Lead With Diligence
Romans 12:8
Introduction.
Perhaps you’ve seen this graphic before.It illustrates the difference between a boss and a leader.
The top graphic depicts the employees carrying the business and the boss while the boss drives them on—in other words, a boss says, “Go!”
On the other hand, the bottom graphic depicts the leader out front urging the employees behind them while they all carry the business—so the leader says, “Let’s go!”
The next slide shows several other differences between bosses and leaders.
This is not intended as a seminar on leadership, but it does give us a launching point to talk about what it means to lead with diligence.
The word for “leads” in Rom. 12:8 is only translated that way here.
It does show up in several other verses translated as “rule” or even “maintain.”
When I think of a ruler, I think of something closer to a boss than a leader.
But when I think of maintenance, well, I don’t really think of a boss or a leader, but if I had to choose, I suppose a leader is closer.
When it is translated as “rule,” it is in reference to husbands and elders (1 Tim. 3; 5).
Interestingly enough, the two times it is translated as “maintain,” it is in reference to good works (Tit. 3:8, 14).
The word literally means “to stand before.”
But with the form it takes most of the time, it becomes “to place before.”
So it’s not one seizing a leadership role, but one who is placed there.
Preview.
Leading in the home.
Leading in the church.
Leading with diligence.
Body.
Leading in the home.
First it all starts in the home.
The family unit is the first institution the Lord established all the way back in the Garden of Eden.
We talked about that in our Bible class last week when we considered the issues of divorce and remarriage.
We spend our formative years in the home.
If society has gone astray, it begins as issues in the home.
So it matters how God has established the home to live as He has designed it.
This is why Moses commanded the Israelites to teach their children about the ways of God (Deut. 6:6-8).
King Solomon taught this principle (Prov. 22:6).
The Apostle Paul emphasized this as well (Eph. 6:4).
The head of the household.
In any situation where two or more people are working together, there’s going to be disagreement, and marriage is no different.
To think otherwise is naive.
You can have the best marriage in the world and still disagree on things, and even have arguments.
Having disagreements is not a sign of problems in a marriage—handling disagreements poorly is.
And this is why the Bible devotes so much time to how the family ought to operate.
Paul writes that man is head over the woman, that wives are to submit to their own husbands (1 Cor. 11:3; Eph. 5:22-23).
When there is a hierarchy in the family (or anywhere really), it promotes peace when both parties agree to the structure that has been put in place.
So the leader, the ruler, the “one placed before” the family is the husband.
God is the one who put him there, and really the wife put him there, too, by agreeing to marry him.
Agreeing to this structure promotes peace within the family, the wife submitting to her husband as the head of the household.
So why him and not the wife? Why not let the couple decide?
This is actually part of the curse given to women in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 5:16).
Along with the pain of childbirth, the Lord says, “Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”
So going against this structure is a show of pride and a lack of humility toward God for His judgment at the dawn of time.
A proving ground.
Leadership in one’s family actually ends up being a proving ground for leadership in the church.
Both the offices of elder and deacon have the requirement that they rule their own houses well (1 Tim. 3:2, 4, 12).
In fact, Paul gives the reason, that “if a man does not how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?” (1 Tim. 3:5).
This is one reason why newlyweds or the unmarried or those without children cannot serve in those roles—we simply don’t know how he would “rule his own house.”
Plus the practice and experience raising children are invaluable when it comes to taking care of the Lord’s church, as I’m sure any elder would tell you.
So, as we consider this, let us now look at the leadership within the Lord’s church.
Leading in the church.
The Chief Shepherd (1 Pet. 5:4).
As we read earlier, the head of man is Christ (1 Cor. 11:3).
Anyone who leads in the church must submit to Christ in all things.
No one has any right to wrest control for himself and dictate all the things he wants with no regard to what Christ has revealed in Scripture.
But just as with anything, “all things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful … not all things edify” (1 Cor. 10:23).
And to use that wisdom to determine what is the most helpful for us, what edifies us the most, we need to have leaders here, stewards of what belongs to Christ.
So who are these leaders that are to be in the church?
Those placed before others.
The basic definition of the Greek word translated as “lead” indicates it is someone who stands before others.
So anyone who is up here leading in worship is among those.
If you are leading a prayer, presiding at the Lord’s table, leading singing, or preaching, you are among those gifted to lead.
Many of them are talked about, in a miraculous sense, in 1 Cor. 14:26: “Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation.” Of course Paul ends that verse by saying, “Let all things be done for edification.”
Those who had these things (a psalm or teaching) stood before the congregation; they were leaders.
