Well, we were in Exodus last night, and
I'd like us to return there this morning,
this time to the fifth chapter, Exodus chapter
5, and we're going to read the whole
of that chapter.
Actually, I'm not very pleased with my title
this morning, the cost of leadership.
I always find it hard to speak on
subjects like this.
I don't know what it is about Christians,
but they're always asking me to speak on
the problems of leadership, and the perils of
leadership, and the pains of leadership, and the
cost of leadership.
And really, I love being in Christian leadership.
You know, I'm sure I'm just like you.
I wake early in the morning, sometimes about
4.30 or 5, and I just can't
wait to get up to start another day.
You're just like that, aren't you?
Some of you are just like that this
morning, because you're absolutely frozen stiff where you
were sleeping, I'm sure.
We hope to get all the places warm
tonight.
But you know, the joys of leadership, in
my opinion, far outweigh the costs, and the
problems, and the perils.
And yet there are some costs to be
paid if we're going to move into Christian
leadership, and it is right and important that
we should look at them.
So let's read the fifth chapter of Exodus.
Afterwards, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and
said, this is what the Lord, the God
of Israel, says.
Let my people go, so that they may
hold a festival to me in the desert.
Pharaoh said, who is the Lord that I
should obey him and let Israel go?
I don't know the Lord, and I will
not let Israel go.
Then they said, the God of the Hebrews
has met with us.
Now let us take a three-day journey
into the desert to offer sacrifices to the
Lord, our God, for he may spike us
with plagues or with the sword.
But the king of Egypt said, Moses and
Aaron, why are you taking the people away
from their labor?
Get back to your work.
Then Pharaoh said, look, the people of the
land are now numerous, and you're stopping them
from working.
That same day, Pharaoh gave his order to
the slave drivers and foremen in charge of
the people.
You are no longer to supply the people
with straw for making bricks.
Let them go and gather their own straw,
but require them to make the same number
of bricks as before.
Don't reduce the quota.
They're lazy.
That's why they're crying out, let us go
and sacrifice to our God.
Make the work harder for the men, so
that they keep working and pay no attention
to lives.
Then the slave drivers and the foremen went
out and said to the people, this is
what Pharaoh says, I will not give you
any more straw.
Go and get your own straw, wherever you
can find it, but your work will not
be reduced at all.
So the people scattered all over Egypt to
gather stubble to use for straw.
The slave drivers kept pressing them saying, complete
the work required of you for each day,
just as when you had straw.
The Israelite foreman appointed by Pharaoh's slave drivers
were beaten and were asked, why haven't you
met your quota of bricks yesterday or today
as before?
Then the Israelite foreman went and appealed to
Pharaoh, why have you treated your servants this
way?
Your servants are given no straw, yet we
are told make bricks.
Your servants are being beaten, but the fault
is with your own people.
Pharaoh said, lazy, that's what you are, lazy.
And that's why you keep saying, let's go
and sacrifice to the Lord.
Now get to work.
You'll not be given any straw, yet you
must produce your full quota of bricks.
The Israelite foreman realized they were in trouble
when they were told, you are not to
reduce the number of bricks required of you
for each day.
When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and
Aaron waiting to meet them and they said,
may the Lord look upon you and judge
you.
You have made us a stench to Pharaoh
and his servants and have put a sword
in their hand to kill us.
Moses returned to the Lord and said, oh
Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this
people?
Is this why you sent me?
Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak
in your name, he's brought trouble upon this
people and you have not rescued your people
at all.
We saw last night as Mr. Alexander was
preaching to us, that when God called Moses
into a position of Christian leadership, his response
was less than enthusiastic.
And God spoke to him in a very
dramatic fashion.
We were reminded last night of the burning
bush.
The call of Moses was an unmistakable call.
But you remember his response, we read it
last night.
Exodus 3 and verse 11, who am I,
said Moses, that I should go and bring
the Israelites out of Egypt.
Well if we read further through chapter 3
and chapter 4, we would have found that
God encouraged Moses after that initial response.
He gave him some signs, no doubt, both
to encourage him to fulfill his calling and
to use in his mission.
But even after those merciful comforting signs that
God gave to Moses, he remained quite unimpressed.
