The Apostle Paul’s Five Modes of Leadership

I'm probably the furthest thing from a natural-born leader that you could possibly be. Yet I currently find myself leading a local Church body with a weekly attendance of around seven to eight hundred people, a volunteer base of about four hundred, and a staff of about eight. When I tell you I was not born for this, I'm not lying, exaggerating, or "being humble." Hopefully none of my Church reads this... then again if they don't who will? 😅

Let me jump to the point: I'm naturally a fairly shy and Introverted person. I sweated the Mississippi River out of both arm pits when I had to stand in front of my class growing up. I was never a captain of a team or a leader in my school in any way. I was not BORN to lead, but I was BORN-AGAIN to lead. I can say with confidence that I'm not a natural leader, but rather a spiritual leader. I'm willing to bet you are too. Because Kingdom life is one of power. When we are born into Christ, we are born into a royal priesthood of authority. I'm not a spiritual leader because I'm a pastor, I'm a spiritual leader because I'm a follower of Jesus.

Where He leads, I follow.

Where I follow, I lead.

That's the way this works.

So this week, let's explore how to be intentional leaders in the kingdom.

THE WORD Command and teach these things. Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. -1 Timothy 4:11-12

The Bible was written for you, but it wasn't written to you. I know that can be hard to hear, and people tend to get a little defensive when they hear that. But my statement in no way diminishes the power of the Word to speak directly to our lives. It only magnifies it!

Understanding the original audience the scriptures were written to help us apply them to our lives. Paul wrote the verse above not to the global Church but rather to one man, Timothy, who was leading a local Church. After having discipled and spiritually fathered him in the faith, he sent lil' Timmy to the Church at Ephesus to help shepherd and lead the movement there.

When you read 1 and 2 Timothy with this context in mind, it helps you make sense of many of the instructions and wisdom that are being shared throughout those letters. Context always brings light to content. It's within this context that Paul gives us a clear blueprint for being effective in leading others.

Here are the Apostle Paul's Five Modes of Leadership given TO Timothy, FOR us.

LEADERS SET AN EXAMPLE IN

1. SPEECH

The way you TALK

James 3 gives us a pretty stark warning to those who underestimate the power of their own words. "Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly."

When I read that verse, I immediately think of my years teaching high school juniors and seniors. You aren't kidding James! Those kids judged me every day! They judged my clothes, they judged my hair (or lack thereof), they judged my words... heaven forbid I stutter in the middle of a sentence - they had no shortage of jokes and sarcasm locked and loaded!

But that's not what James is referring to. As hard as it may be to be a schoolteacher, James is referring to those who misuse their influence to mislead people. You may not be a preacher, but you have a pulpit. Your job, role in the home, sports team, friend circle, or small group are all platforms for you to influence others. Not to mention how social media has now given everyone the ability to be heard.

So, what are you preaching from your pulpit? Your likes are your "amens", your shares are your sermons, and what you post is what you preach. You and I have been given the gift of influence.

James goes on to say the tongue in our mouth is like the rudder on a massive ship. Our words have the power to shape beliefs, change behavior, and inspire change. That's why Jesus tells us it will not just be our lives that will be judged in eternity, but "every empty word" we have spoken (Matthew 12:36).

Our leadership starts with our lips. Effective leaders work hard at being intentional with their words.

2. CONDUCT

The way you WALK

Whether you lead children as a parent, songs as a worship leader, or groups as a facilitator, your life will always speak louder than your lessons, songs, or household maxims. People watch your behavior more than they listen to your words.

I've learned people are way more impacted by how they see me interacting with my kids at the grocery store than what I say from the stage on Sunday mornings. Who you are when you think no one is looking is who you REALLY are.

We must live intentionally in order to lead intentionally.

There’s a verse in 2 Timothy where Paul says “The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops.” Sounds kind of obscure, but remember, this is all in the context of leadership. Here’s the revelation: a farmer who grows a bunch of crops and gives them all away starves himself… and if the farmer starves, everyone starves.

Leaders must feed others out of what they’re feeding themselves. We can't lead on empty. I don’t read my Bible to find something for our church members. I read my Bible to find something for me. When I have fed myself, then I can easily feed others.

Paul went as far as saying, "Imitate me as I imitate Christ." We have to ask ourselves as leaders, "Am I living a life worth imitating?"

3. LOVE

The way you relate to OTHERS

One of the anthems in our household that we repeat to our kids is "See a need, meet a need!" And then they run off into their day filled with love for everyone, living as shining of examples of Jesus in their attitudes, their actions, and their abilities!

Ok, that's not true. They're 4 and 6 and even though they repeat the phrase with us, they still often struggle to live it out, just like the rest of us.

