Let's open our Bibles together to 1 Thessalonians 2, as we continue looking at the theme of being a Christian leader. Today we continue with our text beginning with verse 4. 1 Thessalonians 2. Just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God, who examines our hearts. For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed, God as witness.
Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority. In whatever roles of leadership God assigns us, we want to lead as Christians. It may be in the realm of our homes, our church, our community, our politics, school, business, whatever the realm of engagement, we want there to serve Jesus Christ as a Christian leader.
A man who has grappled with this and done well is Dick Kaepern, who is the publisher of the Miami Herald in an article some time ago now Decision magazine. He related that on the job he struggles, quote, to balance the power of my Christian faith with my public responsibilities to a divergent pluralistic community, close quote. In the article Kaepern says that he finds the workplace to be a totally different, a totally different from the close, caring experience of church and home.
I think all of us would agree with that. Church and home help to recharge faith, he says, allowing us to face a world of different values. His faith, prayer, and family help Kaepern to deal with a world of controversy and criticism. He says, and I quote, the Lord has blessed me with special opportunities to serve. And he expects me to devote my energies to good purposes, close quote. Kaepern is an example to all of us in the business world.
The fact is that opportunities like that abound for every one of us to be God's leaders if we will only look for those opportunities and use them. Opportunities will increase in the days ahead, I believe. One futurist predicts that the rate of change in the 90s will be three times that it has been. Or another way of saying it is that we are going to experience change in the 90s more than in the past 30 years.
Now those of you who are old enough to understand what change in the last 30 years has been like will appreciate what he says when he says the next 10 years there's going to be as much change as since 1960. With the kind of upheaval and transitioning that that will bring to our whole society, those who have biblical values and godly morals, I believe, will rise to the surface. A Christian leader is one who serves. Serves God and serves others.
He or she does not employ intimidation, manipulation, or deception. He or she does not see life as focused on taking, but rather as centered on giving. A Christian leader is one who serves with determined courage, even in the face of severe opposition, and with transparent integrity that shows that there is a wholeness about the life. Leadership is servanship. And every effective Christian leader must reflect the kind of character that the Apostle Paul and his team showed in Thessalonica.
In addition to determined courage, which we saw in verses 1 and 2, and transparent integrity, which we saw in verse 3 last week, this team also gave evidence of genuine humility and gentle wisdom. Humility is seen in verse 4, where we see the Apostle and his team thinking of themselves in a right perspective. Paul speaks of himself when he says he sees himself as a steward and not as a master. Notice he says, we have been entrusted with the gospel. An interesting expression.
It is the verb form of our word faith. It's the same word as to believe. It's a word used in John 2, 24 when it says Jesus was not entrusting himself to the multitudes. It means to believe on something. And really what Paul is saying here is that God believes in me. God has examined me and he knows that I can be trusted. Therefore he has entrusted me with this precious gospel message. Paul had been found suitable. He had gained God's approval, he says.
The idea here of approval was drawn from that day when the Athenians were tested for fitness for public office. One would wonder what kind of a test that was and if it could be applied in the 1990s. Fitness for public office. The Apostle says God has approved me for public office as an Apostle and has believed on me, has entrusted to me the gospel. The Apostle sees himself as a steward, not a master. Is that the way you look upon the responsibility God's given you?
As one who has been entrusted with a responsibility? Can those who give you responsibility believe in you because you're going to do what you've been asked to do and do it with a loyal spirit and a wholeheartedness? Paul saw himself as a steward. Then he saw himself as accountable. Not autonomous, but accountable. Accountable not to people primarily. He did not shape his leadership in order to gain favorable reaction from people. But rather he was accountable and saw himself accountable to God.
God who continues, even after approving us, to test us. God who scrutinizes our hearts and our responses to his divine tests. What kind of a test is God putting you through right now? You know that doesn't mean that God is angry with you. It doesn't necessarily mean that God is discipling you in the sense of chastisement. But God may be just testing you. What will his reactions be? How will she respond in this situation?
And God always does that with the expectation that he will be able to approve us in that test. There was a genuine humility about the Apostle Paul. He saw himself as a steward. He saw himself as one who is accountable. God has a way of dealing with us, doesn't he, when there is pride in our lives. I was speaking with a friend of mine who is a pastor in another state a few days ago.
He related to me that he had been raised in a Christian home where he had been taught to love Jesus and go to church from his earliest years. He said, we had a wonderful Christian home, large family. But he said we had a problem in our family. Our problem was self-righteousness. He said there were three things that we were especially self-righteous about in our family. He said we were self-righteous about divorce. Two people ought to be able to live together.
He said that they were self-righteous about rape. He said if a woman gets raped, she's asked for it. You've heard that recently, haven't you? You've been reading the newspapers. That kind of perverted thinking. He said God has worked in our family in the last three years. He said our family was self-righteous about rebellious children, too. If children are raised right, they'll not rebel when they become teenagers.
He said in the last three years, we have in our family, he was talking about his extended family, experienced rebellious grandchildren. One of the family has been divorced. One of the granddaughters working at a Christian ministry was raped by one of the staff members there and is bearing that person's child. He said God has dealt with our family about self-righteousness. We had all of the outward things in place, but there was pride.
