The Leaders The Lamb is Building

Hell in the grave.

You're not just speaking in one aspect of who he is, you're speaking all of who he is.

And so when you say that that name, to us on a piece of paper in English, that's a five-letter word.

But to the heavens and to the eternity, you're speaking the eternal name.

And so when you begin to speak that name and you feel some kind of way and and it's just you don't understand, that's because that eternity that the Bible says that eternity is placed on a man's heart.

It's that eternal part of you that's responding to the eternal name.

And so whether you know the name of Jesus this morning, or maybe this is this is your first time around this, or maybe it's been a long time.

It's a name that loves you.

It's a name that that has planned for your life.

It's a name that has that has more for you.

And so this morning, here's what I ask.

As you just respond to that name when you feel him drawing.

When when whatever it looks like, however you respond, don't be afraid of that response.

You cry, you cry.

If you raise your hands, you raise your hands.

If you fall to your knees, you fall to your knees.

If you speak in another, if you speak in a heavenly language, speak in a heavenly language.

Just don't miss the opportunity to respond to his name.

Thank you, Jesus.

Thank you, Jesus.

I just feel such a sweet presence in this house this morning.

Isn't it just it's just so amazing?

You'll hear me say it often that you guys can be seated.

We come to worship him.

He shows up, and we're supposed to bless him, and he still blesses us.

We're supposed to bless him and he blesses us.

And so I'm just, I'm so thankful.

So thankful, so thankful.

And uh I want to thank again, uh Angela and I want to make a huge, huge thank you to everyone who made yesterday possible.

You guys drove the commute that we we we used to make uh twice yesterday to help us get it knocked out.

Um so many different things happened beyond the truck uh getting canceled, and then we all had to swap over to utility trailers and and all that stuff.

And I I don't I'm not trying to over-spiritualize you all having a double booking.

I mean, I get it, I realize it happens, but just the context of everything happening.

Um I I you know you're doing something right if you're going in the direction and the enemy's resisting.

And I I I I just when we got to the house yesterday and said, we're home.

It just something resonated in my spirit, so we're here.

And uh I told I told Kelly, I told Kelly this past week, I said, when we get when we're here, the real work begins.

There's no more, there's no more 70 my five, you know, 75 uh 75-minute commute.

There's no there's no all that time in between.

We're here.

My commute this morning was two minutes, if if that.

I don't even know if I'd actually stopped at those stop signs.

It might have been a California roll, but um we'll just we'll just scrub that.

And so this morning, I want to, I wanna, I wanna again thank everyone.

Um I'm I'm praying that God blesses you guys.

Um obviously your bodies for um all that you gave, but I'm you know, uh we pray that God blesses you financially um for all the gas, the time, um, your families, everything.

Thank you guys so much.

Um and uh for those of you, you know, you guys got to see the house, um, just just an absolute miracle, a blessing.

And um our our heart was when we were praying for a place, um, Angela had a very specific prayer list.

And one of the things, the biggest thing for both of us on it was that we had space to have people at the house for Bible studies.

Um I I believe I believe in the context of I really do in Acts 2 42, and they went to house-to-house breaking bread that we could break bread at our house with people and we could talk about God, we could do life together, enjoy it.

And so if you so you guys saw this space, absolute blessing, absolute miracle how it came about.

Um our our our our who we're leasing from and and and and will buy from um has just been an absolute godsend, so easy to work with.

I already met our neighbors and everything.

Um and it just, I'm telling you, my wife and my kids were happy to move, and that's really hard to make happen.

Um, and so it just again, thank you guys so much and for being so welcoming and loving us.

Um I was I was telling I was telling these folks, I I can't tell you the last time I had this many people help us move.

A lot of times it's it's been solo, and um that's tough, and those of you done it, you understand.

But when all these people showed up the house that we were we were we were rolling in a caravan down the interstate.

We may not have been going 70, but hey, we were we we was rolling and we did it.

So thank you guys for helping move the pizza, everything.

Just thank again, thank you so much.

Uh last couple of weeks, we've been talking about looking through the lens of the Lamb.

Um, and and the reason my heart, my heart behind it is that we too often we read we read the word and we miss the word.

Because the word is the the word of God, we believe it's it's it's living, it's breathing.

The word, we should read the word, but the word should be reading us at the same time.

Now, I'm not saying that you're supposed to read your story into the word, you know.

That's that's a different that's a different way of thinking.

But the word is supposed to do something in our hearts, do something in our spirits.

And the the central character of the Bible, it's funny that you can tell your kids go to Sunday school and just Jesus is the answer for everything because truly it is, but we don't take that kind of Sunday school theology and apply it as adults when we read the word.

Everything in scripture points at Jesus.

Everything in Scripture is directed towards him, and that is the context of which we we look through and then we study the word.

So the first week we talked about the house that the Lamb is building, and then we talked about we talked about the the kind of individual, the covenant, the promise that that that that he's building in each of us, and then we we talked about marriage and what that means in truly God in his eyes and the covenant and the promise, and then we talked about uh last week we talked about what that looks like in parenting.

Um, but not just parenting, what was it meant for?

It's meant for discipleship.

And so today I want to talk about I want to talk about um I want to talk about leaders this morning.

