WEBVTT

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 Okay, let's pray, let's ask for the Lord's help as we come to think about this together.

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 Let's pray.

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 Loving Father, we want to pray now and ask for your help.

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 We know, we were thinking about it together this morning, how you love to reveal yourself to us.

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 You love to speak to us.

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 It is mostly our reluctance to listen, which is the problem.

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 And so we pray that you would give us eager ears to listen to what you say.

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 Tender hearts to obey and put it into practice.

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 And Lord, we pray that you might help us to think clearly and carefully and help one another as we think together about the values of our church.

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 In Jesus name. Amen.

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 Amen.

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 So we've been thinking over these last weeks about the six values of our church.

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 And you have a little space there to write down as many of the six as you know.

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 And then I will get you back to call them out.

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 So as many of the six as you can get, you can work with the person next to you if you like.

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 You have a minute.

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 You'll get one of them because it's at the top of this sheet.

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 Who would like to start us off the six values of our church?

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 Lovingly diverse.

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 Yes.

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 Prayerfully dependent.

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 Gospely centered.

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 Yes.

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 Sorry, Hilda.

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 Locally rooted.

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 Yeah.

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 Servantly led.

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 Kingdomly minded.

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 And so we've done them all then.

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 Yeah, right.

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 Have we done gospely centered?

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 Did we do that?

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 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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 We're upset.

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 So there's stuff about fellowship.

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 Yeah.

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 That's not in there specifically, is it?

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 It's, I guess it's implied in the ones that we're looking at this evening.

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 But yes.

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 And in our diversity.

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 So yeah.

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 So yes.

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 Lovingly diverse.

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 We love one another.

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 Okay.

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 So we're thinking tonight about being servantly led.

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 I was walking back from this morning's meeting with Luis.

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 We were walking over the railway bridge.

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 And I said to Luis, I said, you know, you can tell the difference between an experienced teacher and an inexperienced teacher.

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 Because an inexperienced teacher tries to teach way too much.

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 And an experienced teacher realizes that you have to cut down what you think you can communicate in a sermon.

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 And then I was thinking, oh my goodness, Steve.

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 Your evening sermon is utterly ridiculous.

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 And the amount that you think you're going to be able to communicate.

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 So I am displaying my inexperience to you all this evening.

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 So let's turn to Mark chapter 10, verse 35 to 45, to see where this idea of servantly led comes from.

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 I've put on your handouts most of the cross-references that I'm going to use,

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 which will hopefully mean that you spare a bit of time of you firing around the Bible.

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 But they're not all on there.

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 So you will need your Bible at various points.

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 So here we pick it up in verse 35 of Mark chapter 10.

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 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus, to him.

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 Teacher, they said, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.

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 Which is a bold thing to say to the king of kings.

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 What do you want me to do for you?

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 He asked.

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 They replied, let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in glory.

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 You do not know what you are asking, Jesus said.

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 Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?

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 In other words, guys, you have no idea.

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 You have no idea what is about to happen and what is coming your way.

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 We can, they answered.

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 Jesus said to them, you will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with.

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 But to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant.

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 These places belong to those for whom they are prepared or for whom they have been prepared.

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 In other words, listen, we're not doling out high seats in glory right now.

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 You will suffer for the kingdom in the way that I will suffer for the kingdom.

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 You will drink down the cup and be baptized in the way that I am doing those things too.

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 But I am not going to give you the place in glory that you request.

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 When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John.

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 You can imagine, can't you?

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 What?

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 What were you asking?

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 Were you trying to push us out of the way while you had Jesus' ear?

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 So Jesus called them together, verse 42, and said,

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 You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them.

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 And their high officials exercise authority over them.

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 Same idea, same words.

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 Not so with you.

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 Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.

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 And whoever wants to be the first must be slave of all.

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 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.

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 Greatness in the kingdom, says Jesus.

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 Leadership and authority in the kingdom are about service, not about glory or self-exaltation.

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 The contrast is there, isn't it, between the world, which is the word there is lording over, literally gaining mastery over.

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 This is the sort of authorities that says, I say so, you do.

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 That's the way of the world.

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 Kind of fragile displays of power designed to put people in their place.

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 But by contrast, Jesus, who is the first of all, because he is the slave of all.

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 Jesus is the one who has served everybody in the kingdom.

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 Because he has given his life as a ransom for many.

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 Nobody is in the kingdom without Jesus being their servant, dying on the cross in their place for their sin, giving himself for us.

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 And so leadership in the kingdom is not claiming a status, but by becoming Christ-like.

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 So essentially, instead of claiming your status to lead in the kingdom, you surrender your status.

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 Leadership is Christ-like.

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 It's sacrificial.

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 It's giving oneself up for the benefit of others.

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 It is leadership which is focused on the glory of God and not its own glory.

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 And that, says Jesus, to be the model of leadership and authority in the kingdom.

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 Now, you don't need me to tell you that is not always how churches are led, is it?

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 It's not always how churches are led, is it?

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 And so the world's leadership model is not to infiltrate the church like that.

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 Christ is our leadership model, not the world.

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 And so we need to spend some time thinking together, what does it actually mean for a church to be led by servant leadership?

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 Servant leadership.

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 And I've got four points, which are sort of dotting around the New Testament, thinking about what leadership and servant leadership looks like in the New Testament.

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 And there's chance for discussion and questions after each one.

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 So we'll work on that together.

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 So the first one is this.

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 Servant leadership is active, not passive.

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 Now, I start here because I think this is an easy mistake to make.

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 It is easy to think that servant leadership means no effective leadership, that servant leadership means that effectively you do what everybody else wants and you don't actually really think clearly about the direction in which you're going.

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 I was reading a book a couple of weeks ago by an academic called Joe Rigney, who's done lots of research on leadership in church and teaches a seminary in the US.

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 And he made the point that there are many more churches that are ruined by passive leadership than there are by those that are ruined by authoritarian leadership.

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 Both are a problem in the life of the church.

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 But there are many more churches that are ruined by passive leadership, he says.

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 I don't know whether he's right, but it seems to ring true, doesn't it?

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 The absence of any effective leadership leads to church decline.