Chapter 4 and verse 10, oh Lord, I've
never been eloquent, neither in the past, nor
since you've spoken to your servant.
I'm slow of speech and tongue.
Moses still, quite obviously, just does not want
to go.
He just does not want to obey the
Almighty God.
However, I'm sure you know this story, eventually
he does obey.
You can imagine the emotion and the feeling
behind the words of chapter 5 and verse
1.
Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, after all
their objections, and they said, this is what
the Lord, the God of Israel, says.
Let my people go, so that they may
hold a festival to me in the desert.
Probably a little bit of extra conversation went
on.
Maybe Moses turned to Aaron and said, well
Aaron we've done it.
We've done it at last.
We've obeyed God.
We've given Pharaoh God's word.
Just as they're talking like that, Pharaoh interrupts
them.
Who is the Lord, that I should obey
him and let Israel go?
I don't know the Lord, and I won't
let Israel go.
Moses said, pardon, what?
Pharaoh said, yes, who is this Lord you're
talking about?
I've never heard of him, and I just
won't let Israel go.
Well, if Moses wasn't shocked by Pharaoh's response
to his obedience to God, he was certainly
shocked, and I would imagine greatly distressed, by
the time you get to the end of
chapter 5.
You know the story, we read it, because
of what Pharaoh no doubt considered to be
impudence in Moses, he accuses the children of
Israel of sheer laziness, and increases their workload.
And the reaction of the people is seen
in verse 21 of chapter 5.
They say to Moses and Aaron, may the
Lord look upon you and judge you.
You have made us a stench to Pharaoh
and his servants, and you have put a
sword in their hands to kill us.
So here's Moses, he never wanted to go
in the first place.
He really tried to, you know, to put
God off.
He just didn't want to go.
But eventually he does, and all he gets
when he's obedient, is disappointment and criticism.
And those are two challenges, that every Christian
leader will constantly have to face.
The challenge of disappointment, and the challenge of
criticism.
And I want to think about those two
challenges with you, for a few moments this
morning.
First of all, disappointment.
Now this initial disappointment, first of Pharaoh's reaction,
and then the people's reaction, is just the
beginning for poor old Moses.
If you turn across to chapter 6, you'll
find that again at God's express command, Moses
returns to the children of Israel, bringing a
further word from God.
Verse 6, chapter 6.
Say to the Israelites, I am the Lord,
and I will bring you out from under
the yoke of the Egyptians, I will free
you, and so on.
Now look at verse 9.
Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they
did not listen to him, because of their
discouragement, and their cruel bondage.
Turn another page, chapter 7, and verse 12.
Moses has thrown down his rod, one of
the signs which God gave to him.
He's thrown it down, right there in the
presence of Pharaoh, and it's become, as God
promised, a snake, or a serpent.
Must have been a marvelous moment of triumph
for Moses.
He was worried about the whole affair, from
the beginning.
But there he is, right in the presence
of Moses.
He throws down his rod, and it becomes
a serpent.
It's obvious to all, that God is with
his leader.
But then the Egyptian magicians, throw down their
rods, and I'm sure to Moses' utter consternation,
their rods become serpents as well.
And that didn't only happen once to Moses.
Next, he turns the river into blood.
That's pretty dramatic, isn't it?
The Nile becomes blood.
Again, he must have felt great.
There he was, obeying God, and God was
responding to his obedience.
There's those Egyptian magicians again, and it shows
you the power of evil, doesn't it?
Because they're able to do exactly the same
thing.
And then there's the plagues, the plague of
frogs, and the magicians can do the same.
It appears to Moses, that these magicians are
unbeatable.
They can do anything that he can do.
And that's followed by the plague of gnats,
and this time the magicians are beaten.
And in chapter 8 and verse 19, they
say, this is the finger of God.
That's those evil Egyptian sorcerers.
They are now claiming that the finger of
God is with Moses.
Must have been another moment of tremendous triumph.
A really heartening experience for Moses.
Great encouragement.
But then we read, Pharaoh's heart was hardened.
He wouldn't listen, just as the Lord had
said.
And I could lengthen the story.
You know that the gnats were followed by
the flies, and this time Pharaoh is brought
to his knees.
