The Danger of Rejecting Godly Leadership

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When Meredith and I were married, we were married on May 14th.

Excuse me, we got uh we graduated from Liberty University on May 14th.

Two weeks later, May 28th, we got married at the First Baptist Church of Sebring, Florida, where Meredith is from.

And uh and then we moved to Arkansas for the summer.

By August, we were moving to Dallas.

Where's all the Dallas people?

Okay, that was very enthusiastic.

Normally you're more than that, all right?

And uh so we moved to Dallas.

We really moved to North Dallas in the Plano area, and I worked at a church called Preston Baptist Church, and uh I went to seminary at Southwestern Seminary, which is located in Fort Worth.

And so a normal seminary schedule for me was I took Monday classes, like those three-hour long classes.

And so I would meet a group of other interns.

I was an intern of the church.

Uh, we'd meet at 6:30 a.m.

and we'd drive the hour-long commute over to Fort Worth.

And uh it's like one of those, I walked 10 miles in the snow to, you know, school and stuff like that uh in Dallas.

And uh, and so we'd go there and all day long we'd have classes.

We may have one break, and we'd leave Fort Worth at 9 p.m.

So just long, long days of seminary.

And thankfully, our church became an extension site.

And I was able to take classes like one or two semesters, where I would just go to our main campus there at Preston Wood and uh take classes.

Uh, one of our pastors was an adjunct professor that semester, and his name was David McKinley.

I'll throw his picture up here.

David was one of the most jovial, kind-hearted, most encouraging men uh that I've ever been around.

And uh, and David was going to preach a class on preaching.

And so we had this class on preaching.

It was maybe like 10 or 12 of us dudes in the room uh who he was just training to be pastors.

And here's why I bring all that up.

He was speaking on the very passage I'm talking about today, 1 Corinthians chapter 4.

1 Corinthians 4 · chapter mention

And my schooling is probably like your schooling, where I don't remember a whole lot of like singular things that I learned in a particular class.

But for whatever reason, I remember this particular day when he looked at the 10 or so of us and he said, guys, you need to live your life according to 1 Corinthians chapter 4.

1 Corinthians 4 · chapter mention

And so that's what we're gonna get here in just one moment.

If you're brand new today, welcome.

We're in an 11-week series talking about uh 11 dangers for every Christian.

Uh, we've titled this uh 11 dangers because these are not like when you're out hiking and if you see a bear on the trail, you immediately know that's trouble, that's dangerous, I need to run or act big like a bear, right?

Like you see that immediately.

These dangers are much more subtle in nature.

Uh they they feel really normal.

In fact, they feel right, they feel fair, they seem fair, and uh, and so you go through all of this uh kind of subtle things, and before you know it, these things can honestly tank your spiritual life.

So so far, we've talked about division in your life, we've talked about distraction in your life.

Those are easy things that are subtle in nature, you don't even notice them, that ultimately they begin to tank your spiritual life.

Now, let me set up today.

Today's gonna be an entirely different kind of Sunday.

Uh, if you're brand new, like come back next week, okay?

This is just a unique message, um, but it's not really unique because if anything's in the Bible, we will talk about anything in the Bible.

And this is in the Bible, so we're gonna talk about what's in the Bible.

All right, and so here's the title of our message today.

We're gonna talk about the danger of rejecting godly leadership in your life.

All right, the danger of rejecting godly leadership.

You say, well, golly, look at that title.

That's quite the self-serving message, is it not, Pastor Nick?

And if I was sitting where you were sitting, I might agree.

But in all reality, uh, it's in the Bible.

We talk about things that are in the Bible, and so we'll just let it fall where it may uh today.

Um, let me ask you two questions as we get started today.

Number one is this do you have godly leaders in your life?

And I don't mean like from like from a distance.

I mean like, do you do you have godly leadership in your life up close?

And the second question is connected to that of who in your life can call you out?

Like uh, under whose authority have you put your life under?

Or maybe a better way to say it is who can challenge you?

Who have you given permission to, to where they can call you out on your stuff.

It's incredibly beneficial for every single one of us, okay?

Now, today the the context here is that the the apostle Paul, the apostles were uh were people in Bible times who God had given authority and influence over numerous churches.

Paul was one of those, but he's really speaking about spiritual leaders in general within the church.

