?

Is that what all the groups do? Or is it something else? What are the fruits that we are to know others by? Or you should know me by, and I'll stand on trial by these very things right here. You should know. You should judge by the fruits. The first one is, God is all about relationships because that's why Jesus Christ came and died so that we could be healed because we were like sheep going astray. We need to be healed back to the Father. Then we need to have the healing of relationships to ourselves that we can be one in the body.

Ephesians 4, 16, knitting and building itself together in love. That is the goal. If that is a fruit, then you're on to something. But if you see something else, if you see divisiveness, if you see some coercion or if you see undermining or people begin to call names and other people labeling somebody as this or labeling somebody as that and dividing up husbands and wives, splitting them up, telling people, you know, you can't be, you can't associate, you can even divorce other people and marry because that person is not in the right church. Is that the fruit?

Is that the fruit that we're looking for that Jesus Christ said would come from Him and His way of life? Or is that the fruit of human nature? The fruits described in Galatians 5 and verse 20 include hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions and heresies. Now I'd like to examine the Greek for all of these things because these are shown to be human tendencies. What is he talking about here?

Something about our nature. The word hatred from Thayer's Greek lexicon and Strong's exhaustive concordance, hatred is defined as the reason for opposition and hostility. Contensions means strife and wrangling, jealously, envious and contentious rivalry. Is this a good reason why to have various churches all observing essentially the same thing? For opposition, hostility, wrangling, envy and contentious rivalry.

That's what we've gotten so far. Wrath means passion, anger boiling up and then soon subsiding again. Strife, the Greek word arithiaia means electioneering or intriguing for office. How about you and me? Are these the things that drive us as a congregation? Are these the things that are in our mind? Are these the things that propel us in leadership, electioneering or intriguing for office? Dissensions means causing division. Heresies, the act of taking or capture or a body of men following their own tenets, a sect.

A body of men capturing, taking people and then having their own tenets, their own sect. And where you find these in your life, where I find them in mine, brethren, we are told to repent. We need to get these out. They have no place in you or me or anyone who is a leader or an example of God. And those who defend that and say that's the way to go, well then they just have to find their way.

They just have to go where birds of a feather flock together and people are of like mind. But that should not be in the house of God anywhere. I don't condemn anyone else. I'm not pointing the finger outside. I'm just saying, let's look at what's being said here. And don't tell me it's okay to have even one other group than the body which Christ is working with. And if we all put this out of our minds and out of our lives, it could only result in harmony.

There would be no excuse for separation. Certainly not for defaming or pulling apart or dividing or division. Paul, in 2 Timothy 3, 1, defined the end time traits of human nature. 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 1. But know this, in the last days, dangerous or perilous times will come. Again, let's look at all the Greek words, all the definitions, in other words, of these words that we have in English and see what's the big deal about the end time. Men will be lovers of themselves. The Greek there means to intent on one's interest, selfish.

There will be to intent on one's own interest. There will be boasters. A boaster is an empty pretender. An empty pretender. Proud. It's defined as showing oneself above others, overtopping, conspicuous above others, preeminent. See where this self-exaltation, the old human nature wants to exalt itself. That's what Dr. King called the, you know, that band guy. What was it? The drum major out in front, you know. Got a rise to the top.

There it is. Preeminent. Blast femurs are those who are slanderous, reproachful, railing, and abusive. That's how you can get up to power. You see, you can slander others and you can rip them apart and you can, you know, you can reproach and you can rail on others. I once went to a minister of another group and I said, listen, I know how you got your church going and you slandered and you railed and you told divisive lies about ministers of the United Church of God. And a guy agreed with me. But he said, you know, at the time we thought they were true.

So it's OK. I'm like, well, what kind of a foundation is that? Well, have you ever slandered or accused somebody falsely? I know I have. I need to repent of that. I think we all need to repent of that. I know many who have through the years thrown slanderous, you know, words around have repented of that and have come to see the error of their ways. Who is the great slander?

Who is the great one who goes around slandering people? That's Satan. That's the mind of Satan. It's not what Jesus Christ does. It's not what love does. You'll read in 1 Corinthians 13, verses 4 through 6. Without self-control means without self-control. They're not taking control of those things of human nature and wrestling with them and controlling them. Despisers of good means in opposition to goodness and good men. Headstrong means heady, rash, and reckless. Haughty to be puffed up with haughtiness or pride.

