![Inline image 1](https://groups.google.com/group/leadershiptipsfrompgvargis/attach/27e24bce81758/image.png?part=0.1)
A leader is like a river. Starts as a small stream. But gathers
on the way other streams and becomes a mighty river – feeding people, cattle
and agricultural lands and nourishing forests. It never stops working – day and
night. A river exists for others and then vanishes. You can be a Pampa
river of Kerala or Ganges of India or Amazon. The choice is yours.
P G Vargis
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Leadership note. Grow with me.
And share this with others. Let the world
grow.
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PART I DEVOTIONAL
MESSAGE (COPIED)
How to Be a Good Influence
‘Leadership is influence,’ writes John
Maxwell, whose organisations have trained more than 1 million leaders
worldwide. He points out that, according to sociologists, even the most
introverted individual will influence 10,000 other people during his or her
lifetime!
In one sense there is only one leader. In our
New Testament reading today, Jesus says, ‘There is only one Life-Leader for
you... Christ’ (Matthew 23:10, MSG). On the other hand, every Christian is
called to be a leader in the sense that other people will look to you as an
example. You have influence over others in different ways. To be called by God
to influence others is an enormous privilege, but it carries with it great
responsibility.
PSALM 18:25-36
1. Confidence
David was a leader who had confidence.
However, it was not self-confidence but confidence in God: ‘With your help I
can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall’ (v.29). David
recognised that he needed God for:
• Protection
‘He is a shield for all who take refuge in him’
(v.30b). ‘You protect me with salvation-armour’ (v.35, MSG).
• Strength
‘It is God who arms me with strength and
makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me
to stand on the heights’ (vv.32–33).
• Training
‘He trains my hands for battle’ (v.34a). I
was reading this psalm back in 1992 and it was this verse that made me realise
we needed to train the leaders (small group hosts and helpers) before each
Alpha began. This was the origin of ‘Alpha Training’.
• Guidance
‘You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God
turns my darkness into light’ (v.28). ‘As for God, his way is perfect: the word
of the Lord is flawless’ (v.30).
Lord, I need your help. I pray for your
protection, strength and guidance. Lead me in your perfect way.
PSALM 18:25-36
2. Character
Jesus attacks the religious leaders of his
day with strong language: ‘You snakes! You brood of vipers!’ (v.33). This
language would have come as a complete shock to the people. Our image now of
‘scribes and Pharisees’ is very different to how they were perceived at the
time. They were highly regarded, respectable people.
The scribes were lawyers. They preserved and
interpreted the law. They were authorised to act as judges. They had been
ordained after a course of study. They were experts in the Scriptures. They
were teachers who gathered pupils around them.
The Pharisees were laypeople. They tended to
come from the middle classes (unlike the Sadducees who were more aristocratic).
They were much respected for their piety. They prayed and fasted often. They
attended the services. They gave regularly. They led ‘upright, moral lives’.
They had a big influence in society. They were much admired by ordinary people.
Yet, Jesus criticises them for being
hypocrites: ‘They talk a good line, but they don’t live it. They don’t take it
into their hearts and live it out in their behaviour. It’s all spit-and-polish
veneer’ (v.3, MSG).
Jesus’ ‘Seven Woes’ challenge us to aspire to
seven characteristics of a good influencer:
• Integrity
Jesus attacks the hypocrisy of the religious
leaders (vv.3–4). He says, ‘They do not practise what they preach. They tie up
heavy loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are
not willing to lift a finger to move them’ (vv.3b–4). Integrity is the opposite
of this, it means practising what you preach and making sure that your words
lift people up, rather than weighing them down with guilt or other burdens.
• Authenticity
Jesus attacks their superficiality (vv.5–7).
He says to them, ‘Everything they do is done for others to see’ (v.5a). But
what matters is who you are when nobody is looking. Jesus speaks about your
‘secret’ life with God. Seek to develop an authentic private life with God.
• Humility
Jesus warns against loving titles and
recognition (vv.8–11). Be on your guard so that you are not enticed by
‘prominent positions’, ‘public flattery’, and being given titles of one sort or
another (vv.6–7, MSG). Jesus warns, ‘Don’t let people do that to you, put you
on a pedestal like that’ (v.8, MSG). This is such a temptation but Jesus says,
‘For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble
themselves will be exalted’ (v.12). Always seek to exalt Jesus, rather than
yourself.