And so a lot of this is about pastors, and here's what you're gonna find.

Uh, as you understand this passage, it takes two to tango.

Okay, like God requires uh me and people like me to act in a certain way, and then he requires people in the church like you to respond in a certain way to a certain kind of leadership.

Does that make sense so far?

All right, let's dive in.

And I want to begin reading in verse one of chapter four.

If you don't have a Bible, uh, don't worry, we will have these all up on the screen for you.

Here's how Paul begins.

This is how one should regard us.

Underline two words, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

And moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

So here's what it is Paul's there, the apostle Paul, called to serve God with his life, tells the people in the church this simple thing.

This is how you should think about people like me, uh, both myself and leaders in the church.

Now, if we stop right there and you say, well, Nick, this is a passage about pastors.

What does this have to do with my life?

Here's what this has to do with your life.

Every Christian who is listening to my voice today should be a part of a church.

And not like just attending church, but a deep involvement in a church.

You should know what a pastor should look like.

You should know kind of the overarching principles he is held accountable to.

And so today, here's what I want to do.

Like this is in my mind, this is what I'm doing for the rest of your life.

I'm teaching you and training you how to find a church and how to look at a pastor.

Okay?

That's important for your life.

Some of you are college students, you're brand new, you're still hopping around trying to find your church.

This is important for you today.

Some of you are new to our church.

I met a couple from Houston in the first service, and they've been here three times.

They're still trying to figure out if you are like them.

This is an important thing for us.

Whether our church is the right fit for you or another church is, this is important for you today.

Okay.

Now, pastors are described in three ways according to these two verses, okay?

Write these things down in your journal if you've got it in front of you.

Number one is this pastors are servants of Christ.

We are servants of Christ.

Now, here's a caution to you.

Uh, anytime you visit a new church, you obviously uh take a look at the pastor, you take a look at his preaching.

And here's what I want my caution to be: don't get too focused on personality, focus more on servanthood.

Okay?

You're gonna find uh personality-wise, some are loud, some are quiet, some are outgoing, some are introverted, some have hair, others, you know, still stuff like that.

Like, like they're all different.

That's not what you're supposed to measure the pastor on.

Like, in other words, I want you to think about the mindset of the pastor here.

I want you to think about his attitude and his humility.

How does he view himself?

The word for servants here, I had you underline it.

It is referencing those that would be in the bottom of a ship rowing the boat.

So everybody got that picture?

They're in the bottom of the boat rowing a big ship.

In fact, in ancient days, this would often be people who were slaves who were put in the bottom, and it literally means under rowers.

So, what is a pastor?

A pastor is an under rower of the church.

We are serving people, serving Jesus.

That's what we do.

We're in the bottom of the boat trying to make the thing go forward.

Now, there's a word in the New Testament that you often think of when you think of the word servant.

It's the Greek word diakonoi, which is where we get our word for deacons.

Uh, deacons are servants in the church, they're not uh rulers in the church.

Um, but here Paul uses a different Greek word.

I'm gonna throw it up here on the screen.

Uh, it's transliteration here.

And here's what it is: it is hyperitas.

And this is what it means.

It stresses subordination and responsibility to a superior.

So hyperitas is how you turn uh how you say that out loud.

It stresses subordination and responsibility to a superior.

Let me make this personal, okay?

I have several layers of accountability in my own life that I think are helpful as a pastor, okay?

Number one, first and foremost, you just saw it on the screen.

I'm accountable to Meredith Floyd, my wife, first and foremost.

She's very scary, okay?

I'm just kidding.

She's not.

Um beyond her, I'm accountable to three other men in my life who can ask me anything they want to ask at any time they want to ask it.

Uh, on top of that, if you're newer to our church, you're wondering about the governance of our church.

Kind of our highest uh level of uh board, if you want to even use those words, is what we call our pastors council.

It's a group of uh laymen who are members of the church and uh and uh some of our pastors as well.

They surround me for counsel to the pastor.

They're the financial accountability of our church, they're involved in any major decision that we do as a church, they're involved in it.

Uh, last year, one of these men, he's a well-known leader in our community.

If I said his name out loud, many of you would know who he was.

And uh, and so this big leader looks at me in front of the entire board, uh, pastor's council, and he says this.

He says, Nick, if we ever become a group of yes men, you need to fire all of us.

