Authentic Leadership

We have been in a series this spring in the book of 2 Corinthians that we've been calling

Power in Weakness.

And we have seen so far how the invitation to follow Jesus is really an invitation to

a life of paradox.

And that's because God's greatest display of power, his greatest display of victory,

his greatest display of glory came in something that looked like suffering and loss and weakness

through somebody who was mocked and rejected and betrayed and crucified like a common criminal.

And so what that shows us is that true spiritual power is often going to look like weakness

in the eyes of the world.

And so we've seen how this paradox of power and weakness applies to a number of things.

We've seen how it applies to suffering.

We've seen how it applies to how we think about glory.

We've seen how it applies to how we grow in the Christian life, the nature of the new covenant,

the nature of ministry in the church.

And this morning, we're going to look at how this paradox of power and weakness applies to leadership.

It applies to leadership.

Here in 2 Corinthians 6, Paul shows us what being an authentic leader looks like.

What being an authentic leader looks like, especially in the face of criticism.

Over the past year and a half, before I was ordained, I went through a process called the

ordination discernment process.

And it's a long process for good reason.

And you kind of went through several rounds of interviews with different groups of people.

And in one of those first interviews, I was asked this question.

So Jeff, how do you respond to criticism?

It was a pretty direct question.

And I responded by saying, well, do you want me to say how I should respond or how I actually respond?

And the person said, no, we want to know how you actually respond.

And so I said, I was pretty honest.

And I was like, well, you know, honestly, I can tend to get pretty defensive.

I can tend to think about all the reasons why this person's wrong.

And maybe I don't do that outwardly.

Maybe I don't say any of that.

But I think it in my heart.

I actually sometimes will have these like imaginary debates between myself and this person where I clearly and convincingly show them why they're wrong.

Hopefully I'm not the only one.

But I was beginning to explain how I responded to criticism and just being honest about that.

How about you?

When you are criticized in the workplace or at home or among your friend group, how do you respond?

How do you respond to criticism?

As we look at how Paul responded here in 2 Corinthians 6, I think it's helpful to just reveal a little bit of the background of this letter.

He had planted the church in Acts chapter 18 in Corinth.

Acts 18 · chapter mention

And while he was away continuing his ministry elsewhere, some people started to call his ministry and his leadership into question.

They started to critique the validity and the legitimacy of his leadership.

They critiqued him for not being the impressive, successful leader that they thought he would be or that they wanted him to be.

He was not the great public speaker that they hoped he would be.

He wasn't the successful minister.

He suffered a lot.

He was imprisoned multiple times.

He was beaten.

He had a lot of things in his life that looked like weakness.

And so as a result, a lot of people started to criticize Paul and even follow other false apostles.

And so a couple of the reasons why Paul writes 2 Corinthians are, one, he's trying to defend his authenticity as an apostle.

But not just that.

He wants to restore his relationship with them.

His goal isn't just to correct them or persuade them or lay down the law.

It's to win them.

He wants to win them.

He wants to restore his relationship with them.

And in doing so, throughout the letter, but particularly in this passage, he shows us what being an authentic leader looks like.

And he shows us that authentic leadership is this unique combination of authority and vulnerability.

Authority and vulnerability.

And so we're going to look first at how Paul views his authority.

And then we're going to look at how Paul expresses vulnerability.

But before we do that, let's pray.

Father in heaven, this is your word.

We believe it's absolutely true.

And Lord, I pray that you would illumine our minds and hearts.

God, would you teach us to know you as you want us to know you, to obey you as you want us to obey you, and to worship you as you want us to worship you.

We pray this in Christ's name.

Amen.

So first of all, we're going to look at what authentic leadership looks like by looking at how Paul views his own authority.

So last week in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, Pastor Tommy talked about how vertical reconciliation with God leads to horizontal reconciliation in the world.

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

That as God reconciles us to himself by giving us his righteousness, he then sends us out to be agents of reconciliation in the world.

And at the end of chapter 5 and the beginning of chapter 6, he transitions by turning this theological reality of reconciliation into a personal invitation between him and the Corinthians.

In this section, he makes a personal and a direct appeal to them.

And this is the only time in the whole letter where he directly refers to them as Corinthians.

He says, you Corinthians.

It's a personal appeal.

It's a direct appeal.

And part of what he's doing is he's saying, look, because God has resolved the conflict of sin between us and him, that gives us the power to resolve the unresolved conflict that's between us.