And this is not a leadership message in this sense, but I want to I want to give some definition to to what what does it mean to lead and what what's the purpose of Christ calling us to lead?

Because here's here's if you want to sum it up today, leadership's not about gaining influence.

That's the least of what leadership is about.

It's about faithfully stewarding God's people and reproducing his life and others.

Back to discipleship.

It's back to discipleship, it's back to what Jesus walked the earth, what he taught, what he did, what he exampled, and then the disciples went and did, and the apostles.

And here we stand thousands of years, two thousand odds something years later, because people followed and did exactly did what Jesus did.

They followed the apostolic model.

They they they discipled.

So the central question is not what kind of um it's it's the central question is what kind of leaders is the land building?

Not how do I become a leader, but what kind of leader reflects Christ?

That's what again, everything that we've been talking about, parenting, marriage, individual basis, the house, the church itself, what kind of church, what kind of person, what kind of marriage, what kind of children is the land building?

And so the same context for leadership.

What kind of leader is is is he trying to build?

So again, we talked the heart, the marriage, all that stuff.

And so the last thing, if you remember last week, the the illustration that we talked about with the children from Psalm 127 is that every arrow should eventually become an archer.

It says that children are like are like red are like arrows in the ready hand of a warrior.

And eventually when that arrow is sent and it reaches its intended target and its intended purpose, its tended destination, that arrow turns into another archer.

But this week we have to ask again, what kind of archer, what kind of leader, what kind of person who's sending?

That's what being apostolic is, to send.

What kind of leader is God building?

And so we have to ask this question first and foremost: why does God even establish leadership?

It's not, it's not about church boards, it's not about titles, it's not about roles and about position.

Why in the world does he create leadership?

And so we have to think about this because first and foremost, leadership begins under authority.

At the end of the day, the first thing that we all understand and that we all do is that we under are we are under God's authority.

Um if you could pull up Numbers 12, 1 through 3 for me.

So we we we look at this, we look at this as an example all across scripture.

Miriam, um Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Kushite woman who had uh who had married, for he had married a Kushite woman.

And they said, Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses?

Has he not spoken through us also?

And the Lord heard it.

And now the man, Moses, was very meek more than all who uh were on the face of the earth.

And then bring up Joshua for me, the next set of scripture in Joshua 1.

So all these people are exampled is that leadership happens under authority, that authority is delegated.

Just because someone calls them a leader, just because someone someone says they're a leader, true authority is delegated.

I mean, uh look look at look at your police departments, look at anything like that.

A sheriff's department, why does a sheriff deputy have authority?

It's because they're given authority by the sheriff.

Um why does anybody in pol who who has who has uh works and works in government works in policy?

It's because they're given authority.

Um why why as parents do we have authority over our children?

Because God has given us give us our children.

They were his first, so he's given us authority over them.

None of the people in the Bible, whether it was Moses, whether it was Joshua, whether it was David, none of them promoted themselves.

They were called.

They were all called.

And before anyone leads, you first got to follow.

I would dare to say, not just being a good leader, is you can't be a leader unless you're first led.

You can't be a leader if you're not first led.

Authority was never viewed as ownership.

It was always stewardship.

A shepherd didn't own Israel, but God did.

Kings didn't own Israel, but God did.

A priests didn't own Israel, but God did.

Leaders just simply steward what belongs to God.

And this this alone, this is what dismantles the idea of worldly leadership.

I'm not saying studying leadership qualities and improving your leadership skills and those things matter, but they mat they they don't matter.

It matters in the context of godly leadership.

To first lead anybody else, we have to understand what it means to be led, what it means to be that.

And so if we're not able to be led by God, first and foremost, we have no right, we have no business of being a leader.

Why?

All authority derives from God.

If we truly believe who God is, that he's the one who sits on the throne and he spoke the world into creation, and it obeys the sound of his command and his voice.

If I cannot be in submission to God, I am not a leader.

I have to be led.

Um, I love how it's illustrated, and I'm gonna keep referencing this this movie.

Um we might as well just have a movie night and eventually all watch it together.

David.

Um when when he's trying to give Samuel all the reasons why he can't be king and why that he said, I'm just a shepherd.

And and and he's talking about all these things, and that's saying exactly that's exactly, and Samuel tells him, that's exactly what Israel needs.

And at one point, David actually says to another character, he says that God is my shepherd.

It's funny how the people that Jesus, uh God uses through all the word throughout the word, understand who they were first.

He chose David as a shepherd because David understood who his shepherd, who his shepherd was first.

David understood how to take care of people and take care of God's kingdom because he first knew how to be took care of God, how how God was taking care of him.

And so, whatever leadership looks like, whatever role or capacity that we serve in, it has to come from that first.

Because Jesus didn't begin by sending disciples.

He what's the first thing he says?

Follow me.

Before we can model for anybody else, before we can example, before we can do anything, we have to come to the absolute realization, whether we've just been born again Christians, or we've been living for God our entire lives, that our first command to all of us, starting day one until the day we die, Jesus is asking, follow me.

Follow me.

Whatever the realm of influence comes afterwards, whatever, whatever stages that you're put on, whatever people that you're putting in front of, it it the command is simple.

Follow me as I follow him.

Isn't that what Paul said?

Mirror me as I mirror Christ.