But, I cannot stress this enough: leaders are SERVANTS. We even refer to our government leaders as "public servants." Regardless of whether or not they all fit that description, that's what the job was originally meant to be!

Jesus came to abolish the demonic idea that those who lead should be served BY others and taught us instead that they should be servants TO others.

In the worldly system the guy at the top is there to boss people around and make people obey him, but in the kingdom Jesus demonstrated servant leadership.

My dad worked for corporate for Harris Teeter (a prominent grocery store chain along the east coast) for many years. During his time with the company he held high positions; high enough to make managers nervous when he walked in their stores. Not because of his character, but simply because of his role in the company. I worked for Harris Teeter through my teenage years as a bag boy, which, by the way is the LOWEST rung on the grocery store ladder (I guess my dad didn't have as much power as I thought).

You can probably guess the job description: I bagged groceries, carried them out to cars, brought in carts, all the glamorous stuff. When things got super busy in the store, I would often see my dad walk out of an upstairs office, jump on a register, start bagging groceries, and pushing carts for people. Rarely did I see managers do that but my dad never hesitated. When we're servants there’s nothing that isn’t in our job description. That is servant leadership.

Leadership is not about people SEEING YOU. It’s about YOU SEEING people.

We are placed in positions by God, for others.

In my years as a worship leader, I encountered some pretty difficult environments. I would often lead in Churches and places where I would sing my heart out while people just stared at me. I'm having flashbacks just thinking about it...

But I noticed that the more I connected with people off the platform - getting to know them, asking about their family or work, building a relationship - the more they would begin to go anywhere with me in worship when I was on the platform.

If you want the people to be in your corner when you're leading, then connect with them when you're not. Get out of the green room, get off the platform, come out of the spotlight and love people where they are! We are servants first, leaders second.

4. FAITH

The way you relate to GOD

Your walk with Jesus is the MOST important thing in your life. There are going to be difficult seasons in leadership. People will hurt you, abandon you, and misjudge you

The Bible calls our Faith a shield. Now maybe you’re not very familiar with medieval armor but allow me to educate you: they didn’t carry around shields because they looked cute and matched their belts (that's about all I know, but I know it for sure).

You don't carry a shield unless someone is out to get you.

It would be misguided for me not to make you aware that the moment you step into leadership for the Kingdom and you choose to intentionally lead others to the cross of Jesus, the enemy places a target on you.

I remember when I first stepped into the youth leader role in my local church in Charlotte, the next day I walked out of my apartment to find my car had been hit in the parking lot. It was a hit and run and they had done enough damage to completely total it. That day a spiritual father in my life called me to simply say, “Welcome to the ministry!"

The enemy FIGHTS the most what he FEARS the most. There will be opposition against you as a leader, but you have the shield of FAITH.

In battle, you may be tempted to lay down your shield so you can swing your sword better and faster, but that shield is what will protect you. I often want to go ALL in: fighting hard, doing the work, preaching well, loving others, spending time with people; doing all the stuff! While somewhere in the process, laying down my shield in an effort to be more effective. The reality is, I’m sacrificing my personal time with God in order to do all this work for God.

As leaders the only way we will endure is to prioritize our personal walk with Jesus and lead from a place of full faith.

5. PURITY

The way you relate to YOURSELF

The greatest tool in the leadership belt is the mirror. The book of James tells us God's Word is like a mirror, not only revealing what is true but also where we are falling short in regards to what is true.

Leading well can only happen if we regularly examine our motives and our intentions. Pride doesn’t grow, it swells. Pride is the default setting of our hearts and our sinful nature. If we don't put our pride in check daily, it will slowly creep into our lives and therefore into our leadership.

We must lead with accountability. That means in order to lead others well, you and I have to be led by others well. We have to submit ourselves to other leaders and those whom God has placed over us.

One of the new core values for our Church is accountability, so we commonly say, "Check your blind spot!" We grow through feedback. As we hold one another accountable, we are sharpened, refined, and empowered. We must value hearing what is in the hearts of others if we want them to value what is in ours.

When it comes to raising up leaders within our Church, we have determined that we can only empower people to the degree that we can hold them accountable. There are times where we all need to be corrected or confronted. Leading in purity means looking inwardly and making sure that we’re doing the right things for the right reasons, as well as looking outwardly to the people God has placed around us to help us in our examination.

CONCLUSION

You're not likely to find much of this in the latest leadership podcast or seminar. But these are the ancient Holy Spirit-inspired words of a spiritual father to his spiritual son on how to lead in a way that honors God. So lead on! The world is waiting for you and I to step up, step out, and set an example.