And I'm looking at him and I'm scared of several of these men, and I and I'm thinking, the last thing I think you guys are are a group of yes men.

Like, I don't think that at all.

I really don't think that at all.

Um all everybody agree, like all those are healthy, right?

That I'd be accountable to my wife and some peers, and then a group here at the church.

Everybody agree that's a healthy thing for a pastor, okay?

All that's great, but you know who I really serve?

I serve my wife as her husband, but not even, it's not it's not that.

I don't really serve these other men.

I don't even serve our pastors constantly you know who I'm a servant of, first and foremost?

Jesus Christ.

And here's what I tell you if this helps your heart, I'm way more afraid of him than I am of any of you.

Like I live with a constant fear of God that God would remove his hand from my life.

And so I live with that.

Why?

Because I'm a servant of Jesus.

Now, let's take this beyond my life and beyond the context of being a pastor.

Let's just say, anybody a Christian out there today?

Don't you want to be known as a servant of Jesus Christ?

Like, like, ask yourself this.

Do you see yourself as a servant of Jesus?

Do you carry the mindset and the humility of servanthood in your Christian life?

Do you walk in subordination to Christ and his commands?

Do you walk as if you are uh subordinate to someone else who is superior in your life?

Pastors are servants of Christ, and in all reality, every follower of Jesus in this room, you also are a servant of Christ.

Here's the second thing this passage teaches us.

Pastors are stewards of the mysteries of God.

We're stewards of the mysteries of God.

Now, think about what a steward is, okay?

All of us are stewards of our money, meaning we don't really own it.

God owns it all.

We just manage it.

We steward it while here on earth.

Um, a steward is someone who does not own something, but has a responsibility to keep something well and to handle something well.

So I and other pastors, we are supposed to steward the mysteries of God away.

You say, What are the mysteries of God?

It's the word of God and it's the gospel of Jesus.

Okay?

That's basically what the mysteries of God is referencing here.

Okay.

Now, again, as I told you, I'm trying to train you for the rest of your life.

When God moves you with your corporate job somewhere else, uh, when when you go to a master's program somewhere else in another part of the country, you got to find a church.

Here's what you need to be looking for uh in a church and in the ministry of his pastor, uh, specifically related to the Bible.

Does he preach the Bible?

Basic, basic question.

Not preach about the Bible, not preach around the Bible, does he preach the actual text of the Bible?

In other words, hey, here's verse one.

This is what verse one means for your life.

This verse two, this is what this word means, and this is how it applies to your life.

Does that make sense?

Uh let me give a caution to you.

There are many Bible, I just call them Bible principle preachers out there today.

Meaning they uh what they're saying is not unbiblical.

They're giving Bible principles.

Uh, they're not saying unbiblical things, they may be even giving a clear gospel message.

They're just not actually preaching the Bible.

They're not saying, all right, this is how we do it.

We just we just walk line by line by line.

Does that make sense?

That's what you need to be looking for, okay?

Paul wraps up verse two by saying, it's required that we be faithful stewards.

Part of being faithful is just saying what the Bible says.

We don't skirt around it.

We we've talked about this in recent days.

We're not squishy as a church related to controversial things.

We just say what the Bible says.

Now, I'm gonna pull the curtain back for a moment here, and this may disappoint you of how simplistic we really are.

This is myself, this is Pastor Mark, this is Pastor Jeff, whoever the three of us is up here preaching.

This is basically all we do if you've never noticed it and caught on to what we do.

This is the trick.

We speak to you for about 35 minutes.

I said 30 at the eight o'clock, it's really a lie, it's about 35 or more.

And uh we speak there, we read the Bible to you, we pick out a few of the main principles in there, we explain it to your life, we connect that to the cross of Jesus Christ somehow and talk about an opportunity to receive Christ, and then we pray and we dismiss.

And then you go home.

And the next week you come back and it's 35 minutes.

We read the Bible to you, we give you the main principles, we explain that to you, we connect it to Jesus on the cross, and we pray and we dismiss.

Do you realize that that's all we do?

And there is power, you know.

When you when you join a church, you really are coming under the leadership of a church, which is why what we're talking about is so important.

And part of that is you are putting yourself under the authority of the word of God for 52 weeks a year.

And here's what I tell you you you come and do the basics, and you'll be shocked at what God can do with your life if you just do the basics again and again and again.