Imitate me as I imitate Christ.

Leadership begins with following.

And that's backwards from worldly, the worldly idea of leadership.

If you go to any kind of leadership seminar, you go to any kind of thing, leadership, and well, it's funny now because it's it's changing, but here's your source material.

Go find a really good leadership book that's not actually written by like a pastor or a church leader or anything like that, and you'll notice that all their source content is the word of God.

They just take God out of it.

Leadership begins with following.

So notice the shepherd comes before the platform.

And this is how I think uh the God God is it repeatedly chooses shepherds.

Look at this Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David.

Then there comes Jesus, the good shepherd.

It's not random.

God wasn't looking for managers, he wasn't looking for people just to get tasks done, he was looking for shepherds.

Shepherds have have a different uh air about them.

Psalms, uh, Psalm 78.

David Shepherds with Integrity.

Do you have Psalm 78?

I don't I don't I don't even know if I sent you that one.

It might be on my list or not.

But David Shepherds with integrity.

I'm sorry, guys.

I am like operating on little to no sleep.

But I just I couldn't not I I just I couldn't wrap my mind around not being here today.

Um so just bear with me.

I promise.

We might take the the ADHD around to this thing, but I promise you we're gonna get there, okay?

We might see some squirrels on the way, might get hit by a truck on the way, but I we'll be we'll be there, I promise.

David Shepherds with integrity first.

David Shepherds with integrity first and then skill.

God's more worried about who you're becoming than what you're doing.

Because if you can get God can get in order who you're becoming, he doesn't have to worry about the doing.

Because if that godly intention and character is inside of you, that that was the that was one of the biggest differences between David and King Saul.

You know, Saul was, I mean he wasn't a shepherd because you don't you don't call a you don't call somebody a shepherd who manages donkeys, but he but he's still in the same kind of context.

He was called he was called from his the field where he was where he was tending his father's donkeys when Samuel showed up.

And you would think in the same context that that's what happened.

But but Saul, the people chose Saul and they looked on the outside.

They looked at what all the other kingdoms had.

They looked at all the other kingdoms and said they wanted a king, and God gave them exactly what they wanted.

But then what he what he what'd he say when David came along?

I'm looking, he told, he told Samuel, I'm looking for a man after my own heart.

I'm looking for a man after my own heart.

Why?

Because he knew who David.

He had God had already spent time in the field with David.

God was there with David when he was shepherding, when David was riding, when David was singing to the Lord, when he was spending that time with him.

He knew him.

And so then notice this that David, David's integrity was built before he ever got the crown.

Saul just walked up, was walked up and handed the crown.

We don't know anything about Saul's character.

We don't know anything about Saul except his physical description when he's given when he's given the crown.

That he he stood, hey, he stood, he stood shoulders above.

Uh, he was a strong man, he was, he was, he was a good-looking man.

He was on everything on the outside.

This is the leadership package.

But we didn't know what his heart was like on the inside.

So when God shows us the model, what the world chooses as leaders, he turns around and then shows us what his model is.

I know who David is, I know his heart.

And so where Saul was crushed by the weight of authority, he was crushed by the weight of the crown because his integrity couldn't hold up to it.

David, even in his failures, even in mistakes, and all the stupid stuff that David did, David was able to live his life out as king of Israel and do a great job at it.

Why?

Because his integrity helped him to grow into that position of authority.

See the difference?

It's it's about it's not just about what we're doing, it's about who we're becoming.

Heart, then hands.

Character, then competency.

Look, look, that's what we talk about.

This is the heart that the Lamb's building.

He's concerned about what's beating inside of your chest than he is just about what your hands are doing.

God will lead what your hands do, what your mind thinks, what your mouth speaks, if this can be in submission to him.

How could David be a man after God's own heart if he was an adulterer, he was a murderer, he did all of those things because David knew how to get to the heart of God.

He knew where the place was.

He knew where the place was.

God develops the shepherd before he entrusts the sheep.

God develops the shepherd before he entrusts the sheep.

This is I want I want to talk about like some this in Jewish context for a minute, okay?

Because we have to remember the book that we read is not written in our Western, uh, our Western thinking.

A disciple didn't merely learn lessons.

Like we we think of a disciple as just somebody who follows and they learn lessons.

He learned a lot, disciples learned a lifestyle.

A disciple wasn't just about, well, okay, what can I get from this person?

The disciple was studying under whoever that person was because they were learning a life.

And this was an old blessing that they used to decree over them.

May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi.

May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi.

And what is that?

Rabbi is a teacher, one who would teach the disciple.

How can you be covered in the dust of your rabbi?

Because you're following closely in their footsteps.

Not just what are the things he does, what are the things he read, you know, what's the what's the who who what are the influ what are the leadership influencers he's watching?

How does he conduct himself in daily business?

How does he conduct himself in his home?

How does he conduct himself amongst people?

How does how do how does how does he handle these situations and things?

Here's the thing.

When you walk close enough, eventually you mirror the footsteps.

When you walk close enough, eventually you mirror the footsteps.

And so here's here's here then here's steps on the scene of Jesus.

He doesn't build classrooms, he builds relationships.

He doesn't say, come follow me just because I'm a great teacher.

He doesn't open up uh uh uh ministry schools and he doesn't do all these things.