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 And so while it's common, I think, to say, isn't it, that elders are qualified by character, which is true,

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 actually, when you look at the qualifications in 1 Timothy, for example, you see that leadership is one of the qualifications of an elder.

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 So if you have a look at 1 Timothy chapter 3, 1 Timothy chapter 3, and I think I might put that on your handout,

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 but it might also be worth going there because we are going to look at a couple of verses in 1 Timothy.

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 So 1 Timothy is on page 1192.

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 In 1 Timothy chapter 3, verse 1, you have the outlining of the qualifications for eldership.

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 Let me pick it up in verse 1.

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 Here is a trustworthy saying, whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task.

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 Now, the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,

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 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

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 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect.

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 But anyone who does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?

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 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil.

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 He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap.

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 Now, it is common for that list of qualifications to be read and say that the only non-character qualification in that list is the ability to teach.

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 I think apt to teach, as it was originally translated, apt to teach is picking up teaching from the previous chapter in 1 Timothy.

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 But there is another non-character qualification in there, which is this expectation that they manage their own household well.

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 Literally, they rule or have authority.

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 And so they are to do that in the home in a way that then qualifies them to do it in the church.

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 So the sign that someone is going to be a suitable elder, that you can recognize them as a suitable elder in the church,

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 is how they lead at home.

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 So is his home managed well?

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 It's not that he must be married, but rather it seems to be that if he is married, this is where you will see these gifts at work.

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 Interesting, isn't it, that you will see this qualification of leadership in an elder,

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 not by how they manage at work, but how they manage at home.

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 Home is where a husband should have a godly influence and taking the family in a good and godly direction.

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 And so the logic is obvious, isn't it?

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 If a potential elder's home is chaotic, if the children have no sense of what is valued or the direction of travel

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 or the expectations of family life, then you can't expect that person to be better leader in the church than they are at home.

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 And so you need to look out for that.

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 And so we find that servant leadership is active leadership, it's not passive leadership.

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 So I want you just to think about that with the person next to you.

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 Think about this.

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 Does managing well in 1 Timothy 3 mean that all leaders in the church should be of the same personality type?

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 So does that mean that everyone should be, I don't know whether you don't use these types anymore, do you,

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 but a type A kind of person, you know, a person who's always really determined,

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 very clear in their own mind about what they're doing.

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 Does it mean that we should all be of the same personality type?

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 Why or why not?

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 Have a think about that with the person next to you and then we'll discuss it together.

00:12:39.679 --> 00:12:42.679
 Anyone?

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 Anyone talking about the question?

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 Clifford?

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 Different personalities, same character traits.

00:12:51.059 --> 00:12:54.759
 Yes, so different personalities, same character traits.

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 Yeah, Lucy?

00:12:56.059 --> 00:13:02.459
 So they should be humble and able to work as a team.

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 Yeah.

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 Why do we think they shouldn't all be the same personality type?

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 Why is being able to manage not a personality type?

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 What is it?

00:13:10.759 --> 00:13:12.399
 If it's not a personality, what is it?

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 Come on, Jen, you're shaking your head at me.

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 Come on.

00:13:20.680 --> 00:13:21.879
 Okay, you don't know what I'm saying.

00:13:21.879 --> 00:13:31.179
 So what does it mean to be somebody who manages well if it's not this kind of leadership that the world loves so much?

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 Am I saying it's a skill?

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 I'm asking the questions, Nick.

00:13:38.279 --> 00:13:38.720
 Yeah.

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 Is it a skill to be learned?

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 So I think it is definitely something that you can learn and get better at.

00:13:44.379 --> 00:13:44.480
 Yeah?

00:13:45.639 --> 00:13:45.899
 Yeah.

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 And so at one sense it is a skill.

00:13:49.620 --> 00:13:49.780
 Yeah.

00:13:53.139 --> 00:13:53.740
 Go on.

00:13:53.860 --> 00:13:55.100
 Sorry, I'm not going to answer it quick.

00:13:55.220 --> 00:13:55.420
 Come on.

00:13:55.500 --> 00:13:55.860
 Someone else.

00:13:55.860 --> 00:14:14.419
 Managing well would be to lean into different personality attributes that you might have.

00:14:14.500 --> 00:14:14.680
 Yeah.

00:14:14.940 --> 00:14:18.100
 Such that it produces something worthwhile.

00:14:18.340 --> 00:14:18.560
 Yeah.

00:14:19.080 --> 00:14:19.279
 Yeah.

00:14:19.379 --> 00:14:20.580
 So it might look different.

00:14:21.060 --> 00:14:21.420
 Yes.

00:14:22.420 --> 00:14:25.519
 So exactly how you do it will look different from person to person.

00:14:25.519 --> 00:14:29.679
 But I think essentially it's a willingness to own responsibility, isn't it?

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 What is going on in this home is my responsibility.

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 What is going on in this church is the responsibility of the leaders.

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 And so it is on us as husbands and fathers in order to shape what's going on in our families,

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 to make sure that it is shaped around God's word and God's priorities.

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 And if we are unwilling to do that in the home and take responsibility for that in the home,

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 then we will not be prepared to take responsibility for that in the church either.

00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:00.279
 And so it's not a personality type.

00:15:00.340 --> 00:15:03.340
 What I mean is it doesn't mean that this person is a really driven person.

00:15:03.439 --> 00:15:04.799
 It doesn't mean that they're an extrovert.

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 It doesn't mean that they love being on their feet in front of a group of people.

00:15:08.819 --> 00:15:12.539
 We will find that there are all sorts of different ways that eldership works out like that.

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 And we'll find that in a moment.

00:15:13.580 --> 00:15:18.340
 It means more that within the personality that the Lord has given me,

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 whether I be an introvert or an extrovert, whether I find certain things easy or difficult,

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 I am willing to own the responsibility that the Lord has given me.

00:15:26.980 --> 00:15:29.540
 This was Adam's failure in the garden, wasn't it?

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 That he was unwilling to take responsibility and lead his wife away from temptation

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 rather than allowing her to wander into it and him to follow her into it.

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 So a willingness to take responsibility.

00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:46.840
 And that's the opposite of passivity, isn't it?