Chapter 8 and verse 28, I will let
you go to offer sacrifices to the Lord
your God.
You can imagine Moses rushing back to Goshen,
where all the children of Israel were gathered.
Pack your suitcases.
What we've been waiting for, what we've been
pleading with God for, has happened.
Pharaoh says, we can go.
They've just got the luggage ready.
The cattle are in place to be driven
ahead of them.
And what happens?
Pharaoh changes his mind.
Didn't happen once or twice, but three or
four times.
Moses gets the people gathered together, ready to
go.
And Pharaoh changes his mind.
You know, eventually they were released.
But the disappointments in Moses' life didn't cease
then.
Can you imagine how Moses felt when he
came down from the mountain, and there was
the golden calf.
And the children of Israel were all worshipping
it.
And who was in the forefront?
Aaron, the co-worker that God had given
to Moses, was leading this great apostasy.
This is what we read in chapter 32
and verse 4.
Aaron took the gold that the people had
given to him, and he made it into
an idol, and he cast it into the
shape of a calf.
But the greatest disappointment of all for Moses,
must be in Deuteronomy chapter 34.
Then the Lord said to him, this is
the land, look at it Moses, this is
the land I promised on oath to Abraham,
to Isaac, and to Jacob, when I said
I'll give it to your descendants.
Now Moses, I'm letting you see it with
your eyes, but you will not cross over
into it.
Can you imagine how Moses felt?
Against his own better judgment, in obedience to
God, he committed himself to this great goal,
the release of the Israelites from Egypt, and
their entrance into Canaan.
He committed himself to it, he'd given everything
to it, and there he's looking at the
goal, with his own eyes, that God, the
God who called him, said Moses, you'll never
put your foot in it, you'll be buried
outside the land, that I've promised to your
fathers.
Disappointment, disappointment, disappointment, throughout the life of Moses.
And it wasn't only Moses, think of the
Lord Jesus, and of Gethsemane, Matthew 26 and
verse 38, records Jesus saying these words, my
soul is overwhelmed, to the point of death.
Now my disciples, will you stay here, and
will you keep watch with me?
Here I am, the cross is staring me
in the face, I'm in deep sorrow, will
you just stay and watch with me?
He went deeper into the garden, in order
to cry, when he returned to his disciples,
the disappointment is clearly evident in his words,
couldn't you keep watch with me, for just
one hour?
And eventually you know, they all forsook him,
and fled.
It's the same with Paul, disappointment was a
regular challenge he had to contend with.
Remember his words to the Galatians, Galatians 1
verse 6, I am astonished, that you are
so quickly deserting the one who has called
you, by the grace of Christ, and you're
turning to a different gospel.
He planted churches all over Galatia, he left
them, in charge of elders and deacons, false
teachers had come in, and all that he'd
led to Christ, it would appear, were now
turning to a different gospel.
Remember what he said to Timothy, 2nd Timothy
1 and verse 15, you know that everyone,
listen to this, in the province of Asher,
has deserted me.
Everyone in Asher, had deserted Paul, had turned
against him.
Disappointment was such a part of Paul's ministry,
that he expected it, and spoke about it,
long before it even happened.
Remember how he talks to the Ephesian elders,
in Acts chapter 20, verses 29 and 30,
he's just about to leave them, after his
ministry in that city, this is what he
says, I know, that after I leave, savage
wolves will come in among you, and will
not spare the flock, even from your own
number.
You people who are standing around right now,
even from your own number, men I've led
to Christ, men I've placed into eldership in
the church, from your own number, men will
arise, and they'll distort the truth, in order
to draw away the disciples.
Disappointment, discouragement, a definite part of the cost
of Christian leadership, and perseverance through such disappointments,
is essential, if you are going to continue
and make your mark, as a leader in
the work of God.
It's going to happen to the Sunday school
teacher, going to happen to the Bible class
leader, young people you've got the highest hopes
for, young people you're investing your life and
your time in, and they're going to slide
away from the faith.
It's going to happen to the minister, it's
going to happen to the elder, it might
be disunity in your congregation, it might be
co-workers who just aren't pulling their weight.
Often of course, it will be disappointment with
yourself.