He just simply says, follow me, and these men choose to follow in his footsteps.

So it's three years.

What did they do with him?

They had it wasn't just the miracles that the disciples were witness to, right?

It wasn't just the big moments that we read about um in the feed, the you know, feeding of the 5,000 with the with the uh the the the loaves and the fish.

It wasn't it wasn't the the people cut the people cutting the hole through the roof and lowering the man down for him to be healed by Jesus.

It wasn't all those things that Jesus got.

That's what the crowds got to see.

Like the crowds got to see that with Jesus, but but the disciples, they got to sit down with a meal with them.

They got to sit down and ask questions over breaking bread.

They were there there was time that they got to spend walking with them, um, that traveling with them while they were going out and about, um, they were serving with them.

They were they had the privilege of being corrected by him that no other nobody else had.

Because leadership isn't taught.

It's caught.

We talked about it last, we talked about it last week in parenting.

Our kids catch way more by what the tone in which we say things, how we our mannerisms, all that other stuff, than if we just sit down and say, okay, this is how you speak to people, this is how you apologize to people.

They see how we apologize to people because we apologize to people.

And so the disciples got to see all the way that they're supposed to live life following Jesus.

And what were they able to do because of that?

Were they perfect?

No.

But they were able to go and fulfill the apostolic mission that God had given them.

Leadership wasn't taught, it was caught.

Again, leadership's not taught, it's caught.

You have to spend time in proximity, again, with Him to for any of that.

And so in John 13, Jesus, Jesus teaches us another way of serving.

And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.

All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.

So we know where that's And so he commissions to go in there and make disciples all nations, baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

We see where Jesus demonstrates authority and reference references authority.

But here's the thing there comes a time in John 13, Jesus tells the disciples that I've got to wash your feet.

Because they're at the feast of Passover.

And so Jesus knows what's going on.

He knows the order of events.

We've talked some about this.

He knows this the disciples doesn't.

And that he's come to depart out of this world, having loved his own, that were in the world, and he loved them to the end.

So during supper, the devil had already put in the heart of Judas a carriage, Simon's son, to betray him.

And Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, so the scripture is showing us that Jesus has authority, right?

And he had come to God and was going back to God.

He rose from the supper, he laid aside his outer garments, so he took the robe off, he took his outer robe off, and he took a towel and he tied it around his waist.

And then he poured some water into a basin and he began to wash the disciples' feet and wipe the towel that was wrapped around him.

Pause on that for a minute.

So you gotta think, they wore sandals everywhere they went.

It was dusty, it was desert, and so their feet are dirty.

It was a custom for the for the for the the the people who the home was for, the dinner was for, to do this.

And the disciples knew who Jesus really, they knew who he was.

They knew his power, they knew his authority, they knew him.

And so this is Simon Peter's response to this action.

He came to Simon Peter and said to him, Well, Lord, who do you who who uh Lord, do you wash my feet?

And Jesus answers him, What I am doing now you don't understand, but you will after.

And so Peter responds to him and said, You shall never wash my feet.

Because Peter is thinking, My role and my what my responsibility is to wash yours.

But Jesus answered him, If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.

It's backwards to the thinking of the whole foot washing thing.

We would think logically that he's supposed to do it.

And but but but but he says, Lord, he answers him and says, Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.

And Jesus said to him, Those that have bathed do not need to wash except of his feet, but it's completely clean, and you are clean, but not every one of you.

Jesus turns this idea of serving uh of leadership on his head that uh leaders lead by serving.

Jesus had all power and authority.

Yet the King of Kings he takes off his outer robe and he gets a towel on and he washes his disciples' feet.

Why?

Because the disciples can't replicate what's not already put in them.

You can't lead someone where you haven't been before.

That just makes you a GPS.

Turn left at the light.

Rerouting.

Rerouting.

No.

Leadership is a is is leading people where you've been before.

And so maybe you feel like God's called you to be a leader.

Maybe God you feel like God's calling you to more.

Maybe that and you're wondering what's what's on with this timing.

Maybe it's not his timing.

Maybe it's our our submission and our willingness to be led first, to lead people.

I've heard of great revivals and and great and great moves of God happening.

And one of the things that was so astounding when they were talking about it is they had people who were teaching Bible studies to the people who were coming to these services and that.

And the people who were teaching the Bible studies are like, I don't feel qualified.

And the response from the person who was leading these events and leading the revivals, he told them, he said, you don't have to be miles ahead of these people to lead them in a Bible study.

You just have to be one step ahead.

And so if you're going to be teaching this this week, you have to know it and understand it and to be able to lead them there.

And so if you're just one step ahead, you're still leading and you're still doing.

We have this grandiose idea that we have to have all everything figured out.

We've got to be perfect, we've got to have all this other stuff.

But that's the issue.

That's worldly leadership.

That's not Jesus leadership.

Jesus says, even as who I am, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, I'm gonna put a towel onto it.

The greatest leader doesn't, he he he doesn't get out of doing the task.

He shows any examples.

That's why, that's why and and and and and and and what uh uh it was funny.