00:15:47.459 --> 00:15:49.220
 Passive leadership in the church just says,

00:15:49.340 --> 00:15:53.360
 well, hey, church is declining and really struggling, but I don't know what to do.

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 And so it just doesn't do anything about it.

00:16:03.079 --> 00:16:03.480
 Okay.

00:16:09.480 --> 00:16:09.960
 Yes.

00:16:10.399 --> 00:16:17.559
 So that's a good question, Mike.

00:16:17.639 --> 00:16:18.100
 Thank you.

00:16:18.519 --> 00:16:21.159
 I'm sure that my question here is not super well written.

00:16:21.939 --> 00:16:27.579
 But it is what is the danger of us making this mistake,

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 of us basically appointing leaders in the church who are all of the same kind of personality?

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 Because that happens, doesn't it?

00:16:36.059 --> 00:16:37.819
 You see churches doing that.

00:16:38.219 --> 00:16:43.399
 But basically, the elders in the church are all just exactly the same as one another.

00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:44.719
 What's the problem then?

00:16:44.720 --> 00:16:45.420
 Yeah.

00:16:45.420 --> 00:16:45.420


00:16:45.419 --> 00:16:58.539
 I think it's probably a bit stupid, just like friendships form with similar interests of people, but that may well be a natural tendency to try and find people like us.

00:16:58.779 --> 00:17:02.259
 We have to actively be embraced.

00:17:03.740 --> 00:17:07.559
 Go on, Jeff.

00:17:15.420 --> 00:17:25.580
 Yes, yes.

00:17:25.620 --> 00:17:27.920
 If you're all of the same personality, it breaks apart.

00:17:27.920 --> 00:17:28.759
 Yeah.

00:17:41.259 --> 00:17:42.019
 Right.

00:17:45.420 --> 00:17:46.539
 Yes.

00:17:49.019 --> 00:17:50.380
 Yeah, thank you, Mike.

00:17:50.380 --> 00:18:05.680
 You see, if you all just sort of coalesce around a personality type and you're all just very similar to one another, then you end up rejecting ideas and insights and perspectives that would be helpful to you because they don't come from the same point of view.

00:18:05.960 --> 00:18:06.200
 Lucy?

00:18:11.259 --> 00:18:12.380
 It's complacency.

00:18:12.380 --> 00:18:12.940
 Complacency.

00:18:15.100 --> 00:18:16.300
 Of complacency, yeah.

00:18:16.420 --> 00:18:18.160
 You all have the same blind spots, yeah.

00:18:18.820 --> 00:18:19.020
 Yeah.

00:18:19.660 --> 00:18:20.400
 Yeah, absolutely.

00:18:20.980 --> 00:18:25.140
 Elders love to appoint people who are just exactly the same as them because it means they don't have to think too hard.

00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:25.340
 Yeah.

00:18:25.340 --> 00:18:25.740
 Go on.

00:18:25.740 --> 00:18:26.420
 Yeah.

00:18:26.420 --> 00:18:26.420


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00:18:46.779 --> 00:18:49.200
 just depending upon what we used to.

00:18:49.579 --> 00:18:49.839
 Yeah.

00:18:52.839 --> 00:18:53.279
 Yes.

00:18:55.279 --> 00:18:55.599
 Yeah.

00:18:57.940 --> 00:18:58.359
 Yes.

00:19:00.639 --> 00:19:01.160
 Yeah.

00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:02.220
 Yeah.

00:19:02.500 --> 00:19:02.799
 Yeah.

00:19:02.920 --> 00:19:05.079
 It can become very quickly self-dependent.

00:19:05.259 --> 00:19:05.379
 Yeah.

00:19:05.839 --> 00:19:09.079
 And one of the things I think we need to pray for in church life is that the Lord will raise

00:19:09.079 --> 00:19:15.759
 up leaders in the church of a wide variety of different personalities and backgrounds

00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:21.900
 so that they can be a team of leaders who work well together in order to manage the breadth

00:19:21.900 --> 00:19:22.319
 of the church.

00:19:22.500 --> 00:19:28.099
 I think there are many things in church life here that we get wrong, I'm sure.

00:19:28.200 --> 00:19:31.500
 But one of the things that you can be really thankful for is that we have a really diverse

00:19:31.500 --> 00:19:32.240
 leadership team.

00:19:32.960 --> 00:19:34.640
 And that is, praise God for that.

00:19:35.299 --> 00:19:37.879
 Continue to pray that we would be united and work well together.

00:19:39.019 --> 00:19:39.180
 Okay.

00:19:39.299 --> 00:19:43.740
 Secondly, servant leadership is made up of elders and deacons.

00:19:43.740 --> 00:19:51.579
 Now, I just want to talk about the two specific roles that are identified in the church.

00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:58.880
 The first is the role of elder, which is variously called pastor or overseer, as we've noticed

00:19:58.880 --> 00:20:00.900
 here in 1 Timothy chapter 3.

00:20:01.400 --> 00:20:04.460
 It's pastor teacher in Ephesians 4.

00:20:04.620 --> 00:20:06.079
 It's shepherd in 1 Peter.

00:20:06.460 --> 00:20:08.500
 But it's all the same role in view.

00:20:08.500 --> 00:20:16.500
 Now, it might be that the church chooses to set apart an elder or some elders and pay them

00:20:16.500 --> 00:20:21.599
 to free them from regular work so that they can spend more time in preaching and teaching.

00:20:22.339 --> 00:20:27.440
 And it's worth noticing that that's how the New Testament talks about paying elders.

00:20:27.640 --> 00:20:30.359
 It is not so much that you're giving them a salary.

00:20:30.519 --> 00:20:35.980
 You are freeing them from the burden of work so they can give their time to preaching and

00:20:35.980 --> 00:20:36.360
 teaching.

00:20:36.940 --> 00:20:40.860
 And Paul talks about that in 1 Timothy chapter 5, verse 17.

00:20:41.079 --> 00:20:44.880
 If you glance over, if you're still in 1 Timothy, the elders who direct the affairs of the church

00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:50.799
 well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.

