I'm glad when I was being looked at to lead St. Paul's about five and a half years ago
that I didn't get a job description like this one shoved under my nose.
It reads, First Presbyterian Church of Warrington, South Carolina,
is yet again seeking a senior minister.
Duties include all preaching and teaching responsibilities for Sunday morning
and Sunday nights with exegetical sermons and average length of 45 minutes.
Pastor will also be responsible for all teaching on Wednesday nights
and the adult Sunday school class.
In addition, we are currently without a youth pastor
and so the pastor will also be temporarily responsible
for all youth activities, Bible studies and fellowships.
The pastor is also responsible for all hospital, shut-in, sick visitations for members,
former members, close friends of either,
as well as any family of the stated by a relationship,
a fourth cousin, twice removed or better.
The pastor will be expected to plan and lead an annual mission trip
and coordinate all funding activities for the trip.
The pastor will be available to 24 hours, seven days a week
to talk with any member of the congregation
or the above stated persons either face-to-face or on the phone.
Furthermore, the pastor will be held personally,
directly responsible for the spiritual wellbeing of every member of the congregation.
The pastor will be expected to attend all sporting,
special sporting events of the youth of the church,
including all homecoming events, chaperoning the high school dance,
prom night, playoffs and any chair leading competitions or functions.
Furthermore, we highly encourage ministry to persons in the community at large
beyond ministry within the church,
so far as it does not interfere with the immediate responsibilities
to the above stated persons associated with our congregation.
The pastor will also be present at all session meetings,
deacadent meetings and all committee meetings.
The pastor will also be available for all funerals and weddings
of any of the above stated person,
regardless of when it occurs or what personal circumstances
might be going in his life or in his family's life.
Duties are expected to take approximately 40 hours a week.
Inquiries may be made to ruling elder Dave Wellington Sr.,
ruling elder Dave Wellington Jr. or ruling elder Dave Wellington III.
In fact, if a job description of that was put under my nose,
I wouldn't be here.
I'm pretty sure that that's a joke.
I mean, I hope it's a joke.
But given the response of some people who made online to that so-called ad,
I'm not sure.
There are a number of pastors out there who resonated quite painfully
with that job description.
That is, they were burnt out with expectations.
Now, if you were writing the requirements of the Christian leader,
what would you include?
What would you put down?
Not sure?
1 Corinthians 4 helps us.
It helps us to see what Christian leadership is all about
and some of the things we should look for in our leadership.
You see, the church at Corinth was like the Olympics,
something like ice skating competition at the Olympics,
where the church is sitting over there in the judges' panel,
and based on the performance of their leaders,
they held up their scorecards.
And it was based purely on personal preferences,
not on anything else,
but on personal preferences and expectations.
There was an unhealthy habit of different groups in the church
associating themselves with different
and various well-known Christian leaders,
while at the same time putting all the other groups
and the other leaders down.
These believers in Corinth were adopting too many leadership models
from the surrounding world.
They were infatuated with great orators,
show of knowledge and philosophical teachings,
and they were judging their leaders
according to what was valued in the marketplace at Corinth.
Many of them prized form above content,
prestige above humility,
knowledge above confessions of ignorance
and human limitations of knowledge,
rhetoric above truth,
money above people,
and reputation above integrity.
They had taken their eyes off the one that they followed,
the crucified Messiah, the Lord Jesus.
And so Paul now gives some advice
on the sort of leaders
that they should in fact be lining up to follow,
and this is the closing off of this whole section
of chapters 1 to 4 on factions in the church.
And this is meant to kill the factions in the church.
And the first thing they're to look for in a leader
is someone who leads to please Jesus first and foremost.
He says in verse 1,
so chapter 1 Corinthians 4, verse 1,
So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ
and as those entrusted with the secret things of God.
Two elements stand out,
and both of them are tied to things Paul's already explained
in chapters 2 and 3.
Firstly, Christian leaders are to see themselves
simply as servants of one particular master.
They serve Jesus Christ.