Here's a word for the rest of your life.

If you have found a church that preaches the Bible, you have found a really good thing.

Don't assume that every church rightly preaches the Bible or even preaches the Bible, okay?

You need to be wise as serpents, harmless as doves.

Okay?

Now, if you keep on reading, if you were to read the next 10 verses, I encourage you to read it this afternoon.

I don't have the time to go through it in detail.

We'll jump back in here in a second.

The next 10 verses uh basically are summed up like this.

It'd be very easy to read the first two verses and be like very critical of your pastors.

Um, and so Paul addresses that and he's like, listen, guys, I don't even judge myself.

God's the judge.

And so, like, here's the key examine the church, examine the pastors, don't judge them, okay?

Don't nitpick on things that don't matter.

Does he have the heart of a servant?

Is he faithfully preaching the Bible?

Now remember, Paul's already challenged this church in the first few chapters on their own division, on their own disunity, on being distracted from the things of God.

And so he goes on to push them towards humility and away from pride in their life.

He rebukes them really, like you want to be seen as superior in the church and spiritually mature, and you're really, really not.

He then goes into verse 14.

Look at what he says.

Skip down there.

He says, I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children.

For though you have countless guides in Christ, underline this phrase, you do not have many what?

For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

I urge you then, underline this, be imitators of me.

That's why I sent you Timothy, my beloved uh and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ as I teach them everywhere in every church.

So let's quickly review.

Pastors are servants of Christ, stewards of the mysteries of God.

Here's what these three or four verses we just read uh give us this principle.

Pastors are spiritual fathers.

We are spiritual fathers.

Now, if you grow up with a healthy father, uh you're probably like, yeah, I mean, I could see the connection there.

If I if you grew up with like a jacked-up father, that's a hard principle for you to hear.

And you may even be like, Nick, I don't I don't know that I like the sound of that, okay?

So let me let me like just go to normal fathers, okay?

Like healthy, normal, godly fathers.

So what do they do?

Number one, they protect, okay.

I I protect my own kids.

I got four kids, college sophomore down to sixth grade.

Okay, that's a long gap if you haven't realized that.

And uh deal with a lot of different things.

I I do all that I can to protect them from bad people.

I stalk them on Life 360 more than they would like to know.

Where are they?

What are they doing?

My my son spent the night at a friend's house last night.

Guess what I looked at?

What time did they get to the house?

I knew that, okay.

I I try to protect my kids from bad things and bad people.

I help my kids discern things, friend issues at school, or uh, hey, you're believing the lies of the enemy on this, and you're not believing what God says.

So I protect them.

Uh, number two, healthy fathers also hold accountable.

So uh when my kids do wrong, hold them accountable.

They'll get a punishment, whatever, whatever that may be.

Or if they're disrespectful to their mother, like we ain't doing that here in this house.

Okay, like do not talk to her in that way.

We hold them accountable.

Uh, third, I think this is really important, is they live a life worth imitating.

Live a life worth imitating.

This may be a real hang up for some of you because you're like, dude, I didn't have that at all.

I did not have a dad that I could look at and imitate his life.

This is why you need spiritual fathers in your life.

Okay.

Uh healthy dads can say things like this Hey, have an attitude like mine.

Use words like I use my words.

Uh, be generous with your money like dad is generous with his money.

Uh, treat people like I do in business, like if you're in business.

That's what healthy fathers can do.

The same is true for spiritual leaders.

We protect people, we hold people accountable, uh, we hopefully live a life worth imitating for you.

And so here's what I say pastors serve as spiritual fathers in the same capacity.

Hopefully, I can say this to you, like from the stage on Sundays.

Hey, don't do that.

Like, stay faithful to God, get out of that sin.

Do what I do in this situation.

Like, do your family like I do my family.

Raise your kids like I raise my kids, be generous with your money like I'm generous with my money, and so on and so on and so on.

He goes on in verse 18, and here's what he says He says, Some are arrogant as though I were not coming to you.

In other words, Paul's like, hey, I'm I'm writing to you in Corinth, and if the Lord wills, I am coming to Corinth.

Like I'm gonna see you face to face, but I will come to you soon if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people, but their power.

For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk, but in power.

Here's the key verse.

What do you wish?