The vertical reconciliation that we've received gives us the resources to reconcile between one another.

And there's some things that we've got to talk about.

And so here he confronts his critics head on.

And so how does he do it?

How does he do it?

Chapter 6, verse 3, he says,

You know, one way to respond to criticism is to flex on people with your authority.

It's to flex on people with your title, your position.

You know, I've got more degrees in this person.

And so what they're saying, there's no way that they could possibly be right.

I'm a C-level executive.

This person is just a mid-level employee.

And so they must be clearly wrong.

They don't know what they're talking about.

And maybe you've never said something like this out loud.

But if you're like me, I can guarantee you've maybe thought something like this in your heart.

And this view of authority says that my leadership or my authority is ultimately based on my position.

It's based on my title.

It's based on my credentials.

And so when you're faced with criticism, what that means is you will validate your leadership by saying,

I'm in charge.

I'm the leader.

Sit down and listen to me.

I'm in charge.

And it's important to remember that as an apostle, Paul has every right to do this.

I mean, he's an apostle.

He has received direct revelation and direct authority from Jesus Christ himself.

And so he could have said to the Corinthians, look, as someone who's received direct authority from Jesus Christ, as an apostle, listen, sit down, shut up, listen to me.

I've got something to say.

He could have flexed on his position, but that's not what he does.

Instead, he says, we commend ourselves as what?

As servants.

As servants of God.

This word here, diakonos, means servant.

It means minister.

It's also where we get the word deacon from.

And a servant is someone who puts the priorities of others before their own.

A servant is someone who sacrifices their personal agenda to seek the glory of God and the good of others.

And if you're a Christian, if you belong to Jesus, this is your primary job description.

It's as a servant.

We're servants.

It doesn't matter if you're a freshman in high school or a CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

Our job is to be a servant.

We're to put the glory of God and the good of others before our own priorities.

And this is true regardless of if you're in a place of formal leadership or not.

You may say, well, I'm not in a place of formal leadership.

I don't have a title or a position.

But we may not have a formal leadership title, but all of us are in places of influence.

We're all in places of influence, and that is what leadership is.

It's just a place of influence.

And so we might be in a place of influence as a sibling or as a parent or as a neighbor or a co-worker.

We all influence other people with our words and our actions.

And so as we are in places of influence, we have the opportunity to lead even if we don't have a former leadership title.

And what Paul is saying is that true authority doesn't come from your position.

It comes from how you serve.

It comes from how you serve.

Those of us who maybe have been around in the church for a while may have heard this phrase servant leadership before.

And we might say, oh, yeah, I'm a big believer in servant leadership.

Leaders are servants, and servants are leaders.

I've read several books on servant leadership, and I've been to conferences about servant leadership.

But the way that you really find out what you believe about leadership, the way that you really find out what you believe about what it means to be a leader, is what you do when you're criticized.

That's when you really find out.

I remember when I was doing campus ministry, I led a mission trip in the summer of 2018 to Melbourne, Australia with a team of 10 college students.

We were there for a month to do outreach on various college campuses in the city.

And I was co-leading the trip with somebody else.

And it was a great trip.

And about midway through the summer, one of the girls on the trip was kind of frustrated with me about something.

And she had been frustrated about it for a few days.

I didn't know about this.

But her kind of frustration kind of came to a crescendo one night as our team was walking out of a restaurant.

And she basically, in the midst of everybody, our whole team out in the parking lot of this restaurant, she voiced her frustration with me and criticized me in front of this whole group.

And I can't remember exactly what she said.

But as you can imagine, I was pretty shocked.

I was pretty taken aback.

I was pretty humiliated.

It's hard to be publicly criticized in front of a group of people that you lead.

And so the question for me in that moment was, how do I exercise my authority or my leadership in this moment?

Do I exercise it by flexing my title or my position?

Or do I serve?

Do I act like a servant?

Do I exercise my authority or my leadership in this moment?

And these are, if you've ever been in a situation like that, those are not easy questions to answer.

These are hard situations to navigate as a leader.

And that's why what Paul is saying here is so countercultural.

He has this opportunity to flex his authority and his position, but he doesn't.

But he doesn't.

And so this is why what Paul is saying is so countercultural.

And this is why Jesus is so amazing.

This is why Jesus is so incredible in terms of how he thought about his own authority.

Because no one has ever had more authority than Jesus.

No one has ever had more authority than Jesus.

He has all authority in heaven and on earth.

Colossians 1 says that all things were made by him and for him.