And secondly, at the heart of their commission
that they've received from their master Jesus
lies one particular assignment,
and that is they're entrusted with the secret things of God.
And these two elements actually merge into one.
What it means to be a servant of Christ
is an obligation to promote the gospel of the crucified Christ
by both word and by example.
And that is absolutely fundamental.
I would go as far as to say
that there is no valid Christian leadership
that does not throb with that priority.
The Christian leaders here must prove faithful
to this fundamental task,
and they must prove faithful to the one
who has assigned them to that task.
Notice, they're not to prove faithful to the church,
but faithful to the one who has assigned them to the task,
to Jesus Christ.
And so leaders must make sure
that they're not trying to win popularity contests
within the church.
And that's what Paul means when he says in verse 3,
I care very little if I'm judged by you
or by any human court.
That is, there is only one person
who's well done on the last day
actually means anything to Paul.
And he plays accordingly.
Once upon a time, many years ago,
before age and injury,
I used to play soccer, football,
that sort of stuff.
Any opportunity I did, I got.
And what I noticed in both sports,
in fact, in most sports,
when you've got people on the sidelines
watching you play,
that whenever they cheered,
it meant well done.
And what you tried to do was do it again.
And so you score a goal,
something like that,
you know, run over with a try
and clap and you go,
and you go,
I must do that again.
I must try hard to do that again.
In my later life of sport,
I found it more difficult to score tries
and I found that I got bigger cheers
from my side
when I took out the opposition instead.
And so I'd clobber some poor young 18-year-old
running down the...
I couldn't catch him.
But if I did,
I was clobbering him.
And so the cheer,
way from my side.
But if my side ever went,
oh,
you know,
you'd make a mistake,
you'd drop the ball
or something like that.
Mental note,
don't do that again.
You were playing the game
based on the applause
on the sidelines.
And I think what Paul's saying here is
to Christian leaders,
and I want to say to you as Christians as well,
who's in your grandstand?
Who's on the sidelines cheering you?
What Paul's saying here is
there's only one person
who it actually matters
who's in the grandstand
or on the sidelines.
And that's Jesus.
And Paul's saying that
I lead as a Christian leader
to get his applause
and no one else's.
Not my parents,
whether they be dead or alive.
Not friends,
not society,
not even the church.
Not even you, Corinthians,
are on the sideline.
I don't play to you guys.
He says in verse 4,
it is the Lord who judges me.
The Christian leader's ultimate allegiance
must be to the church.
Must not be to the church, sorry,
or to any individual leader
or to any tradition.
It must be to the Lord alone.
Now, don't hear me wrongly here.
I'm not trying to milk this passage
for more than it's actually saying.
Paul does not mean
that there is no place in his life
for self-examination or self-discipline.
His own writings in 1 Corinthians 9,
which we'll get to a little bit later,
and 2 Corinthians 13
make it absolutely clear.
He's not abolishing functions of judgment
and accountability in the church.
Paul is not absolving Christians
from the responsibility
to discern behavior and teaching
from the scriptures.
He is condemning the kind of judging
that's happening here in Corinth, though,
that sits on the sideline
and gives a low score to a Christian leader
purely based on personal preferences.
That this Christian leader,
they're writing off Christian leaders
because they don't fit neatly into my camp
or they don't,
they seem to compete
with my personal preferences
and they're not in my pocket.
Paul's condemning that kind of judgment.
And you know,
the best part of this paragraph
is the way it ends.
With the final day of judgment in view,
Paul might have expected to say,
at that time,
that is,
the Christian leader
will receive his rebuke from God.
You know,
because that's what he's receiving
from all these Corinthians,
criticism, rebuke.
They're always telling him,
you've got it wrong,
you know,
and he's expecting that maybe God
might do that too,
but instead he says,
at that time,
each will receive
his praise
from God.
How delightful.
At least in this case,
God raises his scorecard
from the grandstand
on his servants
entrusted with the gospel
and his judgment
is less severe
than the self-appointed judges
of the church in Corinth.