Then going on in verse 5, having a form of godliness but denying its power and from such people turn away. Does it say it's okay? No, he says turn away from that. Separate yourself. Turn away from people like that. For of this sword are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women, loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Now, if that doesn't just describe what goes on all the time, people coming and getting led away and the teacher's never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Well, what is the truth? You think the truth is the Sabbath and the Holy Days?

Well, that's part of the truth. The truth, though, that Christ taught is loving God with all your heart, soul and might and loving your neighbor as yourself. And there's no shortage of that truth in this church or any church of God where Jesus Christ is inspiring it. But the others never quite get that part. It's all about, you know, who's the false witness? Who's the beast? Who's this? Who's that? Who's the two witnesses? What's happening in the world? How come I'm not hearing about how the price of gas impacts the return of Jesus?

Meanwhile, missing the whole point! Missing the whole point! Jesus Himself shows that there's a guy who knew when he would return, and he showed up for the wedding ceremony, remember? And Jesus threw him out on his ear. You don't have a wedding garment on. You don't have any righteousness in your life. You missed the whole point. Mark 10, verse 42, Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and that their great ones exercise authority over them.

Here is the self-exaltation of human nature that's found itself into the rulers, to those who are either appointed or elected, and they have power. And they like to exercise that power, but how is that power exercised? It is exercised too often for the person in power. There's an old saying that says, power corrupts. And it does. That is shown almost universally. When a person is put in power, power corrupts. One of you has a boss that is a nasty person that just screams and yells right there in the office. And he's got his little power position. Well, you think that's bad. The saying goes on, absolute power corrupts absolutely. And so you see that when you have a dictator, the dictator typically will become some kind of a despot.

And we can remember some of the names of the old despots of old, but now you see new ones on the world scene, and people who get elected to non-democratic governments who just hurt so many people and just squander everything, collect all the money for themselves. It's amazing how many, I think, trillions of dollars one leader over in Africa has stashed away.

I think he's the, well, he is the biggest despot that has ever profited from his position, and his country is in absolute poverty. That's a lot of money. That's too much money. In Smart Leadership magazine, in 1998, they ran an article curbing the leader of, or curbing the crisis of leadership. I'd like to just read you a little quote from this article, curbing the crisis of leadership. He says, today our society faces a crisis of leadership.

It's not simplistic to say that the current crisis stems from faulty leadership discovery, or finding the right leaders, and poor leadership development. But there is also another underlying reason for the current crisis of leadership, selfish leadership. The selfish leader will attempt to lead others for their own gain, and for the detriment of others. They encourage others to be losers in the game of life, so that they can collect all the spoils for themselves. This is the businesswoman who cheats suppliers in order to make her department look good in hopes of her getting a raise. This is the father who selfishly motivates his son to excel in sports, so that he might gain vicarious pleasure at his son's expense.

And this article tries to bring it down, doesn't it, to the individual level. That we all are leaders, but if we're not careful, if we don't exercise self-control, then we don't lead for the good. We lead to exploit things for ourselves from others. Matthew 21, verse 33, Jesus gave a parable. This is the parable of the vine dresser. Sadly, none of the grapes from these vines ever made it to wine, so it's not the wine, it's the vine dresser. But just in brief, Matthew 21, verse 33, here another parable he said. There was a certain landowner who created all things, well, Jesus Christ, who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it.

A vineyard. Sounds like a church. He set a hedge around it, and he wanted fruit to be developed. And he dug a wine press in it and built a tower. He got all ready with the kingdom of God, and he got ready to develop this fruit and to harvest it. And he leased it to vine dressers. Now, here's where the problem comes in. You have mortal men with human nature. And he leases this to vine dressers, and he went into a far country. So Jesus Christ here returned to heaven. And the story goes on to involve leaders who utilize self-serving tactics.

And in the end, verse 43, Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. The fruits of what? The fruits of the kingdom. The kingdom will be taken from you and given to those who bear the fruits of the kingdom of God. It's all about the right fruits. It's all about the fruits of God's Holy Spirit.