00:20:52.299 --> 00:20:59.319
 It's interesting in the New Testament church, it seems that once the church has elders, then

00:20:59.319 --> 00:21:02.599
 the church itself is largely left to get on with things on its own.

00:21:02.599 --> 00:21:06.619
 So there's this kind of grand mission of church planting through the book of Acts and then

00:21:06.619 --> 00:21:08.519
 the appointment of elders in each different place.

00:21:08.899 --> 00:21:12.279
 And once elders have been appointed, then they're left to get on with it.

00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:17.719
 It seems as though a church without elders is considered to be out of order.

00:21:17.980 --> 00:21:24.959
 Titus chapter 1, verse 5, Paul writes to Titus and tells him in Crete to put into order what

00:21:24.959 --> 00:21:30.980
 remains out of order, which is that they need elders appointing in every town.

00:21:30.980 --> 00:21:35.000
 Interestingly, that elders are always plural.

00:21:35.240 --> 00:21:41.160
 So there's no instance in the New Testament where we are to expect a one man band or a

00:21:41.160 --> 00:21:42.160
 one person leadership.

00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:44.599
 It is always elders, not elder.

00:21:46.440 --> 00:21:53.079
 It also seems that elders in the church are a sort of reestablishment of the family and

00:21:53.079 --> 00:21:53.799
 the Garden of Eden.

00:21:53.960 --> 00:21:59.259
 So the church is variously called the household of God or the family of faith, the family of

00:21:59.259 --> 00:22:05.539
 believers. And so the elders are there to be essentially sort of like the husbands of this

00:22:05.539 --> 00:22:08.960
 new family. And so the elders are always to be men.

00:22:09.700 --> 00:22:16.680
 It's expressly mentioned in 1 Timothy chapter 2 and Titus 1 and in 1 Corinthians 14 that elders

00:22:16.680 --> 00:22:17.400
 are to be men.

00:22:17.700 --> 00:22:20.140
 And it's at very least implied in 1 Peter as well.

00:22:20.759 --> 00:22:23.379
 Nowhere in the New Testament do you have reference to female elders.

00:22:23.380 --> 00:22:28.860
 And that's not because the New Testament is a kind of misogynistic stereotype of its time.

00:22:29.320 --> 00:22:33.440
 Actually, what's surprising in the New Testament when you read it is the high status given to

00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:39.300
 women throughout the New Testament, including their involvement in responsibility for theological

00:22:39.300 --> 00:22:45.720
 teaching, for contributing to the life and ministry of the church, for having churches

00:22:45.720 --> 00:22:51.000
 in their homes, for taking letters from various different places, to being the witnesses to the

00:22:51.000 --> 00:22:57.700
 resurrection. It's not that we are supposed to presume that men have nothing to learn from women.

00:22:57.900 --> 00:23:01.759
 I know that churches have been terrible at interpreting it like that, but it seems to be

00:23:01.759 --> 00:23:10.079
 rather that the household of God, where each plays its part, is where elders are like husbands

00:23:10.079 --> 00:23:17.000
 who love and serve well, that all in the church might flourish, men and women. And you can talk about

00:23:17.000 --> 00:23:21.880
 that more and ask me questions in a moment if you like. The second office in the church is deacon,

00:23:22.079 --> 00:23:27.720
 literally servant. Often it seems like that's linked with a particular practical responsibility

00:23:27.720 --> 00:23:33.759
 in the church. And deacons in the New Testament are men or women. Female deacons are mentioned

00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:43.579
 specifically in 1 Timothy chapter 3 and in Romans 16. Their role, it seems shaped, at least in part,

00:23:43.579 --> 00:23:48.939
 by the appointment of the seven in Acts 6, who are not deacons, they're not called deacons, but it does

00:23:48.939 --> 00:23:54.500
 seem as that is a kind of prototype of what happens in the life of the church. You are servants in the

00:23:54.500 --> 00:23:59.720
 church, ensuring that gospel ministry is not skipped over, but the ministry of the word of God and

00:23:59.720 --> 00:24:05.279
 prayer is not neglected by those who are given responsibility for it, by making sure that the

00:24:05.279 --> 00:24:10.159
 practical aspects of church life are run well. That's not to mean it's not an important role.

00:24:10.160 --> 00:24:16.360
 Rather, it seems that the deacons have a crucial role in the life of the church. In Romans 16,

00:24:16.600 --> 00:24:23.180
 Phoebe is to be welcomed warmly by the Roman church because she is the financial underpinning of many

00:24:23.180 --> 00:24:30.640
 people, including the apostle Paul himself. It seems in 1 Timothy 3 that the esteem given to deacons in

00:24:30.640 --> 00:24:37.779
 the church is a blessing to them and to their walk with the Lord. Now, the New Testament seems to give us

00:24:37.779 --> 00:24:43.960
 these two offices then elders and deacons in the life of the church. Servant leadership involves

00:24:43.960 --> 00:24:50.680
 appointing elders and recognising deacons as well in the life of the church. Now, we're going to talk about

00:24:50.680 --> 00:24:55.920
 membership in a moment, but before we do that, have a think about this. If there are two offices in the

00:24:55.920 --> 00:25:02.200
 church, the office of elder and the office of deacon, then where do two other things fit that we have in our

00:25:02.200 --> 00:25:12.059
 church, which are staff and trustees. So have a think about how do all those groups relate to one

00:25:12.059 --> 00:25:20.779
 another, do you think? How does the office of elder, deacon, staff and trustee? So staff and trustee are

00:25:20.779 --> 00:25:26.660
 obviously not essential because they are not given to us in the New Testament, but we have them here.

00:25:26.660 --> 00:25:32.000
 Why do we have them? Do we need them? I mean, if you decide you don't need any staff,

00:25:32.680 --> 00:25:38.360
 Louise, Jen and I will go straight home. But have a think about that and how they relate to one

00:25:38.360 --> 00:25:40.980
 another and then we'll go back together. Go for it.

00:25:40.980 --> 00:25:48.640
 Okay, do you want to share your answers?

00:25:53.640 --> 00:25:54.940
 Would you like to share your answers?