The king of the universe
is a wise father
who knows how to encourage
even the weakest efforts
of his children
who have laboured,
laboured,
laboured
for one thing,
his approval at the end.
Well done,
good and faithful servant.
On the last day,
God himself
will praise him.
And so the Christian leader
has one spectator.
One spectator
and his assessment
is the only assessment
that counts.
That's the first thing
to look for in your leaders
is someone
who leads
to please Jesus
first and foremost.
The second thing
to look for
in Christian leaders
is a life
that exemplifies
the humility
of the cross itself.
This is the heart
of the problem at Corinth.
Have a look there.
Notice verse 6 and 7.
He uses words
like pride and boast.
Pride
is their problem.
They are boasting
about various skills
and insights
of their various leaders
and the irony is
that they're actually
boasting
about things
that are purely
gifts from God.
Paul argues here
that if you've received
some special help
or insight
or strength
from one particular leader,
isn't that simply
one of God's
fine gifts to you?
That's how it should be seen.
And if it's a gift,
then it shouldn't cause
a sense of pride
within you.
Is this not true
of anything
that we value?
You know,
when we get applauded,
how often do we
humbly transfer
the applause
to its true source?
How often
do we do that?
Well,
given on what we just sang,
apparently we do it
all the time.
Did we not just sing
every blessing
you pour out
will turn back
to praise?
We sang it with gusto,
I'm assuming we must.
And yet,
the reality is,
intellectually,
we know God
is the source
of every blessings,
but our hearts
just love
the applause.
Every time
we get applauded,
it puffs us up.
Quack.
Which is what
the word pride
and boasting
actually means
in 1 Corinthians.
It puffs us up.
It blows us up
to make us look
big and great.
It feeds our pride.
And verse 7
is meant to cut away
all sense of pride.
Verse 7
is like a pin
to the balloon.
And
he puts his finger
here in verse 7
on the central problem.
Their assessments
as this church
at Corinth
is judging
its leaders,
their assessment
and their judgment
is based
on their pride
deep in their hearts.
You see,
they thought
the assessments
of their leaders
was because
they had superior knowledge
and superior intellect.
And Paul says,
no, it's not.
It's actually
the pride
that's in your heart.
When they vote
on their leaders,
they were actually
standing in judgment
of their leaders
and standing
in judgment
over their leaders.
And so
when they said
we follow Paul
because we love
this about Paul,
they were actually
putting themselves
over the top
of Paul,
not following Paul.
And so
Paul's language
here is now
steeped in
biting irony.
The Corinthians
have become
smug and self-satisfied
and self-assured
and comfortable
and proud.
Verse 8,
already you have
all that you want.
Of course,
with the result
that they do not hunger
for the maturity
that they do not yet have.
Already you have
become rich
and so they
do not seek
spiritual wealth
because they think
they already have it.
And you have become
kings
or better,
you have begun
your reign
and so they reign
over the top
of each other
and over the top
of even the leaders
that they say
that they follow.
Their confession
of being followers
of the Lord Jesus
doesn't actually
match
with their lives.
Compare them
with the apostles,
the actual
acknowledged leaders
of the church.
Verse 9,
for it seems to me
that God has put us
apostles on display
at the end of the procession
like men condemned
to die in the arena.
The imagery
that he draws on here
is that
of the triumphal processions
of returning Roman legions
from victory in battle.
What used to happen
was they would
this big line up
sort of like
a ticker tape parade,
doors of the city,
gates of the city
would open,
the big generals
would ride in
and their chariots
and people would
throw flowers
or whatever they do,
I don't know,
and all praise,
the big applause
for those right
at the beginning
and then right
at the end
of the procession
is the lowest
of the low,
the slaves of the slaves
and they're the ones
who are eating
everyone else's dust
and walking through
everyone else's filth
and Paul says,
you think that
we're at the beginning,
you praise the guys
that are at the beginning,
we're actually right
at the end here,
this is who I am
and what's my destiny?