We we were talking, we were in the first couple weeks, we I had I had mentioned something on a Tuesday night about not, you know, not being afraid to clean bathrooms, and then a text message went out because they were we were play uh Kelly was planning for the weeks that she was gonna be out, and it was one of her weeks was doing the bathrooms, and I was like, man, I was like, I got you, God, I see what you're saying.

I was like, I can't lead people unless unless I show them how to do it.

And so it's like that we've got to you've got to put your money where your mouth is.

That's godly leadership.

I want to be able, I want to be the kind of leader that I don't want to just bark at people what to do.

I want to show them.

I want to walk hand in hand and do it.

And like for me, I even incorporate that into how I teach, how I teach school.

I'm gonna show somebody how to do something, and I'm gonna do it with them, and then I'll do it while watching them, and then I'm gonna let the little bird fly.

It's the same way that Jesus does things.

He does it first, he'll do it with them, he'll watch them do it, and then he trusts them, he trusts them to do it.

It's the pattern, it's the pattern of leadership within within scripture.

There's a there's a different kind of authority that's willing to wash feet.

There's a different kind of authority that comes from an authority who's willing to serve, not lead from the back of the pack and saying, barking where to go and what to do, but one leading at the front, saying, This is where we serve, this is what we do, this is who we are.

Jesus was speaking not to task, but speaking to identity.

Again, he's not concerned just with what we're doing, he's more concerned with who you're becoming.

Here's the thing.

The husband is called to be the first to die.

But you can, and we talked about that.

Uh we talked about that earlier, we talked about the previous week.

But here's the thing it goes beyond that.

The leader's the first, is the first uh to be called to kneel.

Leadership isn't climbing, it's stooping.

Leadership isn't climbing the corporate ladder.

Leadership isn't climbing and doing whatever you got to do to get to over over to the person who's competing for that role.

We're not we're not in competition for the kingdom.

This this is different.

We're not in competition for the kingdom.

We're building his church, his capital C church, the bride.

It's not about climbing, it's about stooping.

How do we serve?

How do we serve the needs of the people in this church?

How do we serve uh how do we serve our marriages?

How do we serve how do we serve our how do we serve our children?

How do we how do we serve leadership development?

How do we serve church in developing the right church culture?

How do we serve our community?

How do we serve the needs of our community?

How do we how do we do that stuff?

We get on level with it and we figure it out.

And when we figure it out, we can then disciple and show how to do it.

Again, leaders raise leaders.

Think about it, the arrows that we talked about.

Every arrow becomes another archer.

Every arrow becomes another archer.

And we talked about we talked about it with Paul.

Paul developed people everywhere that he went.

And think about Timothy.

Timothy was a young guy, a very young guy, 16.

16, and Paul commissioned him to be a pastor over one of the churches.

I knew who I was at 16.

I wasn't ready to pastor.

I wake up every day and still question, God, did you get this one right?

Like, I woke up this morning and I was like, I can't do this.

But that's the thing.

God is working on each and every one of us every day.

It's it here because we're faithful people produce faithful generations.

Look at this.

When Timothy were talking about, that's four generations that we talked about.

We talked about his brand.

Uh we talked about the uh the people in his family before him that stewarded him well into it.

Leadership multiplies, it doesn't add.

Leadership is it multiplies, it doesn't gather just gather followers.

It's not about a certain number of people, a certain following.

Leadership grows other leaders.

Because what Jesus developed 12.

And then I know, I know, I know Judas did what he did, but there were still other disciples that were able to take up that role and then explode.

Watch what happened, what happened in the upper room.

Although the 120 that were in the upper room were filled with the gift of the Spirit, what happened when they poured out in the street?

Did another 120 people receive the gift of the Holy?

No.

3,000 were added that day.

That's a pretty big increase.

That's like a 300% on return, a little under it, but you get what I'm saying.

Leadership in the proper direction and in the godly way doesn't just add people.

It's not a one-by-one and just little here, a little there.

No, it multiplies.

The measure of leadership isn't how many people follow you, it's how many people are faithfully following Christ because you invested in them.

Do you want to see the quality of somebody's leadership?

It's not just how great they write books or how great they organize systems and they do all that stuff.

And now, organization and systems, all that stuff has its place and its importance.

There are plenty of examples in scripture for it, but here's the thing: at the end of the day, we are called to bear fruit.

We're called to bear fruit.

We want to look at a leader, go look at their fruit.

What has developed?

What fruit has developed off of them, and then what's growing because of that?

Because that's what fruit is, right?

A fruit is we eat fruit, but it's really just a container for the seed.

That's I mean, God designed it that way, right?

What's in the middle of an apple?

Seed.

What's in the middle of oranges?

The fruit that we eat, that's what it's supposed to do.

It's supposed to grow something else.

And so you want to know your measure as a leader?

What's in you?

And what did it produce in somebody else?

When somebody's around you, are they producing peace or are they producing chaos?

Are they producing joy or are they producing aggravation?

Are people are are people are people walking godly ways?

Or are they walking in carnality after walking with you?

It's something that we have to look in the mirror.

Again, this all points, all the stuff that we've been talking about points back to the personal.

Because God makes this personal with each and every one of our churches.

Again, I'm gonna say it a million times.

God is more concerned about who you're becoming than just what you're doing.

You can behaviorally therapy people and condition them to do what you want to do, but they can still be, they can still they can still be hurtful, they can still be prideful, they can still be full of bitterness, they can do all of those things.