He said God has put us through the wringer and our family has been humbled. Why did God do that? Why did God allow all of those things to happen? Because God wanted to really use people in that family and to use them. They had to have a genuine humility about them. God is not afraid to confront those attitudes in us that hinder him. In fact, he will, whatever the attitude may be.
Let me go on to the fourth characteristic that we see here in this team, especially the Apostle Paul as he relates his own experience. In verses five and six, we see that the team was characterized not only by genuine humility but gentle wisdom. Three traps of leadership that the Apostle successfully avoided. Number one, flattering speech. Using one's words, one's language to gain the favor of other people for personal advantage.
Paul is not suggesting here that we should not compliment other people or encourage them, but he is talking about the kind of speech that is used to manipulate, to say things that are not true in order to gain advantage over others. This is politics in its rawest form. Paul says, we did not employ flattering speech among you, nor did we employ greed. He speaks about this pretext for greed or a cloak for greed. The idea is, we did not have greediness about us that we disguised in some way.
We did not put a mantle over it so that you could not see it. We were not guilty of greed. Money is involved here, but not just money. It is anything that we do for self-satisfaction. Paul says, when we were with you, we avoided the trap of just pleasing ourselves, getting out of you what we wanted. Indeed, to be controlled by a desire for more of anything is nothing less than idolatry. It is a fact that you can cloak that.
You can put a mantle over it so it cannot be seen by others, but God sees it. That is why Paul says, God is witness. He knows that we avoided greed, one of the traps of leadership. He says we avoided glory. We did not seek glory from men, from you, or from others. He is talking here about position, honor, and power. He is talking about reputation that comes with successful leadership.
All of us need to beware the entrapments of some position that we might be given, even by God, in our service for Him. The Apostle Paul avoided these traps of leadership, and he carefully employed the authority of the leadership God had given to him. He did not push his way around. He did not throw his weight. But wisely and gently, he exerted leadership and set an example before the Thessalonians. After all, he and these others were the apostles of Christ.
He is using the word apostle here in that broad sense. They were sent by the churches of Christ to minister to others. They were apostles. And they did not demand what they might have demanded rightly, even among these people. So the Apostle says as leaders, we too must have a gentle wisdom about ourselves, avoiding the entrapments that sometimes come with leadership, and exerting our authority in a wise and gentle way among the people of God and for their good, not ours.
To be a leader in God's kingdom means being a servant. Christian leadership is noted for courage. It is noted for humility. It is noted for integrity. It is noted for wisdom. In whatever role of leadership you have, does that characterize the way you seek to be a leader? Is your service to others distinctively Christian? There may be someone here who says, you know, I would love to be a leader, but I'm not qualified.
I don't think God can use me because I have been through so many experiences and I am so scarred by life. Maybe it was before you were a Christian, or even afterward and you badly stumbled. I want you to know today that what this table is all about means you can be restored to use by God. God is in the redemption business. God picks up that which is dirty and he washes it. God picks up that which is shattered and he carefully puts it back together.
Chuck Swindoll in writing about this text says, more often than not the best leaders come from a scarred past. They can lead more effectively because they have experienced and come to personally understand suffering, ill treatment and opposition. If you have a disability it need not disqualify you from leadership.
Whether it be a crippling disease, a sexually abusive experience, a broken home, a criminal record, financial bankruptcy or almost anything else, none of that needs to render you incapable of leading others successfully. In fact such difficult and trying experiences can often develop you into a better leader because your survival through them has made you realize the value of hope. A prime function of a leader is to keep hope alive in those whom he or she leads.
There is not a one of us here today who cannot devote himself or herself to becoming the Christian leader that God wants us to be. God has placed every one of us in certain roles in life where we can be distinctive Christian leaders who exemplify the kinds of characteristics that Paul and his team showed. I would hope today that we would determine by the grace of God that we will be Christian leaders, servants who are ministering to other people out of this kind of a heart.
For when we do that the blessing of God can flow through us and touch the lives of people. And after all, isn't that what life is all about? As we come to the table today perhaps it's an opportunity for you to renew a commitment to be a Christian leader in your home or in the workplace or on your campus or in your church. And we can come to this table and say, Lord Jesus, you the servant of the Lord who gave your life on behalf of me. Today I give you my life afresh to be your servant.
Use me in those roles that you've given me in life. Make me a Christian leader and let your life flow through me. Let's pray. With our heads bowed and our eyes closed, I just wonder how you would like to respond this morning. It may be that there is someone or some servant here who is so overwhelmed by the issues of life at this point that you hardly know how to pray. And you would like someone to pray for you. We're going to take that opportunity this morning.
We're going to take three or four minutes here in the service and allow you to slip out from where you are. And while some music is being played and sung, we're going to allow you to slip out and come here to the front. And there will be some of us here who will be able to pray with you. This is not a counseling situation that would take more time, but let us pray for you.
And if this morning you are struggling, this morning you are reaching out, desiring someone to touch your life, allow one of us here in the front that privilege, will you? And if you need not come, if you don't sense the Spirit of God leading you in that way, then pray right where you are in preparation for the Lord's table, making Christ the Lord of your life afresh this morning.