Destiny is for the arena,
these slaves
in the triumphal
procession
of the Roman generals
would die
at the hands
of gladiators
or be thrown
to the wild beasts
just for the amusement
of everyone
who's bought a ticket
and he says,
what's at stake here,
I think,
in this paragraph
is a fundamental stance
of weighing
and looking at things
for the Christian.
what Paul's saying here,
it is impossible,
it is the opposite
of the pride
and arrogance
and boasting
of Corinth.
He says,
we follow
a crucified Messiah
and all
the future promises
of perfect eternity,
all the blessings
of sin forgiven
and the blessings
of the Spirit of God
do not negate
the fact
that the good news
that we present
focuses
on the foolishness
of the cross of Christ
and therefore
we are foolish
to the world.
It's a message
that simply
cannot be communicated
from a position
of pride
and arrogance
and triumphalism.
They are in conflict
with each other.
To do so
actually negates
the gospel.
Until Jesus returns
the Christian
is to take up
their cross.
That is,
we are to die
to self-interest
daily.
We are servants
of Christ.
We follow Jesus.
What does that look like?
Verse 11,
to this very hour
we go hungry
and thirsty,
we're in rags,
we are brutally treated,
we are homeless.
Taking up your cross
means sacrifice.
It means personal ambition
and comfort and security
are pushed to one side.
And taking up your cross
also means
that we walk
the same sacrificial,
other person-centered,
loving relational path
that the Lord Jesus walked.
Verse 12,
when we are cursed,
we bless.
That's foolish
in the eyes of the world.
When we are persecuted,
we endure it.
That's foolish
in the eyes of the world.
When we are slandered,
we answer kindly.
That's foolish
in the eyes of the world.
But we follow Christ.
And it's not the applause
of the world
that we seek.
It is the applause
at the end of the time
that says,
well done.
The less
any society
knows of this way,
the more foolish
we will seem
and the more suffering
we will endure.
And so be it.
There is no other way
to follow Jesus.
And leaders
in the church
will suffer the most
because they lead
this way
by their life
as much as their words.
But in the end,
all Christians
are called
to this vision
of life.
And I think
that Paul,
I think for us,
the reason why
Paul's stance here
seems so alien
to us
is that we have
unwittingly become
more like the
Corinthian Christians
than we have of Paul.
many of us
are so
well-to-do,
comfortable,
with little incentive
to live
in vibrant
anticipation
of Christ's return.
Our desire
for the approval
of the world,
the approval
of colleagues
and family
and friends
often outstrips
our desire
for Jesus
to say,
well done.
And so my friends,
look for Christian leaders
whose lives
exemplify
the humility
of the cross-shaped life.
The third thing
is look for Christian leaders
who will encourage
and when necessary
enforce
the cross-shaped life
in those
that they lead.
Paul begins
with the gentler alternative
despite the biting irony
that he's just deployed
in the previous paragraph.
Paul now says
in verse 14,
I'm not writing this
to shame you
but to warn you
as my dear children.
Now at one level
he is shaming them
but that's not the reason
why he writes.
He writes to warn them.
That is to admonish them,
to correct them,
to encourage them
to follow
the way of the cross.
Paul reminds them
that he led them
to the Lord
and in the first place
he tells them
that even if they've got
10,000 guardians
they've only got
one father in Christ.
Paul was the one
who first brought
the gospel
to the Corinthians
and in that sense
he says
I am your father
and because I'm your father
verse 16
I urge you
to imitate me.
Now remember
he's speaking
in first century here
and in the first century
basically
sons followed
their fathers
so if your dad
was a baker
basically guarantee
you're going to be a baker.
Not much
you know
they didn't have options there.
Sheep farmer
you're going to be
a sheep farmer.
The son was expected
to carry on
the family business
the family values
the family heritage
the family name
and Paul argues
that if I'm your father
to the Corinthians
therefore you need
to imitate me
as your father
follow me
as your father
and in the context
of these chapters
what Paul wants
them to imitate
is his passion
to live a life
shaped
by the cross.