00:25:54.940 --> 00:26:10.400
 Sarah has asked a question on Zoom, I think. Sarah, I'll answer your question because people are still

00:26:10.400 --> 00:26:18.440
 discussing my question here. The question is, why don't we have any women deacons here at church yet?

00:26:18.440 --> 00:26:28.080
 At the moment, we have this sort of interim joint leadership team. I hope that we will have women deacons.

00:26:30.140 --> 00:26:35.720
 And so, yes, I think that's just where we are at the moment. I don't think that's a commitment to where

00:26:35.720 --> 00:26:41.259
 we want to be. Our church handbook certainly says that we could and should have women deacons.

00:26:41.259 --> 00:26:50.119
 Yeah. Anybody want to help unpick this? Staff and trustees.

00:26:56.700 --> 00:26:58.960
 Thanks. Right. Anybody?

00:26:58.960 --> 00:27:08.460
 We were saying that regarding trustees, that's like, as Paul was saying, you kind of have to respect authority.

00:27:08.619 --> 00:27:08.799
 Yeah.

00:27:08.980 --> 00:27:10.339
 Follow the laws for that.

00:27:10.339 --> 00:27:10.579
 Yeah.

00:27:11.359 --> 00:27:15.099
 So, trustees is part of that government that's required.

00:27:15.899 --> 00:27:16.299
 Yes.

00:27:17.559 --> 00:27:17.919
 Yeah.

00:27:19.419 --> 00:27:19.939
 Yes.

00:27:21.119 --> 00:27:26.139
 Yeah. So, having trustees is part of the way that we submit to the government of our time,

00:27:26.279 --> 00:27:31.819
 which says that for churches to be constituted as charities, they need to have trustees who are

00:27:31.819 --> 00:27:33.639
 recognizable in their movements. Yes.

00:27:33.640 --> 00:27:39.759
 Yes. I think, just for the sake of moving us on more quickly, I think you want to distinguish

00:27:39.759 --> 00:27:43.220
 between what is essential in church life and what is permitted.

00:27:43.759 --> 00:27:48.640
 Okay. It seems as if in the New Testament, it is essential that our church has elders.

00:27:48.640 --> 00:27:57.020
 Deacons are also recommended in the life of the church, but it seems particularly that elders are essential in the life of the church.

00:27:57.020 --> 00:28:01.300
 If you, you know, a church without elders is like a car without wheels. Right.

00:28:01.299 --> 00:28:07.200
 So, I mean, it's technically still a car, but it's kind of a little bit less than what you really need it to be in order for it to function properly.

00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:18.920
 Okay. So, elders are essential. But then I think there is freedom in the life of a local church for you to be permitted to do things that you need to do in order to let the church's mission go forwards.

00:28:19.680 --> 00:28:26.259
 And I think particularly in our environment, appointing staff and trustees is part of that.

00:28:27.019 --> 00:28:35.920
 Staff especially, because I think in our time, we find that there are many roles in the life of the church that it's difficult for volunteers to do.

00:28:35.920 --> 00:28:38.720
 I think that's increasingly the environment which we're operating in.

00:28:39.160 --> 00:28:43.220
 And so there's a time in which to appoint people to take on those responsibilities.

00:28:44.019 --> 00:28:52.140
 And actually, there's probably quite a big crossover between staff and deacons, I think, at times, so that certain staff roles will be deacon roles and that kind of thing.

00:28:52.500 --> 00:28:58.860
 And likewise with trustees. So we need to distinguish between what's essential and what's permitted, I think.

00:28:58.859 --> 00:29:07.419
 And if you say that you should only do what's essential and never what's permitted, your church would never be a charity, for example.

00:29:07.539 --> 00:29:11.019
 You'd never register with the government in that way and you wouldn't appoint any staff.

00:29:11.079 --> 00:29:15.000
 And I think you probably would limit what the church is able to do.

00:29:15.339 --> 00:29:19.000
 Okay. Thirdly, servant leadership empowers all member ministry.

00:29:19.799 --> 00:29:22.339
 Really, this is the point that we're trying to get to.

00:29:22.339 --> 00:29:25.299
 This is what we're trying to say in this value.

00:29:25.399 --> 00:29:32.819
 Our concern is that we want to lead the church in such a way that everyone is engaged in the ministry of the church.

00:29:33.220 --> 00:29:42.319
 So we're concerned to say in servantly led that the ministry of the church is not done by the elders, by the staff or by the deacons,

00:29:42.319 --> 00:29:45.619
 but the ministry of the church is done by all of us.

00:29:45.619 --> 00:29:52.979
 This seems to be the model in Ephesians 4, where the work of the pastor, teacher and the evangelist in the church are,

00:29:53.419 --> 00:30:01.500
 verse 12, to equip his people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until we reach the unity in the faith

00:30:01.500 --> 00:30:07.259
 and in the knowledge of the Son of God to become mature, attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

00:30:07.679 --> 00:30:13.039
 It is the equipping of the people in the church for the works of service.

00:30:13.039 --> 00:30:21.359
 So really, you can tell whether the pastor is doing a good job, the elders are doing a good job in the life of the church

00:30:21.359 --> 00:30:24.740
 by how engaged others are in the ministry of the church.

00:30:25.700 --> 00:30:33.059
 It seems to be a genuine danger in the life of a church that the elders effectively fire the congregation,

00:30:33.059 --> 00:30:35.980
 not like shoot them, but fire them from their job,

00:30:36.359 --> 00:30:42.859
 by effectively just assuming that the congregation come to watch the elders do the ministry and then just go away.

00:30:43.039 --> 00:30:55.000
 To use this sort of example, it's not like the elders and the staff and the deacons are like the orchestra,

00:30:55.359 --> 00:30:58.680
 and you come and sit in the audience and you watch this great performance.

00:30:59.159 --> 00:31:02.079
 It's actually that the church itself is the orchestra,

00:31:02.399 --> 00:31:05.079
 and the elders and the deacons and the staff are those who are conducting

00:31:05.079 --> 00:31:09.200
 and ensuring that everyone is playing their part and coming in at the right time and that kind of thing.

00:31:09.200 --> 00:31:16.620
 So think about some of the ways the New Testament describes the responsibility of church members.

00:31:16.900 --> 00:31:18.200
 This, I think, is surprising.