If we look further into the life of
Moses, we would have found that that was
often the case.
Moses was most often disappointed with himself.
He let himself down, he let God down,
and I know in my own life as
a Christian leader, that is the fundamental disappointment.
Disappointment so often with myself, the challenge of
disappointment.
Look secondly at the challenge of criticism.
We've already seen it in the life of
Moses.
The moment he began to lead God's people,
he received the backlash of their criticism.
May the Lord look upon you and judge
you.
You have made us a stench to Pharaoh
and his servants, and you have put a
sword in their hands to kill us.
And again, both Jesus and Paul faced this
regularly.
Whatever good deed Jesus did, he incurred the
wrath of the Pharisees.
They were out like a pack of hounds,
weren't they?
Waiting to pounce on their prey.
Listen to Luke 6 and verse 7.
The Pharisees and teachers of the law were
looking for a reason to accuse Jesus.
So they watched him closely to see if
he would heal on the Sabbath day.
The critics were all around, just waiting for
Jesus to put one finger out of place
by their scheme, by their standard.
And then the hammer of their criticism would
come down on him.
If you know anything about the life of
Paul, you'll know that he was constantly facing
the charge that he wasn't a real apostle.
You see, Peter, James, and John, they were
great men.
They'd been with Jesus while he was on
this earth.
But who was this upstart from Tarsus?
He used to persecute the church.
What kind of a fellow was he?
He wasn't a real apostle.
Many Christian leaders, some I know personally, have
just not been able to stand against the
barrage of criticism they have received.
They've bowed under it, and sometimes been broken
by it.
Many Christian leaders would testify that they find
no challenge more difficult than the challenge of
facing criticism.
And yet for every leader, and certainly for
every Christian leader, criticism is inevitable.
Oswald Sanders, in his book on leadership, Spiritual
Leadership, quotes a letter from Fred Mitchell, who
was the home director of the Overseas Missionary
Fellowship.
And Fred Mitchell sent this letter to a
young minister.
And I want to read just a paragraph
of it to you.
I'm glad to know, wrote Mitchell, that you're
taking the blessings there is through the criticism
being mounted against you by, and then a
name follows, in which case even his bitter
attack will yield sweetness in your life.
A sentence which has been a great help
for Mrs. Mitchell and myself is, it doesn't
matter what happens to us, but our reaction
to what happens to us is of vital
importance.
I think you must expect more and more
criticism, for with increasing responsibility, this is inevitable.
And it causes one to walk humbly with
God, and to take such actions as he
desires.
Criticism is inevitable, but that last sentence is
important.
Not all criticism, by any means, is bad.
There are, of course, two kinds of criticism,
negative and positive.
It's that concentrated negative criticism which can be
so potentially destructive.
Such criticism has to be, where possible, confronted
and dealt with.
You just can't let negative criticism pass.
You have to confront it, you have to
deal with it.
And often it's in the process of doing
that, that physically, emotionally, and spiritually, you find
it so exhausting.
Two or three weeks ago I heard that
a member of my own church, my own
fellowship, was feeling that I was not a
good influence on the church.
We're going through some changes in our church
at the present time, and this brother really
didn't feel I was a very healthy influence
at all.
And I heard this secondhand, and my mind
went to Matthew chapter five, that if you're
offering your gift at the altar, and you
realize your brother has something against you, you
must leave your gift and go and be
reconciled.
Very important verse there.
Not that you've got something against your brother,
you've certainly got to do it if that's
the case, but if your brother has something
against you, this is the standard of the
New Testament, you leave your gift at the
altar, in other words, stop praying, and you
go and you'll be reconciled to your brother.
So I telephoned and made an appointment, and
I can still remember driving the three miles
to his house.
He didn't know what I was going for.
It was just physically and emotionally exhausting to
get into that car, to put it in
gear, doesn't usually tire me at all, but
physically and emotionally it was just exhausting to
confront what I felt was negative criticism.
Now positive criticism is hard enough of course,
but it can be a great blessing in
our lives.
You know, back-slappers destroy leaders.
Just as much as those who inflict negative
criticism, back-slappers, oh that was a marvelous
brother, tragic failure actually, marvelous brother.