And just as they were, you, if you’re a leader, are to lead with diligence (obviously not concerning the miraculous, but the non-miraculous).
Grace given by Christ’s gift (Eph. 4:7, 11).
By His gift, He has given some to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.
Earlier in Ephesians, Paul had established that the apostles and prophets are the foundation of the church, with Christ as our chief cornerstone (Eph. 2:20).
A couple weeks ago we talked about how an apostle, as the word is used in Scripture, does not necessarily have to be one of the Twelve.
But not just anyone who is sent (basic definition of ἀπόστολος) can be considered part of the foundation of the faith.
That distinction can only apply to the Twelve.
So, being the foundation of our faith, they are the ones who wrote Scripture.
In turn the Scriptures, their writings, become the foundation of our faith.
While the apostles and prophet are dead, their authority lives on.
So what of the remaining leadership roles?
Evangelists are those who preach the good news. Do we still need those today?
Of course! Not everyone can devote the time and energy to study and share the gospel. So yes, we do need people dedicated to that endeavor.
Doing so is certainly a gift, and I thank God I’ve been given these abilities and opportunities.
As for pastors, I hesitate to read this as “pastor” as the NKJV translates it because the word is so horribly misunderstood in the religious world today.
Another better translation for this word is “shepherd.”
Who are to shepherd in the NT? We read in Acts 20 and 1 Peter 5 that it is the elders, also known as the overseers who are to “shepherd the flock of God.”
We see those qualifications in 1 Timothy 3, along with the qualifications of deacons.
Recall, they need to be able to rule (lead) their own houses well before being considered for these leading roles.
Not everyone who leads in any way must meet that qualification—we would be so fortunate to have so many who did!
But leading is more than just standing up here and saying a few words. We’ll see in a bit what leadership requires.
For now, we know that an elder/pastor/shepherd/overseer is important and needed.
Of course, we talked about teachers a few weeks ago and how important and essential they are to the work of the church.
All of these leadership roles requires diligence.
Lead with Diligence.
Without diligence?
There’s nothing worse than counting on someone to do a job and they don’t do it.
Solomon writes about that (Prov. 25:19).
It’s like a bad tooth and a foot out of joint—it’s painful!
You know when you hurt some part of you, say your pinkie, and every time you use it, you feel it—you don’t realize just how much you relied on that finger.
It’s the same with one whom you rely on, but proves unfaithful.
Now I know I have dropped the ball many times, but as leaders in the church, we need to make sure that doesn’t happen.
It takes diligence to lead effectively.
It takes diligence to make sure you check the list to see if you’re on it for a particular task.
It takes diligence to know what to say when you’re preaching or leading a prayer or even leading a song.
It takes diligence not to neglect members of the congregation who need help, spiritually and materially.
This is true both in the church and at home—as parents, we need to be diligent leaders, consistent with our children, doing what we can to prepare them for the world out there and the world to come.
- As we see, leadership requires many things.
Coaching – Titus was told to teach, particularly the young men, “to be sober-minded” (Tit. 2:6).
Role modeling behavior – in doing so, Titus was also to be an example (Tit. 2:7-8); Timothy, too, was to be an example (1 Tim. 4:12).
Generating enthusiasm – after all, we are to exhort one another to love and to good works (Heb. 10:25).
Developing people – remember, all things are to be done for edification, developing them, making them better.
Giving credit – taking credit becomes a pride issue, and elders, among others, are not to be “puffed up with pride [and] fall into the same condemnation as the devil” (1 Tim. 3:6).
Accepting blame – while elders and deacons are to be blameless, we all ought to accept responsibility for things when they go wrong.
Saying, “Let’s go!” – how else can any of the leaders like Paul and John consider themselves fellow-workers, –laborers, -servants, -soldiers unless they are in the trenches themselves? “Let’s go!”
Have your back – this is the same encouragement that we talked about from Barnabas that he gave Paul and Mark when they needed it, and the kind Paul needed when everyone else had abandoned him (2 Tim. 4:16).
These things ought to be done diligently, never slacking or wavering, for you do not want to be that bad tooth or a foot out of joint.
Conclusion.
Leadership is so very much needed at home and in the church.
The Lord has set up three institutions: home, church, and civil government.
Of course, we primarily focused on leaders in the home and in the church.
Those who lead are gifted and privileged to do so, having been placed in those positions by others.
The Lord has established that the man be the head of the household.
He has also established the type of leadership He wants in His church.
We can never forget whose church this is—we are merely stewards.
But as stewards, we are still held responsible for what goes on, so it’s important for us to go about our work diligently and without fail.
But before we can truly be an effective leader in the church, we need to become a Christian first.