Shall I come to you with a rod or with love in a spirit of gentleness?

When he's saying a rod, he's not like talking about like a literal rod, like, man, I'm when I come to Corinth, it is business time and I don't want to be just smoking people off of the church.

That's not what he's talking about, okay?

He's talking about like a firmness.

And he's saying, like, what do you what do you want me to come in like?

Do you want me to come in like with this spirit of gentleness where man I can talk about hard truths in the word of God and I can push you with all gentleness and love, and you respond?

Or am I gonna have to be like, hey, hey, hey, listen up?

You see the difference there?

So here's what I tell you.

People who respond to spiritual leaders in their life and spiritual leadership don't need a hammer.

And people who are obedient to the clear commands of God, they don't have to have firmness.

Like you are able to listen to a normal preaching of God's word in a spirit of love and in a tone of gentleness and say, you know what, that's right.

I need to get my life back under the authority of God in my life.

Okay?

So I I've spent all this time talking about what I and what are other men as pastors are supposed to be in our church.

And here's a question you may be asking, and I'm gonna ask it for you, okay?

How are you supposed to receive this message?

You may be saying, well, Nick, what in the world does this have to do with my life?

Now, if if I were speaking to you know two weeks from now at our church leadership conference, and I was speaking to a bunch of church leaders, I would say it like this.

Or if I were if I were saying this to our men and women of our staff, um, I'd say it like this, man.

You need to have the mindset and attitude of a servant of Christ.

We're the underrowers of the church.

God's calling us to steward the word of God well, and we need to be spiritual parents to people.

I want to be a father, a spiritual father to many of you.

We protect you from wolves, we we protect you from the lies of Satan, we hold you accountable, we live a life worth imitating.

Okay, so if I was just speaking to vocational ministers, I'd say it that way.

If I were preaching to a congregation of people that I love, that's exactly what I'm doing today.

Here's what I would tell you I would say, be very careful in your life to reject godly leadership that exhibits these three things.

I'm gonna give you three things in just a moment.

Now, first and foremost, context is pastors and church members.

Okay, so I'd be very careful to reject godly leadership in your life, under your pastor, like here, elsewhere, for your entire future.

But I think it extends beyond that.

I think this applies to other spiritual leaders in your life.

Anybody got a godly boss at work who you can follow their lead?

How about you?

Are you in a small group with a godly small group leader?

Anybody meet with a Christian counselor who, like, man, they they have given you the word of God again and again and again.

I'd be I'd be very careful to reject leadership like that.

And so here's another thing be very careful to reject godly leadership that does these three things.

I'm gonna go quick.

Number one, exudes the attitude of a servant of Christ.

That's first.

Like, what is their heart?

What is their attitude?

Are they humble or are they an arrogant jerk?

That'll usually tell you a lot, okay?

Second, faithfully preaches the scriptures to you, whether that's in a setting like this, or you're in a counselor's office and they are giving you the word of God, or you're in a boss's office who calls you in tomorrow in the business and says, Hey, like, you say you're a Christian, but this air, this area is not lining up with the Bible.

That's not how we do it here.

How about a third thing?

They live as a spiritual father with a life worth imitating.

Like they're a father to you.

They're a mother to you.

You look at their life and you say, gosh, I want to do it like that.

I want to do marriage like they do marriage.

I want to do parenting like they do parenting.

I want to handle their money, my money like they handle their money.

Like I want to do business like they do business.

Does that make sense?

I say, be careful.

Now let me give a caveat.

I didn't say never reject leadership.

We all have those stories.

You maybe even have very personal stories of a pastor or a boss or a small group leader or somebody in your life, a parent, even, who every everything looked good on the outside, but internally there was some wrong stuff going on, and it got twisted, it got weird, you got hurt.

All those things can happen, and those are true.

That's why I say just be careful.

And here's what I would tell you.

If those three things are evident in their life, man, that's a really, really, really good sign that things are genuine and that's a person worth following.

Here's the reality: no pastor, including myself, no other leader, uh, will get things right 100% of the time.

I've been in ministry for 21 years.

I love that I'm getting to preach this sermon today at Fayeval campus.

I started this campus 15 years ago, and so I've preached consistently to many of you for 15 years.

I'm looking at some, I'm see the fets here for a very long time, seeing other people.