I was preaching in a little church on
the west coast of Cumbria a few, well
it's a year or two ago now I
suppose, and there was a brother right on
the back, I don't think he's in tonight,
who was fast asleep, and he actually fell
into the aisle halfway through my sermon, and
jumped back immediately into his chair, and as
I was leaving he shook my hand so
warmly and so, marvelous message brother, what a
marvelous message.
He had slept, unless he was a man
of solid intercession, he had slept remorselessly through
my sermon.
Back-slappers destroy leaders just as much as
those who inflict negative criticism.
They make you feel good, the back-slappers,
but they don't actually do you any good.
One way we really get to know ourselves
is by feedback from other people.
We don't know how we come across to
people unless they tell us.
So we need responses from people, positive and
negative, and we need the maturity to apply
those responses to our lives if we're going
to grow in our Christian experience and in
our leadership.
So, disappointment and criticism, inevitable consequences of Christian
leadership, and probably the most consistent problems the
Christian leader will have to face.
Let's just look at a few more very,
very briefly.
A third, turn please to Exodus chapter 32
for a moment, Exodus chapter 32, and look
at verse 27, Exodus 32 27.
Moses has just come down the mountain after
the people had erected the golden calf, and
look at the action he takes.
Verse 27, then Moses said to them, that's
the Levites, this is what the law of
the God of Israel says.
Each man strap a sword to his side,
go back and forth through the camp from
one end to the other, killing his brother,
his friend, and his neighbor.
Do you think it was an easy decision
to make for Moses?
Do you think it was easy to come
to that conclusion?
Do you think it was an easy command
to give?
But hard decisions, often made alone, hard decisions
made alone, are something which every leader has
to face from time to time.
Two weeks ago at 1 30 in the
morning, I got a phone call from Austria.
Our brothers in Austria had just had a
phone call from Poland, it was to inform
us of a fatal accident, a four or
five car pileup in Poland on ice, and
two young missionaries had gone to be with
the Lord.
One from right here in Scotland, in Glasgow,
his funeral will probably be in the next
few days.
And I received that information before his parents,
before his pastor, it was my job to
convey it.
And I can remember at 1 30 in
the morning walking around the bedroom, wondering what
I should do with that information.
Should I wake the parents and tell them
there and then?
Should I do it by phone?
Should I get in my car and drive?
What would be best for them?
Would it be best for me to tell
the pastor and then they can, he can
tell the parents?
That was a decision I had to make,
couldn't give it to anybody else.
And I had to make it at 1
30 in the morning, alone, apart from my
wife, who was full of excellent advice.
Hard decisions, often made alone, are the lot
of many Christian leaders.
However, we need to say one balancing thing
about this.
I think some writers on leadership over the
years have tended to overemphasize the loneliness of
the leader.
They've tended, it seems to me, almost to
glory in the loneliness.
I believe team leadership is clearly encouraged in
the scriptures.
Jesus chose 11 to be with him and
to lead his church in its early days.
When he sent his disciples out in mission,
it was two by two, wasn't it?
Never alone.
Paul appointed elders and deacons, plural, in the
churches which he founded.
And he himself was hardly ever alone, was
he?
There was always a Barnabas or a Silas
or a Timothy with whom Paul could share.
There's a safety in numbers.
I'm very worried about these Christian leaders who
fly all across the world on their own.
I don't know if they think they're some
kind of spiritual giants who can survive all
the temptations of this world without help.
I'm worried about them.
These evangelists in the forefront of the life
of the church, with people almost bowing at
their feet sometimes.
I'm worried about them.
There's strength in numbers.
We believe strongly in OM, in team leadership,
of each of us being accountable to others
and they being accountable to us.
There's also collective wisdom, isn't there?
When brothers from different persuasions and backgrounds get
together to discuss, the decision which is made
is often a much better decision than the
decision one person would make on his own.
Some people in the church, we have to
face it, just like to be a one
-man band and that's why they're lonely.
They like to rule the roost and they
don't like to have their authority or the
decisions questioned.
Their loneliness is self-inflicted and they're a
long, long way, in my opinion, from the
concept of biblical leadership.
However, when everything is said and done, the
final responsibility with some decisions, often the really
hard decisions, rests on one man's shoulders.