And in him all things hold together.

He's the king of kings.

And he's the Lord of lords.

No one's ever had more authority than Jesus.

And yet, no one has ever acted more like a servant than Jesus.

No one has ever acted more like a servant than Jesus.

In Matthew chapter 20, he's talking to his disciples.

Matthew 20 · chapter mention

And he says to his disciples, he says,

You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them.

And their high officials exercise authority over them.

He says the way that the world exercises leadership is by flexing their title and their position and their authority.

But he says to his disciples, he says,

Not so with you.

Not so with you.

Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.

And whoever wants to be first must be your slave.

Just as the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve.

And to give his life as a ransom for many.

The one who has authority over all became the servant of all.

The one who is glorious beyond all comparison became a ransom payment to exchange his life for ours.

And so when you see that, when you see that the one who has authority over all became a servant of all,

that will change how you view authority.

And it will change how you view criticism as a leader.

On one hand, it has to make us open up to the possibility that our critics might be right.

Right?

If nothing less than the son of God becoming a ransom payment for us had to reconcile us to God,

then we should never think, no matter what leadership position we're in,

we should never think that we're too good to be critiqued.

We should never think that we're too good to receive criticism.

We should be humble enough to admit, you know, maybe they're right.

Maybe they're right.

On the other hand, even if our critics are wrong, even if they're 100% wrong,

we should still receive their criticism with humility.

You know, one pastor that I really respect says, he says, you know,

even when I've received criticism from people who are 95% wrong,

even if they're 95% wrong, I still try to look for that 5% of truth.

I still try to look for that kernel of truth, something I can learn from,

something I can grow from, something that might be true,

that I need to learn in order to grow into maturity in Christ.

And on the flip side, if we're someone who gives criticism to someone else,

if we're giving feedback to someone,

being a servant should also shape how we do that as well.

If we're giving constructive criticism, we should remember

that even though we're not in a position of authority,

that the way that we respond to that person should be as a servant,

as well.

This is all because servants, servants see criticism

as an opportunity to enter a J-curve.

You know, we've been talking about this idea of a J-curve

that author Paul Miller talks about,

and it's this pattern of discipleship,

of entering in Christ's death and resurrection

over and over and over again,

that we die with Christ and rise with Christ,

and that's what grows us and matures us.

And we can avoid the J-curve,

we can avoid growth and maturity

by getting defensive when we're criticized,

by flexing our authority and our position,

or we can remember that we're servants.

We can let the criticism, whether it's right or wrong,

we can let it put to death the pride that's in us,

and we can allow that to make us more humble,

to make us more humble like Christ,

to grow and mature.

And when we do that,

we experience a mini-resurrection.

We grow more and more into the likeness of Jesus.

We die with him, we rise with him.

Servants see criticism as an opportunity

to grow and be more like Christ.

And you know, Paul's critics were totally wrong.

They were totally wrong about him,

and yet, he faced their criticism as a servant.

As a servant.

And that leads to our next point.

That's how Paul thinks about his own authority,

but this is how,

next we're gonna look at how he expresses vulnerability.

How he expresses vulnerability.

You know, Andy Crouch, Christian author,

wrote a book called Strong and Weak.

And in that book, he talks about how every person

in every society needs both authority

and vulnerability to flourish.

Authority and vulnerability need to be combined

in order for people to grow and flourish.

And he says the best leaders

are people who use their power

for the benefit of others

while being willing to embrace

the risk and the suffering that that involves.

And so he says, look, if you have,

you need both, you need both authority and vulnerability.

If you have authority, but not vulnerability,

that'll lead to exploitation.

That's power for power's sake.

You know, this is what Vladimir Putin wants.

This is what perpetuates every system of injustice.

Power for power's sake.

If you have vulnerability without authority,

this is what all of us fear the most.

This is being exposed to all of the risks

and all the dangers in the world

without having any agency,

without having any ability to do anything about it.

If you have neither authority

or neither vulnerability,

that's a life of withdrawal.

It's a life of living your life in a safe bubble

and having no meaningful engagement

with the world at all.

You might be safe,

but you'll never have a meaningful life.

But if you combine authority and vulnerability,

you get flourishing.

You get flourishing for people in societies

when people use their power to benefit others

while embracing that risk for themselves,

opening themselves up to risk and loss,

that's when people and organizations

and societies and cultures flourish.

And that's when you get love.

And so in verses four through 10,

Paul is, what he's doing

is he's bringing together his authority

and vulnerability.