00:31:18.900 --> 00:31:25.000
 So members in the New Testament are given an extremely high responsibility in the life of the church.

00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:30.259
 So in Matthew chapter 18, and I'd like you to turn to Matthew chapter 18, if you will,

00:31:30.799 --> 00:31:39.140
 Matthew chapter 18, this is striking as the Lord Jesus talks about the church in Matthew 18.

00:31:40.180 --> 00:31:47.279
 Matthew 18 verse 15 is talking about sin and dealing with sin in the church, as the heading in the NIV says.

00:31:47.380 --> 00:31:48.519
 It says, verse 15,

00:31:48.519 --> 00:32:11.720
 No, it doesn't say that, does it?

00:32:11.720 --> 00:32:14.240
 It says, tell it to the church.

00:32:14.620 --> 00:32:20.019
 And if they refuse to listen, even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

00:32:20.539 --> 00:32:26.120
 It seems in Matthew 18 that the responsibility for church discipline,

00:32:26.299 --> 00:32:32.579
 for recognizing who is genuinely a Christian by the response to their call to repentance,

00:32:32.920 --> 00:32:38.220
 that responsibility is given to the church as a whole, not the leaders as individuals.

00:32:38.220 --> 00:32:47.299
 So the highest court, if you like to use that word, in the life of the church is the church itself, not the leaders.

00:32:48.720 --> 00:32:55.100
 In Acts chapter 6 verse 5, the appointment of the leaders is what seems good to the whole church.

00:32:55.299 --> 00:32:58.319
 It seems that everybody is involved in the appointment of leaders.

00:32:58.880 --> 00:33:06.339
 In 1 Timothy 5 verse 17, the paying of elders seems to be a responsibility given to the church.

00:33:06.339 --> 00:33:09.379
 So the church are there to recognize the leaders.

00:33:10.039 --> 00:33:14.819
 It's not that leaders inflict themselves on the life of the church, but the church recognize the leaders.

00:33:15.459 --> 00:33:19.139
 Now that comes out again, I think, in the letters to the church in Revelation.

00:33:19.399 --> 00:33:25.059
 So turn to Revelation chapter 2, to the last book in the Bible, Revelation chapter 2.

00:33:28.659 --> 00:33:30.339
 Revelation chapter 2 verse 14.

00:33:30.339 --> 00:33:37.419
 Here's just an example in the letter to the church at Pergamum.

00:33:38.480 --> 00:33:43.000
 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you, says Jesus, to the church.

00:33:44.220 --> 00:33:48.179
 He says, there are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam,

00:33:48.759 --> 00:33:51.439
 who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin,

00:33:51.839 --> 00:33:56.039
 so that they ate food, sacrificed to idols, and committed sexual immorality.

00:33:56.039 --> 00:34:02.859
 It seems, doesn't it, that the church are responsible for the doctrine of the teaching that they're listening to.

00:34:03.839 --> 00:34:05.119
 That's striking, isn't it?

00:34:06.019 --> 00:34:09.039
 So yes, elders are to be those who can refute error.

00:34:09.159 --> 00:34:11.059
 We've seen that in 1 Timothy chapter 3.

00:34:11.179 --> 00:34:12.980
 That's the same in Titus chapter 1.

00:34:13.279 --> 00:34:17.900
 But it seems as though the whole church here are held accountable for the ministry that they're receiving.

00:34:18.360 --> 00:34:25.639
 So the church must have some ability to exercise authority over the person who is teaching them.

00:34:26.039 --> 00:34:32.380
 It's really important in the life of the church that you as members are able to remove the leaders

00:34:32.380 --> 00:34:36.279
 if they're teaching false doctrine and error.

00:34:37.119 --> 00:34:39.619
 We're not going to turn to it, but in 2 Corinthians chapter 8,

00:34:39.779 --> 00:34:46.699
 it's interesting that the church itself is given responsibility for the financial integrity of the church as well.

00:34:46.699 --> 00:34:53.679
 There's a transparency that is to be involved in the financial accounting of the church,

00:34:53.699 --> 00:34:55.820
 which is to be done in front of the church itself.

00:34:56.039 --> 00:35:02.000
 Now, if you put all that together, you can see that like an effective husband or father

00:35:02.000 --> 00:35:06.940
 who helps his wife and children to flourish and to grow in the gifts that they have,

00:35:07.599 --> 00:35:10.500
 so effective leaders in the church enable members to do that,

00:35:10.960 --> 00:35:14.900
 as the members sort of stand over the leaders and hold them to account,

00:35:15.199 --> 00:35:19.900
 but also as they choose to submit to the leaders and to follow them in the service of the Lord Jesus.

00:35:19.900 --> 00:35:26.760
 It also means, doesn't it, if that's right, what's one of the key tasks of church leaders in the life of the church?

00:35:28.360 --> 00:35:33.320
 What's one of the key tasks of leaders in the life of the church if this is what membership involves?

00:35:34.920 --> 00:35:36.920
 Let me tell you, because I'm going to ask you another question in a minute.

00:35:36.920 --> 00:35:38.800
 Discipleship.

00:35:40.519 --> 00:35:42.880
 Leaders lead the church by discipling the believers.

00:35:43.700 --> 00:35:46.780
 As church members, we all have a hand on the steering wheel of the church,

00:35:46.780 --> 00:35:48.980
 so it's important that we're all pulling in the same direction,

00:35:49.260 --> 00:35:53.139
 and so discipleship becomes one of the key responsibilities of leaders in the church.

00:35:53.820 --> 00:35:57.059
 Okay, I want you to do the think about this section.

00:35:57.059 --> 00:36:03.739
 What tools might a church use to allow members to exercise their responsibilities in church life?

00:36:04.279 --> 00:36:06.219
 What are the challenges to doing this well?

00:36:06.880 --> 00:36:08.880
 Okay, have a think about that for a moment.

00:36:08.980 --> 00:36:12.639
 What tools might a church use to allow members to exercise their responsibilities?

00:36:13.320 --> 00:36:16.900
 So we talked about responsibilities for discipline, for the appointment of leaders,

00:36:17.059 --> 00:36:19.199
 for doctrine, for financial integrity.