• Compassion
Jesus attacks the religious leaders for
putting stumbling blocks in the way of others (vv.13–15). He says, ‘You shut
the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will
you let those enter who are trying to’ (v.13). Leaders need to have the
opposite spirit – one that is open and welcoming to everybody.
Jesus himself sets an example of compassion.
He says, ‘O Jerusalem, Jerusalem… how often I have longed to gather your
children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings’ (v.37).
• Vision
Leaders should have big vision. Jesus attacks
the small-mindedness and pettiness of the religious leaders (vv.16–22). The
‘ridiculous hairsplitting!’ (v.19, MSG). They could not see the wood for the
trees. You need to concentrate on the important issues, pray for God’s vision,
and don’t be sidetracked. Ask God to give you a vision that is so big that
without him it is impossible.
• Focus
Focus on what really matters (vv.23–24).
Avoid getting caught up with minor details and becoming legalistic. Jesus says,
‘You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel’ (v.24). Rather we are to focus on,
‘The more important matters… justice, mercy and faithfulness’ (v.23). Fight
against injustice and poverty; and demonstrate ‘faithfulness’ in your
relationships with your family and others.
• Generosity
This is the opposite of the greed and
self-indulgence, which Jesus decries (vv.25–28). Their inner life is so
different from the outer life. Jesus calls you to be yourself – for the inside
to be like the outside (vv.27–28).
These are extremely high standards and very
hard to attain. Jesus’ words here, as the ‘woes’ come to a climax (vv.29–36),
are some of the strongest to come from his mouth. It is important to note that
they were not addressed to ordinary people. Jesus was criticising powerful
leaders who were seeking to ‘exalt themselves’ (v.12), and who ‘shut the door
of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces’ (v.13).
We should not use these words as an excuse to
berate ordinary people, or even leaders who are genuinely seeking to point people
to Jesus. They are challenging words – but the challenge should not be directed
at the wrong people!
What is so amazing about Jesus’ words is that
humanly speaking he was in a position of great weakness, and yet he was not
afraid to take on the powers of his day.
Lord, forgive me for the times that I have
failed in these areas. Help me to lead a life of integrity, authenticity,
humility, compassion, vision, focus and generosity. Help me to have the same
concern for my city as Jesus had for his.
PSALM 18:25-36
3. Criticism
As Rick Warren has pointed out, ‘Criticism is
the cost of influence. As long as you don’t influence anybody, nobody is going
to say a peep about you. But the greater your influence... the more critics you
are going to have.’
Poor Job, who was in a prominent position of
leadership (see chapter 1), has to put up with a constant tirade of abuse from
his critics. It is more distressing because it comes from his so-called
‘friends’. Criticism is always hardest when it comes from those who should be
our friends. It is sad when unjustified criticism of Christian leaders comes
from within the church itself – from the so-called ‘friends’.
It must have been extremely galling for Job
to have to listen to Elihu, who was much younger and yet convinced of his own
experience, arrogantly saying to Job, ‘I will teach you wisdom’ (33:33) and
‘Job speaks without knowledge; his words lack insight’ (34:35). And to suggest
that, because he disagreed with his critics, ‘To his sin he adds rebellion
[against God]’ (v.37).
Elihu, like so many critics, claims to be
‘carefully thought out’ and to ‘have no ulterior motives’ (33:2–3, MSG). He
claims that others agree with him, ‘All right-thinking people say – and the
wise who have listened to me concur – “Job is an ignoramus. He talks utter
nonsense”’ (34:34–35, MSG).
We too can easily fall into the trap of
judging God’s people on a superficial basis, just as Elihu does. Beware of the
dangers of criticising others.
Although it has been pointed out that no one
ever built a monument to a critic, it does not stop us all wanting to be
critics. Be very careful of what you say about other people. And if you are on
the receiving end of criticism, don’t be surprised.
Lord, help me to avoid passing superficial
judgments on other people. Give me wisdom and sensitivity towards those who are
struggling with life. Help me to fix my eyes on the one true leader, Jesus
Christ, to come under his Lordship, follow his example and be a good influence.
PART II
The supervisor of my work section recently
made a casual
comment about my shaggy mane of hair.
He then went on to extol the virtues of a
good haircut,
which, he insisted, makes an elderly man look
younger
and a younger man seem more mature.
"How would a haircut make a middle-aged
man like me appear?"
I asked.
"Still employed," was his answer.
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Have a day of growth for the glory of God
p g vargis
www.pgv.com