Leadership

Consuming Community

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14For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. 16But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh…

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

 

How is your family (organizational) culture today?

Fussy? Filled with fights?

Does jealousy lurk just below the surface?

Do your structures promote pride and leverage selfish ambition?

Community that consumes is common.

 

Such dysfunction abounds when fear, shame, and guilt have their way among us.

 

In Christ Jesus we have been given another way.

 

The Apostle Paul, writing to the Galatian churches, is concerned. He knows what happens when we our old nature runs into the old nature of another person. Unchecked by the Spirit of God, the old natures rises up and shows its conceit, its ungodly joy at provocation, and its festering envy over another’s good fortune. This kind of community is the kind that devours people and spits them out. Its always looking for the top of the pile. Its a consuming community.

The community that consumes has nothing to do with the Spirit of God and the fruit that is borne of a community surrendered to Jesus. Spiritual leadership in Jesus’ name will yearn for and create the environments that seek maturity that displays Jesus’ love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Then we will catch glorious glimpses of The Communing Community of God, Father, Son & Holy Spirit.

Getting over our cults of personality.

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1But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? 4For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human? 5What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.  1 Corinthians 3:1-9

 

We’ve all got “personality.” Great leaders have personality too. Their confidence makes them seem larger than life. Servants of Jesus who are also great leaders point people to Jesus and not to themselves. The Apostle Paul is battling the cult of personality built into the fabric of Corinthian society. He lays out a new perspective for them.

 

  1. These leaders are servants of Jesus.
  2. Each leader has an assignment from Jesus.
  3. Each leader has relationships with the church given by Jesus.
  4. As each leader does their part, God gives the growth.
  5. Each leader answers to God.
  6. The servants of Jesus are fellow workers in God’s Field, In God’s Building working with God. So the church is not “their’s;” its God’s.

 

 

The Rubble, The Babble, and The Spirit

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4And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 6Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. 7Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”

8Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9“The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 10For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.  Zechariah 4:1-10

Small beginnings.

Zerubbabel was tasked by God with what seemed impossible: rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem from the large pile of rubble, a mountain of rubble, currently occupying its former space. His small beginnings were an object of contempt among his detractors. But God awakened Zechariah to encourage Zerubbabel to continue laying out the stones so that he could choose the cornerstone that would set the foundation and the walls of the temple.

God’s grace.

Large tasks and visions have their temptations. The leader is tempted to rely on her own wits, authority, and power. While these require skill and political awareness. The spiritual leader called by God has an ultimate point of reliance. The spiritual leader relies on the Spirit of God. God says, “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit.”
Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to His disciples. Jesus fully intends to build His church. Therefore He continues to give “impossible” tasks to His disciples. But He gives His Word. And He gives His Spirit as our Helper.

26“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.John 15:26

 

6But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.7Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.8And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:9concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;10concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer;11concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.12“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.13When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.14He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.15All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.  John 16:6-15

Dreams from the heart of God

What’s the great mountain standing between you and the dream God has put in your heart? Last weekend Origin Church explored God’s Word to Zerubbable as a word for us. In our spiritual journey we believe disciples are graced with dreams of Jesus’ work in the lives of people. Every great dream has small beginnings. We must not despise the day of small beginnings. Although we bring all we’ve got we do not rely on ourselves as the ultimate force. Spiritual leaders rely on the Spirit of God “to build the house.” God brings the grace that fully exceeds our strengths and our weakness.

Here’s our encouragement: God says, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit.”

 

Easter: Hope for Life’s Greatest Disappointments

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Big Idea: Jesus does not avoid us when we fail. John 21:1-22

In the Resurrection encounters of John’s Gospel, Jesus meets His followers to reveal Himself; along the way He becomes the answer to their grief (20:1-23), doubt (20:24-29), and disappointment (21:1-22).

 

Peter’s great disappointment.   John 13:36-38 & John 18:15-18, 25-27

Peter had failed to stick with Jesus. Peter denied he knew Jesus. Peter’s bold appraisal of courage and faithfulness turned into lies, curses, and avoidance. Peter was crushed!


Jesus’ abundant grace.  John 21:1-14

A large catch of fish and breakfast on the beach!


Jesus restores those crushed by disappointment!

Jesus invites you to commune with Him.  vs. 15

17For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.19Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.  Revelation 3:17-20

The disappointed need relational attachment affirmed by Jesus.

 

Jesus raises the question of allegiance and affection.  vs. 15-19

3I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. 4But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.  Revelation 2:3-5

The disappointed need character built on the foundation of Jesus’s love.

 

Jesus calls you to align your life with His mission.  vs. 15-19

“I will build my church.”  Matthew 16:18
“Feed my lambs.” “Tend my sheep.” “Feed my sheep.”
“Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” Matthew 6:33

The disappointed need purpose and vision for life clarified by Jesus.

 

Jesus commands singular discipleship; no comparing and no predicated obedience.  vs. 18-22

“If it is my will that he ______, what is that to you? You follow me!”

The disappointed need the Resurrected Lord Jesus’ grace for “a long obedience in the same direction.”

 

Weddings, Social Politics, and Seating Charts

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Do you care where you sit?

7Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 8“When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, 9and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. 11For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”  Luke 14:7-11

What was obvious to Jesus is also obvious to others. When we are eager for respect, honour, position, status, we will climb over others to get into the seat of honour. Those who demand honour cannot calibrate the mind of a greater host. We are at the mercy of the host; to act otherwise is to show our smallness, pettiness, jealousy, vanity, and fear.

Jesus’ words here are not just wisdom for endearing ourselves to others by refusing to manipulate social politics for personal gain. Jesus is showing us the basic internal posture of kingdom citizens. His Kingdom citizens entrust themselves to the Host of the Great Wedding Feast. We are His servants, invited to His party, and He decides how, when, where, and why to exalt us.

Humility is a choice. It only becomes unconscious and part of our character when we are glad to be at the party with Jesus and anyone else He has included. Humility becomes our character as we are extraordinarily confident and secure in the Father’s love and acceptance of us through Christ Jesus our Lord. Then it doesn’t matter where we sit.

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