We'll have more on that next time in part two of this series on leadership. But you know there is, I'm sure you've probably thought of this already, there is a source of self-promotional mentalities. There is a source. We go back to the inventor of it, the perfecter of it, and we find this defined in Isaiah chapter 14, verses 12 through 14. Isaiah chapter 14 will begin in verse 12. How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, Son of the morning. How you are cut down to the ground, you who weaken the nations. There was something about his leadership that weakened.

Weakened. For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, above the angels. I will also sit on the Mount of the congregation, on the farthest sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High. Aye, aye, aye. Self-promotion, self-aggrandizement. Oh, he could see clearly. He had a dream. He had a vision.

It was all about him. And the result we found in verse 12 was that others were weakened. He weakened the nations. He weakened a third of the angels. He weakened the plan of God at that time, from going forward. Jesus Christ said that his desires you want to do. That was his statement. His desires you want to do. So we, as Godly leaders, you and me, men and women, boys and girls, we need to resist Satan's mindset, including self-promotion. And whenever we see self-promotion, put it down. If you don't get to be anything great in this life, good!

God resists the proud. He exalts the humble.

He'll raise us up at the last day. He'll have us sit in heavenly high places.

Lofty places. He will exalt that mentality.

Godly leaders need to adopt God's mindset, and that means to love and serve for the benefit of others.

Not for selfish gain or personal reasons.

Now, if you've been in probably any group organization or the Church of God for a long, long time, you may have been under a leader, under a pastor, under somebody, under a husband, under who knows, under parents who didn't lead the right way.

And they became what we used to call little Hitlers.

I was talking to one of you this week. A perfectly nice man that I knew as a teenager growing up, friend of the family, was ordained a minister and sit in the field. And one of you, he was your pastor.

And you talk about power corrupting. This man became legendary for being a self-absorbed and kind of strong kind of guy. And that's not right. That's not right.

Many, many examples of that. In fact, when United Church of God started, one of the things the people wanted changed was, we've heard all these ministers over us telling us this and telling us that and making us do this. And you know, it's been laborious and it's been terrible. And well, did anybody notice, by the way, that all those ministers who are like that went with the old group? I hope you noticed that. I noticed that. So, you know, there's not a lot to be fearful for in anything that I've seen. But not that any of us are perfect by any means. Certainly not myself.

I'm sharing with you today what I'm learning about leadership and some of the pitfalls of leadership. Because if we don't learn this, we won't be there. That's what Jesus said.

Like he said, the kingdom of heaven will be taken from you and given to those bearing the fruits of the kingdom of God. In contrast, Jesus Christ set the perfect example of a leader. Think of the things that Jesus Christ came to do to serve, to help, to promote others.

Not himself. Promote others and even sacrifice himself for others. He didn't do anything for himself. He didn't come saying, oh, I'm the wise one. No, he says, no, there's only one that's good. That's God in heaven. I didn't come, oh, you're such a teacher. You're so knowledgeable. I only say those words which the Father told me to say, reflecting the glory back to God.

He led by example. He followed God's will. The glory went to the Father. He lived and taught a life and a teaching of helping and enhancing others' lives. It was all about enhancing life. It's like John said, I would that you have life and you have it more abundantly. That was more of a greeting, but this is the intent of Jesus Christ, that we would have life and then have it more abundantly. Relationships. A future that's more abundant than anything in this life could be.

And He gave Himself fully for that. He got personally involved in that. He came down and was human. He stays involved in it. He is divine. He leads and guides. He's with us. He's our helper through the Holy Spirit along with God the Father. He's very involved.

And He invites like-minded trainees to help Him rescue humanity. That's what He's all about. He wants to come and save, rescue, be the Savior of all humanity. And He's called some leaders to be in training, to get ready to do that with Him. We are candidates for leadership with Him in the Kingdom, if. If. Let's go to Matthew 24, verse 45, and deal with the if. Matthew 24, verse 45. Who then is a faithful and wise servant whom his master made ruler over his household to give them food in due season? Now this is talking about the ministry, and it's talking about parents, and it's talking about mothers, and it's talking about those who would share food, spiritual food.

It could be talking about all of us because food in due season, the world is starving. They don't have the true bread of life, but you and I do. Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Feeding, being example of the true food, the good fruit or consequences of living life. Assuredly I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods.

But, here's the iffy part, but if that servant, that evil servant, says in his heart, my master is delaying his coming and begins to beat his fellow servants, not necessarily with a stick or a rod, but maybe with your mouth. Begins to slice and dice, push himself up or herself up.