He does not expect
them to suffer
in exactly the same
way that he does
he does not demand
that they all
become apostles
and they all
go to plant
churches off
in far distant
lands
what he does
expect of them
is that they
will imitate
his values
his priorities
his cross
shaped lifestyle
and his
valuation
of the
exclusive
centrality
of the gospel
of the crucified
Messiah
and so in
verse 17
we see
he's going
to send
along
some help
to help
them get
this one
straight
verse 17
for this
reason
I am sending
to you
Timothy
my son
whom I
love
who is
faithful in
the Lord
notice that
Timothy
the son
is faithful
in the Lord
following his
father
and he
will remind
you of my
way of life
in Christ
Jesus
which agrees
with what I
teach everywhere
in every church
this is not just
for the Corinthians
this lifestyle is
for everywhere
in every church
Paul is not
sending Timothy
simply to lay
out some more
teaching
but to remind
the Corinthians
of Paul's
way of life
in Christ
Jesus
his way of life
and he gives
us the impression
here that the
biggest problem
for the Corinthian
church
is that they
were not
living up
to what they
knew to be
true
you see
maturity
is not
about how
much you
know
but whether
or not
you're living
out what
you know
judging by
these first
four chapters
many of the
Corinthians
were not
making the
connection
between what
they believed
and how they
should live
you see
these
Corinthians
would be the
first
to insist
that Jesus
died for
their sins
that he
rose
again
but they
could not
grasp
how
this
historical
reality
not only
achieved
their salvation
but in fact
may
must
shape
the way
that they
live
day by
day
and as
we see
in the
coming
chapters
the gospel
wasn't
shaping
their
attitude
to things
like
sex
dating
conflicts
marriage
singleness
food
communion
corporate
worship
use of
gifts
authority
love
status
a whole
bunch
of
things
the gospel
wasn't
shaping
for them
a surprising
number of
Christians
cannot
easily
make the
connection
between the
truth of
the gospel
and how
to live
it is
possible
to define
theologically
rich words
like
propitiation
but not
know
what it's
like to
feel
forgiven
it's
possible
to defend
the
priority
of
grace
in
salvation
but still
feel that
I'm not
good enough
for God
there's a
disconnect
between what
we know
and how
we live
what we
experience
of God
and part
of the
role of
faithful
Christian
leadership
is to
make the
connections
between
creed
and
conduct
between
the cross
and the
cross
shaped
life
and that
is why
we've got
as a church
here
core values
at St Paul's
those core
values
are explicit
in
behavioural
expectations
if you
say this
you hold
to this
truth
it will
look like
this
in practice
that's what
core values
do
and the
fact is
we've all
got values
we've all
got core
values
ourselves
as individual
they are
held down
deep
within us
and every
one of
those core
values
shape
the way
we behave
so for
instance
if you
grew up
in a
truly
patriotic
Australian
family
that valued
Holden
cars
as patriotic
above every
other thing
in the world
as every
other vehicle
every other
car
and all
these
imports
and Japanese
imports
and stuff
are just
all rubbish
Holden
cars
they're the
way to
go
what that
means is
when you
buy a
car
you will
buy a
Holden
car
that is
what you
believe
what you
value
will
transfer
into a
particular
action
and if
in the
same
family
you didn't
just value
Holden
cars
as patriotic
but you
also
valued
success
then you'll
buy the
best
Holden
car
these
values
will shape
your
particular
actions
that's
what they
do
and so
if we
say that
Jesus
the gospel
is our
greatest
treasure
then it
will
shape
how
we
live
it
will
shape
our
priorities
and so
the Christian
leader
must love
in love
admonish
correct
encourage
to see
that confession
and actions
are aligned
and they
must exemplify
this connection
in their
own lives
now let me
just say
if
if your
life
if in
your life
you haven't
made the
connection
between the
good news
and how
to live
then the
proper place
to begin
to make
that change
change in
fact of
the deep
betrayal of
the cross
shaped life
is in
fact the
cross
itself
in humble
confession
if your
life does
not match
the gospel
that you
confess
the only
place to
go is
the cross
in humble
confession
and in
that place
and with