You can train them.

But God's not concerned about training.

God's unerd about becoming because becoming multiplies, becoming gives generational blessing.

Becoming is imprinting that into my children and who they become, but also the people that are around me, but then also the children, the people, my children around, and then so forth and so on.

Again, heaven's gonna be so full of these kind of mysteries being explained to us because we'll see it from another perspective.

We'll see it that one day that when the trumpet sounds and we get there, I'll be able to see, even though I may not have seen with my own eyes, the people that I impacted when I was in college, the people that my children impacted, that I wasn't around when they went places and they did things.

That that that they you know, if should the Lord tarry that one day my grandchildren, my grandchildren, who are they who they affected?

Why?

Because something has to happen here first before it can go and multiply.

What has to happen in the fruit for the seed to grow?

The fruit has to die.

Again, that's Christ's principle.

Leadership principle of the world says, put me first, put my health first, put all that stuff.

But but but Christ's principle in leadership says, no, I lay down my life.

And leaders lay themselves down for growth and application.

Sometimes it hurts to be a leader.

Sometimes it hurts to lead people because people are people.

And we'll said it this week to me.

It was funny how we how we how the English language works.

He said, people are gonna people.

We knew that on a t-shirt.

People are gonna people.

And it's funny because you can think of people who've peopled you before all across this place.

Turn your thoughts down a little bit, they're loud.

And lots of people peopled Jesus, but it didn't change who he was, it didn't change his character and who he was developing.

I don't, we here here at God, God is concerned about the house that he's building here.

So here's the thing: I don't need an org chart of people filled out in every service position.

I need we need disciple makers.

We don't just need people in the booth and need people welcoming and need people serving in Sunday school and need people leading worship and need people cleaning and need people serving in Rafah and need people work serving in the community just to say we say we did things.

That's checking off a task list.

I don't need to check off a task list.

I need to make disciples.

Leaders look at things and say, okay, how is this making a disciple?

You know how you make a disciple when you're cleaning the church, you invite somebody to come clean with you.

How do you make somebody a disciple when when you're serving in media?

You show somebody along the way.

You show somebody along the way.

Again, one of the greatest things I can remember my pastor ever doing for me is he he would he like he he asked me to drive him to where he would be preaching.

And now from a worldly perspective, that looks like a pastor is using somebody.

I know I know what people think.

But I got again, I got access to him, and we were trapped in the car for three and a half hours, and it was rides like those that he got to speak into my life with no distraction, nothing else going on, even though he was prepping for his message, even though he might be reading over his notes, and it was speaking to my life and speak very personally to things.

And that's the kind of mentality that we have to take.

Who are you taking to coffee?

Who are you inviting to your table?

Not just your physical table at your house, but into your into the table of your life.

Who's taking part of what of what of what you're distributing and what you're giving?

Who are you intentionally investing in?

This is the kind of things we've been talking about in language.

It's the measure of leadership and how many people follow you.

Again, it's how many people are faithfully look following Christ because you invested in them.

How many people are better because you touched their life?

How many people are better because you spoke life over them?

How many people are better because you showed them how to love God?

How many people are better because you didn't just teach them a Bible study, but you you imitated Christ.

We need disciple makers.

We don't just need volunteers, we need spiritual fathers and spiritual mothers.

We need we need people who will intentionally raise someone to take their place.

None of us are eternal.

None of us know what tomorrow holds.

We should always be working ourselves out of a job out of out of out of a job out of a job description.

Why?

Because what God has intended, what does he still, what all the great plans and everything that God has has spoken either to you personally over this church and scripture, what does it still boil down to?

The harvest is plenty, and the laborers are few.

The harvest is plenty, but the laborers are few.

And I wonder if the laborers are few, and again, this is just my brain thinking.

I wonder if the laborers are few, not because they're scared of the work or scared of what's ahead, but they're apprehensive about who they'll be following doing it.

God forbid that I not do my role as a disciple maker.

Because who could I be impacting in this community?

That could be the key to unlock in this community.

Who in my classroom, whatever those students, just I'll put in a personal role.

As a teacher, as an instructor, who who who who who am I writing off?

Who's the kid who requires the most attention and and derails the class all the time and all that stuff?

What if God's calling me to disciple them each and every day?

Because He's put me in that classroom each and every day.

The greatest leaders in all of scripture are planned for the day that they wouldn't be leading anymore.

Moses prepared a Joshua.

Elijah prepared Elisha.

Paul prepared a Timothy.

Jesus prepared the apostles.

Healthy leaders don't protect their position, they prepare their replacement.

I don't need to be focused on fighting, because what happens when we protect our position is you hurt people in the process.

I don't want to lead worship every Sunday.

Right now there's a need for it.

I'm actively working to get rid of it.

Why?

Because if I can have more people at the plow.

I'm looking, I'm looking, I'm looking for people who can develop, who can teach Sunday school, who can preach and do this stuff.

Why?

Because the fruit matters.

And if I'm becoming like him, I want more hands at the plow.

If it looks like, even if on the outside it looks like I'm giving up opportunity.

There's been people in my life who have handed over opportunity that I didn't deserve, that I didn't think I was worthy of, that that I maybe was a little big for me because they believed in me.