And the Christian leader has to be a
man with broad shoulders.
One further area of strain that many leaders
have to face, and we'll see this again
in the life of Moses, turn please to
Numbers 11.
Numbers 11, 10 to 15.
This is a really poignant passage of Scripture.
Numbers 11, 10 to 15.
Moses heard the people of every family wailing,
each at the entrance to his tent.
The Lord became exceedingly angry and Moses was
troubled.
He asked the Lord, why have you brought
this trouble on your servant?
What have I done to displease you that
you put the burden of all these people
on me?
Did I conceive all these people?
Did I give them birth?
Why do you tell me to carry them
in my arms as a nurse carries an
infant to the land you promised on earth
to their forefathers?
Where can I get meat for all these
people?
They keep wailing to me, give us meat
to eat.
I can't carry all these people by myself.
The burden is too heavy for me.
If this is how you're going to treat
me, put me to death right now.
If I've found favor in your eyes, then
don't let me face my own ruin.
You know, those are the words of an
utterly exhausted man.
A man who feels he's just had enough.
He can't take any more.
He feels the burden of leadership is just
too heavy to bear.
Let's say two things about this.
Exhaustion being a price, if you like, of
leadership.
Two things.
First of all, I'm a bit worried about
the image which is sometimes presented today of
the model Christian leader.
Have you met him?
He's the man who's got absolutely everything together.
He's prosperous.
He's healthy.
He's immaculate.
I've got a tie on, by the way.
He never seems rushed.
That's unspiritual.
He never seems rushed.
He has a highly efficient, qualified staff.
It's all computerized, of course, who keep him
organized and in control.
Well, that's great.
Thank the Lord for leaders like that.
But I'm afraid, personally, that in spiritual warfare,
it's not always going to be like that.
I wonder where you fit Paul's monthly report
into that kind of picture.
Just listen to his monthly report.
2 Corinthians 6, 4-6.
As servants of God, we commend ourselves in
every way.
In great endurance, in troubles, hardships, and distress.
In beatings, imprisonments, and riots.
In hard work, sleepless nights, hunger.
In purity, understanding, patience, and kindness in the
Holy Spirit, and in sincere love.
That is a realistic testimony from a Christian
leader in the front line of the battle.
Occasional exhaustion.
A feeling that you just can't continue.
It's not abnormal.
It's not a sign that you've got it
all wrong.
That your life is in a mess, and
that you're out of the will of God.
But to balance that, I want you to
notice the counsel which God gave to Moses
just after his outbursts.
If you're still open at Numbers 11, look
at verse 16.
The Lord said to Moses, bring me 70
of Israel's elders, who are known to you
as leaders and officials among the people.
Make them come to the tent of meeting,
that they may stand there with you.
I will come down and speak with you
there, and I will take the spirit that
is on you, and put the spirit on
them.
They will help you carry the burden of
the people, so you will not have to
carry it alone.
You see, delegation isn't just a modern principle
of management.
Centuries ago, it was God's way of relieving
the pressure on an exhausted Moses.
And this lack of willingness to delegate is
probably the greatest cause of fatigue and exhaustion
amongst Christian leaders.
You know one practical way you can respond
to these last two points, is to look
at your life and your leadership, and ask
yourself this question.
Is there anything which I am doing that
others should be doing?
Remember this.
If you want to kill yourself, that's your
desire.
You want to kill yourself.
And you also at the same time want
to strangle the work you are involved in
leading.
If that's your twofold desire this weekend, you
want to kill yourself and strangle the work
you're involved in leading.
If that's why you've come, you're looking for
help in that area, it's easy.
It's dead easy.
Just keep on doing everything, and those two
goals will be accomplished.
Now you'll think you're a hero.
You'll march around with your head high.
You were up at five o'clock this
morning, and you won't be in bed before
twelve, and you are doing everything.
And people will lord and fate you.
Look at that man.
He does everything.
I've heard people talking like that.
You go to a church, they introduce you
to this man.
He does everything.
He's a hero.
You know the man's a fool.
The man's not a hero, he's a fool.
He is in the business of strangling the
life out of the work of God.
Ask yourself that question.