Guys, I I want to apologize for those early sermons that were just really, really, really bad.

Just really bad.

I look back at notes from previous sermons and I'm like, how was that a sermon?

There's just not much to it.

And and and yet many of you just hung with me and just received the word of God, a sensitive heart to the Holy Spirit, and God grew you.

I I've now uh been in charge of our church and serving our church as pastor for the last seven years at all of our campuses, and here's what I would tell you.

I mean with all sincerity.

I don't agree with everything that I've ever said.

Or things that I think about the way that I said something at a previous time, I wouldn't say it like that again.

Or even things that I didn't even know I was wrong saying them, but I wouldn't, I wouldn't say that again.

Um I think about numerous situations in 21 years of ministry that I thought, golly, I would I would not handle that the way I handled it.

Or I would I would be more gentle in this situation, or man, I would just try to be more understanding in this situation.

So my point is this no pastor, no leader will ever be perfect.

And so what you need to look for, and this is this is really helpful, look for pattern over perfection.

Are they growing in the things that I just talked about?

Are they growing as a servant of Christ?

Are they growing in their preaching of the scriptures?

Are they growing in living a life that's worth imitating?

Are they growing as a spiritual father to you?

If so, that that's that's a good sign and something that's really helpful for you, okay?

Let me give you a caution.

And uh zero doubt, there are some of you in this room, this is your life, maybe in the student room, maybe you're another campus, maybe you're online.

Um here's what I tell you.

If no church is ever good enough for you, or no church is ever, or no church is ever good enough for you, or no pastor is ever good enough for you, in all love and gentleness, here's your sign, you are the problem.

Okay?

Um, most likely what you are dealing with is one of two things, maybe both, pride and pain.

Pride and pain.

Pride says this you think you know better, think you could lead better, cast a better vision for the church, help the church be what it really should be, et cetera, et cetera, and so on, and so on.

Uh, you're wanting perfection from men and women that could never be perfect.

You're judging every aspect of their life to the neglect of your own, and you're very cynical towards the church, which is the bride of Jesus Christ.

And guys, I don't I don't say this with like an arrow, I say it with a hug of like, man, that's a very dangerous place to be.

And so um, behind pride, some of you may just be dealing with pain, and you may have a legitimate reason to be dealing with pain at some point.

There was a pastor who messed you over, or they did something wrong, and there was a big scandal, or there was a church that did something wrong, or maybe you you finally stepped into a small group, and then the small group leader did something stupid and stabbed you in the back, or maybe it was a mentor in your life, or maybe it was a parent, or maybe it was you fill in the blank, okay?

And you have genuine pain over genuine wrong that was done.

It's hard to get over.

I've had it, I've had it numerous times.

I get it.

Uh, the subtle natural response is to be jaded and to be cynical, to be judgmental, to be guarded, to be prideful and to not get over it.

And man, I would just tell you, it's a dangerous thing to be a lone ranger Christian outside of deep involvement in a local church.

Let me say it to you again.

It's a very dangerous thing to be a lone ranger Christian outside of deep involvement in the local church where other people, including other pastors and spiritual leaders, know you and can help you move forward in your life.

It is a slippery slope to be in the room every Sunday, but not involved whatsoever.

Not serving, not in a small group, not praying, not giving, only judging.

That's a very dangerous place to be.

And so I'm gonna close in a different way today.

We're not gonna do a normal comfort invitation.

Our staff's gonna be lined up after the service.

If you need to receive Christ, by all means let today be the day.

Others of you need prayer about something in your life, by all means let today be the day that you come and find prayer, okay?

But I'm gonna I'm gonna end in a different kind of way.

I wanna end by giving you a dad talk.

You ever give your kids a dad talk?

Last year when we took our daughter to uh to Liberty, where she goes in Virginia, uh, we left like right after church on Sunday, and we we drove out there.

And at some point in the like 17-hour drive, I said, now Reese, I'm just gonna have a dad talk with you.

And I'm just gonna talk, and I need you to listen.

Okay, and so will you give me permission for like three minutes here as we wrap up, as a spiritual father to you, in a spirit of love and gentleness to you, uh, for someone who wants the best for your Christian life and your life in general.