00:36:20.539 --> 00:36:21.299
 Go for it.

00:36:23.619 --> 00:36:26.320
 Okay, I'm sorry, I've not given you very long on that.

00:36:27.059 --> 00:36:30.500
 Anyone want to shout out their thoughts?

00:36:32.239 --> 00:36:33.799
 How might leaders...

00:36:33.799 --> 00:36:34.559
 Sorry, Mike, come on.

00:36:35.659 --> 00:36:36.380
 Yes, go on.

00:36:36.480 --> 00:36:38.460
 One of them is teaching citizens.

00:36:40.719 --> 00:36:41.119
 Yes.

00:36:41.519 --> 00:36:42.719
 And the other thing is...

00:36:42.719 --> 00:36:44.500
 Can I just repeat that for...

00:36:44.500 --> 00:36:47.380
 So the first one was that teaching facilitates members.

00:36:47.380 --> 00:36:47.900
 Yeah.

00:36:47.900 --> 00:36:48.900
 The other thing is...

00:36:48.900 --> 00:36:51.320
 ...but it's like passing in our talents now,

00:36:51.420 --> 00:36:54.659
 so they could be encouraging people to build in this church.

00:36:54.659 --> 00:36:57.019
 They could be trying to be talents.

00:36:57.019 --> 00:36:59.239
 It's just a dead scene on their own bits.

00:36:59.460 --> 00:37:00.179
 Yeah, great.

00:37:01.359 --> 00:37:02.239
 Talent scouts.

00:37:02.399 --> 00:37:03.339
 It sounds quite wrong, just about it.

00:37:03.339 --> 00:37:03.940
 I know...

00:37:03.940 --> 00:37:07.779
 Yeah, so they're sort of identifying and recognising gifts

00:37:07.779 --> 00:37:11.859
 and putting people in places where they can flourish in those things.

00:37:11.980 --> 00:37:12.139
 Yeah.

00:37:12.480 --> 00:37:12.719
 Yeah.

00:37:12.719 --> 00:37:13.839
 And then they could be a trust.

00:37:13.840 --> 00:37:14.680
 Yes.

00:37:19.059 --> 00:37:19.460
 Yes.

00:37:19.840 --> 00:37:20.200
 Yes.

00:37:21.400 --> 00:37:23.559
 That's one of the reasons why I think even, like,

00:37:23.660 --> 00:37:25.740
 smaller meetings in the life of the church are really helpful

00:37:25.740 --> 00:37:28.980
 and they have opportunities for people to try preaching and leading

00:37:28.980 --> 00:37:30.200
 and doing different things.

00:37:30.340 --> 00:37:31.980
 Yeah, I think that's really helpful.

00:37:32.480 --> 00:37:33.559
 Maybe we could...

00:37:33.559 --> 00:37:36.800
 Discernment is perhaps one of the words that you might put to that.

00:37:36.900 --> 00:37:37.000
 Yeah.

00:37:37.180 --> 00:37:37.960
 That's really helpful.

00:37:38.639 --> 00:37:39.260
 Anything else?

00:37:45.320 --> 00:37:45.800
 Okay.

00:37:46.000 --> 00:37:46.579
 Anybody else?

00:37:51.519 --> 00:37:52.000
 Anthony.

00:37:52.000 --> 00:37:52.440
 Shh.

00:37:53.079 --> 00:37:53.320
 Shh.

00:37:55.800 --> 00:37:59.920
 What about church members' meetings?

00:38:00.860 --> 00:38:01.119
 Yeah?

00:38:01.220 --> 00:38:03.039
 That is the function of a church members' meeting.

00:38:03.440 --> 00:38:07.019
 Voting in a church members' meeting is an opportunity to do that.

00:38:07.019 --> 00:38:10.599
 Involving members in the interviews of new members.

00:38:11.280 --> 00:38:14.259
 Inviting members to come to leaders' meetings to discuss things.

00:38:15.159 --> 00:38:18.980
 Having a kind of open-door policy for discussing things

00:38:18.980 --> 00:38:24.039
 and encouraging that kind of engagement from the life of the church.

00:38:24.460 --> 00:38:28.780
 I think a sort of openness and transparency about what's going on.

00:38:28.840 --> 00:38:30.480
 If you want to know what leaders are discussing,

00:38:30.619 --> 00:38:31.679
 you should be able to come and ask.

00:38:32.199 --> 00:38:33.659
 If you want leaders to discuss something,

00:38:33.739 --> 00:38:35.739
 you should be able to encourage them and ask them to do that.

00:38:35.739 --> 00:38:40.000
 And, you know, because we're serving you.

00:38:41.119 --> 00:38:43.500
 The final point, and we'll just do this really briefly.

00:38:44.359 --> 00:38:46.159
 I just didn't want to miss this out.

00:38:46.379 --> 00:38:49.719
 Because I think one of the other things that is really striking in the New Testament

00:38:49.719 --> 00:38:53.119
 about leadership in the local church is that it's really honest about its weakness.

00:38:53.119 --> 00:38:59.339
 I think one of the surprises in the New Testament is that other than the person of the Lord Jesus,

00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:04.299
 the portrayal of leaders in the church is of men of weakness and not strength.

00:39:05.139 --> 00:39:10.619
 Peter denies Christ, withdrew fellowship from Gentile believers and had to be rebuked.

00:39:11.119 --> 00:39:12.779
 Paul persecuted the church.

00:39:12.920 --> 00:39:14.619
 He fled in a basket from Damascus.

00:39:14.619 --> 00:39:18.199
 He went on about a thorn in the flesh and the weakness of his preaching.

00:39:18.900 --> 00:39:22.960
 Timothy was told that he shouldn't be so timid to not let people look down on him,

00:39:23.099 --> 00:39:25.380
 to take a bit of wine for his stomach's sake.

00:39:26.079 --> 00:39:30.579
 I guess the key text in all that, I think I've put that on your handout, is 2 Corinthians 12.

00:39:30.579 --> 00:40:00.559
 Paul writes,

00:40:00.579 --> 00:40:07.559
 Striking, isn't it?

