02.16.2014 John 10 - Characteristics of Good and Bad Leaders

2.16.2014 from Grace Summit on Vimeo.

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Lord, You love our praise – and it fills You with joy as we praise You. Thank You that we can honor You and give You glory – in simple songs to You. You long for times like that with Your Church. You have a message for each of us – and it will be different for each – but it will come through somehow – help us to be willing to respond to what You say. Thank You, Lord, that You have forgiven us of our sins – greater love than we can comprehend – give us a better understanding of that today.
John 10: 1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.
Last week was the healing of the blind man – and it concluded the section of conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders. There is this metaphor of the sheep and the shepherd and He summarizes what is going on with the conflict between Him and the religious leaders. Jesus is the true shepherd. The religious leaders had been leading the people astray. This is the primary purpose in revealing that He is the Messiah and the kingdom that is to come. There is also an indication of the failures of the religious leaders. We’ll look at how leadership fails and what it looks like when leadership is right.
All of the miracles Jesus does and things He says point to the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. This culture was immersed with the Old Testament – they had heard these passages over and over again – like sometimes when someone says a line from a movie and you know the entire context.
There are several passages Jesus refers to – one is Ezekiel 34
Ezekiel 34:1 Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds [d]feed the flock? 3 You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep without [e]feeding the flock.
Jesus is pronouncing woe upon the leaders of the day as failed leadership.
What does failed leadership do?
1) Feeds itself and not the flock. This is true not only in the church, but in any organization. Government. Business. Schools. Failed leadership feeds itself – they use people for personal gain and benefit. They were gaining/benefitting from the flock, rather than caring for the flock.
There are 3 ways this is evident – first, ego. There is ego in everything. They use their leadership position to build a reputation from a platform. We see it all the time. Even in the church. Sometimes leadership will provide that platform. They gain an audience. Immediate celebrity status is given to anyone who gains an audience, and that can be dangerous in a person’s life.
2) Leaders who have control issues – they are power hungry – they manipulate and have a need for significance – so they take every opportunity to control things. They push an agenda. They want to get their agenda through.
3) Failed leadership is interested in getting financial gain.
1 Tim. 6:5 …and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. 6 But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.
There are those who fleece the sheep and take all they can. It is not JUST the television guys with the gold jewelry, slick hair, and fancy suits. But it is a reality that people in Christian leadership must deal with. Another thing that happens – building an organization sometimes requires enormous amounts of money. You have to ask, how many millions of dollars can go into these things? Billions are spent on church buildings here and around the world. It is not wrong to have a nice building – but there has to be a balance. How much have we been caught up in the American way of doing these things? The question has to be asked.
John Ortberg has an enormous church in Silicon Valley – it is enormously wealthy and successful – they have a lot of professors at Stanford – and he warns them – We don’t want to become a successful church for successful people – that is not the goal.
Second way leadership fails – They fail to care for the weak.
Ezekiel 34: 4 Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the [f]diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them. 5 They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered. 6 My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was no one to search or seek for them.”’”
Church organizations accomplish goals – this is just a reality – I have been to more pastors’ conferences and seminars than I care to count. They focus on – churches that want to grow focus on the movers and shakers of the organization. You’ve heard the 80/20 rule? 20% of the people do 80% of the work? There is nothing wrong with people who want to do stuff being given freedom to do stuff – but in the church it must be balanced with abundant ministry to the poor, weak, and broken.
There has to be a balance of accomplishment and growth – there has to be growth – if it doesn’t, do you know what happens? 10s of thousands of churches are closing their doors every year. The church must grow in order to fulfill its mission. You can’t make disciples of all nations if you are not making disciples. But on the other hand, that must be balanced with care and concern for the wounded, broken, and weak – so that we are not running over those in order to grow – because that happens also. Sometimes the mission will squash the weak. The church has to find that balance – they tend to go one way or the other. It is all about caring for people! Or, it is all about mission! It is not easy to find that balance. Everyone in the church must understand that importance of the balance. Making disciples and growing is part of our calling. On the other hand, caring for the weak is part of our calling as faithful followers of Jesus.
20 Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them, “Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you push with side and with shoulder, and thrust at all the [t]weak with your horns until you have scattered them [u]abroad, 22 therefore, I will deliver My flock, and they will no longer be a prey; and I will judge between one sheep and another.

23 “Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd. 24 And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David will be prince among them; I the Lord have spoken.
This David is the Son of David – the Messiah – this is the background for the section in John.
4 When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.
Jesus calls His sheep by name – it is very personal – it is a relationship.
We watched Mythbusters last night – They were trying to break the myth of 'herding cats'. Can you herd cats? They started with sheep - They got a couple guys out there to try to herd the sheep. But what do they do? They use dogs to kind of go behind and keep them from straying.
But do you know what they do in the Middle East even today? They go before them and lead them and call them. Jesus does that – He leads us and calls us to Himself.
What is most important is that you have relationship with those you lead.
They know His voice! It just shows the intimacy involved.
7 So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
Jesus changes the metaphor – The shepherd would sleep in front of the gate – so that nothing could get in (or out). Jesus is not just a new leader – He is the Door – the way in – He embodies this new kingdom. He is the way a person enters into a relationship with God.
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
Abundant life in context is eternal life – not the American Dream life. It is eternal life in relationship with Jesus.
When you share this verse – abundant life is a relationship with God forever. There are a lot of benefits – but not necessarily the American Dream.
11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
They didn’t understand this, but we do. If a wolf comes – the good shepherd would lay down his life.
12 He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep.
The ultimate characteristic of good leadership – a good leader will set aside his own comfort/well-being/health, etc. for the needs of his flock. Think of a parent – most will risk their lives to save the life of their child. That is what Jesus is saying about himself as the ultimate leader.
Philippians 2: 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death [h]on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
We rank everything – we try to win everything. When it comes to leadership in the church community – winning is not the answer – it is becoming a servant. There are no Gold Medals for that – that is what God is calling for leaders – the ultimate sacrifice for others – all that Jesus laid aside – that He might serve – ultimately with His life.

14 I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, 15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
He closes this off with just how intimate this relationship is – I know my sheep and they know me. We think of Young Marrieds as being ‘in love’ – but it is the ‘Old Marrieds’ who really know one another and understand intimacy. A lot of people avoid intimacy because they are afraid of being known. In order to become intimate, we must become fully known – and that is the way it is with God. Intimacy with God is only as much as we allow ourselves to be known. Yes, He knows all about you – but that is different from where we wall off certain aspects of our lives to God.
Search me and know my heart – it is that kind of intimacy God desires – my heart is open – search it and see if there is any hurtful way in me – something that is doing damage to the relationship. If you want your marriage to grow, you need to ask your spouse what you do that causes damage to the relationship – and that is a hard thing to know. And often a spouse will tell you without you asking! But there is a different effect when we ask – what do I do? As opposed to “why do you always do THAT?” – a conversation as opposed to a snipe.
We need to develop a relationship with God where we let Him in.
16 I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. 18 No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”