Here's what I would tell you if you have men and women in your life who exude the heart of a servant, who are faithfully giving you what the word of God is giving you, and who live as a as a person whose life you want to emulate and imitate, I would just be honest with you, like if they're pushing you with all those things and they're pushing you to look more like Jesus, I'd be very, very, very careful to reject their leadership in your life.

In fact, I would invite their leadership into your life.

Who do you need to give permission to today?

Of, hey, I need your voice in my life.

I I need I need your eyes on my life, I need your advice in this aspect of my life.

You need to be deeply involved in a local church, not just attending on Sundays.

I know we have we have like 3,000 devices that watch every Sunday.

So, however many people that is, if there's not a medical issue that is causing you to be online, you need to be in our church here, or if you live somewhere else, you need to be in that church there.

Let this be like a little sugar on top for your spiritual life.

This does not need to be the main thing, okay?

Um, I love you enough to tell you this.

If you're here today and you're like, Nick, I don't think I can really come under the leadership of this church for a host of reasons.

I understand.

I believe in this principle enough that I would tell you this you need to find another great church in our area, and there are great churches in our area.

And you need to, you need to come under the leadership of that church, and you need to be deeply involved.

If you don't know where to turn for that, but you know this is not it, I'll be in the lobby.

You come find me, I will help you.

Okay?

I'll help, I'll give you several recommendations of godly pastors and godly churches, okay?

You need the spiritual accountability, not only of a senior pastor who can preach the word of God to you, but other spiritual leaders who know you, who are like Jesus in front of you with skin on, okay, pushing you to be more like him.

Here's a caution.

If you're being discipled by your algorithm of your social media, or you're being discipled by some random YouTube preacher who talks a lot about the end times and the government, then let this be a actually not even gentle, a firm warning.

Like you need you need real people in your life.

Okay?

Some of you need to go deeper with our church and stop making excuses.

I said that with gentleness.

Stop making excuses.

It's time to get in a small group, it's time to start serving, it's time to start being a part of what God's doing here.

When I think about our future, we have, guys, if you knew what I knew, we have amazing opportunities in front of us to expand as a church.

We're being wise, we're being conservative as we do this.

But I'm just telling you, we will never be all that God wants us to be without every family in here, every family across every campus actually, doing our part financially.

So I'm not asking you to do something I'm not doing.

I'm asking you to come alongside of Nick and Meredith Floyd and our personal finances that we are giving to our church.

And I'm asking you to be generous alongside of us for the sake of reaching people.

Some of you are jaded and cynical because at some point somebody in a church hurts you.

Maybe it was this church.

Listen, maybe it was me.

I promise you, if our church or I have hurt you, you meet me out of the first time guest, I will humble myself and apologize to you and hug your neck.

Honestly, I'll do it.

I don't have that much pride.

Like, I'll humble myself and apologize.

And I say that just because I deeply believe like you gotta move forward.

So whether it was this church or another church, man, some of you, 25 years ago, you got burned by somebody in a church, and from for like the last 25 years, it's like this.

And I just gently say, you gotta get over it, bruh.

Like it's it's time to move forward.

God has more for your life than that, okay?

You need to humble yourself.

Not before me, before the Lord.

Watch what He'll do.

As I said, some of you need Christ.

Our staff will be here right after we dismiss.

Can we just pray together?

All in this room, the student room, every campus.

You're watching online today.

I want to encourage you to do the same.

What's God saying to your heart today?

How do you need to say yes to him?

Let me ask you those two questions again.

Do you have godly spiritual leaders in your life?

And the second question is this Have you given them permission to speak into your life?

Have you opened up your life in your heart to where you can be challenged by mentors in your life, by a boss, by a pastor, by a small group leader, by a Christian counselor?

Do people know you enough to even know that?

If not, maybe today is a day to take some steps and move forward.

Lord, uh, a different kind of message today.

Um, but we believe because you put it in your word, it will not return void.

So whether it's for somebody today, whether it's for somebody 10 years from now, Lord, I pray that we would all place ourselves willingly under your authority, under your word, and Lord, just today afresh, we just say yes to you, yes to your word yet again, and would you move us forward in ways that only you can?

It's in the name of Jesus that we pray.

Amen.

If you have questions about what you have heard or would like more information about your relationship with Jesus, please email us at info at crosschurch.com or visit our website at crosschurch.com.

At Crosschurch, our mission is to reach Northwest Arkansas, America, and the world for Jesus Christ.