And he does this by giving us a resume of his ministry.

But it's not the sort of resume

that you and I would think of.

It's a resume of weakness.

It's a resume of vulnerability.

And he starts by listing

a number of external difficulties that he faced.

In verse four, he says,

we commend ourselves in every way

by great endurance,

afflictions,

hardships,

calamities,

beatings,

imprisonments,

riots.

These are external difficulties that he faced.

You know, we know that

in places like Acts chapter 14

Acts 14 · chapter mention

that he was beaten and stoned.

We know that he was sent to prison multiple times.

We know that in Acts chapter 19,

Acts 19 · chapter mention

while he's preaching the gospel in Ephesus,

a riot erupts

because the craftsmen who sell idols

can no longer have a profitable business

because no one's worshiping idols anymore.

And so they riot in the streets.

The idol makers riot in the streets

because Paul has disrupted their business

through the preaching of the gospel.

He continues in verse five

with difficulties that he faced,

sufferings that he faced

because of how he personally chose to minister.

Labors,

sleepless nights,

and hunger.

This is most likely referring to how

at a certain time,

Paul didn't want to be a financial burden

to any of his churches,

to anybody.

And so he would often do manual labor

as a tent maker

to support himself financially

so others wouldn't have to.

And sometimes this meant

staying up late at night

and working

and having sleepless nights

and sometimes

not always having enough money

to buy food.

He says in 1 Thessalonians 2 verse 9,

1 Thessalonians 2:9

for you remember our labor and toil.

We worked night and day

that we might not be a burden

to any of you

while we proclaim the gospel of God.

And he continues in verse six

by listing examples

of how he conducted himself

with personal integrity,

with moral integrity.

And so he says,

he continues his list by saying,

I commend myself in purity,

knowledge, patience, kindness,

the Holy Spirit,

genuine love,

truthful speech,

and the power of God

with weapons of righteousness

for the right hand and the left.

And so he's saying

the legitimacy of my ministry

isn't based on

my external results

or external success.

The legitimacy of my ministry

is based on the purity of my heart.

It's based on my integrity.

It's based on my moral conduct,

my way of life.

It continues in verse eight and nine

and in this list of things,

he is comparing

his reputation

among his critics

and what was actually true about him.

His reputation among his critics

and what was actually true about him.

Verses eight and nine,

he says,

through honor and dishonor,

slander and praise,

we are treated as imposters

and yet are true,

as unknown and yet known.

His critics said he was a fraud.

They said he was an imposter,

but he knew

that God knew who he was.

He knew that God saw the truth

of who he was

and he was fully known by him.

And then finally,

in verses nine and 10,

he concludes his resume of weakness,

his resume of vulnerability,

and perhaps what is the most poetic section,

and really in a section

that describes

the overall paradox of his ministry

and really what is the overall paradox

of the Christian life.

He says,

as dying

and yet behold we live,

as punished

and yet not killed,

as sorrowful

yet always rejoicing,

as poor

and yet making many rich,

as having nothing

and yet possessing everything.

Paul says,

spiritual power

was present in my weakness.

Resurrection life

was present in my mortal body.

Spirit-filled joy

was present

amidst all my sufferings

and sorrows

and true spiritual riches

were present

in my earthly poverty.

And so Paul says,

you want my defense

to my critics?

You want my resume?

Here it is.

Here's my resume.

I have suffered for you.

I have endured difficulty for you.

I have worked hard for you.

I've lost sleep for you.

I have acted with integrity for you.

I have been slandered.

I have been called an imposter

and all of that

has made my life

look like a living contradiction.

That's my resume.

It's a resume of vulnerability.

And so why does Paul do this?

Why does Paul give us

a resume of vulnerability

and weakness

and not a resume of strength?

I mean, I think

a legitimate question here

for us is

are we to conclude

that our abilities,

our strengths,

our expertise

isn't valuable

in the kingdom of God?

And the answer is

no.

Of course our strengths

and our abilities matter.

God has given everyone

strengths and abilities

as people made in his image

and as Christians

we're called to use

our skills and expertise

to the glory of God

in our work,

our jobs,

and our vocations.

But skills and expertise

alone

do not make you

an authentic leader.

Credentials

and talent

and expertise

alone

do not make you

an authentic leader.

What makes you

an authentic leader

is how you use

your abilities

and your skills

to love.

To love.

And love

is the whole point

and love

is the whole reason

why Paul is

defending his

ministry this way.