00:40:07.599 --> 00:40:10.440
 You would not read that in any leadership manual.

00:40:10.799 --> 00:40:14.699
 David Jackman has written a new book on preaching and he says this about pastors.

00:40:14.840 --> 00:40:15.699
 And I read this this week.

00:40:15.860 --> 00:40:16.719
 This is striking.

00:40:17.659 --> 00:40:18.539
 Listen to what he says.

00:40:18.539 --> 00:40:22.619
 It has been my observation throughout my years of Christian service

00:40:22.619 --> 00:40:28.039
 that no minister or preacher can be truly useful to God's purposes

00:40:28.039 --> 00:40:32.639
 until he has been significantly and deeply humbled.

00:40:34.460 --> 00:40:37.259
 It is my observation throughout my years of Christian service

00:40:37.259 --> 00:40:40.259
 that no minister or preacher can be truly useful to God's purposes

00:40:40.259 --> 00:40:43.300
 until he has been significantly and deeply humbled.

00:40:43.599 --> 00:40:46.559
 That seems to me to be absolutely true from the New Testament.

00:40:46.559 --> 00:40:49.480
 And I know that personally is my experience.

00:40:49.579 --> 00:40:52.960
 The longer I go on in ministry, the more conscious I am of my own weakness,

00:40:53.739 --> 00:40:57.299
 that any success in ministry is down to the gracious hand of the Lord.

00:40:57.699 --> 00:41:01.900
 The failures and the mistakes are mine and the successes are the Lord's.

00:41:02.799 --> 00:41:05.799
 I know what it is to try and do ministry in my own strength.

00:41:05.800 --> 00:41:09.880
 I know what it's like to be in my own head about how good or otherwise a sermon was.

00:41:09.980 --> 00:41:14.360
 I know what it is to battle with an unwillingness or a coldness in service.

00:41:15.300 --> 00:41:18.340
 But that, it seems to be, is the pattern of New Testament ministry

00:41:18.340 --> 00:41:20.080
 and that you recognize that.

00:41:20.680 --> 00:41:26.060
 If you're in a church where the leaders do not recognize their weakness,

00:41:26.539 --> 00:41:27.240
 run a mile.

00:41:27.700 --> 00:41:28.340
 Run a mile.

00:41:29.260 --> 00:41:32.019
 Because it is not a New Testament style of leadership.

00:41:32.800 --> 00:41:33.340
 It's amazing, isn't it?

00:41:33.360 --> 00:41:35.780
 If you try to manage a Premier League football team like this,

00:41:35.820 --> 00:41:37.360
 you'd lose your job on day one, wouldn't you?

00:41:38.079 --> 00:41:39.640
 But the church is not like that.

00:41:40.340 --> 00:41:44.660
 It's important that leaders are conscious of and honest about their weakness.

00:41:45.320 --> 00:41:47.820
 Let me explain why I think that's the case and then we'll sing together.

00:41:48.640 --> 00:41:53.000
 I think that leaders need to be honest about their weakness and their sin

00:41:53.000 --> 00:41:56.860
 because the main tool that the leaders are given

00:41:56.860 --> 00:42:00.519
 for ministry is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ,

00:42:01.220 --> 00:42:05.000
 which is for weak sinners like us, isn't it?

00:42:05.760 --> 00:42:10.460
 So if I'm pretending that my usefulness and effectiveness in the church

00:42:10.460 --> 00:42:11.720
 is about my strength,

00:42:12.120 --> 00:42:14.720
 then all of a sudden I'm not pointing you to a gospel of grace,

00:42:14.740 --> 00:42:16.180
 but a gospel of works, aren't I?

00:42:16.940 --> 00:42:20.240
 And so me owning my sin and my weakness before you

00:42:20.240 --> 00:42:23.280
 is a way of me pointing you to a saviour who loves

00:42:23.280 --> 00:42:26.420
 to be gracious and kind to people who don't deserve it.

00:42:26.420 --> 00:42:29.079
 Paul called himself the chief of sinners, didn't he?

00:42:29.659 --> 00:42:32.500
 Because he was an example to the church of what Christ could do.

00:42:33.380 --> 00:42:35.579
 Let me pray and then we'll sing as we close.

00:42:35.780 --> 00:42:36.099
 Let me pray.

00:42:39.059 --> 00:42:43.099
 Heavenly Father, we want our church to be distinctive from the world

00:42:43.099 --> 00:42:44.079
 in the way that it's led.

00:42:44.079 --> 00:42:48.980
 We don't want it to be led by people who lord it over,

00:42:50.039 --> 00:42:52.159
 who rule and demand obedience.

00:42:53.099 --> 00:42:57.940
 We want to be led by servant leaders who are honest about their weakness

00:42:57.940 --> 00:43:00.239
 and point us to a gospel of grace,

00:43:00.619 --> 00:43:05.340
 who empower all of us to be involved in the ministry of the church,

00:43:05.519 --> 00:43:09.119
 recognising our gifts and our opportunities to serve.

00:43:09.119 --> 00:43:12.460
 We want to pray that you might raise up men and women

00:43:12.460 --> 00:43:15.139
 who would serve as deacons in the life of our church

00:43:15.139 --> 00:43:18.000
 and serve well for the sake of your glory.

00:43:18.599 --> 00:43:20.639
 We pray that you might raise up elders

00:43:20.639 --> 00:43:25.480
 who would teach and train and disciple well.

00:43:25.480 --> 00:43:28.780
 And we want to pray, Heavenly Father,

00:43:28.840 --> 00:43:31.659
 that you would help the leaders of the church here

00:43:31.659 --> 00:43:35.039
 to be servants who are not passive but active

00:43:35.039 --> 00:43:38.179
 and who own the responsibility for the life of the church

00:43:38.179 --> 00:43:42.440
 and move church on and forwards under your gracious hand.

00:43:42.960 --> 00:43:44.199
 In Jesus' name we pray.

00:43:44.740 --> 00:43:45.059
 Amen.

00:43:45.059 --> 00:43:45.199
 Amen.

00:43:45.199 --> 00:43:45.240
 Amen.

00:43:45.240 --> 00:43:45.240


00:43:45.240 --> 00:43:45.240