Jesus did that a lot to the disciples.

Told them to put them in situations that were much bigger than they were.

And I know this is not the coolest leadership message or the hippies thing, but I'm trying to get back to the core and the root of something.

I don't want to hold on to positions and titles.

I don't want to fixate on those things because I want to be concerned about who's next.

My question should always be who's next?

Because there's somebody always hungry, always looking, God's always calling.

I want to be preparing people.

I want to be preparing people.

Leadership is temporary.

Your influence is temporary.

Titles are temporary, but people, the spirit that's in people, it's forever.

Someday somebody else is going to stand where you stood before.

Someone else is going to teach your class, someone else is going to lead worship.

Someone else else is going to pastor this church one day.

Somebody's going to lead your Bible.

But the question is, who will someone replace me?

The question is, did I prepare them?

Did I sew into them?

Did I do everything that God called me to do?

Did they look at me and see a mirror image of him?

Was I intentional with them?

Did I, was I when I was with them and I was spending time with them?

Would I have my phone away?

Was I locked into what they were saying?

Was I locked into what they're asking?

What when they when they when they said they had a need for something, was I making sure that some way, somehow that need was taken care of?

Was I intentional with people?

And this week this week isn't about calling people to leadership.

It's about calling leaders to stewardship.

And God is asking each and us, everyone, every day, to steward our time well, to steward our relationship with Him well.

And what's the spiritual principle?

Who He can trust with little, He can trust with much.

And so maybe you do feel the call of God on your life.

And I pray you do feel the call of God on your life.

You should feel the call of God on your life.

He's calling and beckoning to each and every one of you.

He's got talents and he's got giftings, he's got abilities in each and every one of you.

God knew you before you were shaped in your mother's womb because he's the one who sold you together.

All the creative ability you have, the craftsmanship you have, the vocal ability you have, being able to look at just an instrument and be able to somehow just play it.

Man, it kills me when people can do that.

I know how hard I've worked to just barely be mediocre at playing instruments.

But there's there's talents, there's gifting, abilities in each and every one of us.

And before, again, before you were ever formed, God had a plan for your life and He is constantly calling.

He's constantly calling, he's inviting people in.

Have you noticed that?

God has all the like the here's the principle of leadership.

God has all authority in the world and he's inviting you in.

He's inviting you into his kingdom.

Humans, the one who messed it up first, he's still inviting us in.

And so that's our job.

If we're gonna imitate Christ, it's our job.

Are people gonna do things as well as we do?

No.

Are they gonna get mistakes along the way?

Yeah.

But what are you stewarding in the meantime?

What are you stewarding through those mistakes?

What are you stewarding through church trying on somebody?

Here's the thing.

Titles will destroy people if what's in here is not right.

And what God is building in a leader is a person that builds other people.

And so here's you guys can stand all over the house today.

I'm not concerned with a fantastic org chart.

And I I love administration, I love those things, and we will have all of that stuff.

But here's what I'm concerned about.

I'm concerned about sending the right people out of those doors to go into the world.

The other six days of the week that we aren't here.

I'm concerned about the who we're sending into the workplaces, who are who, because kids, we go back to school this week.

I'm certain about the students that we send to school.

I'm concerned about those things.

Why?

Because the world is looking.

everywhere else looking for somebody to lead them they're looking for in they're looking for somebody to influence them they're looking I mean that's what are they called social media influencers like the devil put the title right in it but we're blind to it everybody is looking for somebody the fatherless are looking for a father where do they where do they oftentimes find it not in good people are looking are broken and they're looking for answers they're looking for somebody to lead them to hope to truth to love to all these core principles that are are placed within side of us and somebody's gonna lead them to one of those things one way or another why not be us why not be used I ask you this morning again I know I've asked it before but I I'm gonna keep drilling this who is God calling you to develop think about who developed you think about who spoke into your life think about who invested time into you if you want God to pour into your cup you gotta have space how do you have space in a cup pour it out notice that the miracle the oil only happened when that when when when when the lady started pouring it out and she poured it out and poured it out and filled all those jars and all those things you want to be a great leader start pouring out is it gonna is it gonna be unfun yep is it gonna hurt yep but there's gonna be reward in it and what you'll find is that you may not feel like you're the best Bible study teacher you may not be the best student of the word you may not be that you don't feel like you're the best you're the best you're the best people person you or you you you you know what your excuse is in your head right now because you hear that voice speaking to you but what you find is as you pour out God will pour in God will pour that ability to understand the word he'll speak to you in revelation he'll he'll he'll help you be he'll help you with your people skills he'll help you with all that stuff that you're making up excuses like you we constantly make up excuses for why because when I'm pouring myself out what I've been given and what I've been entrusted with God will pour in new things God will pour in fresh revelation God will pour in improved leadership skills God'll pour in all that stuff God will pour in the boldness that you God will take care of that stuff he'll provide the resources he'll do all that stuff but the thing is you've got to start pouring out somewhere you've got to start pouring out somewhere not who am I leading not not it it's it's who am I raising who is God calling me to develop and some of you you can see that person in your mind right now and God has been speaking to you over the last couple weeks about it the question is now what do you start pouring out what happens when we read the the the scripture through the the lens that we've always read it through is sometimes we miss that we we we miss where it's it's leading us to ask the right questions to God.