Love is the whole reason

why he's making himself

vulnerable.

We said earlier

his goal isn't just

to correct them

or lay down the law.

His goal is to win them.

How do we know?

We know because of

what he says

in verses 11 through 13.

In verse 11

he says

we have spoken freely

to you Corinthians

and opened wide

our hearts to you.

We are not withholding

our affection

from you

but you are withholding

your affection

from us.

I speak as to my children

open wide

your hearts

also.

In the face

of criticism

Paul's main goal

wasn't to be right.

It wasn't to clear

his record.

It wasn't to

vindicate himself.

His main goal

was love.

It was to be

loved

and to love

the Corinthians

to restore

his relationship

of love

with them.

Authentic

leadership

is about

combining

authority

and vulnerability

for the sake

of love.

It's about combining

authority

and vulnerability

for the sake

of love.

Paul says

I'm not trying

to flex on you.

my heart

is wide

open to you.

My affections

are open

to you.

Look how much

I've suffered

for you.

Look how much

I've worked

hard for you

because I love

you.

I'm opening

my heart

to you

Corinthians.

Will you

open your

heart to me?

Will you

open your

heart

to me?

And this

is an

incredible

vulnerable

place to be

because as

he opens

himself up

and makes

himself vulnerable

he's opening

himself up

to further

criticism.

He's opening

himself up

to further

rejection.

He responds

to criticism

paradoxically.

He responds

to criticism

by opening

himself up

to more

criticism.

But he does

it for love.

And this

is a model

for us

of what

authentic

leadership

looks like.

And so

as we think

about your

homes and

your neighborhoods

and your

workplaces

this is a

model for us

for what

leadership looks

like but

it's also

a beautiful

picture of

the gospel.

It's also

a beautiful

picture of

the gospel.

The events

of Holy

Week this

week remind

us that the

gospel is that

in Jesus

Christ God's

power was

expressed through

vulnerability for

the sake of

love.

That that's the

gospel that in

Jesus Christ God

came to a world

that had totally

and utterly

rejected him.

And God

responds to

that rejection

he responds

to our

sin by

putting himself

in a place

that opens

himself up

to more

rejection

by becoming

totally

vulnerable.

Palm Sunday

this morning

this day

Palm Sunday

we celebrate

that the

king of

kings doesn't

come riding

into Jerusalem

like a

conquering king

on a war

horse like a

Roman military

official.

He comes

riding in on

what?

A colt.

a young

donkey

a humble

animal

that represents

humble people

for farmers

and blue

collar people

authority and

vulnerability.

On Monday

Thursday

we consider

how

the one

who has

authority

over all

things in

heaven and

on earth

kneels down

before his

disciples

and takes

a towel

and does

something that

only a servant

does and

he washes

their feet.

He takes

a place of

vulnerability.

And then

a good

Friday we

see how

the judge

of all

the world

the one

who's going

to judge

the world

is given

an unfair

trial and

he's

betrayed

and arrested

and beaten

and mocked

and crucified

like a common

criminal and

dies.

One of the

most painful

deaths imaginable.

In Jesus

Christ

God has

expressed

the greatness

of his

power and

authority and

glory

through the

vulnerability of

love.

In Jesus

Christ God

says to us

my heart

is open

to you.

My

affections

are open

to you.

My love

is open

to you.

I have

made myself

utterly

vulnerable

to you.

I have

opened

myself

to more

rejection.

I have

laid

aside

my

power

and my

authority

and my

glory

to show

you how

much I

love you.

I have

opened my

heart to

you.

Will you

open your

heart to

me?

And friends

that's the

invitation

of Palm

Sunday.

It's the

invitation of

Holy Week.

It's the

invitation of

the gospel

that God

has opened

his heart.

He is

unrestrained in

his affections

for us.

And the

invitation for

us is will

we open

our hearts

to him?

Will we be

vulnerable with

him?

Will we

open wide

our affections

to him?

And that's

the path

to authentic

leadership and

it's the path

to being

authentically

human.

Let's pray.

Our God

and Father

we worship

you and

adore you.

We thank

you that you

laid aside

your glory

to become

a servant.

Lord I

pray that

that would

change us

to be

people and

leaders

who use

our power

and authority

for others.

Serving

them.

Becoming

vulnerable

for them.

Lord create

a culture

of love

in us

where power

and authority

come together

in a way

that glorifies

you and

reflects the

gospel we

pray.

Amen.

Amen.