Begins to beat the servants, to push them down, in other words, to push him up. And to eat and drink with the drunkards. He's careless with the love of God. He's careless with the fruits.

Verse 50, then the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour that he is not aware of, and he will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrite. The hypocrite. Who are the hypocrites? A hypocrite is one that says something, represents something on the surface, but is something else. We are ambassadors of the world tomorrow, but we're really children of the self-centered mindset. That would be a hypocrite. No, we should be ambassadors of the world tomorrow, and doing our very best to repent of our old selfish nature, and live and have that fruit, and show the fruits of the kingdom in our life. That's what we need to do. In conclusion, a false premise for leadership is self-promotion, in all of its various forms.

Self-enhancement, and the goal is to increase in personal greatness. Somehow, it elevates yourself, and you can organize people or other people to feed whatever it is that you want to be fed, to make you feel bigger or better, or whatever it is. Satan pioneered that. He engineered that.

Eve succumbed to it. What was Adam and Eve all about there in the garden with the forbidden fruit?

She succumbed to the temptation to step, take a giant step up, didn't she?

False appeal of a fruit that claimed to elevate her to something greater. She was going to, she saw it as a fruit to enlighten the eyes, to make one wise, to make her almost as a god, to see things that she hadn't seen, to be things she wouldn't be.

She liked that, and she ate. And Adam also ate.

And that's something that we should not want. All humanity has wanted it. You and I have wanted it.

But we have to repent of that and put it away. We have to recognize where it is.

You know, call a spade a spade. I mean, come on, really. When we see some of the the mentalities that float around, either within us, within our church, or other places, let's not sugarcoat it or call it something. It's not. Let's go back to the Bible and see what the Bible says and deal with it appropriately. Throw in together, humble ourselves, get rid of self-pride, get rid of vanity, get rid of ego, get rid of the self-exaltation and the itch that needs to be scratched by the scholars, by the beautiful, by the powerful, the non-rich, whoever's aspiring to whatever. We need to get rid of that. Get back to loving God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and loving our neighbor as our self. Jesus Christ was tempted by this. He's been there.

The devil taunted him twice by saying, if you are the Son of God, ooh, that'll get right to your ego. What do you mean, if I'm the Son of God? Well, if you're the Son of God, just do this. Or if you're the Son of God, just do that.

Satan tempted Jesus Christ with that very mindset. And then he went on for the third time. He showed the hymn all the kingdoms of the world in their glory. You can be the big boss.

You can be the King of Kings now. You don't even have to wait.

And he said to him, all these things I will give you if you'll fall down and worship me.

See, Satan had a bigger ego. He wanted Jesus Christ under him. Make him feel big. And he thought, if Jesus Christ were offered all the kingdoms of the world right then as a human being, oh, he would want that too. But he resisted and he succeeded and he is the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. He's ready to reign in righteousness. He's the King of Harmony, King of Peace. He is the one that will bring all together and heal all nations. And you and I can be part of that. Now something we need to realize as we conclude, you have an itch to be something greater. I have an itch to be something greater. And God gave you that itch. God put inside you the desire to be bigger and greater and more important and more valuable and even to live forever. These are things that God placed within us. It's a good itch. It's a good desire. He wants you even to be on his throne on the left and on the right. That's a good desire. It is. It actually is. We should want that. The very thing that James and John wanted, we should want. We should want it for a different reason. That's all.

Martin Luther King and his limited understanding concluded his speech this way. Yes, Jesus, I want to be on your right or your left side, but not for any selfish reasons, not in terms of some political ambition, but I just want to be there in love and in justice and in truth and in commitment to others so that we can make of this old world a new world. And his limited understanding, that's what he got out of it.

But you were elected, and he was not. Your eyes were opened, and his have not yet been. He sought the unfettering of racial bondage that humans place on each other, but you were elected to a leadership to bring all peoples out of all kinds of bondages and enslavement to all manner of sins, a much higher calling. What kind of leader have you been? How good leader can you be? How are we to be leaders today and in the world tomorrow? Next time we'll get into how to be godly leaders today, and how to be preparing as leaders in that wonderful kingdom of peace and harmony in the world tomorrow. We'll get into how to be leaders in that wonderful kingdom of peace and harmony in the world tomorrow.