God what kind of it's not what kind of leader are you are you are you trying to make me God what about this calling on my life but maybe it's more about than asking God what's the calling of my life is who who are who are you calling me to develop again lost people are lost you can't direct the lost God is directing his children God is directing his disciples we got to turn this thing around and stop praying God would you send them to me no no no no no God where are you sending me where are you commissioning me where do you what are you wanting me to become because there's somebody out there who needs what's in me.

It's not an arrogance thing it's it's not about building us but you guys have realms of influence that I don't have I know people you don't know and you know people I don't know God is sending us each and into every individual to make something more of this the Lamb isn't building leaders who need followers he's building shepherds who raise more shepherds there's a lot of lost sheep out there there's a lot of broken people out there there's a lot of people who need who need shepherds that understand their brokenness there's there's just people out there who have gone through absolute hell but there's also leaders in this church and people in this church who've walked through absolute hell and you're standing today you're not standing here to be a mausoleum of saints but you're standing out to go bring people to the hospital we're broken the sick this the the the the those who are well don't need a hospital you're the people you're you're the ambulance service supposed to bring people to the hospital there's broken people out there guys there's broken people when you go to Walmart there's broken people when you go to Aldi there's broken people when you go to planet fitness there's broken people who live next door to your house what God is asking is not for you to be the best and the sharpest leader and be you know a John Max John Maxwell level 10 leader and be able to quote all those things and read every Craig Rochelle book and read every leadership book again all those have great principles in them.

What God is asking you to do is to start pouring out and trust him with the rest who's he asking you who's the name on your mind right now I wish this sound more theologically astute.

I wish this sounded fancier than than what it was but the principle remains the same I wonder how many opportunities I'm missing because I don't see how he sees or thinks how he thinks.

And so here's my challenge this morning here's it's not a come and die altar call message it's go and do and go and be hands raised all across this house.

There are so many people in this place God who are already serving and they're pouring their lives out.

But God I pray that we would never get service mixed up with true leadership and true discipleship.

I don't want to show up at church and just check off a box that I I came on Sunday that I served on Sunday that everything's good but help me to be intentional about the people who I'm supposed to develop in the process and God let don't let that mentality just be here at church.

I pray that when we go to our offices tomorrow that when we go to the schools this week that we go to the places that we work that we would start to see and ask the questions that you ask who am I looking for what am I what who are you asking me to pour into and God when you speak to us I pray that we would respond in boldness and meekness that we would pour out and if we don't know where it's the resource is going to come from it's okay God I pray for vision beyond resource God I pray that you would touch our heart our eyes to see like you see would you touch our heart to be sensitive like your heart is God would you would you would you would you open up our ears to hear the the tenderness of your voice God would you would you help us to see the lost right where they're at and would you remind us and constantly put us back in front of our purpose is to be disciple makers the method changes over the course of time but the message never does go into all nations all people all backgrounds all races all classes every person you died for God and I pray that there would be a pricking in our hearts help us to remember the people who invested in us help us to remember the people who poured into our lives and God help us to see that that that this is not just a momentary thing but this is a constant exchange and I pray for those who've been hurt by by leaders not just not just we're leaders in the world but I pray for those specifically who have been hurt by leadership in church this morning and they're afraid to lead because they don't A, they don't want to become that but also God they're they're scared of what can happen in the process.

God help us to see that none of us are perfect that we don't have it all together and I pray that you would heal that brokenness this morning that you would shut the lie of the enemy up and the voice of the enemy up that is trying to push people away because of church hurt because of uh of things that have happened I pray that we would step in boldness and confidence to be disciple makers of who exactly you're calling us to be God over every campus God over every street over every neighborhood over this city over the surrounding areas God what you have called this church to steward and who this area that you've called us and you've given us spiritual authority over let us be a fruitful church let us be a fruitful people and God first and foremost let us be led by you that we can mirror and imitate you in every way and aspect in our lives not just Sunday mornings.

In Jesus' name we pray and everybody say amen I'm telling you guys I'm so convicted he wants to prepare this house because he intends to fill it God wants to prepare God is trying to prepare this house because he intends to fill it and he's gonna use you to do it.

Especially those of you who don't believe in yourself God is going to use you to do it and we're gonna look back in a very short time and we're gonna be scratching our heads because it only can be by him I love you AC go and be apostolic go invite people to your table go and witness go and pour out and trust God for the miracles in the meantime.

We love you remember Tuesday night Tuesday night midweek we're gonna talk about this in practicality every week every Tuesday night what we talk about on Sunday we're gonna talk about practical ways to accomplish it Thursday night 615 uh the meal for Rafa over next door and then you'll be over here at 7's when all that starts the youth rally this weekend that is a sectional youth rally uh that's so that's for all of section two all the churches in this section will be converging on Denham Springs Church um it'll be a great time um uh McGuire your set our section leader will be speaking um it's gonna be fantastic um there's gonna be a huge afterburner as well um there's gonna be food trucks and games and all that stuff so great spiritual time but also great fun so again if you guys have questions about that young people uh uh Landon and Orlando will be more than happy to answer those uh we love you AC and we will see you guys Tuesday night