If you are doing something others should be
doing, go away from this conference and determine
to get that person who should be doing
it actually doing.
You may have to do it with him
for a few weeks, but delegate.
It'll save you from much exhaustion, and it'll
save the work of God.
But even for the best delegator, if you
get deeply involved in Christian leadership, I'm afraid
from time to time you're going to have
to face the challenge of utter tiredness and
exhaustion.
Finally, I think I've got time for just
one point.
The final price.
There are many others we could have mentioned,
but I think this is an important one,
and that is the loss of personal freedom.
The loss of personal freedom.
This is a bit of a paradox really.
On the face of it, it appears the
more your breadth of responsibility increases, the more
control there should be over your time and
your commitments.
But it just doesn't work like that.
Increased responsibility means increased commitment.
Right now in our church back in Carlisle
we're dividing, quite lovingly, we've agreed to do
it, to start a new church on a
housing estate.
And I've been talking to some of the
people who I really feel would be great
as helpers in this new work.
And they're intelligent people.
And as we've talked, they've understood what I'm
talking about.
I'm talking to them about moving from church
membership to church leadership.
I was talking to two just on Tuesday
of this week, and they were saying, if
we accept this challenge, if we do go,
you know, we won't just be able to
go on our summer holiday when we want,
will we?
We'll have to work out a kind of
rota, won't we?
You know that little cottage I've got, you
know, that weekend place?
I'm not going to make so much use
of that, am I?
Increased responsibility means increased commitment.
As you accept responsibility, you lose personal freedom.
Some of you who are Sunday school teachers
know that.
When you accepted that Sunday afternoon teaching post,
you didn't know what you were doing, did
you?
You really didn't.
All those weekends you could have been away.
But if you're taking Sunday school teaching seriously,
then you realize that increased responsibility means increased
commitment, loss of personal freedom.
Jesus faced this problem constantly.
When he received news of the beheading of
John the Baptist, he was grief stricken, and
he just wanted to be alone.
But listen to Matthew 14 and verse 13.
When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew
by boat privately to a solitary place.
Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on
foot from the towns.
When Jesus landed and saw the large crowd,
he was wanting to head for a private
place, a solitary place.
But when he got there, the crowd was
there.
And that beautiful man Jesus had compassion and
healed their sick.
Privacy, freedom, greatly restricted in the life of
Jesus by those pressing demands of his ministry.
It's another challenge you just have to face
as you contemplate Christian leadership.
So there's a start.
Disappointment, criticism, exhaustion, loneliness, loss of personal freedom.
If you want to leave now, you may.
I've probably put you off leadership for life.
And I'd love to talk to you about
the joys of leadership.
Because you know the Lord Jesus taught, didn't
he, that if you want to win your
life, if you really want to live, then
lose it.
Lose it.
Lose all these things.
Your freedom, your privacy.
Lose these things in order that you might
really know the life of Christ.
I'd love to talk to you about the
joys of leadership because they far outbalance the
problems and the cost.
But you know it's good to take account.
Jesus taught us that, didn't he?
He said, what a foolish man it is
who starts off to build a tower.
And he gets his foundations in the building
half erected.
And he realizes there's no bricks left.
And the superstore has run out of that
type of brick.
What a fool the man is.
He should have counted the cost before he
began.
Some of you are here this weekend because
you're contemplating moving into, or moving further on,
in Christian leadership.
And it's good that you and I should
count the cost.
Because although the joys are great, the cost
is considerable.
Let's pray.
Father, we want to thank you for the
example of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We thank you that he came not to
be ministered to, but to minister and to
pour out his life, a ransom for many.
Lord, we heard last night that service, servanthood,
is the badge of Christian leadership.
And Lord, we know there's a price to
pay for the servant, the bond slave.
And we know, Lord, that many people never
face leadership.
They may have all the abilities and the
talents, the gift, the calling, but they never
move into leadership because they look at the
cost and they say too much.
Lord, we pray you'll help us to look
at Calvary and to see the cost that
you pay.
And then Lord, we realize that every problem,
every price that we have to pay, falls
into its rightful place.
Lord, help us to take our place in
your work and help us, give us the
grace to pay the price.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.