that attitude
you will
find a
God who
will say
to you
well done
and so
bringing the
people of
God to
consistent
Christian
living in
the light
of the
gospel
of the
crucified
Messiah
is so
important to
Paul that
he will
not be
turned from
that goal
he sees
this as an
essential
function of
Christian
leadership
if he
moves the
church by
encouragement
and admonition
that is
great
if however
the arrogant
in verses
18 and
19 don't
move
then severer
discipline is
called for
and Paul offers
the Corinthians
a choice
in verse 21
what do you
prefer
shall I come
with you with
a whip or
in love
and with a
gentle spirit
now he does
not mean of
course that if
he comes with
a whip
he's not
coming in
love
he doesn't
say well
I'll be
gentle and
encouraging to
start with
that's loving
but if you
if you spurn
my love
then I'm
going to
whip out
the six
guns
and then
I'm not
going to
love you
anymore
and I'm
going to
basically
get you
all to
come into
line
he's not
saying that
the contrast
refers to
the manner
or the
form of
his coming
not the
motive
of his
coming
a smack
still hurts
even if it
comes from a
father who
insists that he's
smacking his son
because he loves
him
it is much
better for a
son to change
his behaviour
so that the
manner of the
father's coming
will not be with
discipline but
with a gentle
spirit
now let me
just say that
this is the
toughest one I
think
this is what we
don't like
when you put
this kind of
accountability
into a culture
that is anti
authoritarian
and in an
age of
consumerism and
individualism and
narcissism it
makes godly
Christian leadership
very hard
in this age
our self
worth is
affronted by
any negative
feedback
any rebuke
any correction
is like a
personal attack
on me and
my character
individualism
means that we
fly by our
own rules
when our
sense of
self esteem
is challenged
what we tend
to do is we
run from it
we turn our
back on any
form of
correction
and as a
result we
run we
change jobs
we change
schools we
change courses
we change
partners we
change churches
based on
what will
suit me and
puff me
up and
we never
grow up
just like
little children
if I
line my
three girls
up here
and say
girls tell
us all
what are
the ways
that I
as your
father
love you
they would
say when
you buy us
ice cream
and particularly
chocolate chip
mint ice cream
they would
say when
you buy us
toys
they would
say when
you wrestle
with us
they would
say when
you lie
down and
pat us
when we
go to
bed at
night
they would
come up
with all
these nice
lovey-dovey
stuff that
we do
and I do
love them
but I do
give them
those things
none of
them would
say oh
actually you
really love
us when
you put us
over there
in the
time out
corner for
a bit
because they
don't like
that
you really
love us
when you
refuse to
buy me
that car
that the
orange car
that I
walk past
the Toyota
I want
that car
it's orange
no
they never
say that
because and
that is the
world in
which they
live in
which we
live
you love
me when
you puff
me up
when you
do what
you want
me to
do
and Paul
says he
no actually
it's both
I want you
to not be
puffed up
I want you
to grow
up in
maturity in
Christ and
discipline and
rebuke and
correction is
part of that
process as
much as it
is for my
kids it is
for the
children of
God
and so it
is only the
wise and the
mature who
thank you for
correcting them
the Corinthian
mistake can
very quickly
become our
mistake I
follow Paul
I follow
Paulus I
follow the
church down
the road
because they
suit me
and we
hold up our
scorecards based
on personal
preferences and
not on biblical
standards and
so I wonder
what you would
have written in
the job
description
St Paul's
Chatswood
seeking a
mature Christian
leader who
number one
sees themselves
as answerable
to the Lord
Jesus and
not our
personal
preferences
St Paul's
Chatswood is
seeking a
mature Christian
leader who
number two
demonstrates the
cross shaped
life in their
priorities in
their actions
and in their
words
St Paul's
Chatswood
seeking a
mature Christian
leader who
number three
has the
courage to
encourage and
to enforce the
cross shaped
life amongst
God's people
even when we
don't want
them to so
that we might
grow up together
in maturity in
Christ may we
score highly on
that kind of
leadership at
St Paul's
Amen
females
N